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Matte Painting Software: 5 Best to use in 2024
6 min. read
Updated onJanuary 8, 2024
updated onJanuary 8, 2024
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Key notes
Matte painting also referred to asglass paintingis traditionally made with paints or pastels on large sheets of glass. The purpose? Film-making, of course.
Representing landscapes, cityscapes, and complex environments, a matte painting integrates into live-action footage allowing film-makers to create the illusion of seamless locations.
Although traditional matte paintings are still in use, it is no longer a common practice tophotographand scan paintings into a PC
Thanks to the advancements in graphics design, matte painters have gradually moved their skills and artwork in the digital realm and the effects have never been more astonishing.
Matte paintingsoftwareallows the artists to express their creativity blending digitally matte-painted textures with computer-generated 3D models and environments, and design visualization effects.
We thought you might want to see what is available on the market in terms ofsoftwarefor matte painting. Without further ado, here are five of our favorite painting programs that you can rely on.
What is the best matte painting software?
Adobe After Effects
When it comes tographicsand visual effects software, there aren’t many tools that can match Adobe After Effects’ remarkable capacities.
One original way in which you can use this incredibly versatile tool is for matte paintings.
Offering features like color grading, image separation, and extensions in 3D space and a camera tracker to emulate realistic motion, you can achieve stunning matte paintings.
Besides the features mentioned above, Adobe After Effects also helps you not get lost in a variety of tools and options by organizing everything smoothly.
Let’s quickly go through itskey features:
Adobe After Effects
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop is the pinnacle when it comes to digital painting thanks to its numerous brushes and special effects, not to mention the fact that it gives you complete control over your artwork.
The world’s best imaging andgraphicdesign software boasts an impressive collection of brushes to take your matte painting even further with dazzling effects.
Some of the great effects that you can apply include spray paint or ink wash effect, precise linework shading with pencil, ink, and charcoal brushes, watercolor brushes to splatter effects.
Let’s quickly go through itskey features:
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Illustrator
When it comes to the state of the art of painting, Adobe Illustrator is the best software that money can buy.
Matte painting is as easy as a breeze thanks to Illustrator’s user-friendly brush widely appreciated for its accurate results.
Besides ease of use, this software also encompasses all the tools required by professionals to create state-of-the-art works with just a few clicks of your mouse.
The results of using this software will astonish you at every step, being designed specifically to never limit your imagination.
Faster rendering of Drop Shadows, and Feather Effects in preview mode and freeform gradients help you create rich color blends that give your matte artwork that breath-taking effect you were seeking.
Let’s quickly go through itskey features:
Adobe Illustrator
CorelDRAW
Part of theCorelDRAW Graphics Suite, CorelDRAW is the natural choice for matte painting.
Draw, color, and fill using patterns, textures, color palettes, and color mixers or apply brushstrokes that replicate watercolors, felt markers, and more.
Beyond the effects and options you would normally expect from a powerful software like Corel, what amazes about thissoftwareis its capability to adapt to any workflow, indifferent of your expertise level.
Powerful retouching and restoration tools allow you to paint, draw, apply special effects with adjustment filters for greater control, sharpen, blend and blur as well as correct color and tone.
Let’s quickly go through itskey features:
CorelDRAW
Graphic Design Studio by Summitsoft
Graphic Design Studio offers an impressive graphic editor perfectly adapted to matte painting.
You can draw or design your very own creations with easy to use pen and pencil tools or add special effects that can take any matte artwork from average to one-of-a-kind.
You can also upload your drawings into the program for further editing and export your work to any platform once you’re done.
Besides having access to a variety of useful options and features, thissoftwareensures that you won’t get lost in the user interface, by neatly categorizing all options into accessible menus and sub-menus.
Let’s quickly go through itskey features:
Graphic Design Studio
Matte paintingis a widely known VFX technique. It has found a way into the digital world and thanks to dedicated matte painting software it generates even more spectacular results, faster and easier.
This guide provides you with a quick and efficient way for you to make an informed decision, both based onsoftwarecapabilities and prices.
These recommendations will surely take your creativity to the next level, finding new ground to explore as you go.
Why shouldn’t your artwork benefit from the perks of digitalization? Have you already tried one of the tools from our list? If so, let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
More about the topics:Graphics Software
Milan Stanojevic
Windows Toubleshooting Expert
Milan has been enthusiastic about technology ever since his childhood days, and this led him to take interest in all PC-related technologies. He’s a PC enthusiast and he spends most of his time learning about computers and technology.
Before joining WindowsReport, he worked as a front-end web developer. Now, he’s one of the Troubleshooting experts in our worldwide team, specializing in Windows errors & software issues.
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Milan Stanojevic
Windows Toubleshooting Expert
Before joining WindowsReport, he worked as a front-end web developer. Now, he’s specialized in Windows errors & software issues.
