Graphic Novel Technique

[Kilarin]

I just found the webcomic Crimson Dark. It's a very good science fiction story by David Simon that is created using a combination of poser and photoshop. The author put up a 10 minute vid of how he creates a strip <link>

It seems that he used poser pretty much to position nude bodies in a rendered environment, then uses photoshop to paint on the clothes and add other extras. This vid was made earlier in his story. His technique changes as he works his way through the story and by the end (dec 2008 I think) he is discussing "skinning" some of his models in poser to save time and improve effects.

This made me curious about your graphic novels. I know you used poser extensively, and also ran them through Photoshop or some equivalent to modify the tone, add blur, flatten, etc. But I had just assumed that the clothing on the characters was mostly set up in poser. It certainly seems like it would be easier that way and would also assist in getting the lighting etc all correct.

So how much modification of the poser were were you doing? Were clothes painted or skinned? How much of the environment was rendered in poser and how much (if any) was painted in afterwards?

AND, while we are on the topic of your graphic work. Have you considered hosting your graphic novels (or a new series???) at www.comicgenesis.com/ ? I noticed this on Keenspot when I was looking around: <link>

...oh, and we have a free comic hosting service. Did we mention that?
Comic Genesis is an extension of Keenspot.com, where we hope to provide convenient and reliable web access for online comics much like we do for the members of Keenspot.com. It has been around since June 2000 and now provides hosting for thousands of comic artists around the world.
Comic Genesis artists get web accounts with unlimited webspace and bandwidth, plus access to the "Autokeen" scripts, which are utilities that can handle the updating and archiving of your comics automatically, similar to ones used by Keenspot artists. Comic Genesis also includes optional benefits, such as providing forums for the artists, as well as newsboxes and banner programs to help cross-promote.
How much does it all cost? Exactly zero dollars and zero cents. ...But you do have to put an ad banner at the tops of your pages. That's it.

If you are a webcomic artist, we would love to host your site for you, so head over to Comic Genesis and learn more about it!

[Liantedan]

Well, if you're looking for a free host for webcomics, I'd like to mention that I've noticed Comic Genesis is down for a day for every one or two months. Not that big a problem, especially since it is free, but it may be a bit annoying. Other than thay, they seem pretty good.

There is another place to host webcomics for free, which -as far as I've experienced- hasn't been unreachable yet. www.drunkduck.com/

DrunkDuck is a website that provides free hosting services for webcomic creators. Founded in 2002 by Dylan Squires, it has evolved into one of the largest online webcomic communities with over 7,000 comic strips and stories. In addition to free hosting, DrunkDuck also provides free message boards and forums for its members, as well as a user rating system that allows for feedback and ranking of its webcomics.

[Kilarin]

There is another place to host webcomics for free... www.drunkduck.com/

Ah, that looks like an interesting possibility as well!

It just seems that graphic work as high quality as Xaa's should be attracting more attention.

[Liantedan]

I agree.

Oh, as to get back to your original question... I think Xaa somewhere (may have been at renderosity att he time, if not here, or elsewhere) mentioned he used as little Photoshop as possible. Mostly Poser, and doing things right in it, rather than correcting all the wrongs in Photoshop after. Though I've seen he's done several more "2d" things lately, so it is possible he picked up Photoshop. Then again, it may also just as well have been one single filter he applied. (Which doesn't really qualify as "extensive use of Photoshop", I'd say.)

Of course, it may also be my faulty memory playing tricks on me, so please don't take my word for it.

[Xaa]

kilarin said:

It seems that he used poser pretty much to position nude bodies in a rendered environment, then uses photoshop to paint on the clothes and add other extras.

Which is AMAZINGLY TEDIOUS, I might add, and requires a LOT more skill than you would think, even watching him do it in his video.

This made me curious about your graphic novels. I know you used poser extensively, and also ran them through Photoshop or some equivalent to modify the tone, add blur, flatten, etc.

Actually, I use Paint Shop Pro 5.1, but yes. =) Each image I create is usually extensively post-worked to get the effect I want, though a surprising amount of the effects are accomplished simply by correct lighting and model texturing in Poser.

But I had just assumed that the clothing on the characters was mostly set up in poser.

That's how I do it, yes.

So how much modification of the poser were were you doing?

Every object you see in the image foreground (people, animals, etc) are rendered in Poser. Backgrounds are sometimes placed in place during editing, other times are rendered. The image is then post-worked to an astonishing degree - In the work "For Love of Evil", for example, each frame took about half an hour to an hour to set up, five minutes to render, and half an hour to an hour to post-work.

AND, while we are on the topic of your graphic work. Have you considered hosting your graphic novels (or a new series???) at www.comicgenesis.com/ ? I noticed this on Keenspot when I was looking around: <link>

Yes. I decided not to because then people would expect me to crank out more of them on a regular basis, and I just can't guarantee the kind of production schedules comics fans expect. Comics fans expect you to crank something out every week (preferrably every day) and right now I'm having trouble just making ends meet, much less figuring out how to squeeze in actual work. =)

[Kilarin]

Thank you for the explanation on technique!

I decided not to because then people would expect me to crank out more of them on a regular basis, and I just can't guarantee the kind of production schedules comics fans expect.

There ARE some that crank out on very irregular schedules. Purgatory Tower and [url=http://marrymemovie.com/main/[/url]Marry Me[/url] seem to update just whenever they have time and feel like it. And if Pheonix Requiem has a schedule, I haven't been able to figure out what it is yet. But whatever the schedule was, creating a new web comic would CERTAINLY be a lot of work, and...

I'm having trouble just making ends meet, much less figuring out how to squeeze in actual work.

I can certainly sympathize with that!!!!

But actually, what I was thinking, wasn't just of something new. It was the possibility of getting more exposure for your old stuff. For the Love of Evil has 88 pages. That's one update a week for over a year and a half, or even two updates a week for almost a year.

Still, even just setting up a previously completed work would be a lot of effort. I don't know if the increased traffic would be worth it to you or not.

[Xaa]

kilarin said:

Thank you for the explanation on technique!

Welcome. =)

There ARE some that crank out on very irregular schedules.

Yep, and it annoys the fans immensely. I don't want my fans to be annoyed, so I will come out and admit I am not a comic-book artist. ;-)

For the Love of Evil has 88 pages. That's one update a week for over a year and a half, or even two updates a week for almost a year.

Yep. May have new hosting for it, however - still chatting with people about a possible deal, so I can't say anything at the moment.

[Kilarin]

still chatting with people about a possible deal, so I can't say anything at the moment

Cool! anxious to hear about it when it comes through!