PSDFan Extra

Members Area Tutorial: Create a Stunningly Detailed Matte Painting Landscape

In this tutorial we will be creating an Assassin’s Creed inspired scene where the assassin stands on the top of a building watching over the city.

This tutorial covers topics like,

-In depth explanation of the New Blur Tools and using them effectively in the scene.
-Digital set extension production techniques.
-Advanced Lighting.
-Matte Painting techniques using reference images.
-Cinematic Color correction using adjustment layers, layer masks and Gradients.
-Creating custom building structures.

Final Image

As always, this is the final image that we’ll be creating:

Step 1

Create a new canvas in Photoshop with the dimensions Width=2560px and Height=1440px.

Step 2

In this step we are going to setup the city background.

1) Import the image of the city on to the working canvas and place it as shown.

2) Now import the distant hills of the cityscape and place the layer beneath the city layer.

Step 3

In this step we will be color correcting the city layer.

1. Create an Adjustment layer of Hue/Saturation to the city layer and set the Saturation level to +14.

2. Now create a Curves Adjustment layer and set the Red and RGB curve as shown to enhance the shadows of the city.

3. Now create a Hue/Saturation Adjustment layer to the Hills layer and set the Hue level to 52 and Saturation level to 25. Then set the Opacity of the adjustment layer to 41%.

4. Create a Curves adjustment layer to the hills layer and set the Red and RGB curves as shown.

Step 4

In this step we are going to create the roof on which the assassin would be standing.

1. Import the image of the rooftop on to the working canvas and place it as shown on the right side bottom corner.

2. Create an Exposure Adjustment layer and set the Offset level to +0.0041.

3. Now by using the Curves Adjustment layer color correct the rooftop to blend with the scene.

Step 5

In this step we will be digitally paint the hills, as our original hills are not long enough to fill the scene.

1. Using the color #789fd2 paint the hills as shown in a new layer. Make sure to place this layer below the hills layer.

2. Usually the far away objects appear to be covered in a thin fog, which we can observe in the original image of the cityscape we used. Hence using the color #789fd2 paint the fog in a new layer and set the Opacity of the layer to 73%.

3. Group all the digitally painted layers of the hill into a folder. Then create an Adjustment layer to the Hill Paint folder and set the Hue level to 52 and Saturation to 25. Now set the Opacity of the adjustment layer to 41%.

4. Now create a Curves Adjustment layer to the hill paint folder and set the Red and RGB curves as shown.

Step 6

In this step we are going to setup a sunset sky to the scene.

1. Import the image of the sunset sky on to the working canvas and place it as shown in the scene. Make sure to place the sunset sky layer beneath the cityscape layer.

That’s the end of the preview!

• Join our FanExtra members community to access this full tutorial.
• Existing members can login here to access this tutorial.

Related Posts

• Create an Aquatic Photo Manipulation of a Giant Tortoise
• Members Area Tutorial: Creating the Photo Manipulation ‘Birth of a New Era’
• Design a Stylish Fashion Advert