Digital Matte Painting

on

|| Chen TianYao （0367550)

|| Digital Mate Painting | Bachelor of Design (Honors) in Creative Media

|| Week1 - Week 14




INSTRUCTION


Exercise - Environment Design Fundamentals

Exercise - Submission


Google drive Link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BB725xgHT3b1jDwr0EU1LzMiwG31Znrq/view?usp=drive_link


Project 1 - Invisible Set Extension 1 (Pre_Production)

Week 3-7

In Project 1, we were required to select a film as a reference and create a digital matte painting based on its world-building.


I chose the film The Revenant as my mood board and reference, as it presents a worldview set in the American wilderness. 

Then, I started drawing three sketches. Mr. Kannan told me that I needed to choose one and develop it in more depth. For example, in Illustration 1, I need to clearly specify what kind of trees they are and on what type of land they are located.

sketch #1


sketch #2


sketch #3


sketch #3 - specific


Project 2 - Invisible Set Extension (Production)


I choose to create digital matte paintings for Sketch #2 and Sketch #3.

Digital Matte Paintinf #1

Photoshop Screenshot


Digital Matte Painting #2


In the end, I chose this horse photograph for my Task 3. Since 2026 will be the Year of the Horse in the Chinese zodiac, I creatively added lanterns to the trees to symbolize celebration and festivity.


Adobe After Effects Screenshot


At the same time, I try to created a short easy video in After Effects to preview the effect of Task 3.





Task 2 - Final Submission



Project 3 - Thematical Matte Painting (VFX)

Week 13

This week, I started working on creating a 3D video in Blender. I added curvature to the tree textures to give them a pseudo-3D effect. I also created some 3D models such as tombstones, to enhance the sense of depth in the scene




Week 14

This week, I recreated the scene from the 2D sketches in Blender and rendered a video. And I found Green screen footage of the horse and birds can be used to decorate and enrich my scene.


blender Secreenshot



Task 3 - Final Submission

Youtube Link: https://youtu.be/UDJTczxM74o



Self-Reflecction

This semester’s Digital Matte Painting course has been a profound journey from visual reference to 3D construction. Starting with a mood board inspired by The Revenant, I learned to deconstruct the logic of environmental lighting and color palettes. Under Mr. Kannan’s guidance, I realized that the core of DMP lies in the authenticity of detail—the texture of every tree and the earth itself defines the narrative depth of a scene.

During the production phase, I transitioned from static Photoshop compositing to After Effects parallax effects, and finally to 3D scene rendering in Blender. Integrating "lantern" elements into a frigid wilderness (to celebrate the 2026 Year of the Horse) taught me how to blend cultural symbolism within a digital environment. My greatest takeaway is that DMP is no longer just a painted backdrop, but a seamless fusion of 2D artistry and 3D technology. While there is still room to improve in complex Blender rendering, this course has provided me with the logic to build "photorealistic" worlds, laying a solid foundation for my future visual creations.





Comments

Post a Comment