Techniques Used in Matte Painting

During my search for examples of matte paintings, I have realised that are two types of painting that exists in the digital realm of this discipline: one based on photo montage, and another created from scratch with digital paint.

Below is an example of the photo montage technique. I found this alongside a tutorial at: http://cg.creativefan.com/getting-started-with-digital-matte-painting-workflow-techniques-and-walkthrough/ .

I have read the tutorial and think it could be useful to have it in brief for future experimentation.

The piece began with a brief sketch to help the artist map out each element of the landscape before starting digitally, this often helps with perspective and scale. He then advises spending a while gathering the relevant images needed or, if that's not possible, gain a selection off the internet. He then starts to layer up each section of the landscape and use layer masks to hide the section of each layer that we don't want to see. The key is then in making the lighting look seamless throughout the entire image. This can be done by changing settings in the image>adjustments task list, and considering shadows.

This technique can create very impressive landscapes, and is also a quicker process than the next one I am about to look at.



http://www.3dtotal.com/team/Tutorials_2/corridor_2d/The_Corridor_01.php

This is an example of a matte painting created through painting techniques on Photoshop. Once again this process began with a pencil drawing, with a strong focus on perspective. Once it has been scanned in the artist then created a linear version and used varying shade of grey to fill in each section according to how much light will be cast on it. This is a very useful tip to keep in mind. The next step is to use a watercolour brush and begin to add coloured tones to each section, as well as creating some shadows. The artist then began adding some definition to the stones and brickwork, and creating a stronger sense of light coming from the ceiling vents. After completing further, finer detail on the stones and cracks, the artist created a stronger sense of light in the room. The image was finished off by adding a few strategic highlights across the floor and walls.

I am glad I have conducted this research, as there are some very useful techniques mentioned. I am now aware of the basic techniques involved in matte painting, and I plan to create some brief experiments of my own.