Fold it or fix it: the changing face of special effects

Discuss the various post production applications and their demands on special effects systems design. A short history on how these systems have evolved is included. The application of digital effects systems is evenly split between visible creative effects and invisible fix-it operations. Invisible fix-it operations demand much higher quality than momentary special effects. In order to make their systems affordable, manufacturers have been forced to optimise their system architectures for either a broad range of visual effects or transparent video quality. The technologies that enhance image quality are examined