Book review: Blender compositing and post processing

Blender compositing and post processing by Mythravarun Vepakomma.

pros

• complete and concise reference of all compositor nodes
• very clear illustrations explaining each node

cons

• very few pages (about 100, not counting fringe content like index and front matter)
• very few task oriented examples, just a short example of each node

I have mixed feelings about this book. Clearly the author knows his stuff and he sure knows how to make clear illustrations that explain each individual building block very well. However the book hardly offers any step by step walkthroughs for more complex, real world tasks. And solving complex tasks by stringing together node networks that each solve a particular task is what Blender's compositor excels at.

So the book is a fine reference but would have offered much more value for money if it had shown for example how to composite an actor in front of a green screen onto background footage from start to finish, including solutions for problems like uneven lighting of the green screen, masking hair, matching color, coping with reflected light, etc. and not just the simple demonstration of tbe alpha over node's options.

Conclusion: not a bad reference, produced quite well but I'm left with the feeling it could have been a lot more.