Set Extension &Midground Reconstruction - Três Graças
Role: Digital Matte Painter | Client: Rede Globo
The Goal
The practical location for this scene was heavily obstructed by a foreground gate that limited the scale of the background architecture. My goal was to "unlock" the shot by removing the gate entirely and reconstructing the buildings behind it, allowing me to add several floors of 3D architectural extensions to increase the overall urban density.
The Workflow
To ensure the highest quality source, I had the compositing team export the first and last frames of the sequence as denoised plates. Starting with clean, noise-free frames allowed me to stitch them into a panoramic master canvas in Photoshop without baked-in artifacts. After removing the practical gate, I manually reconstructed the hidden architecture and tree foliage. The final delivery was a single, grain-free 16-bit TIF, allowing the comp team to apply their own grain pass for a perfectly matched final shot.
The Real Challenges
Clean-Plate Reconstruction: Removing a foreground element like a gate is only half the battle. I had to "invent" the architecture and textures previously hidden by the bars, ensuring the new building faces and tree branches matched the existing plate's lighting and perspective.
Noise & Grain Management: Working on denoised frames was critical. By delivering a clean 16-bit master,
I ensured there would be no "crawling" noise or double-graining issues when the matte painting was re-projected over the original plate.
Panoramic Stitching Precision: Creating a master environment from a camera move requires perfect alignment. I had to ensure the perspective in my stitched canvas remained mathematically sound so the final architecture felt structurally part of the scene once integrated.
Tools Used
Adobe Photoshop
Production Note: Final delivery provided as a reconstructed, denoised 16-bit TIF master frame for seamless VFX integration.