FXPHD – DMP209 – Matte Painting Workshop I

In this first Matte Painting Workshop course , we'll focus on the main techniques which we always use in matte painting production. Matte painting artists really need to be comfortable with these tasks and that's why we're going to dedicate a workshop on each them.

First, we'll see how create a tileable texture from any kind of front view. It's really useful if one needs to quickly texture some elements, either in 3D, or by merging some texture on top of an image, through blending modes. In any case, the texture needs to be tileable so we can't see the seams. We'll look at how to extract a sky properly, either by replacing it with another one or in order to make it move. We'll focus on the Channel extraction technique with additional paint to create a high quality mask.

We'll explain cleaning techniques and how to use the clone tool to prep a plate for a matte painting when some elements need to be removed. We move into day to night classic work and will change the time of day completely, focusing on grading and light painting techniques. We'll show how to merge three different images into one single environment and explain how to add dirt and weathering effects onto a brand new building to make it look old.

Ludovic Iochem has been working in the industry for 12 years, as a matte painter, environment artist, lead artist, Environment Supervisor, and Head of Environments for companies like Double Negative or Framestore. He's currently Head of Digital Matte Painting at Double Negative London. Iochem's credits as an artist or supervisor include Thor 2, Hellboy 2, Quantum of Solace, Bourne Ultimatum, Dredd, Tree of Life, Terminator Genisys or Exodus. As HOD, he's done recently Blade Runner 2049, Alien Covenant and Beauty and the Beast.