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3D Comic Book Tips And Pictures

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  • mmitchell_houstonmmitchell_houston Posts: 2,484

    I'd like to make a pitch for Clip Studio Paint. I know it has a steep learning curve, but once I got into the software it really provided me with comic book centric tools that are better than what you find in Photoshop. And I'm a BIG Photoshop fan. I've been using it professionally (as in, it's a big part of the work I do every day to get paid) since version 3 in the mid-1990s. That's more than 25 years of using Photoshop. And trust me, I was stunned when I realized that CSP was better for making the kind of comics I make (line art). I really don't think my art would have advanced as far as it has without it.

    Anyway, just wanted to toss that out there. Keep up the good work, folks!

  • evilded777evilded777 Posts: 2,464
    mmitchell_houston said:

    I'd like to make a pitch for Clip Studio Paint. I know it has a steep learning curve, but once I got into the software it really provided me with comic book centric tools that are better than what you find in Photoshop. And I'm a BIG Photoshop fan. I've been using it professionally (as in, it's a big part of the work I do every day to get paid) since version 3 in the mid-1990s. That's more than 25 years of using Photoshop. And trust me, I was stunned when I realized that CSP was better for making the kind of comics I make (line art). I really don't think my art would have advanced as far as it has without it.

    Anyway, just wanted to toss that out there. Keep up the good work, folks!

    I was thinking about you the other day....how you doin'?

  • mmitchell_houstonmmitchell_houston Posts: 2,484
    evilded777 said:
    mmitchell_houston said:

    I'd like to make a pitch for Clip Studio Paint. I know it has a steep learning curve, but once I got into the software it really provided me with comic book centric tools that are better than what you find in Photoshop. And I'm a BIG Photoshop fan. I've been using it professionally (as in, it's a big part of the work I do every day to get paid) since version 3 in the mid-1990s. That's more than 25 years of using Photoshop. And trust me, I was stunned when I realized that CSP was better for making the kind of comics I make (line art). I really don't think my art would have advanced as far as it has without it.

    Anyway, just wanted to toss that out there. Keep up the good work, folks!

    I was thinking about you the other day....how you doin'?

    Thanks for asking. Y'know, mostly just trying to hold it all togetheer in the midst of all this junk going on. I'm probably not spending enough time creating art; my heart's just not in it.

    How are you doing these days? Healthy and productive, I hope.

  • evilded777evilded777 Posts: 2,464
    mmitchell_houston said:
    evilded777 said:
    mmitchell_houston said:

    I'd like to make a pitch for Clip Studio Paint. I know it has a steep learning curve, but once I got into the software it really provided me with comic book centric tools that are better than what you find in Photoshop. And I'm a BIG Photoshop fan. I've been using it professionally (as in, it's a big part of the work I do every day to get paid) since version 3 in the mid-1990s. That's more than 25 years of using Photoshop. And trust me, I was stunned when I realized that CSP was better for making the kind of comics I make (line art). I really don't think my art would have advanced as far as it has without it.

    Anyway, just wanted to toss that out there. Keep up the good work, folks!

    I was thinking about you the other day....how you doin'?

    Thanks for asking. Y'know, mostly just trying to hold it all togetheer in the midst of all this junk going on. I'm probably not spending enough time creating art; my heart's just not in it.

    How are you doing these days? Healthy and productive, I hope.

    Mostly healthy, can't judge my own sanity right now.  Not as productive as I would have liked, spending endless hours home bound... but I've been creative of late.

  • jd641jd641 Posts: 459

    There's 30+ pages so I'm sure this has been asked but please forgive me:

    In DS if I want to make a comic/story is it better save each panel as a separate scene file or is it better to just use the timeline and make each panel a key frame?

  • LinwellyLinwelly Posts: 5,956
    jd641 said:

    There's 30+ pages so I'm sure this has been asked but please forgive me:

    In DS if I want to make a comic/story is it better save each panel as a separate scene file or is it better to just use the timeline and make each panel a key frame?

    the way I do it is to create a masterscene for a location which contains all the stuff that might be around there. Get my characters and camera in place and safe a separate scene from that where I can remove all the stuff that is out of camera view. This reduces render times and you can always go back to the masterscene for the next

  • mmitchell_houstonmmitchell_houston Posts: 2,484
    jd641 said:

    There's 30+ pages so I'm sure this has been asked but please forgive me:

    In DS if I want to make a comic/story is it better save each panel as a separate scene file or is it better to just use the timeline and make each panel a key frame?

    Regardless of the software I'm using, I save a separate file for each panel. This allows me to go back to that EXACT scene (lighting, poses, camera angles, etc.) in case I need to make any changes. I have found this to be very efficient and it has saved me a lot of time in the long run.

  • mmitchell_houstonmmitchell_houston Posts: 2,484
    evilded777 said:
    mmitchell_houston said:
    evilded777 said:
    mmitchell_houston said:

    I'd like to make a pitch for Clip Studio Paint. I know it has a steep learning curve, but once I got into the software it really provided me with comic book centric tools that are better than what you find in Photoshop. And I'm a BIG Photoshop fan. I've been using it professionally (as in, it's a big part of the work I do every day to get paid) since version 3 in the mid-1990s. That's more than 25 years of using Photoshop. And trust me, I was stunned when I realized that CSP was better for making the kind of comics I make (line art). I really don't think my art would have advanced as far as it has without it.

    Anyway, just wanted to toss that out there. Keep up the good work, folks!

    I was thinking about you the other day....how you doin'?

    Thanks for asking. Y'know, mostly just trying to hold it all togetheer in the midst of all this junk going on. I'm probably not spending enough time creating art; my heart's just not in it.

    How are you doing these days? Healthy and productive, I hope.

    Mostly healthy, can't judge my own sanity right now.  Not as productive as I would have liked, spending endless hours home bound... but I've been creative of late.

    Good for you. I'm definitely struggling to be creative. I'm going to try to force myself to sit down and do something interesting. Even if nothing good comes of it, hopefully it will get me more in the habit of at least trying to get things done.

  • bowmansg1bowmansg1 Posts: 2
    edited November 2020

    Just wanted to share a page from a short comic book I made this summer using Daz characters and Blambot Fonts. 

    It can be read for free here: https://theunderpasstract.weebly.com

    Hope you enjoy it!

    THEUNDERPASS PAGE 08-0-75.jpg
    1440 x 743 - 335K
    Post edited by bowmansg1 on
  • nimeshnimesh Posts: 8

    hey everyone, im using Daz to make my comics too. (just want to thank 3Diva for pointing out this wonderful thread).

    here are a few pages that i did, let me know what you guys think

    XIB_01_PG_16 copy.png
    1200 x 1814 - 2M
    XIB_01_PG_17 copy.png
    1200 x 1814 - 3M
    XIB_01_PG_19 copy.png
    1200 x 1814 - 2M
    XIB_01_PG_20 copy.png
    1200 x 1814 - 3M
    XIB_01_PG_15 copy.png
    1200 x 1814 - 2M
  • 3Diva3Diva Posts: 11,623
    nimesh said:

    hey everyone, im using Daz to make my comics too. (just want to thank 3Diva for pointing out this wonderful thread).

    here are a few pages that i did, let me know what you guys think

    I commented on these in the other thread, but your pages are really cool! Nicely done! :D I hope you keep us posted with more of your pages. I'm looking forward to seeing some of the dialogue and stuff too - if you're willing to show them here when you get them lettered. :)

  • kenmokenmo Posts: 908
    3Diva said:

    I made some tweaks to page two. Is the pacing of the inner dialogue better now? Or worse? Or about the same?

    Also, the inner dialogue box colors - Better now? Worse? Or about the same? :) 

    Would the inner dialogue look better as balloons rather than boxes?

    Feedback is very much appreciated! :D (Though of course, if you don't have the time or don't have anything you want to say, that's valid too! No stress, no pressure - if you feel like giving feedback, I'm all ears and ready to take mental notes. If you don't feel like it, that's totally understandable too and I wouldn't take it personally.)

    Wow....love this !!!!

  • 3Diva3Diva Posts: 11,623
    kenmo said:
    3Diva said:

    I made some tweaks to page two. Is the pacing of the inner dialogue better now? Or worse? Or about the same?

    Also, the inner dialogue box colors - Better now? Worse? Or about the same? :) 

    Would the inner dialogue look better as balloons rather than boxes?

    Feedback is very much appreciated! :D (Though of course, if you don't have the time or don't have anything you want to say, that's valid too! No stress, no pressure - if you feel like giving feedback, I'm all ears and ready to take mental notes. If you don't feel like it, that's totally understandable too and I wouldn't take it personally.)

    Wow....love this !!!!

    Thank you so much, @kenmo! :D It's good to see you posting! I've not seen you around much (I've not been around much either but looking forward to getting back to it).

  • nimeshnimesh Posts: 8
    3Diva said:
    nimesh said:

    hey everyone, im using Daz to make my comics too. (just want to thank 3Diva for pointing out this wonderful thread).

    here are a few pages that i did, let me know what you guys think

    I commented on these in the other thread, but your pages are really cool! Nicely done! :D I hope you keep us posted with more of your pages. I'm looking forward to seeing some of the dialogue and stuff too - if you're willing to show them here when you get them lettered. :)

    Thank you and yes i will :)

  • amaragh2@gmail.com[email protected] Posts: 199

    Good day folks,

    Since everyone here is focused on Comics I'm hoping you can help me with something. Where can "Anime/Manga style" hair, meaning big hair strands, no need for realistic millions of strands no transparency required, that works with genesis 8?

  • MartirillaMartirilla Posts: 181

    Can you be more specific, ShadowSkillz? Male or female, photoreal or tooned rendering, long and flowing or short and spiky?

  • amaragh2@gmail.com[email protected] Posts: 199
    edited December 2020

    Martirilla said:

    Can you be more specific, ShadowSkillz? Male or female, photoreal or tooned rendering, long and flowing or short and spiky?

    Male & Female, mainly for toon/anime style renders. Long, flowing, short, spiky, anything that is available. Items like this : https://www.daz3d.com/annie-hair-for-genesis-3-female-s and https://www.daz3d.com/anime-bun-hair-for-genesis-8-female-s The second being the best example of what I am looking for, thick chunky strands that's not trying to be realistic and won't mess up render times.

    Post edited by [email protected] on
  • LinwellyLinwelly Posts: 5,956

    look at this OOT's shop, they have several, often for g3 but tey can easily be used on g8: https://www.daz3d.com/outoftouch

    or cake one https://www.daz3d.com/cake-one

  • amaragh2@gmail.com[email protected] Posts: 199

    Linwelly said:

    look at this OOT's shop, they have several, often for g3 but tey can easily be used on g8: https://www.daz3d.com/outoftouch

    or cake one https://www.daz3d.com/cake-one

    Thanks for the links, but not quite what I am looking for as a lot of what is there still aims to look realistic, this hair product matches with the anime style I am looking for the most to me: https://www.daz3d.com/anime-bun-hair-for-genesis-8-female-s ;

  • vwranglervwrangler Posts: 4,890
    edited December 2020

    ShadowSkillz said:

    Good day folks,

    Since everyone here is focused on Comics I'm hoping you can help me with something. Where can "Anime/Manga style" hair, meaning big hair strands, no need for realistic millions of strands no transparency required, that works with genesis 8?

    https://www.daz3d.com/d4m-faith-hair-lo-res-for-genesis-3-female-s (can be used with G8 by changing the Scene Identification in the Scene tab flyout menu)

    https://www.daz3d.com/dforce-dalia-hair-for-genesis-8-females (... maybe)

    https://www.daz3d.com/cutie-hair-for-genesis-3-and-8-females

    https://www.daz3d.com/sakura-anime-long-hair-for-genesis-3-and-8-female-s

    Basically, just wander through https://www.daz3d.com/lady-littlefox storefront; she does a lot of toonish stuff.

    Post edited by vwrangler on
  • amaragh2@gmail.com[email protected] Posts: 199

    vwrangler said:

    ShadowSkillz said:

    Good day folks,

    Since everyone here is focused on Comics I'm hoping you can help me with something. Where can "Anime/Manga style" hair, meaning big hair strands, no need for realistic millions of strands no transparency required, that works with genesis 8?

    https://www.daz3d.com/d4m-faith-hair-lo-res-for-genesis-3-female-s (can be used with G8 by changing the Scene Identification in the Scene tab flyout menu)

    https://www.daz3d.com/dforce-dalia-hair-for-genesis-8-females (... maybe)

    https://www.daz3d.com/cutie-hair-for-genesis-3-and-8-females

    https://www.daz3d.com/sakura-anime-long-hair-for-genesis-3-and-8-female-s

    Basically, just wander through https://www.daz3d.com/lady-littlefox storefront; she does a lot of toonish stuff.

    Thanks for the suggestions, I've come across their store before, it comes the close to what I have in mind, but still not exactly it. The comic I have in mind doesn't need real hair, but it looks like Daz doesn't have a lot of options for me.

  • MartirillaMartirilla Posts: 181

    Ok, I see what you want now, re: "Anime Bun Hair for Genesis 8". Stylized toon "hair-blades", that are chunky enough to take toon shaders and also to show ink lines at the edges.

    Your key words for a starting search are therefore: Hikari; NearMe; Moetan hair; Star!; Nyoko; JCMangaHair; MH5Xhair; "Anime Doll for Genesis"; "Annie Hair for Genesis"; A3 Mitsu; and Futepen's Sera short hair.

    I hear you can also export hair from MMD and Vroid Studio hair to OBJ?

  • mmitchell_houstonmmitchell_houston Posts: 2,484

    ShadowSkillz said:

    Good day folks,

    Since everyone here is focused on Comics I'm hoping you can help me with something. Where can "Anime/Manga style" hair, meaning big hair strands, no need for realistic millions of strands no transparency required, that works with genesis 8?

    I can relate to your problem. Even though I work in Poser, I've had the same issue with trying to get comic-style hair, rather than realistic hair in my work. I found the best solution is to go back in time and look at OLD hair products that are based more on geometry than on transmaps. Now, this solution means you will need to custom fit your hair, but once you get the hang of the process it's not all that troublesome.

    I suggest you look for hair for these figures:

    And have you looked at these?

  • amaragh2@gmail.com[email protected] Posts: 199

    Thanks for the recommendations, noticing the trend towards older items, guess that means Daz has really trended towards realism a lot. It seems my older searches were not that bad after all since I have come across a lot of the suggesttions so far as well.

  • mmitchell_houstonmmitchell_houston Posts: 2,484

    ShadowSkillz said:

    Thanks for the recommendations, noticing the trend towards older items, guess that means Daz has really trended towards realism a lot. It seems my older searches were not that bad after all since I have come across a lot of the suggesttions so far as well.

    Realism has definitely been the focus of both Daz Studio and Poser for many, many years. Once the softwares supported good transparency maps, the process of modeling hair changed dramatically and focused on thin planes, rather than large geometric strands. Nevertheless, there are still good resources out there, so just keep looking. And don't forget to check out Renderosity or ShareCG for resources that can be adapted to your needs.

    Good luck!

  • john_antkowiakjohn_antkowiak Posts: 334

    Thanks to the OP for this thread - I haven't seen finished comics pages like these. @Kenmo, how long does it take you to produce one page? As if getting a single render the way I want it isn't hard enough  lol.... 

    Speaking of which, this thread is exactly what I needed today; I'm looking for feedback. This image isn't near done but I'm not as pleased as I thought I'd be and I don't know why. It's a quick render, so I suspect the blotches on the face will disappear after I let the render process cook for a while. She's supposed to have a jewel and LIE markings on her face, but the coloring is wrong (probably reflections from the HDRI). It probably needs more smoke effects. This is DC's Raven, about whom I know very little, inspired by tv's Titans version of the chatacter. I think the problem is with scale, although I don't know how to estimate how big she ought to be in relation to the ground. She's supposed to be about 14 here, 5'5" and 98 pounds soaking wet. Thoughts? (I know it's dark, but to me DC characters just look better in the dark. Still the lighting could be worlds better if I knew how.)

    Raven test 02.jpg
    1300 x 731 - 478K
  • MartirillaMartirilla Posts: 181

    Scale looks fine. Re: speed. If the comic is going to be that dark and grungy, with no rim-lighting and with a photo backplate/road, then you might as well render instantly to OpenGL in real-time.  This can be automated with a script....

    // Set the render type to 'Basic OpenGL'; aka 'ScreenShot'oRenderOptions.renderType = DzRenderOptions.ScreenShot;

     

  • john_antkowiakjohn_antkowiak Posts: 334

    Hi, Martiilla. Thanks for your comment. It makes me wonder, though, if I misunderstood the OP when she said, "This thread is for tips about creating comics with 3D software and for posting comic images" Although mine is conceived as a comics image, it isn't part of a larger effort to lay out a graphic novel. It's just one image hopefully in that genre; I'm hoping to get some feedback on presentation, composition, lighting, and other things I don't even know I'm asking about because I have zero background in any of it. (I just like learning to use DAZ Studio and kitbashing to achieve a desired character as ends unto themselves - but once the charater is done, it would be nice to DO something with it for a change.) You touched on an example of the latter, but more on that in a sec.

    And as I mentioned, I just think the DC characters are better suited in the dark in general. But that just means I have to figure out how to render darkness while still being able to show the scene. I'm not very good at that. This character in particular wields darkness itself as an embodied presence. How to show that and still see the subject?

    Tell me more about backlighting/rim lighting? I know what it is but I don't know how to set it up. At the moment, the only lighting is the HDRI. There's a ghost light inverted dome in front of her to her right, angled towrd her face, but it was turned off in that image because it looked too much like a spotlight on her, highlighted by a circular illumination of the ground (actually on the reflection plane beneath her feet. That light obscured the road detail in the image and looked horrible. It's the inverted dome from the Ghost Light II set, I think - so I have those to use, if only I could figure out how to do it effectively.

    I should probably also experiment with the camera anlge; that never works well when left to my own devices lol...

    You made a suggestion regarding speed, that implies that you thought that I think speed is an issue. I don't; I was only trying to explain the image I presented as it relates to what might  be simpy an incomplete render. But I'm curious about your suggestion because I didn't understand a word of it. What does "render instantly to OpenGL in real-time" mean? 

  • mmitchell_houstonmmitchell_houston Posts: 2,484

    john_antkowiak said:

    Thanks to the OP for this thread - I haven't seen finished comics pages like these. @Kenmo, how long does it take you to produce one page? As if getting a single render the way I want it isn't hard enough  lol.... 

    Speaking of which, this thread is exactly what I needed today; I'm looking for feedback. This image isn't near done but I'm not as pleased as I thought I'd be and I don't know why. It's a quick render, so I suspect the blotches on the face will disappear after I let the render process cook for a while. She's supposed to have a jewel and LIE markings on her face, but the coloring is wrong (probably reflections from the HDRI). It probably needs more smoke effects. This is DC's Raven, about whom I know very little, inspired by tv's Titans version of the character. I think the problem is with scale, although I don't know how to estimate how big she ought to be in relation to the ground. She's supposed to be about 14 here, 5'5" and 98 pounds soaking wet. Thoughts? (I know it's dark, but to me DC characters just look better in the dark. Still the lighting could be worlds better if I knew how.)

    I like the foundation of the scene. And I've watched most of the Titans series, so this does look like Raven. Her size looks fine, inasmuch as I can gauge it because there isn't very much near her to show us scale.  Diving into the illustration:

    1. There is no drama or movement to the pose. She's just standing there and that doesn't tell us anything about her, nor does it contribute to the emotions of the scene. Consider the following:
      1. Is she attacking? Then have her advancing toward the viewer (one foot out toward us). Maybe give her a smirk.
      2. Is she defensive? Then have her crouched a little with one hand more toward us as though she's bracing for a blow she expects to come. Maybe she looks afraid, or cocky?
      3. In the show, her hair flies around (those black smoke effects generate wind), so add some movement there. 
    2. I hope this doesn't come off as overly critical, but one of the biggest mistakes people make in "dark" scenes is that they think there isn't much light present. That's the opposite of the truth. It's just that the light is very controlled as to what it illuminates. And almost always, we want illumination on the face or eyes. A little light on the face, coming from a single spotlight or rim light (to pull her body out from the background). Unless you are doing a pure horror movie, always put some light on the key figure. I suggest looking at some movies or TV shows to see how they handle it.

    Anyway, good luck with your work. And welcome to the group – there are some very nice people here and you'll find that there is a lot of support for everyone who want to grow as an artist.

  • mmitchell_houstonmmitchell_houston Posts: 2,484

    BTW: I am FINALLY getting off my butt and getting back to work on my fantasy comic. Working on a new panel now that should finally complete another two-page spread. I hope to post it soon!

    But first, I need to finish decorating for Christmas!

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