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I can't see the image you mention above. I'd love to see what finally met your standards!
Are the mentioned flat cel shaders the ones you graciously (re)posted at sharecg?, or a newer pesonal set?
I have, love, and thank you for your repost of those DAZ/pwtoon cel shaders.
(To those that don't know of them: http://www.sharecg.com/v/69733/favorite/21/DAZ-Studio/Crescents-pwToon-Cel-Shaders)
thanks again!,
--ms
I can't see your image. The suspense is killing me. :-)
You have to leave the attachment attached for the image to work in-line.
Sorry I've been absent from the thread for a while, nice to see it's still going strong. @tkdrobert, your most recent x men pic came out great.
I haven't been able to post any more samples recently, but if anyone is interested is some free PDFs or CBZs of my work, shoot me a DM with your email address and I'll send you a google drive link.
Here’s an image using Ron’s Space Brushes in CSP.
That looks very nice. Thank you for replying to my question and providing an example.
I found some brushes and backgrounds for free in CSP. The only reason I found those brushes was because I copied and pasted the Japanese translations for cosmos, planet, stars, etc. into the search bar. Space doesn't really work very well. I also found some good PS brushes as well.
Ron's stuff is really great. I was very tempted to buy all his sale items. Unfortunantly I have to live within my budget, so I look for free stuff as much as possible. I may still buy them later when there is another big sale. There are some cool brushes in his Space pack that aren't available anywhere else that I've found. I buy stuff from DAZ every month, but I already reached my budget for this month. Had I known in advanced that his brushes were going on sale, I probably would have waited for it.
Not good. It's only 1/3 of the month so far.
Did you ever visit
https://www.brusheezy.com/
Yes, that's where I've gotten all of my free Photoshop Brushes.
My lord man, how many do you need? lol
If you're going to use photshop, don't forget the joys of using addition and subtraction for artistic flairs.
1) Google search TOOLS/Size large images.
2) I also have a Chrome browser tool/plug/addon that eliminates iStock photo from image search results.
3) Using the mask and or 'color selection' I can subtract elements from photos to use as graphic touches.
4) Nasa has a page up of space renders. Some are edited and some are just graphics.
5) Wallpapers are another good source of sample material.
6) I also use video game texture files. Or just google whatever material you want a block texture to use.
7) You can search for almost anything and find .png format files (photoshop with transparency or layered alphas) I did this for muzzle flash and explosions and even dirt and dust.
I like lots of options. ;-)
I'm working on an IRAY render now using the various space brushes I recently got. I may finish it sometime this weekend. We'll see how ot turns out. It's not comic related though.
Here is the finished render I did using a lot of the things you listed above. The ship and asteroids were done in DAZ.
Damn, you right, that is crammed with activity.
Thanks to Richard for reposting my image. I was trying to nuke the thumbnail at the bottom and killed the main pic as well.
The cel shading I'm using in the image is the shader set plus actions I posted a Christmas or two back. As much as I like the pwToon shaders, I like doing two renders with my own - one in color and the other in B&W so I can more easily tweak the shading in Photoshop. I can also "cheat" and send the outlines to Illustrator so I can get thicker lines in some areas. Here's another image using the same process plus a very quick and cheesy background.
Cool.
I couldn't do that, you may well be seeing the image in your original post as it iss till in your cache - those of us who didn't see the original don't have a cached copy, so it is still missing for us.
Okay, let's try this, then:
And here's one with softer lines:
great image and effect - I especially like how you've gotten the cel 'inking' edges to look hand-inked and 'traditional'.
Poking around, I believe the above-mentioned (generous) freebie is at:
https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/966880/#Comment_966880
I just grabbed it, so I have some rading to do. Thanks Crescent!
--ms
I just updated the pack with the newer PS actions and a second readme with some additional tips on using the packs, so if anyone has the freebie, you'll want to re-download it. Cheers!
Not the most representative page, but it demos most of what I’m doing these days.
I start out with iRay renders, then move them into ComicLife 3 for layout. Next, I export into Adobe PaintCan, which is an Adobe Labs project that brings the brush-driven auto-painting from something like Corel Painter to the iPad... I use it to flatten the colors somewhat and add interesting textures. The results are then exported to Procreate, where I ink the page and dramatically flatten the shadows and tweak blending modes. After which it all gets sent back to ComicLife for lettering.
The big mistake I made early on was inking each render as a full-size image and then scaling it down for placement within the page... that resulted in random variations in line widths that just looked sloppy, and also meant I was throwing away a lot of the detail I’d labored to add.
Waves to Crescent.
The answer depends on your ultimate goal for the comic and your personal abilities.
If you are really serious about the final result going to traditional print, you probably want to work in something like Adobe InDesign (but for a lot of folks here including me, that's like shooting a fly with a bazooka).
Manga Studio is a fantastic piece of software and the best all-around choice with a ton of usage range. It requires more work (and talent) than Comic Life, but the program makes it easy to work with traditional comic size templates and the biggest plus is that if you can draw, then you can do an entire comic (from artwork to layout) in a single program (need the EX version for that). As a bonus, even if you can't draw but have a steady hand, you can embellish your renders in MS and reduce the generic 3D render through a commercial filter output look that you get when you use Photoshop comic actions or software like Filter Forge.
If your goal is to just import Studio/Poser renders into panels and add speech bubbles, then Comic Life is probably the best choice. If you explore CL (and you have a creative streak), it has more flexibility under the hood that you can see at face value and it's also cheap and intuitive. I've played around a lot with CL and found it quite capable.
Out of all the programs @Fragg1960 mentioned, I am using PhotoShop, Manga Studio Pro (aka Clip Paint Studio), and Comic Life. I also use a program called Topaz Simplicity. I'm currently learning to use Manga Studio and the more I learn the more I love it and use it. Right now, I can transfer back and forth from Manga to Photoshop rather easily. Manga will save in PSD format.
Now Photoshop has some useful filters that Manga doesn't have, but Manga has some awesome brushes and features, specifically for comics, that Photoshop doesn't have. I'm woking on a practice render that I will post as soon as I'm done that is a good example. I got Manga Studio Pro on sale for like $26 and it was worth every penny, but I'm not ready to give up Photoshop yet. I pay like $9.99 a month for the Creative Cloud service.
There is a back to school sale going on right know for Clip Paint Studio Pro and Ex right now.
I tried out the filters for Clip Studio Paint by 888toto.
Looks simular to the Poser Edges filter in Photoshop.
Here is another practice render I initially did in Manga Studio. I then threw all my other techniques at it. The starfighter was rendered in DAZ. I did the initial ink work for the ship in CSP. The motion lines, jet effects and star background were all done in CSP as well.
Now, I need a starfighter for my team leader: Alex Hunter. He is a star fighter pilot. This model is awesome and free, but it's from an old cartoon/anime. I have my eye on a star fighter over at another 3D store that may due nicely. Koodos to anymore who knows what TV show this came from. I changed the color from blue to red.
Battle of the Planets?
Good guess but no.
Looks like ...edited Star Blazers...
Nice work. I hope the writing is as good as the art.
Looks like a very promising pre-production phase and you're doing it the right way.
Getting it all together before starting.
Star Blazers is correct. I loved that show when I was a kid.
I'm defiantly getting everything together before I start. I'm an amateur at all of this, so I hope my writing is good too. I've already written an introduction explaining how we got from 2017 to the time period my story takes place, I've been working on my world building and I have a basic out line of what my story is going to be about. The challenge for me will be writing for the panels and the dialogue. I saw a book, by Stan Lee I think, that details how to write a comic book, so I'll probably pick it up or something like that before I begin the real writing work. Right now, I'm having a lot of fun working on the concepts.