Journal for PHd (by Practice) on Camera Projected Digital Environments
Base Composite DPX image sequences were rendered for all the main projections so, for the most-part, compositing was limited to A over B Merge operations. Nuke was selected as the preferred software for this part of the process due to its extensive and advanced compositing features, including its 3D tools and workflow, which I knew … Continue reading Compositing and Effects
Final render of the Steampunk Town
Ever since the first recorded example, produced by Norman Dawn for California Missions, released in 1907, matte paintings have been an intrinsic and essential part of filmmaking. In the early days, matte paintings were produced by placing a sheet of glass between the camera and the scene to be filmed. The artist would then paint … Continue reading History of Matte Painting
Whilst there is no need to discuss the artistic aspects of the scene further. However, irrespective of how a matte painting will be integrated into the show, there are a range of preparatory steps that the artist must undertake. Introduction This study seeks to explore a Photoshop and Nuke Only Matte Painting workflow described by … Continue reading Propositional Statement
A simple test bed is constructed using a proxy image made up of a checkerboard and colour wheel, these being graphical node elements built in to Nuke (Fig 1). This is then added to a Card node, which is set at world-space zero. Fig 1: Test Bed for Camera Animation A camera is then added … Continue reading Animated Shot Camera
Whilst there is no need to discuss the artistic aspects of the scene further. However, irrespective of how a matte painting will be integrated into the show, there are a range of preparatory steps that the artist must undertake. Groups and Layers When producing 2D artwork for matte painting, the ultimate objective is to output … Continue reading Preparatory Work on the Matte Painting
In order to ensure that each of the methods can be analysed with parity, the logical starting place would be setting up the common scene properties Project Settings The project is set to 2000 x 2000px (half the Photoshop resolution) which allows the camera to push considerably into the scene without loss of resolution. Contextually … Continue reading Common Scene Properties
The first consideration would relate to the type of geometry onto which the image should be applied. Using a card, and setting this back deep into Z space was deemed to be an appropriate approach. However, analysis of the shot from the perspective of the moving shot camera, revealed an absence of parallax, which is … Continue reading The Sky
This ground terrain is arguably the single most important layer in this project. This is because the image transcends from the immediate foreground all the way through the mid-ground to the distant hills. On all matte paintings, which depict a space that recedes from the camera, these elements are notoriously difficult to get right in … Continue reading Ground Terrain
The final camera projected matte painting is shown in fig 1. Fig 1: Final camera projected matte painting The final piece incorporates a number of embellishments. Whilst not directly connected to the core objective of the project, it is nevertheless important to add touches that finish the shot cinematically and/or provide further exposition for the … Continue reading Final Matte Painting
Peter Holmes PhD Journal 