[Eisner]

Not having seen the Dusso DVD I can't comment much on it's content, but as a sort of, 'student of matte painting', I would like to see how you manage a finished painting in 3D.

I would like to see more on the actual process of camera mapping and various other ways of using mattes in 3D. I noticed your showreel explores this a little, but I would like to see how you size up a painting in order for it to work in 3D.

Brushes can always be made by oneself, but tips on texturing would be good.

Oh..and a cheaper price on the DVD's

Thanks
Mr. Cole

[NickATnitE]

Hi Dylan,
Wow I am extatic that you are producing some gnomon dvds your work is amazing and seeing some of your process will be incredibly helpfull no matter how you do it. Unlike most I thought dusso's dvds were great! Sure he didn't say alot at times but he didn't really have to just watching him work is worth every penny. Imagine getting to look over michaelangelo's shoulder or renoir when they work. that's how we feel when we watch one of these.
I was happy with dusso's dvds but since you asked for suggestions here you go...


brush settings. I didn't have an issue with this on dusso's cause he only uses 2 different brushes but still a little heads up on what you are using and why would be appreciated.

"Turning the corner" man getting things to go from painterly to photoreal can be a serious pain in the @$$ and any tips or tricks\methodologies to accomplish this would be extremely helpfull.

Clouds and smoke. they way you paint this stuff rocks my personal kasbah. how do you get around that photoshoppy airbrush look an make it "turn the corner".

Complicated perspective. you are the king at curvy pan perspective warps. any info on this would be great!

Lighting. Light is everything... show us the digs...

colour pallate. How do you choose a colour palatte and why. Dusso touched on this but he seems to just arbitrarily pick the perfect colour's some help on the why's would rule.

What NOT to paint. Matte painting has always been about the less is more philosophy. though that was more prevalent in glass shots. still I want to know how you decide on where to put the details and how much is too much.

We all seem too be more interested in your painting techniques but any compositing tricks and tips you want to thow in for dealing with photos would be smashing.

basically don't worry to much about it. we are gonna love these dvds no matter what you do. just getting to see you work will be deadly. Have a good time making them and do whatever is comfortable for you.

I look forward to watching them.

Thanx

Nick Clark

Fix it In pre' - Paddy Eason

[dylan]

Thank you one and all. I really appreciate it and keep them coming. I will keep all of your suggestions in mind and I will pack the lectures with as much information as I can. I am really excited about these.

More details soon.

Dylan

[MoonDog]

I have the Dusso Vol. 1, as well as Ryan Church's Vol. 5 dvds, and while I realize that both are covering very different types of work, I found that Ryan's were more rewarding because he actually discussed technique. That's what I'd really love to see Dylan explain - technique rather than basic conceptual explanations. Dusso's disc is good for inspiration, but the actual content is covered far better in any basic painting class on any college campus - composition, light, etc.

I'd love to see something specific to digital matte painting techniques - painting resolutions, custom brushes and settings, photo sampling, use of reference stills, layer management, etc. I always would prefer specifics (yes, even if it becomes a huge "Photoshop for Matte Painting Tutorial") because I have yet to see these issues covered in any real detail by professionals working in the field. Photoshop for print, photoshop for the web - books and tutorials are all over the place. How about a Photoshop for matte painting? Even a few insider "tips and tricks" would be great (resources for high res photos, texture techniques, etc.)

Multiple discs (ala Ryan Church) could cover various scenerios: 1 disc for a basic full frame matte (ala your Sky Captain Shangri-La establishing shot), another for a digital 2.5D projection matte (addressing overpainting, projection software techniques, etc), another for set extentions (to touch on motion tracking issues as it relates to painting, etc.), etc. Each disc could address the specific concerns you would have for each shot.

And if you were comfortable doing so, it would really be wonderful to have the full res painting covered on the disc as a DVD-rom extra - even as a flattened JPEG, so we can see it up close and personal, rather than NTSC and MPEG-2 compressed.

Just my two cents.

But regardless of what you end up doing, you can be sure I'll be pre-ordering as soon as it's officially announced. And as mentioned above, thanks for being so active on this board!

[jcdlr]

Originally Posted by MoonDog

I have the Dusso Vol. 1, as well as Ryan Church's Vol. 5 dvds, and while I realize that both are covering very different types of work, I found that Ryan's were more rewarding because he actually discussed technique. That's what I'd really love to see Dylan explain - technique rather than basic conceptual explanations. Dusso's disc is good for inspiration, but the actual content is covered far better in any basic painting class on any college campus - composition, light, etc.

I'd love to see something specific to digital matte painting techniques - painting resolutions, custom brushes and settings, photo sampling, use of reference stills, layer management, etc. I always would prefer specifics (yes, even if it becomes a huge "Photoshop for Matte Painting Tutorial") because I have yet to see these issues covered in any real detail by professionals working in the field. Photoshop for print, photoshop for the web - books and tutorials are all over the place. How about a Photoshop for matte painting? Even a few insider "tips and tricks" would be great (resources for high res photos, texture techniques, etc.)

Multiple discs (ala Ryan Church) could cover various scenerios: 1 disc for a basic full frame matte (ala your Sky Captain Shangri-La establishing shot), another for a digital 2.5D projection matte (addressing overpainting, projection software techniques, etc), another for set extentions (to touch on motion tracking issues as it relates to painting, etc.), etc. Each disc could address the specific concerns you would have for each shot.

And if you were comfortable doing so, it would really be wonderful to have the full res painting covered on the disc as a DVD-rom extra - even as a flattened JPEG, so we can see it up close and personal, rather than NTSC and MPEG-2 compressed.

Just my two cents.

But regardless of what you end up doing, you can be sure I'll be pre-ordering as soon as it's officially announced. And as mentioned above, thanks for being so active on this board!

I couldn't have said it better myself Moondog. Thanks for sharing your point of view. I totally agree with what you say. I think it would be Amazing to have multiple DVDs even if they do cost a little extra. As a matter of fact I would make it a 7 DVD bundle package all in itself. It's worth the investment. There really is no books out there that really explains anc covers the fundamentals of Matte Painting and having a DVD set made by Dylan would be a mesmerizing Contribution to the Art and Craft of Digital Matte Painting.

All this to say that, I'm already a buyer of his future DVDs.

[Slave]

I found dusso to be a little too vague .... they were to general for me I want

to get to the heart of the matte painting ...learn some tricks .. what the artist is thinking .. more in depth, I found dussos a bit like a paint bye number..

Dylan Im shure yours will kick ass!

:D

[Glitch02]

Being a poor college student has prevented me from watching the DVD's currently offered by Gnomon, but I’d still like to see them even though I’ve heard mixed reviews on Dusso's DVD set. I have been to your website and viewed your work so I find that you'd have a lot to offer as a teacher. Care to help me get my master in matte painting? lol I'd jump at the chance since it has been hard to find a useful educational facility offering grad work. I’m currently looking and asking for any suggestions. As for what you want to do with your DVD's, like any great piece of work, show the steps from concept to final piece, explaining why something’s work better than others. Much like a father says to a son when working out in the garage. Good luck in your research.

Scott

[NickATnitE]

I had another Idea of something i'd love to see. On your dvd you have a few "2 1/2 D " moments where you do an inferno (presumably) side view of your moving paintings. I would like to see a more in depth look at a setup of that nature, methodologies, tips etc. I've always been dissapointed in these types of sequences in making of featurettes because it only lasts a few seconds, please show us how you'd approach setting this up for a feature type composite in whatever program your comfortable with.

thanx
Hope this helps

Nick Clark

[bcottman]

Dylan, glad to hear your doing a video.
I Thought Dusso's DVDs were Great. I especially liked the first video. I thought seeing his thought processes behind multiple quick subjects was more satisfying than seeing every step of the full painting on video 2. Also, it was good to see how he used a variety of different cases to address exposure and palette. A good Idea might be to have each chapter deal with a basic step in your process, and then to have the end chapter show you bring a small area of the painting to finish. I am not as concerned with seeing every part of a painting in real time as I am seeing how you address a variety of problems. Also I would prefer seeing a variety of project related issues than have you spending time explaining brushes. Perhaps you could include more of these sort of technical issues in the "Notes" section.

Brenton

[Travis_ Bourbeau]

I invited Dylan to come to the MB workshop where he volunteered to do demo's for 2 days. I can say for a fact that the DVD's will be great do to the fact that Dylan is a natural teacher.

Im looking forward to them myself pal

Trav