Matte Painting Learning Time?

#1

I was wondering how long do you think it would take someone to learn how to matte paint. I have never used a wacom before but plan on getting one and practicing matte painting one I have one. I am fluent user of several 3D applications including Cinema 4D, 3D Studio Max, Modo, Mudbox and Vue 7 so I will be able to create my own references and stuff which I guess is a big bonus and I suppose learning 3D really helps in matte painting so I will have no learning to do there. I not a particularly strong freehand sketcher so I guess that where I will have to practice, but obviously there are going to be techniques and methods specific to digital painting and matte painting. So my question is, is based upon the information I have given you and say if once I got a wacom I practiced atleast an hour everyday (obviously there will be days off but there will also be days where I spend more than an hour) how long would it take to be able to matte paint to a decent standard.

Thanks, Im just wondering because as much as I love creating 3D enviroments, landscapes, scene’s etc… I would love to have the ability and freedom to then work on them in 2D to escape the technical confines of 3D. Some of the matte paintings I have seen about are truely breath taking too.

Thanks any opinions will be appreciated.

Should mention Ive also been using Photoshop for several years so need to learn my way around that. Althought I may need to pick up how to use it for painting purposes as I have never used it for proper painting really.

#2

It really does depend on the person when it comes to these types of questions. And I think the order in which you learn things can also really effect how long it will take. I have been learning Matte Painting now maybe for 4 or 5 years. I did have a thread here where I started posting when first attempting Matte Painting but I cant find it. Been a while anyways. Plus I have been drawing and paintings since i was still in diapers. So about a week!

Here is a list of what I think you should learn first since you have a 3D background.

  1. Composition.
  2. Color composition.
  3. Lighting and shading.
  4. Architecture design.
  5. Painting detail.
  6. Photo manipulation.

And the list goes on but these are most improtant while starting out. And you can learn most of this stuff right on the forums. A lot of people will argue that you dont need to me able to paint to be a Matte Painter but it will make your life a hell of a lot easier when in a tough spot. And going right into detailed work might be wasting your time when first coming up with mattes. It doesnt matter how much you polish a turd , its still shit at the end of the day. What makes a Matte Painting great in my mind is 95% composition and color, 5% detail.

I hope that made sense!

#3

Thank you for the pointers. I think, well I hope I should be OK I have faith in myself, I have some background in traditional art so my drawing and painting isn’t BAD Ive just never been overly confident in that aspect I think Im ok on compostion and colour compostion I have been putting these to practice lots lately by practicing with geometric compostion tests and reading up on colour theory and experimenting. Ive been interested in archticture since I was little so I should be ok there. As Im doing graphic design for my Uni course my photomanipulation abilities are fairly good. My only problems will be the freehand painting for details and stuff and any freehand lighting and shading will be a bit tricky for me but Ill try to get that done in 3D where I can. Once again thanks for the pointers!

Cheers!

#4

I checked out your gallery and you seem to have a good understanding of color and composition. The 2d work flow is different from 3d, in that 3d lets you define a lighting scheme and a mood with a few clicks, while 2d challenges you to unify everything independently. Learning to paint efficiently with a tablet may take a while. I was well experienced in traditional painting, which helped me somewhat, but I still had trouble getting used to painting in photoshop.
But matte paintings usually require only a small amount of painting from scratch, if you can find the right photos. While most matte painters don’t rely too heavily on using 3d in their work, there is a place for it. 3d is good for the basis of architectural elements that matte paintings can be build around. There also seems to be more use of Vue lately to create custom landscapes, although nothing can replace actual photographic elements.
Check out Dusso’s Gnomon DVD’s on matte painting if you can afford. He has some good lessons on painting landscapes from scratch.
Anyways, back to your question. Nobody can tell you how long it will take you to learn something. What you have written in your first post suggests that you really want to learn matte painting, and that means you should be able to learn it faster than you think. For me, I’ve been practicing for about 2 and a half years, and, while I am still learning things, I think I’ve finally got the hang of it.

#5

It will take exactly two years and seven days, well maybe six. :slight_smile:

Yeh it really is a question that has no real conclusive answer, if it’s something you’re passionate about doing then stay committed to developing painting skills first, painting with light etc … as a matte painter you’ll never actually paint directly in live work but it does force a good understanding of composition and lighting techniques. Start observing the work of others, observe photography, take mental notes of the world around you. There’s a growing number of resources out there with DVDs from gnomon and matte painting books from Ballistic. When it comes to 3d, you need to start learning about projection techniques, Maya and cinema offer a good understanding of the tools generally used. But most companies tend to use in house tools anyway.

Try setting yourself a project to get you started, you live in london, so take a few pics :slight_smile: try doing a set extension, turn a modern day scene into 1942 or something. Keep it simple and think about getting the lighting right more than anything.

Dave.

#6

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