The Digital Matte Painting Handbook

Book description

The only how-to guide dedicated to mastering the technique of digital matte painting!

Matte painting affords seamless integration between an artist's painting with live action film footage and allows for greater flexibility and creative input in the appearance of movie settings. This unique book reveals a variety of tools and techniques that are both industry and classroom tested and will enhance your existing skill set. Veteran author and instructor David Mattingly walks you through the process of creating a matte painting, starting with rough concept sketches, working out the perspective drawing, adding light and shadow, and texturing all of the elements in the painting. You'll gradually upgrade to using Adobe After Effects and Autodesk Maya in order to fulfill your matte painting vision.

  • Escorts you through the process of creating a matte painting, starting with the initial concept sketch, adding light and shadow, texturing elements, and incorporating motion and depth
  • Author is an experienced matte artist and teacher and shares a plethora of unique industry- and classroom-tested tools and techniques
  • Features helpful step-by-step instructions accompanied by screen shots and photos to illustrate the process of creating a matte painting

Whether you're creating a background for a studio production, independent film, TV commercial, or YouTube video, The Digital Matte Painting Handbook helps you successfully complete your project.

Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Publisher's Note
  5. Dedication
  6. Acknowledgments
  7. About the Author
  8. Foreword
  9. Introduction
    1. My Story
    2. How This Book Came About
    3. Who Should Read This Book
    4. How to Contact the Author
  10. Chapter 1: What Is a Matte Painting?
    1. Matte Painting Defined
    2. A Brief History of Matte Painting
    3. Paint vs. Pixels
    4. Peter Ellenshaw
    5. Albert Whitlock
  11. Chapter 2: Photoshop Workspace, Tools, and Custom Brushes
    1. The Digitizing Tablet
    2. Setting Up Your Workspace
    3. Photoshop Panels
    4. Using Custom Brushes
    5. Working with Image-Based Brushes
  12. Chapter 3: Composition and Concept
    1. Creating a Castle on a Hill
    2. Creating a Concept Sketch
    3. Assignment: Create Your Own Castle Concepts
  13. Chapter 4: Perspective Basics
    1. A Brief History of Linear Perspective
    2. The Three Types of Perspective
  14. Chapter 5: Perspective Drawing
    1. Setting Up Your Vanishing Points
    2. Drawing the Basic Shapes
    3. Adding Detail to the Castle
    4. The Ellipse Bank
    5. Dividing a Round Tower
    6. Adding Fine Detail
    7. The Final Drawing
    8. Assignment
  15. Chapter 6: Form
    1. Finding the Light and Dark Sides
    2. Cast Shadows
    3. Cores
    4. Final Form Layer
    5. Adding the Line Drawing
    6. Assignment: Tone Your Castle Drawing
  16. Chapter 7: Texturing and Color Correction
    1. Blending Modes
    2. Texturing The Castle
    3. Finding Reference Photos
    4. Levels and Curves in Color Correction
    5. Working with Reference Photos
    6. Lighting the Scene
    7. Creating the Sky
    8. The Top Painting Layer
    9. Assignment: Texture and Finish Your Castle
  17. Chapter 8: Preparing Your Photoshop File for Camera Projection in Maya
    1. What is Camera Projection?
    2. Getting Started in Camera Projection
    3. Setting Up for Camera Projection
    4. Adding the Image Plane
    5. Positioning the Camera Using the Reference Grid
    6. Assignment: Prepare Your Castle for Camera Projection, and Set Up the Maya File
  18. Chapter 9: Building Geometry for Camera Projection in Maya
    1. Lining Up the Reference Box
    2. Sculpting the Foreground Hill
    3. Adding the Sky
    4. Adding the Remaining Geometry
    5. Assignment: Build Geometry for Your Castle
  19. Chapter 10: Projecting Textures in Maya
    1. Adding Materials to Geometry
    2. Adding the Animated Camera
    3. Final Troubleshooting
    4. The Final Animation
    5. Assignment: Assign Textures and Create an Animation Using Your Own Castle
  20. Chapter 11: Lighting Techniques
    1. Day-for-Night
    2. Preparing the Daytime Plate
    3. Preparing the Nighttime Plate
    4. Adding Life to the City
    5. Relighting
    6. The Night Sky
    7. Assignment: Take Your Own Plate From Day to Night
  21. Chapter 12: Changing Seasons
    1. The Summertime Plate
    2. The Wintertime Plate
    3. Bonus Section: Dusk
    4. Assignment: Take Your Own Photo From Summer to Winter
  22. Chapter 13: Getting Started in After Effects
    1. Preparing a Painting for After Effects
    2. Getting Into After Effects
    3. Setting the Duration of the Animation
    4. Animating the Sky
    5. Precomposing the Summer Version
    6. Cross-Dissolving to the Winter Version
    7. Animating the Winter Sky
    8. Dissolving to the Winter Dusk
    9. Effects
    10. Adding a Snow Effect
    11. Varying the Lights
    12. Moving the Smoke
    13. Final Camera Move
    14. Easing Out, Easing In
    15. The Render Queue
    16. Time Remapping
    17. The Final Animation
    18. Assignment: Create an Animation Changing Summer To Winter Using Your Own Painting
  23. Chapter 14: Working over a Moving Plate
    1. The Plate
    2. The Painting
    3. Megastructures
    4. Compositing the Painting over a Moving Plate
    5. Positioning Layers in 3D Space
    6. Parenting Layers Together
    7. Adding Moving Spotlights to a Building
    8. Adding a Video Billboard
    9. Preparing the Project for Animation
    10. Animating the City
    11. Expressions
    12. Film Grain
    13. Assignment: Create Your Own City
  24. Chapter 15: Using After Effects’ True 3D Space
    1. The Painting
    2. Importing the Painting into After Effects
    3. Adding a Camera to the Comp
    4. Turning Off Collapse Transformations
    5. Setting Up a Ground Plane Using a Solid
    6. Projecting a Texture onto the Ground Plane
    7. Positioning the Sky
    8. Positioning the Other Layers
    9. Animating the Sky
    10. Animated Lava
    11. Extracting Figures from Green Screen
    12. Adding the Keyed Figures to the Scene
    13. The Camera Move
    14. More Details
    15. Assignment: Create Your Own Vision of Hades
    16. A Final Note
  25. Appendix: About the Companion DVD
    1. What You’ll Find on the DVD
    2. System Requirements
    3. Using the DVD
    4. Troubleshooting
    5. Customer Care
    6. Contact the Author
  26. Index
  27. End-User License Agreement

Product information

  • Title: The Digital Matte Painting Handbook
  • Author(s):
  • Release date: April 2011
  • Publisher(s): Sybex
  • ISBN: 9780470922422