Digital Matte Painting / Exercise & Projects
21/4/2025 - 30/7/2025/ Week 1 - Week 14
GUAN YAXIN / 0370687
Digital Matte Painting / Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media
LECTURES&PROCESS
Week 1
In the first week of class, Mr. KANNAN VIJAYAN briefly explained the knowledge about this course and introduced the main contents of this course. We will complete some exercises and plans as required.
Week 2
Because of the holiday, we don't have any new courses this week. Mr. KANNAN VIJAYAN sent a message on teams, asking us to continue to finish exercise. We were asked to show the pictures of sunrise, morning, Noon, afternoon, evening, sunset, night and cloud (before rain and after) in different times and in different weather.
Week 3
In this class, the teacher explained how to complete the practice of sky replacement. The requirement is to choose a high-definition picture to replace the sky in different periods, such as morning, noon and afternoon. You can retouch the part outside the sky and replace it with a new sky picture
Or directly use the sky replacement function in photoshop, which is more intuitive and simple
Before the end of the course, Mr. KANNAN VIJAYAN taught us how to draw light and shadow, completed light and shadow exercises, and reminded us to upload the progress to the weekly progress folder in teams.
According to his explanation, I finished the practice of sky replacement. I made different kinds of themes for Mr. KANNAN VIJAYAN to choose and choose.
Week 4
Mr. KANNAN VIJAYAN checked the files uploaded by the students to the weekly progress folder and made suggestions. After that, the teacher taught the students how to draw the perspective of multiple objects, which can be aided by 3d modeling to better understand the perspective. And also commented on project 1 made by some students. At first, my understanding of project 1 was wrong. I thought it was necessary to determine the type of theme, not to choose a specific movie, so I wrote a total of six different movies, and divided them into three categories, namely, Cyberpunk, Science Fiction Modern and Magic, and drew two different drafts for each category.
Mr. KANNAN VIJAYAN reminded me that there was something wrong with my understanding. I only needed to select a specific movie and then draw a sketch, and I needed to make the mood board first, because this was the basis for the completion of the task.
Week 5
According to the teacher's previous suggestion, I finished the production of mood board.
This week, I continued to complete the part of exercise, completed the light practice (that is, drawing the states of three different objects, namely cylinder, sphere and cube, in different directions and under different angles of illumination) and drew a photo sketch.
It took me a long time to finish this work, but the final effect was good, and I felt very happy, but the efficiency was not so high. I thought I should improve my speed because there were other tasks. I also finished drawing two sketch of project 1.
Week 6
In the sixth week, because I still need to finish other subjects, I only drew a landscape sketch at the weekend.
Mr. KANNAN VIJAYAN asked me how I drew it in class, because it looks very real, and he wanted me to show the layers (unfortunately, I have merged the layers to save the storage space of my computer). In fact, it took me quite a long time to make it as similar as the original picture. If you enlarge the picture, you can also see the traces of the brush I used. But the teacher told me that the purpose of sketching is not to be exactly the same as the original picture, but more importantly, our ability to process and summarize the picture information, so that the process of painting is more meaningful. Mr. KANNAN VIJAYAN explained this to me very seriously. I am very grateful for his guidance and decided to use it in the drawing of the next sketch. Before class, I further expanded the Project drafts I drew before.
During this time, I drew the last landscape sketch.
After the teacher's guidance, I no longer pursued excessive authenticity, but drew by my own careful observation and fixed point. Although they look less similar to the original picture, I also gained a lot in the process of drawing. Although I still can't completely abandon the point of "the truth of the painting", I remember Mr. KANNAN VIJAYAN's suggestion and always remind myself that the final rendering effect is not too bad, and I also keep the layer.
For our exercise, we need to draw some Schematic diagram about perspective, so I drew a Schematic diagram about one-point perspective and a Schematic diagram about two-point perspective.
And then I need to draw the perspective that exists in the real world according to the photos. I first found the two-point perspective picture and drew it, but time is limited and I haven't finished it yet.
Week 7
According to the requirements of the exercise, I finished drawing the two-point perspective that I didn't finish before, and also drew the corresponding one-point perspective.
For Project 1, I continued to draw different compositions of different movies based on my previous world board and my research on movies
Mr. KANNAN VIJAYAN told me that I only need to determine a movie theme, but I have done research before, so I want to try each one and let the teacher choose the best one. Mr. KANNAN VIJAYAN pointed out that there were problems with my composition, such as mistakes in perspective, and he patiently demonstrated for me again. I am very grateful for this. According to the suggestion provided by the teacher, I will modify my composition. In the following time, my body function was disordered because of long-term work and rest problems. I couldn't finish the task efficiently, so I only drew a three-point perspective diagram and selected the corresponding photos to complete the drawing of the three-point perspective in the real world.
Week 8
The following week, Mr. KANNAN VIJAYAN had an operation, so he was forced to cancel the course. In the meantime, I continued to improve project 1, And completed the drawing of three-point perspective.
Week 9
According to the requirements, I have completed the production of 4 different photobashing, which I believe is an extension of the previous sky replacement, as this requires higher standards and the operation is more complicated. By changing light and shadow, adding scenes, and so on, I have completed the shaping of the overall atmosphere, which can make the picture blend more naturally.
For the practice of 2.5D matte, I also applied the above methods with the aim of making these works more realistic.
I didn't fully understand the significance of completing these exercises before. In fact, they are all exercises developed to assist in completing the project. I should apply the knowledge learned from these exercises to the completion of the project.
Week 10
For Project, I ultimately chose a draft that I had previously drawn as the basis for drawing. This draft is based on scenes from Transformers. There are some collapsed buildings in the entire picture, and they account for a large proportion, so I chose to portray their effect as dilapidated and dilapidated, creating an atmosphere of the end of the war and chaos. The sense of light in the picture will give people other feelings, no matter what, the sun will always rise as usual and shine on this land.
When I showed Mr. KANAN VIJAYAN the progress of my project, he told me that I needed to carefully check my perspective to ensure that the base plate was aligned correctly with the composition perspective, and then add elements or components related to the theme as imagined to seamlessly connect them. So I made some modifications.
Week 11
Mr. KANNAN VIJAYAN provided suggestions for modifying my work, pointing out that there is an issue with the perspective in the center of the image, and that 3D modeling software can be used to assist in changing the perspective. And using different colors to add details enhances the atmosphere of the picture. Following the teacher's advice, I made modifications.
Week 12
The teacher pointed out that there are still issues with my perspective and further modifications are needed. So I continued to make some changes.
Week 13
Mr. KANAN VIJAYAN pointed out that my image is still not complete enough because we need to do texture mapping. After the teacher's suggestion, I adjusted the perspective and texture of the building.
Week 14
For the final assignment, the teacher suggested that I should add more light and shadow to showcase the projection of the building. He emphasized that perspective is really important and worth everyone's attention. Improving the perception ability of perspective is necessary for this course. At the same time, he also urged the students to speed up in order to complete the final task.
For the final task, we were asked to complete the video production. Firstly, it is necessary to determine the story version. The use of camera is very important in video production. So I should design some storyboards or motion mirrors to clarify my thinking and smoothly complete the production of this task in the future
For my storybook, I have designed the following shots
Camera 1: Starting from the left, zoom in to show the backs of the protagonist and his group
Camera 2: Starting from the right, zoom in on the building behind the display screen
Camera 3: Camera zoom out to display panoramic view from blurry to clear, focusing on the center point
In the picture, the spaceship is also moving, and there is a scene where the sun slowly moves, showing the hope that still exists after the disaster. The contour edges of the silhouette also have a glowing effect.
First of all, what I need to do is to import the source file into AE. This way, the layers will be visible. However, before that, I need to merge some of the layers in the original file first. This can reduce the memory usage and make it easier for me to perform certain operations in AE.
I opened the 3D layer, which makes the perspective, operation, etc. smoother. According to the camera I set, I enlarged the lower left corner to display and presented an effect of moving from right to left.
The same operation method was used for the second shot as well. Originally, I wanted to make different movement directions, but I found that due to the content of the picture, the movement direction of the second shot from the right to the left might look better in terms of effect.
Finally, following the ideas I had set, I used the tools to create a distant-shot effect. During this process, I also determined the trajectory of the spaceship's movement, the movement of the sunlight, and arranged the luminous effect on the outline edges of the protagonist (the side facing the light) based on the original drawing.
This is the final presentation.
youtube link: https://youtu.be/FHws3xTNdC0?feature=shared
INTRODUCTION
Exercise
Project 1
Project 2
Final Project
FEEDBACK
WEEK 1
General Feedback :Mr. KANNAN VIJAYAN introduced the course to us.
Specific Feedback :None
WEEK 2
General Feedback :None
Specific Feedback :None
WEEK 3
General Feedback :Mr. KANNAN VIJAYAN teaches students how to complete sky replacement exercises, light and shadow exercises and so on.
Specific Feedback : I finished the sky replacement exercise and the sketch of task 1 this week. The teacher reminded me that the sky replacement exercise was done well, but Task 1 needed to draw the mood board first, and then draw the draft.
WEEK 4
General Feedback :Mr. KANNAN VIJAYAN gave some suggestions to the students' homework and briefly explained the content about perspective.
Specific Feedback :Mr. KANNAN VIJAYAN reminds me that I can improve my sky replacement practice and choose the best version as the final display, and reminds me that film research only needs to determine one film as the main body.
WEEK 5
General Feedback :Mr. KANNAN VIJAYAN gave some suggestions to the students' homework and also explained some drawing skills.
Specific Feedback :Mr. KANNAN VIJAYAN affirmed my sketches.
WEEK 6
General Feedback :Mr. KANNAN VIJAYAN continued to explain his homework to the students.
Specific Feedback :The teacher listens to me. In the process of negotiation, I don't need to pursue realism excessively, but should pay more attention to the understanding of the picture.
WEEK 7
General Feedback :Mr. KANNAN VIJAYAN continued to give feedback to the students to explain the problems in the homework.
Specific Feedback :The teacher affirmed the drawing of my work and reminded me to increase efficiency and continue to complete the unfinished content.
WEEK 8
General Feedback :Mr. KANNAN VIJAYAN continued to give feedback to the students to explain the problems in the homework.
Specific Feedback :None
WEEK 9
General Feedback :None
Specific Feedback :None
WEEK 10
General Feedback :None
Specific Feedback :The teacher reminded me that the base plate and composition perspective in my work should be aligned correctly
WEEK 11
General Feedback :None
Specific Feedback :The teacher reminded me to continue changing the perspective issue in the center of the picture and adding some colors to make the atmosphere of the picture stronger.
WEEK 12
General Feedback :Mr. KANAN VIJAYAN continues to explain homework to his classmates
Specific Feedback :The teacher reminded me to change the perspective relationship in the picture
WEEK 13
General Feedback :Mr. KANAN VIJAYAN pointed out the problems in the picture for the students
Specific Feedback :Mr. KANAN VIJAYAN said that my visual completion is not high enough, and the texture arrangement should be more reasonable
WEEK 14
General Feedback :The teacher emphasized the importance of perspective and reminded the students to speed up and complete the final task
Specific Feedback :Mr. KANAN VIJAYAN said that I should use some auxiliary tools to complete the understanding of perspective, try to correct the perspective of the picture as reasonably as possible, and proceed with the final task of production
REFLECTION
Experience
After studying this course, I feel that I have gained a lot of knowledge. I never thought I would be exposed to this CG drawing course before, nor did I ever think I could draw CG myself. Although it was somewhat difficult for me, with the teacher's careful explanation and my own efforts, I am also working hard to overcome such difficulties. Throughout the entire learning process, Mr. KANAN VIJAYAN was truly conscientious and responsible. He worked hard to teach every student, and I am truly grateful to him. So I should continue to work hard to improve myself and repay the teacher's expectations. For me, learning experience is very valuable as it can hone my mind and correct my attitude.
Observation
When drawing CG images, textures are often used. At this time, the artist needs to find suitable textures, appropriate light and shadow, and think about how to perfectly integrate them into the image to present a good effect. At the same time, the most important thing is to grasp the perspective center in the picture.
Findings
For this course, perspective is very important. In fact, perspective is quite important in the field of painting. If one has sufficient perception of perspective, it will be quite easy to draw. I know that my abilities are far from enough and I need more knowledge to learn. At the same time, I should also improve my efficiency and not get stuck in any particular area.
For painting, being close to reality is not necessarily the highest goal, and selective artistic processing is also important. Sometimes, blindly reproducing can actually reflect intellectual dullness.
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