The MattePaint Academy is the ultimate resource for the budding Matte Painter and Digital Artist!
As a free add on to anyone with an Artist-Plus or Artist-Pro plan, the MattePaint Academy allows you to see into how the industry professionals do what they do. The tips and tricks displayed in the Academy Videos are tried and true and are a great way to quickly get your head around widely used and implemented techniques in the VFX world.
Stefan's Tutorials make learning the key aspects of Nuke for Matte Painters a breeze, covering everything you need to know from Beginner to Expert in 4 easy to follow Courses. Check out the previews of the Tutorials below and head over to our Academy to watch the Full Tutorials!
Beginner: Camera Tracking in Nuke
Learn all about Camera tracking in Nuke. Stefan first steps through all the setting you need to know for the camera tracker node. Then, we'll track the camera and attempt to make some improvements on the track by using the filters and deleting bad tracks. Lastly, we'll create a tracked camera from the process which we can use for projections.
Beginner: Reformatting Images in Nuke
Reformatting images to add overscan for paint work in Photoshop is a process every professional Matte Painter must know. It is an integral first step in a VFX Matte Painters workflow to extend a background, replace a sky or do any modification to a plate. Follow along with Stefan as he goes through all the steps to add overscan and bring your plate (footage) from Nuke, into Photoshop and then back into Nuke for projection. With these skills, you'll be well equipped to move forward into extending the backgrounds, replacing the sky or adding new elements to your own plates!
Intermediate: Projecting on Cards in Nuke
Projecting on cards is a common technique used to add depth and life to a Matte Painting or Concept Art piece. Understanding this process will give you a solid foundation to explore more advanced projections like camera projections or projecting on 3D geometry. Join Stefan as he runs through how to break-down a Photoshop PSD file in Nuke and project it in 3D through a camera!
Expert: Advanced Camera Projections in Nuke
Camera projections are a key technique for Matte Painters to understand. The process involves "projecting" an image through a camera and onto 3D Geo. If there's a live-action plate shot, that is usually used as the projection camera and then cards and basic geometry are setup for each projection to appear on. In this Tutorial we will use the tracked camera created in the Camera Tracking in Nuke Tutorial to continue with our projection setup. We'll use Nuke to generated a dense point cloud to guide our alignment, then add cards and cubes to "catch" the projection layers created in Photoshop!
Stay tuned for more helpful content, videos and techniques that have helped many of our Academy students into Industry Jobs and Careers and head to our Discord Community and our Facebook Community group to share your feedback and show off your new found skillz!
Check out the full Academy library!
The MattePaint Academy is a resource tailored specifically to teaching aspiring DMP artists how to Level up their skills quickly and efficiently and land them in a Job of a lifetime! For Full Access to the Academy, all you need is an Artist-Plus or Artist-Pro Subscription so head over and grab one now and start your Career Path on the right track!
