Matte Painting Projection pt1

Howdy all..

Been a hellishly busy several weeks which has been both a blessing and a curse! Good for the cash flow, not so good for oil painting! Been working with SOAP Creative here in Sydney on a James Bond website promotion thingy.. I cant say much more than that and will post more when I can.

I rolled straight into a matte painting job after the Bond gig.. the task.. create New York in 1927! This is big and I had approx two weeks to complete it. It’s taken two and half actually. Matte painting projection was the primary approach, Maya being the 3D tool of choice and of course Photoshop CS2.

Projected matte painting, for those who don’t know of it, is a method of mapping your 2D matte painting onto 3D geometry. For you old school folks, it’s like projecting a 35mm slide of an image onto white blocks of wood in a pitch black room.

Imagine those white blocks of wood are scale models of real buildings and you’re projecting your 35mm slide of the exact same building onto that model (perfectly aligned of course… impossible with a slide projector I know, but stay with me here..)

Now you pick up your handicam and start filming as you walk towards the model and perhaps move around the model a little. Traditional 2D matte paintings have always been limited to.. well, 2 dimensions. You cant go around anything within the painting. You can zoom in, move up and down the painting but the sense of 3 dimensional space is lacking. Same as projecting a 35mm slide onto a screen, you can walk up to it, move it up or down but it will always look 2D.

Projecting that 2D image onto a 3D object allows you to push beyond the 2D realm cheaply and more cost effectively than going full 3D. It only works in some situations and has certain limitations, but if your camera is moving in one direction with perhaps a little drift this way or that, projection is the way to go.

I was taught a fancy trick at Digital Domain by a dude named Eric Hanson.. Use INCANDESCENCE mapping. This has the advantage of A/ Allowing the matte painter to paint the lighting onto the object/scene in a way that only a matte painter can and B/ Doesn’t use a single 3D light within the scene, so rendering time is dramatically reduced. If the lighting needs changing, then it’s back to Photoshop and a re-paint, but the rendering time becomes consistent, predictable and fast.

I will usually render the object flat shaded or with a basic global illumination pass. It will look something like this:

Then I paint it up..

Before I show you the New York shot, here is an example of how I used the technique to great effect on Vincent Ward’s recent Blossom Hill Wine TV commercial, look for the shot of the train going over the viaduct. The viaduct, the train and background were all 2D images projected onto 3D. Yes, even the train!

I’ll leave it there and post a more in depth ‘how to’ soon.. Including the New York shot, so stay tuned!

How NOT to contact a professional artist! Part 2

I just had to post this..

Yesterday morning, the head of Dept of Industrial Design at Newcastle TAFE called me to apologise for his student’s poorly drafted email, (see last post, ‘How NOT to contact a professional artist!’).

I called this gentleman back today and we had an interesting chat. He had taken this issue up with the student’s direct teacher who.. didn’t think there was anything wrong with the email and/or approach made by the student! What?!

I was floored!

Well Mr Teacher who thinks that was ok.. Looks like very few of your students will ever make it out there in industry if you advocate that sort of approach. Because they WILL get out there and they WILL come up against working professionals who DO NOT tolerate poor communication skills and equally poor manners!

How NOT to contact a professional artist!

For all you young guns out there who want to crack into the film, design, art industry and feel the need to contact working professional artists, art directors, producers etc.. this is how NOT to do it!

Dear, Wanye

im an  industrial design student, engaged in my major design project, which is visualising a Philip K. Dick short story “the trouble with bubbles”

do you have any advice on approaching conceptual design for a futuristic society.

Is there a preferred format for presenting concepts to clients within the film industry?

i appreciate that you may be busy and any advice would be greatly appreciated.

S. W.

I received this email from a young man studying Industrial Design here in NSW, Newcastle TAFE, north of Sydney. First mistake, he got my name wrong! The other mistakes are too obvious to go into here suffice to say that I’m a little saddened that we pump these kids out of our education system without some of the most basic communication skills.

Unfortunately he has made a bad first impression and that can have fatal consequences for your future career.

Did he exhaust all other options before contacting me? Did he even spend five minutes on Google? Doesn’t look like it. He expected answers to be handed to him on a platter. It took me all of five minutes to track down who he was, where he lived (city), what school he went to and what year he is studying. I then contacted his head of dept and passed on his email.

So if you’re reading this young Mr. S.W, Google is your friend.. so is the spell checker and punctuation! Once you have clarified your thoughts and questions AND exhausted all other options, contact me again and I’ll do what I can to help.

As artist’s we communicate with imagery, we assume that writing is irrelevant as the images will speak for themselves, but when you’re out there in industry, your first port of call will most likely be through writing. Be clear, succinct (I’m not so good at that part) and make sure you’ve done your research. There is no excuse these days what with the world wide interweb or whatever it’s called..!

Now that ol’ grandpa has said his piece, he’s off for a little lie down!

Studio Lighting for oil painting..

Hi all!

I’ve been asked about the lighting set up in my painting studio, so I thought I would post some pics and a brief description.

My studio is quite small as I’m using the second bedroom in my 2 bedroom apt as my painting studio, the first being used as my digital studio (I sleep in the main room!), so space is limited. The room has built in robes with mirrored doors. This is a bonus as it allows me the ability to not only view my paintings from a longer distance, but also back to front. So what I lack in distance to the painting front on, I gain in reflected distance.

The obvious thing in the photo is my lighting set up. I wanted to be able to paint day or night and not have to worry about exterior light variations. My experience as a studio photographer kicked in and I bought a pair of Manfrotto Auto-poles. They basically telescope up and clamp against the ceiling. This allows me to clamp lights onto them and reduces the footprint at the floor saving more space. I’d have to use stands with legs otherwise and they would get in the way.

The light source is supplied by two compact flouro’s, daylight balanced at 5000 – 5500k. Equivalent power output is supposed to be that of a 120W incandescent bulb. They run cool which means I dont cook in the summer months and they use much less power than a standard tungsten bulb. Total cost of that set up was approx A$500. That was the two poles, three light heads (one is in the cupboard and could be used as a modeling light), the bulbs, two Manfrotto Superclamps (to hold the lights). The light heads were el cheapo units and I have no idea what brand they are! You could probably get all of this cheaper if you bought 2nd hand too.

You could save some money and run one pole across horizontally from wall to wall and suspend the lights too..

Anyway, I hope that was informative..

Ciao!

Digital Domain.. and the great VFX craftsmen..

Howdy All,

Came across a few old photographs of my time at Digital Domain, circa 1996.. In the visual effects world, that’s like dog years, every one of ours is like 160 odd years to us. So 1996 puts these pictures around 150BC in film VFX terms! Which makes these guys… well, its makes them advanced in years!

What they have in mileage does not diminish the spirit, creativity and sense of humor.. (despite Mark’s grave expression in the photo). They also have a credit list under their belts that most fan boys can only dream of!

They were practitioners of a ‘craft’, a way that has sadly been replaced by computer science and the idea that more rendering power will solve the problem. It’s a way of looking at visual problems in a simple practical way and cheating the effect, not simulating the effect. Huge difference here and one that can have huge cost implications. I’m not saying throw away the computers, but how about we start looking at these problems from the perspective of ‘craft’.

As the saying goes, give a man a hammer and every problem looks like a nail. No wonder vfx costs so much today.

The image that ends up on the screen is nothing more than a bunch of 2D shapes, some light, some dark and of varying colours, they are not the ACTUAL thing being depicted. So no matter how much software you throw at a film project, it all boils down to basic composition on a flat 2D surface and of course, story! For this reason I cant wait to see ‘Moon’.

These guys came out of the effects industry where limitation spawned creative visual solutions and in the process, iconic cinema visuals. In this CG age, I feel that the forest is in danger of being lost for the CG trees.. if it hasn’t already.

First old timer.. Ira Gilford. From Detroit if I remember correctly. One of, if not the first guy to design the original HOT WHEELS toy cars! He illustrated a ton of cars for the Fifth Element among other things. I cant quite remember what he was telling Ron here and I don’t really want to speculate either!! You’re a bad bad man Ira!!

“Here.. I’ll draw you a picture of it..” Perhaps Ron’s expression says it all!! Ron Gress, matte painter, mural painter, fine artist in every sense of the word. Worked on Star Trek the Motion Picture and a million things since then. Great guy, great party host and collector of haute couture Hawaiian shirts! If you’re in the US and Reno in particular, go check out his mural at the Reno Hilton (I assume it’s still there.. otherwise see it on his blog)

Ron in his excitement phoning Mark.. “Hey Mark, guess what Ira just told me!”

“.. Stay put.. I’ll grab my duck whistle and be right there!”. Yes folks, Mark ’senior model builder on Blade Runner’ Stetson! You could die a happy man with that credit alone.. That he made time for everyone, has probably forgotten more than most are still trying to learn, is a hell of a nice guy and complete gentleman, goes without saying and barely describes the man. That goes for all them.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, The Fifth Element remains the pinnacle and highlight of my professional film career… and it’s because of these guys. Thanks fellas!

Oil painting – Crookhaven Boulders

Howdy all..

Another oil painting update.. This is the finished painting of the boulders at Crookhaven River near Culburra NSW.

36″ x 15″ Oil on Linen.

Here are some close up details..

Kelly McKernan Artist

Hi all..

After having been through a year of almost no work, no art sales and needing to sell off a bunch of my photographic equipment, I know what it feels like to struggle for money to pay the bills, rent etc. If it wasn’t for the generosity and kindness of my family and friends, things would have been a lot tougher. So when I saw this email from a fellow artist on the Behance Network, I thought I would help out a little and buy one of her prints.

“… I could really use your help! I was recently laid off from my dream job, and was denied unemployment benefits, so I’m trying to scrounge for rent and food until I can get myself another job (no luck so far).”

So check out Kelly’s work and visit her shop, I’m sure a few print sales would go a long way to helping her out.

If artists are to survive, perhaps it’s up to us to support each other. Lots of people comment on artist’s work on blogs/portfolio sites etc, espousing how wonderful their work is and yet never buy anything. I had over 500 people comment on one of my images on Redbubble, and only one person bought a poster (thank you who ever you are btw). A 1 in 500 ratio doesn’t sit right with me if they all claim that image is the most awesome thing they’ve ever seen. You telling me of those remaining 499 people, none of them could afford a post card or small print? It’s time to put our money where our mouth is and support other artists in a practical way… buy their art! So get out there and buy some art, it doesn’t have to be a big purchase, but every little bit helps!

Best of Luck Kelly, I hope your situation improves soon. I just bought this lovely print and when my fortunes improve, I’ll be looking to buy one of your originals!

Kelly’s blog.

Desert Storm oil painting update..

Quick update again.. Here is a slightly revised Desert Storm painting.. the ‘dune’ on the left was bothering me..

Xfuns Magazine and Expose´ 7

Howdy all!

Long time no blog.. I said I wouldn’t leave it so long after my last entry and I was right.. It was LONGER!

First off, I got an image into Ballistic Publishing’s Expose´7, pg 116, environments section.. Some really cool work in this edition so go check it out!

One thing that I have noticed over recent years is the incorrect usage of the term ‘matte painting’ when it is applied to digital art. As soon as you paint a figure into a scene, it stops being a matte painting and becomes concept art.. or just plain art. Matte painting is a specific tool in the visual effects toolbox, not a term to be applied to any old digital painting.  The term is useless outside of visual effects.

End mini rant..

Today I picked up my copy of the latest Xfuns Magazine. Issue 43. Xfuns is a Creative & Design Magazine published in Taiwan. Many thanks to Audrey and Ching for making this happen, it looks great! You can find their website here.

What else has been happening… I’ve been busy working on several matte paintings for Director Vincent Ward’s latest TV commercial, ‘Blossom Hill’ for Luscious International here in Sydney. I’ll post some of this later. For those in the UK, you would have already seen this ad.. Right now I’m finishing up on a print job for a Saudi Arabian client. Those two jobs have kept me busy for the last 7 weeks. It never rains but it pours as they say!

I have the odd oil painting on the go as well, I’ll post more of that later.. really..

So that’s it for now. Back to it for me..

Ciao!

Desert Storm – Genre oil painting..

Howdy art lovers,

I’m posting this painting tonight because it is almost where I want it, almost finished… but I don’t really like it… why you ask? Well I started this painting in January 2005. These two ‘Women’ have watched me these last few years from above my book shelf waiting for me to finish it. Which is what I’ve been doing recently. Thing is, I wouldn’t paint it like this anymore. Some parts I really like, but a lot I don’t. So I’m leaving it at this and will revisit the idea and composition later.. perhaps with a slight twist!

This painting is special for one very important reason though. It represents the sort of imagery I also want to paint from here on. I love landscapes, a lot, and will continue painting them, but I also want to tell stories in these single images. Just think my film work but on canvas inhabited with people! And this painting is the closest thing to that dream so far.. So I thought it was about time I got this one out there so to speak.

The painting is 20″ x 48″, oils on linen and still a wip!!