DIGITAL PAINTING
- INTO THE THIRD DIMENSION
“A good matte painter now is more than just a
painter,” explains Heather Abels (www.
heatherabels.com). “It’s no longer enough to
simply create beautiful paintings in Photoshop
these days. Matte paintings have to translate into
three dimensions, in stereo, with parallax, and in
some cases into high dynamic range. Matte
painters have to be decent environment
generalists to capitalise on the great technology
and software out there to be as efficient as
possible. A good matte painter should be able to
produce great paintings, that are organised, but it
also helps to be able to model light, texture, and
set up digital worlds as well as creating your own
digital projections.“
Abels continues that all the matte paintings she’s
worked on lately have had to work in a 3D stereo
environment. “Before I start painting I take the time
to make sure all my projections and cameras are in
place to meet the technical requirements of the shot.
This includes deciding how many layers I’m going to
need to project and organising my Photoshop fileinto folders that represent those layers. I generally
try to come up with a plan with the lighters or
compositors so that we are all working toward a
common goal. If there are any foreground CG
elements, I’ll mask them out in my Photoshop file so
we aren’t distracted by any unfinished elements. I
make sure to organise my file in a folder structure
that matches what I need to project on, and do a test
render just to make sure I have the coverage I need.
Then it’s time to paint. I try to get feedback as quickly
as possible before polishing the details.”© Disney- FROM BIG TO SMALL
“Like most matte painters,” says Heather Abels, “I
enjoy big establishing shots, or the giant landscapes.
Any time I get a shot that gives me nervous
butterflies, I know I’m going to have a good time. I
love working on architecture, and I really enjoy
researching and painting on period pieces. Beyond
that, I really enjoy adding the final details to shots,
painting lighting in, creating shadows and tiny glints
and reflections.” Knowing how much time to devote
to the tiny glints and reflections is key. “Matte
paintings are as varied as films and can range from
simple projected patches to entire 3D environments
that need to work for an entire sequence,” says
Abels. “This means that a painting could take a
couple [of] hours, or many weeks depending on the
complexity and technical requirements of the shot.
The best way to know if you are on schedule is to
ask the producer, or your boss.”
© Heather Abels