Painting miniatures to make them look real and regular-sized when shot by the camera requires imitating the actual colors of things they resemble. This doesn't necessarily mean painting them with the exact colors of things they represent. It takes skill and experience to determine what colors would best fit a certain miniature. In general, brighter colors work better because the small scale of a miniature often makes it difficult to distinguish degrees of colors from its details.
A miniature can be used as foreground, background or as both. Regardless of its location from the camera, it is generally meant to look full size on screen according to its required perspective. If a particular miniature used as a foreground, it is often very close to the camera and this affects how it should be painted. If it's in the background, depending on its distance from the foreground, the painting also varies. Apart from the need for realism, the aesthetic value of miniatures on camera is also a primary consideration.
Shadows and highlights are crucial parts of painting a miniature to provide more depth and realism to it. They are typically made by mixing specific colors with white or black. Their importance becomes more apparent when taking a miniature's photo or a still video. In such cases, the shadows and highlights are readily painted to the miniature in a way that the main source of light falling onto it matches its painted shadows and highlights.
Texture is part of the finishing touches when painting a miniature. Application of extra layers of colors can provide the required shine, matte or aging and weathering to make the miniature look more authentic. Its placement from the camera affects how it should be textured. Putting extra materials such as hair for miniatures of people or animals should be taken into consideration during the painting process as well.