[mr.wonton]

Just wanted to know form all you out there, what you really think of the matte painter filed nowadays. I've noticed a definate shift to 3d and much much less "painting".Junior matte painter roles are generally occupied by the 3d artists now(seems like knowing 3d is more important)..... It's also mostly done with photos now.....Just wanted to see what people think.

MR

[eyewoo]

I don't know much about matte painting and don't do it myself, but it would seem to me that with today's graphics programs and digital photography, it would make sense that matte painting would be shifting that way. Probably costs less and that would also seem to be in keeping with the cost-effective purpose of matte painting - not having to build those huge expensive sets.
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[ceenda]

We seem to be in a transition period where horrid glittery unconvincing rendered backdrops seem to be in vogue. *cough*Lucas*ahem*

I was watching Alien and the sequel on DVD the other day, makes me sad that we don't go for the painted backdrops much any more. They'll always seem more convincing (and if not convincing, then at least aesthetically pleasing) than the rendered stuff we have now.

[spooge demon]

I agree with what has been said here. I have done some mattes, both digital and traditional.

I would think twice about becoming a professional matte painter, unless you really want to use 3-d tools. If so, great, but I think the 2-d role will be more like a texture painter than matte painter.

I like the old practical stuff as well. Watch Legend and listen to Ridley Scott's comments on the subject. Entertaining, even if the movie is not!

[henrik]

What, you guys hatin' on my "horrid glittery unconvincing rendered backdrops"? Like Craig and previous speakers stated above, matte "painting" as such is dead, what's left is a combination of 2D and 3D where there's a strong emphasis on "pain"(ting). I'd say if you are serious to get into matte painting, focus on developing your ability to see and care less what tools you use. Makes me want to go back to drawing with crayons again...
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[skullmonkeys]

So matte painting nowdays is pretty much 3d geometry with texture projections? Like in the last scene of final fantasy where you see the eagle flying over the mountains?

What about the rivendell scene in LOTR? weren't they painted?

[Impaler]

[Capt.FlushGarden]

I think the title "matte painter" has kept being the more glamorous position in the post production industry even though the TALENT for making them isn't as necessary as before.

I think the computer has killed what I think is true matte painting. To be a matte painter was my biggest dream when i was younger, but after working as one I know that it's not at all what I want to do, to be honest it's god damn boring, it's basically applying textures with totally flat UV's on the 3D models, bleh

[spooge demon]

One thing I remember about good matte painters is they love "the shot" more than painting. Painting was a means to an end. They would do what the shot requires.

So if you love art and drawing and painting, focus on that. It will allow you to be more varied and learn more about art in general than being a matte artist. This is especially true today, and will be truer in the future.

And what Henrik says is true, learn how and why things are they way they are, it will help you regardless of what you go into.

Matte painters have a reputation for being strange people, and often it is true. I am sure a lot of people have this opinion of me. But it is too bad that a matte painters introspective nature gets in the way of them contributing to the project on a larger scale. They are too geeky to compete for power in the business. Artists are like this in general, which is why galleries have their way with them so often.

Painting something realistically makes you understand something very well. This knowledge is not taken advantage of often enough by VFX supes in general. This frustration led to the old guard at ILM to set up their own shop because they did not like a former camera operator (promoted to supervisor) telling them what clouds look like. or so the legend goes...

[Danny]

When I work on a shot, I don't care how I need to get to the end result. All that matters is to make the shot look as good as I can. It doesn't matter to me what tools I need to use or what techniques/tricks I need to apply. I actually welcome the variety of techniques that can be utilized.

I no longer see matte painting as just painting. I see it more like building, creating, craftsmanship. The biggest thrill I get when doing matte shots is when you see your work come to life. It no longer is a flat image, it's there on the screen and it just works. All the work you've put in (be it setting up the camera, tracking, modeling, painting, projecting, rendering, comping, doing effects passes, etc, etc...) falls into place and there it is. It lives, moves, breathes.. ) Quite a thrill....
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[B3AND1P]

yeah I worked at a company doing FX for recent major film and about half of the matte paintings were really just glorified texturing (painting bricks and window shades on a 6kx6k iso rendering of a city), but many were also more of what most people would think of as a traditional matte painting. Of course the painting would never take up the entire screen (usually the 3d models would fade into a matte painting for the BG), and many of them were made up of photos.

I do not feel that this is a horrible thing though. To me FX has always been about getting the shot done and not sticking to just one method. FX are getting more and more complicated and the camera is almost never locked down. To me there will always be a need for matte painters. maybe their work won't be able to be the main subject of a shot like it used to be, but they still play a extremely important role. I remember whenever a team got a matte painter to work on one of their shots for a day everyone would get so happy because it meant the shot would look that much better. Everyone I knew had huge respect for matte painters, because they had such a great understanding of the craft. Such deep knowledge of light and shadow.
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