Matte work in progress

[tharmine]

NEW UPDATES 10/01/05 AT THE BOTTOM

Hi all,
i am doing some matte painting for a short movie, not 100% realistic, more like a fary tale style. I have done this volcano so far, for a big pullback travelling from the edge of the volcano
http://www.tharmine.com/images/volcanmatte02.jpg

to this huge scene.
http://www.tharmine.com/images/volcanmatte03.jpg

All composited in a 3d space with AE (so different elements on different layers).
It is not finished yet (sky, light, erasing the tall column on the right with the boulder on it, some details here and there), but i need constructiv critics about the composition, light, etc...

[kaz]

do you have a video to see the motion shot?

[tharmine]

no, i am not doing the compositing, just the matte painting. And it will not be composited untill i say thr matte is finished...

[B. Kachel]

The painting is nice, even though you aren't going for extremely real I think if you match the atmosphere of the distant mountains on the left to the sky, somewhat like the right side it will look even better.

And i was just curious if the lava will be moving, especially in the foreground.

Good work.

-Brandon Kachel

[tharmine]

as the pullback travelling will be very quick, i don t think the lava need to ba animated. Only smoke effect can be added and animated, it should do it, lava move usually slowly.

[tharmine]

c'mon guys and girls, don't tell me this matte is perfect :wink:
Is there realy no way to improve it, i am so much in it now that i miss some feedback, some fresh eyes, some professional opinion!

[AliK]

Here are some suggestions
-Remove the vertical line of lava or make them very shorter with different thickness. (to me they only look good before they fall)
-Adding another layer of mountain between the tree and the volcano might be helpful too.
-Define the main source of light in the scene and make the light and shadows consistence.
-Giving a monochrome red mood to the entire image might be helpful too.
-Use the steam and smoke to achieve more contrast in the atmosphere.(for example there should be a difference between the middle front part of the volcano close to camera and the edges)

[tharmine]

cool, that's very usefull advices. I will try them, exept maybe the red color balance because the director want some grey/blue/green atomsphere.
Cheers

[NickATnitE]

I like your composition, but the lava feel a little tacked on, I would like to see more interactive light spill and glow coming from it especially on the shadow side of the volcano. and I do suggest if it is moving that you do some subtle animation on the lava. an animated mesh warp should do the trick, just so the thickness of the streams is slightly changing and pulsating. Good work I look forward to seeing the final shot. I like the fantastical style

Nick

Science fiction is just reality ahead of schedule. Syd Mead

[bcottman]

I agree about with nickatnite about the lava and with b.kachel about the atmosphere of the left side.
I think the lava looks fine in the close up, but as the camera pulls away to the wide shot the saturation and brightness pull it out of place. I would suggest animating the saturation and brightness of the lava as the camera pulls away.
And as brandon said, I think the shadows on the distant mountains on left side need work. their shadows would be filled with light from the sky above, which on this side of the image has very dark clouds therefore little fill light. I think if you just adjusted the shadows the illuminated faces would be fine.

really nice image though.
Brenton

[tharmine]

Thaks you guys for your comment, very helpfull. I will work on it next week and post the result after christmas.

[tharmine]

Update of the mattes and some new one too
http://www.tharmine.com/images/volcanmatte02_2.jpg
http://www.tharmine.com/images/volcanmatte03_2.jpg
http://www.tharmine.com/images/volcanmatte04.jpg

[tharmine]

UPDATES 04/01/05
http://www.tharmine.com/images/volcanmatte04b.jpg
http://www.tharmine.com/images/volcanmatte02_3.jpg

[tharmine]

UPDATE 10/01/05Despite the lack of comment, :? i continue to update my matte....Feel free to comment, this is helpfull.
http://www.tharmine.com/images/matte18a_4_6.jpg

[NickATnitE]

I love the close ups with the bottles. Are there going to be characters walking around in this environment? It looks like such a great set!
Keep up the great work.

Nick Clark


Fix it in pre-Prodution!

[tharmine]

Yes, from the 2 close up shot (the volcano edge and the bottle one) they will be a charachter. But i can t say more, i just hope the shots will be composited quickly so i can show you the result.
BTW, the bottles was on the set, around the character. But as the set build was not good (as a volcano), and instead of rotoscoping them for nothing, i painted them on my matte, adding a few here and there.
Here are some close up:
http://www.tharmine.com/images/matte18a_4_6_closeup01.jpg
http://www.tharmine.com/images/matte_19aa_9_closeup.jpg
http://www.tharmine.com/images/matte20B_2_closeup01.jpg