ENDA Episode 161→ The time when ENDA faces a Multipass Challenge (Part 3)

How hard is it, really, to add some planets in the background?

At first glance, it seems simple: find a PNG, lower the opacity, match the track data, and call it a day. And yes, sometimes it is that simple.

But most of the time? There’s a lot more going on behind the scenes.

In the video below, you’ll see that the main planet wasn’t even a PNG; it was a full photo. One that had to be layered with an additional texture to achieve the look the scene needed.

Then came the roto. Then came placing a second planet. Then came finding the right position that aligned with the framing of the shot.

Only after all that, we could use the Cryptomatte to finally slot the planets behind the mountains.

But here’s the trickiest part: How do we integrate them?

→ Colour-correct them into the scene?

→ Lower their opacity for a faded look?

→ Blur the edges to help blend?

None of the above.

In this case, the answer was:

👉 use the right Merge operation.

And after several tests, that turned out to be Merge (Hypot). Uncommon, but it worked beautifully.

That’s the reality of shots like these: What looks simple at first glance often hides a deep pile of layering, texture blending, roto, tracking, and testing.

And this was just for the planets.

Next up? Adding CG lava to the rocks…

But that’ll be for another episode.

So… stay tuned!

The journey continues…