The Visual Effects Society (VES) has announced that its flagship reference, the VES Handbook of Visual Effects, reaches its Fourth Edition on December 18, 2025. The book now brings together 95 visual effects experts, including 30 new contributors, from across film, television, games, virtual production, and emerging media.
The new edition expands its scope to modern practices. Among the additions are chapters covering the use of real time game engines for virtual production, previs, motion capture and animation. The handbook addresses current topics such as AI applications in VFX, plus methods for NeRFs (Neural Radiance Fields) and 3D Gaussian splatting, aiming to reflect recent workflow evolutions.
Existing core areas have also been updated. These include previs (pre visualisation), AR and VR filmmaking, colour management with attention to ACES workflows, digital intermediate processing, camera workflow, matte painting, compositing, and more.
Early peek event: live from the makers
Shortly before the book’s release, VES will host a global webinar on December 16, 2025. During that event, editors Jeffrey Okun, Susan Zwerman and Susan Thurmond O’Neal will discuss the new edition in conversation with industry experts, including virtual production TD from Industrial Light & Magic Nathan Camp, creative technology veteran Phil Galler, Chief Innovation Officer at 180 Studios, and VFX supervisor Lucien Harriot, President of Mechanism Digital. Attendees will get a preview of key workflows and techniques covered in the handbook and have the opportunity to ask questions to the contributors.
The editors: who’s behind the Fourth Edition
Jeffrey A. Okun is an award winning Visual Effects Supervisor, a Fellow of the Visual Effects Society, and a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the American Society of Cinematographers, and the Television Academy. He has served as chair of VES, and previously as first vice chair and chair of the Los Angeles section.
Susan Zwerman is a long time VES producer with over 25 years of experience in visual effects production. She is also a respected seminar leader and author. Zwerman is a member of the Academy, the Producers Guild of America, and the Directors Guild of America, and holds the status of VES Fellow.
Susan Thurmond O’Neal joined VES in 1997 and has held multiple leadership roles over the years. She has served on the global Board of Directors, including as Treasurer in 2016, 2nd Vice Chair in 2022–2023 and 1st Vice Chair in 2024–2025. She has chaired the global Education Committee, currently leads the Membership Committee, and in 2019 received the VES Founders Award for service to the society.
Why this matters for VFX, CG and post production pros
As pipelines increasingly adopt real time engines, AI assisted tools, and immersive production formats such as virtual production, AR, VR and domes, this new edition of the VES Handbook provides a broad and current reference. The inclusion of NeRFs and 3D Gaussian splatting signals that VES acknowledges emerging volumetric and point cloud based workflows as significant enough to warrant formal documentation.
For those working in compositing, colour grading, camera and layout workflow, the updated coverage of core disciplines, re verified and aligned with contemporary practices, provides a stable reference against a rapidly shifting technological backdrop.
The breadth of the handbook, from budgeting and shot breakdowns to high end compositing and immersive media workflows, suggests it aims to be relevant across departments: production, CG, compositing, virtual production teams, colour, and more.
Get a sneak Peak into the Summary here on Google Books:
Finally, the new standard twist
With the Fourth Edition, the VES Handbook doubles down on being the industry standard reference. By combining decades long experience with up to date coverage of real time engines, virtual production, AI, volumetric rendering and immersive media, this edition positions itself as the reference manual to return to when technologies or pipelines evolve. It may not promise radical revelations everywhere, but it maps out the best practices terrain for the current generation of visual effects work. For any VFX professional aiming to stay grounded and informed, this looks like the old new “go-to” compendium.
