Background Painting Reference Photos for Animation

Continuity is the job

In a sequence, the light direction, the color temperature and the props must stay the same from shot to shot. Single images collected from many sources break that. Each Fotoref pack documents one location in depth, so you can stage a scene, cut to a reverse angle and move in close without leaving the place.

Plan the shots from one pack

The Mossy Forest pack, shot at Routeburn in New Zealand, is sorted in a way that already looks like a shot list:

• Establishing shots: Mountains (27 photos) and Lake (19 photos).
• Medium and close shots: Forest (722 photos) of twisted trunks, deep shadows and thick moss.
• A story beat: Bridge (27 photos).

It also includes 7 handheld video clips of about 1 minute each. They are shaky, but they show how the path moves through the forest, which helps when you plan a camera move.

Layout angles: wide and high

Layout artists often need angles that a normal photo does not give. The Enchanted Forest pack (573 photos, New Zealand) was shot with a 10–14mm wide-angle lens, so trees lean and space feels deep. Much of Pine Tree Forest in Winter and Summer was shot from a ski lift, which gives you a top-down view of the forest. The Malaysian Street Night Market (107 photos, Kuala Lumpur) was shot mostly from above, looking down on food stalls and people eating.

Season and time of day

Stories move through time, and backgrounds must follow.

• Pine Tree Forest in Winter and Summer (British Columbia): the same location, shot 6 months apart. Summer (93 photos) and Winter (111 photos).
• Canadian Forest in Sunset (143 photos): a mossy pine forest from sunset into twilight.
• Burnt and Regrowing Australian Forest (238 photos): a forest 2 months after a bushfire, with black trunks covered in bright new leaves and ferns spreading across the ash.

Places for characters to move through

A background is also a stage. The Ancient Giant Sequoia Forest (340 photos, California) has wooden staircases, footbridges, creeks, giant roots, hollow trees and dirt trails, all places where a character can walk, climb or hide. The Rice Terraces Asian Village (503 photos, Luzon, Philippines) shows a village where people live and work in the rice terraces, from a drone and from the ground. For more forests, see forest reference photos.

Frequently asked questions

Can I paint over the photos to make a final background?

Painting over photos is a form of photobashing, which every content type allows. Editorial photos can't be reproduced in advertising or promotion, so keep any recognizable Editorial photo out of posters and promotional art. Mixed packs keep Editorial photos in a separate folder.

Can I use the video clips as footage?

Treat them as reference. The clips in the Mossy Forest pack, for example, are handheld and shaky. They are there to show movement and space, not to be cut into a film.

Do you have city and street backgrounds too?

Yes. See manga and comic background reference for Japanese streets and alleys, and Asian street reference photos for markets.