![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/86641f1a99509f53fad6ad3db0f07c71/59dafa1f308d2f83ad87d302_rw_1920.jpg?h=274a0e9387f348aa2c62868bcd4615a6)
Summary:
One of the central challenges for this film was making an Ice Age world that was much larger and more scenic in scope. With a team of 3 environment artists and 1 set dresser, we needed to tackle over 200 environment matte painting shots and over 770 skies.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/86641f1a99509f53fad6ad3db0f07c71/c138a1203d5a88037d45d13c_rw_1920.jpg?h=115f973f5e07642b0ccc036eb81adbc5)
Techniques:
Using a combination of digital sculpting, procedural, and traditional 3D modelling techniques, I created a backlot of mountains, mountain ranges, and foothills that could be pulled out and used by any of the artists, regardless of if they preferred to do a full 3D environment or a more 2D Photoshop painting. The image below illustrates the versatility of having a fully 3D asset to work with when viewed with different lighting suites.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/86641f1a99509f53fad6ad3db0f07c71/9e39b8282bb3883acab61a59_rw_1920.jpg?h=7366d89349f5e29f959e2afb43c7e469)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/86641f1a99509f53fad6ad3db0f07c71/01829816ca1aa364ffd45b2a_rw_1920.jpg?h=bdc83c299cffe7ee11aba81bf97ca299)
When combined with the hero assets we had already created, you could get a sequence's worth of environments up and running in hours, not days. The backlot gave flexibility for different times of day while still providing an exellent base for a paintover and projection onto the geometry for custom painting.
The first pass of the environment above was created for Art Director feedback in a few hours by leveraging a previously created hero element for the funnel volcano, backlot mountains and hills, and then a final paintover with a sky and additional texture to bring it all together. This backdrop was used in 16 shots in a sequence.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/86641f1a99509f53fad6ad3db0f07c71/8383805f40c81d2872b65703_rw_1920.jpg?h=687001c1c580fce20494fdba9655262b)
The backlot ended up being deployed across hundreds of shots, from simple set extensions to full frame environments. The contact sheet shows examples of work from 3 different artists with most of the frames using elements off the digital backlot to form a more cohesive shape language, iterate more quickly, and ultimately utilize a very small team to tackle a very big challenge.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/86641f1a99509f53fad6ad3db0f07c71/798bbe76a0acd697ba2daa64_rw_1920.jpg?h=01d47f9fe63cfef63d310a76115e0804)
Standard pipeline render highlighted in RED