What is a Matte Painter?
Matte Painters are animation artists who create painted representations of landscapes, sets and other locations, as backgrounds for scenes that can be impossible or difficult to find and film. Most Matte Painters work digitally nowadays, instead of using traditional painting.
What is the Job?
The main role of a Matte Painter is to create realistic elements that are able to replace live-action elements and/or improve existing live action footage in films. Matte Painters work with several types of content; live-action footage, digital still photography, CG elements, and digital paint. They are responsible for creating environments that are realistic, believable and can be integrated seamlessly into the film. Matte Painters mostly work digitally, using software, as well as working with a variety of 2D backdrops and 3D projections.