Cineversity

There are producers out there who would like backgrounds for their movies. And possibly props too like chairs, tables and stuff.  Possibly games too.

Who would I ask about this?  So I can get into this.
People like myself have the proper equipment, Cinema 4D, and don’t have to go to Hollywood.  Save them lots of money.

Thanks.

Jamestown - 01 January 2015 12:19 AM

There are producers out there who would like backgrounds for their movies. And possibly props too like chairs, tables and stuff.  Possibly games too.
Who would I ask about this?  So I can get into this.
People like myself have the proper equipment, Cinema 4D, and don’t have to go to Hollywood.  Save them lots of money.
Thanks.

(Have a look here first:
http://www.fxguide.com/featured/journey-to-the-hundred-foot-journey/ 
I just watched that movie on Blu-ray, and even knowing that was mostly “fake” it was great to see, especially based on that. One quality Feature Film, to know what was in production shortly ago. This is what motivates me to move on every day, and work on my own movie stuff. I’m focused on film since very long. This is the origin of my perspective here.

I will put my “Mentor-Hat” on for now, so the answer will be based on my memory of your past questions as well. You wanted to model cars and CAD models, then do architecture visualization, then produce realistic landscape scenes, printing models with the aid of c4d, now deliver what games and movies need, without moving away as you say. These are all good ideas and great fields to work in. Which I guess is realized in many artists imagination since a while.
The key to success is certainly to focus on something that comes natural to you and keep going with it. To explore each quarter year a new “craft” might result over the time in a nice “tool-box” and perhaps in something unique as well, but it certainly takes a while (years!). To get faster results, work on something that you like, where the competition is low and where you can make in an easy way contact to the people who needs it. Network and connections are a big deal in this industry (...industries?)

I have a deep admiration for this field and their artists, producing the backgrounds for movies. It is certainly in the group of a more art-centric work. A work that can be done with Photoshop and CINEMA 4D as tandem. This minimal set up will allow already to deliver world-class quality, but as usual, even the most expensive “hammer and chisel” will make no Michelangelo out of a novice. The success is based on many parts, which I will discuss a little bit (below), as I think this is needed before you get into contact with people who might hire you. Know your skills and your competition, as well your target field very well, before you try to get work in such. First impression—can be done only once.

Before I share where to go, I think it is needed to dive a little bit into that field as I mentioned above, hopefully we have the same idea about, and not talking about abstract digital stock material, which might be not really my advice.

What I see in your ideas is certainly motivation and endurance to a certain type of work: Two good things to have. There is a core in all of what you asked here so far, figure that out, so you focus on what really drives you forward. The best thing is to do what you really love, where you get lost in time to work on it. There is the greatest chance that you will grow bigger than most people who just see something, ask for an plug in to do and then post it on YouTube to show off. Instant gratification might be the key in todays world, but it doesn’t deliver outstanding work. In all fields that you have started to explore, to make a living out of it, you need more than an idea and a tool. We are not longer in 1975 where owning a computer allowed for a stress free business for a while. Things are more based on the skills an artist brings to the table, this is his/her history (portfolio if you will), his ability to make visible what others imagine and to deliver on time and with an attitude that makes fun for the one who pays to continue to work.

Let’s talk this time about…
Background refers to Digital Matte-Painting I presume!?
Perhaps digital environment creating? As this is often the target these days as well.

Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_matte_artist
This site is not very old, but check out the links, how many are dead, based on bankruptcy e.g.: Digital Matte World. Which was a great company.

http://mattepainting.org/vb/index.php
I haven’t checked it since a while, but 7,000+ members are there. Certainly many people there with a deeper insight than I have. :o)

Who to contact: You send your portfolio to VFX studios. You find them in the typical magazines as Cinefex for example. Read the credits of movies of course, there are the people who really did it!

The field is nearly as old as feature film production. Back then oil-behind-glass paintings. Painters only.
The skill level for this field is located these days, as you assumed, as well in conjunction with 3D, but predominately with Photoshop and Painter and photography. If you are not top notch in photography as well, you might reconsider this idea anyway.
However: Your portfolio will be the key to get into contact with the studios. I wouldn’t focus on producers if you are new to that field. But it is of course up to you.

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The field today requires a lot of knowledge, be it color-management, handling LUTs for example, a profound knowledge in cinematic camera tech, and most importantly: the ability to change any given image from one mood or even season into another.
It is mostly part of the VFX pipeline and to work seamless with the people in the main pipeline, you need to be fast, and deliver perhaps several hundred of iterations, each time, based on given critique. Photography and painting should be a standard and pleasure to do. Photography is a key these days (well since way over a decade if my observation is correct) especially to deliver for camera-projection. But also just to combine material that you have into your library, a reason why digital matte painter travel a lot and shoot panoramas, as well tons of reference images, to create an easy base to discuss with clients.
Photography techniques needed for this are discussed in a Cineversity multi series here youtube.com/c/DrSassiLA (To my knowledge the most researched and complete series ever published from a single person: me :o) I have to mention, I go really into detail, I get really technical, to get through White-balance, Texture, Panorama, HDRI (published in 2014) and of course Projection Mapping (starting early 2015). Of course, I would say, that is the minimal knowledge to get the photography base done. The art/painting part, well, in my case besides six years at the University of the Arts in Berlin and a complete architecture study over five years, etc., I watched everything from the Gnomon Workshop for example, I watched over 20 DVD from them, read (so far I know) all books about Digital matte-painting, and took many classes years ago at FXPHD. (Again, not to brag about my background, but to give an idea how I created my perspective about, besides the obvious, being over a decade in contact with a lot of people in the industry). If you are a natural painter, and it is easy for you to see and reproduce anything in an painting and in a
“Trompe-l’œil” quality, education might be secondary for you. If not: There are more offers, and if you are new to that field, search for hand on classes. Perhaps check out my JET series here on Cineversity, and the Integration 101. to get an overview about the digital-backlot. :o)

Film formats and lenses are important to understand, which is not an easy part, as they are expensive (even to rent), but knowing the difference between, e.g., a Cooke lens and a Master Prime for example will certainly help to create the right aesthetic for the movie in question. Well, some matte painting artists might think I go to far here, but the more you know, the less adjustments is need to be done in the VFX Pipeline at the expensive studio.

(My subjective view:) How much is outsourced to single artists, is not to my knowledge these days. The whole industry is heavily shifting. First, work went to low income countries, now the complete work goes to tax incentive countries/cities; The work has to be done there of course then. Small work is mostly done in house, to keep the communication loops short. Large work might be outsourced. As usual, owning the tools will not cut it by itself, you as an artist need to deliver something special to stand out in the field of competitors. This need a good PR, e.g., showcase your work and participate on workshops. More importantly, network, network, network. Join fora, be polite and if nothing positive is to say—use your time elsewhere. Some people believe to be critical means they show up as experts, the opposite is the case, attitude is everything. Team work lives from the “chemistry” among the members of the team, same is true for a loose network. Critical people are the least people like to hire. In opposite, helpful and sharing/caring people will get the job. All in all it is about professionally presence: Film is after all a business, if you talk about payment for your work. This business is based on shorten and shorter turnaround times. To deliver what is expected on time is key, which needs to be documented in your portfolio.
Catch 22? How to showcase that, when you don’t have an option to get in – in the first place?
Yeah, certainly, that might look like a trap. So, if you like to get your feed wet, joint a indie film-making crew, give everything, expect nothing. Do that for a while. Work on your portfolio all the time, make your progress and process visible. (I joint in 1987 a film crew, got not paid, and worked as an architect doing the complete set design for the movie. My network started there.)

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Perhaps all of that is not as you like to have it. Check out where others discuss this kind of work. Have a look on what level their work is. Check how many people do it. How many movies need this kind of work? There you have an idea what to expect form this market. You asked about models, well that is way more simple, there are millions of “stock-models” all over the place, google it. But if you are not the best, the competition is already endless. If you have some other knowledge that others don’t have, perhaps there is a niche, but that is a complete new theme. Models will be in a few years like stock images, they are available in abundance and cheap. (… my personal view, just very subjective.)

To ask where these people sit, and thinking you don’t need to be local (you said Hollywood, CA) puts you in the position of anyone else around the globe, which is a strong competition so far I can see it. I say it that clear, as I see sometimes people arguing that 3D is not a money machine as they liked to have it. It is similar to buy a bucket full of clay plus some tools, and expect to be an artist who get offers from galleries like crazy. Might happen in one of a million, if at all. There – I don’t like to introduce illusions. You as an artist must bring something to the table that others do not have, the ownership of the tools alone made a difference two decades ago, today where you can get a studio package from Adobe for a few Dollars per month, while working on a iMac for $2K, certainly did not longer provide such a pole position.
It is you as an artist and the “products you can create”, what you have done and can showcase, and how you work with others. Put s sprinkle of fortune on top of that, and it should work
I put my Mentor-Hat back on the wardrobe and enjoy my New Years day.

Happy New Year, and my best wishes for your explorations of the wonderful field of Digital Image Creation.

Sassi