The Digital Matte Painting Handbook

Create Stunning Backgrounds for Film, Video, Games, and Ads If you want to create digital matte paintings that blend seamlessly into live–action footage, this is the perfect guide. Author David Mattingly was head of the Disney Studios Matte Department and has been a matte artist on major motion pictures such as The Black Hole , Dick Tracy , and I, Robot . In this unique how–to book and DVD, he teaches you his stellar techniques. You′ll start with rough concept sketches in Photoshop and learn to add perspective, create light and shadow, add texture, and color–correct. Then you′ll switch from Photoshop to Adobe After Effects and Autodesk Maya to composite your matte in 3–D and camera–project it. The result? A skill set suitable for Hollywood! Artists of all levels will want this professional handbook on their desks. Get up to speed on the Photoshop workspace, tools, and custom brushes Master the essentials—composition, perspective, drawing, color, and form Create a castle and add illumination, dark shadows, and craggy texture Change daylight into night or summer into winter Prepare your Photoshop files for use in Maya camera projection Learn industry– and classroom–tested tools and techniques Create a futuristic city over a moving plate Make scenes go from day to night Set up a vision of Hades in After Effects 3D space Contains all the files needed to complete the projects in the book as well as companion videos to help drive home concepts.

Foreword. Introduction. 1 What Is a Matte Painting? 2 Photoshop Workspace, Tools, and Custom Brushes. 3 Composition and Concept. 4 Perspective Basics. 5 Perspective Drawing. 6 Form. 7 Texturing and Color Correction. 8 Preparing your files for Camera Projection in Maya. 9 Building Geometry for Camera Projection in Maya. 10 Projecting Textures in Maya. 11 Lighting Techniques. 12 Changing Seasons. 13 Getting Started in After Effects. 14 Working Over a Moving Plate. 15 Using After Effects′ True 3D space. Appendix About the Companion DVD. Index.

David B. Mattingly teaches digital matte painting at two of the leading art schools in the United States: School of Visual Arts and Pratt Institute in New York. He was head of the Walt Disney Studios Matte Department and has worked for over three decades as a matte artist on major motion pictures including The Black Hole , Dick Tracy , and I, Robot . He is an internationally known science fiction illustrator with more than 2,000 book covers to his credit, including the New York Times bestselling "Honor Harrington" and "Animorphs" series.