Comics

tkdrobert

I found a bunch of webinars and tutorials for CSP that I plan to go through.  Once I get the full picture of what I can do with it, I'll go from there.  I suspect I'll use it for touch up and to add things I can't produce in Daz, like Spiderman's webs, etc.  We'll see.

My only compaint so far is that its hard to search through the free assets because they are labeled in Japanese.  However, I did download a lot of stuff yesterday.

Greycat

When you open Clip Studio; next to the search bar there is a little bar that says “Details”. Click on that and it will open a menu breaking down the assets by category. When you open an asset there is a bar says, “View translation”. Click on that and it will translate the Japanese to English.

tkdrobert

I figured that part out, after awhile, but it would be nice to do a keyword search for "building" or "blood" or something like that.  Some of the free assets I did download are awesome, but I got tired of scrolling through them.

tkdrobert

Another concept render.  A Light Combat Mech/Drone.  I did a little touch up in CSP and man I'm out of practice when it comes to line drawing.  It's time to change that.

father1776

my very simplified work flow

use daz and make scene, render whole and parts with 1 camera set in place

use PS to make it look like a comic

grab any assets I need from photo stock

comic treat that

layer what I want in PS

grab drawing tablet and fix/correct/add whatever is needed to make it look like a standard comic page

send to manga studio 5

do gutters, ballons etc.

done

save everything so I can go back later and fix or change or grab stuff to make T-Shirts..etc.

 

My Work Process

Peace

tkdrobert

father1776 said:

my very simplified work flow

use daz and make scene, render whole and parts with 1 camera set in place

use PS to make it look like a comic

grab any assets I need from photo stock

comic treat that

layer what I want in PS

grab drawing tablet and fix/correct/add whatever is needed to make it look like a standard comic page

send to manga studio 5

do gutters, ballons etc.

done

save everything so I can go back later and fix or change or grab stuff to make T-Shirts..etc.

 

My Work Process

Peace

Out of curisoity, what process do you use in PS to give that comic book look.  Right now, I use the default filter: Poser Edges, than I use NIX Collection (free) and Topaz Simplicity ($30) plugins to enhance colors and details.   Still learning Clip Paint Pro (aka Manga Studio) and what I can do in there.

JCThomas

Just keep experimenting with the filters. Are you running the filter over the same layer each time? Like do you run Poster Edges, and then NIX on the filtered image? If so, try making separate layers for each filter you make, and then fiddle with opacity and layer styles. You can get widely varying results if this way and you might find something you like better than your current recipe. I find lighten, screen, overlay, and soft light are my most used layer styles. I've also got some cool effects using High Pass set to Vivid Light over my color layer.

Don't forget about the threshold tool (Image > adjustments > Threshold). This is a good basis for the inked part of your work.I've found, however, that rarely does an entire illustration need the same settings in Threshold. You're better off making two or three layers. in your light mech up there, for example, what gives you nice results for the mech's body will likely give you solid block shapes for the guns. So you'd run the filter again with different settings for the guns (and perhaps the darker spots on his armor). Then go back and erase parts from certain layers, in this case the solid black shaped on the guns from the first run. Then multiply the top layer over the lower, and merge. Or you could do this all on one layer and just select different parts once at a time. Select them armor, run threshold, select the guns, run it again with different settings. I've found that this takes longer, although it sounds like it wouldn't.

Filter Forge is pretty good too, though it somehow thinks it's acceptable to be 32-bit. It can be slow if you're aiming for print resolution. I usually work at 8 x 10 at 600 dpi, so 4800 by 6000, which can be very taxing on your system depending on your specs. If you decide to grab it, definitely get it from their own website, not here, as it's regularly on sale for like 70 - 80 % off.

tkdrobert

JCThomas said:

Just keep experimenting with the filters. Are you running the filter over the same layer each time? Like do you run Poster Edges, and then NIX on the filtered image? If so, try making separate layers for each filter you make, and then fiddle with opacity and layer styles. You can get widely varying results if this way and you might find something you like better than your current recipe. I find lighten, screen, overlay, and soft light are my most used layer styles. I've also got some cool effects using High Pass set to Vivid Light over my color layer.

Don't forget about the threshold tool (Image > adjustments > Threshold). This is a good basis for the inked part of your work.I've found, however, that rarely does an entire illustration need the same settings in Threshold. You're better off making two or three layers. in your light mech up there, for example, what gives you nice results for the mech's body will likely give you solid block shapes for the guns. So you'd run the filter again with different settings for the guns (and perhaps the darker spots on his armor). Then go back and erase parts from certain layers, in this case the solid black shaped on the guns from the first run. Then multiply the top layer over the lower, and merge. Or you could do this all on one layer and just select different parts once at a time. Select them armor, run threshold, select the guns, run it again with different settings. I've found that this takes longer, although it sounds like it wouldn't.

Filter Forge is pretty good too, though it somehow thinks it's acceptable to be 32-bit. It can be slow if you're aiming for print resolution. I usually work at 8 x 10 at 600 dpi, so 4800 by 6000, which can be very taxing on your system depending on your specs. If you decide to grab it, definitely get it from their own website, not here, as it's regularly on sale for like 70 - 80 % off.

Thank you for the tips.  I'm not utilizing layers nearly as much as I should.  I'm working to change that.  Usually I start out by making a copy of my Daz Render.  Then I run Nix which creates a new layer.  When I run the poster edges and Topaz, it's applied to the nix layer.  If I do touch up, I will create another layer for that.  Same if I'm adding a background. 

I've never used threshold.  I need to try that out.  I'm teaching myself all of these programs so there is still so much to learn.  It's great fun, but my time to do it is limited.  I have a full-time job (not in art), a volunteer job, and kids.  Still, I'm committed to learning and appreciate all the help I've gotten from the Daz community.

vrba79

If you're wanting to do something more eye-catching than a regular webcomic, I suggest you look into Motionaritst. The price is very cheap for what it has to offer.

Greycat

Tkdrobert

Take a look at this

https://sellfy.com/p/2g7Q/

JCThomas

 

vrba79 said:

If you're wanting to do something more eye-catching than a regular webcomic, I suggest you look into Motionaritst. The price is very cheap for what it has to offer.

I'll admit I haven't looked at this thoroughly, but it doesn't appear to be any more functional than MadeFire. Sorry, that came out wrong, as MadeFire is already very functional. Anyway, MadeFire is a free app and market place rolled into one. It offers basic animations and sound effects. I've fiddled with it before, and it's a lot of fun. One advantage I see it having over Motion Artist is that the big boys use it: major indie publishers like IDW and BOOM Studios use it, which lends it some professional validation. Another, obvious, advantage is that it's free. Deviant Art uses the technology for their Motion Books.

Unfortunately, it's not worth the trouble in my opinion. It takes a lot of work and planning beyond what a regular comic takes. You need to have everything you want to move on a separate, transparent layer. You need to be excellent  at keyframing, which isn't hard in itself, but we're talking multiple keyframes for multiple layers for multiple panels on multiple pages. Worse, the user base is small, so while their is a market place built in, there's hardly ever anyone in the market. It's like a big deserted mall or something.

I don't mean to knock anyone that wants to try it. And I'd love to know about success stories anyone is having with either application so I can learn from them. But if you're trying to reach readers, I don't think it's the best use of time.

vrba79

JCThomas said:

 

vrba79 said:

If you're wanting to do something more eye-catching than a regular webcomic, I suggest you look into Motionaritst. The price is very cheap for what it has to offer.

I'll admit I haven't looked at this thoroughly, but it doesn't appear to be any more functional than MadeFire. Sorry, that came out wrong, as MadeFire is already very functional. Anyway, MadeFire is a free app and market place rolled into one. It offers basic animations and sound effects. I've fiddled with it before, and it's a lot of fun. One advantage I see it having over Motion Artist is that the big boys use it: major indie publishers like IDW and BOOM Studios use it, which lends it some professional validation. Another, obvious, advantage is that it's free. Deviant Art uses the technology for their Motion Books.

Unfortunately, it's not worth the trouble in my opinion. It takes a lot of work and planning beyond what a regular comic takes. You need to have everything you want to move on a separate, transparent layer. You need to be excellent  at keyframing, which isn't hard in itself, but we're talking multiple keyframes for multiple layers for multiple panels on multiple pages. Worse, the user base is small, so while their is a market place built in, there's hardly ever anyone in the market. It's like a big deserted mall or something.

I don't mean to knock anyone that wants to try it. And I'd love to know about success stories anyone is having with either application so I can learn from them. But if you're trying to reach readers, I don't think it's the best use of time.

The problem with Madefire, is that you are limited in the number of platforms you can release it on. Plus you're uploading your work to their space, just to use it. At no point are your project files being edited on your own computer. There's no client-side verison of the program.

JCThomas

vrba79 said:

JCThomas said:

The problem with Madefire, is that you are limited in the number of platforms you can release it on. Plus you're uploading your work to their space, just to use it. At no point are your project files being edited on your own computer. There's no client-side verison of the program.

Yeah you're right, that is a major drawback. But where else can you release a motion comic? Can you just sell a file made in motion artist? If so, what does the customer open it with? Also, just for clarity, while one can't sell their MadeFire motion comic elsewhere, they can still sell their standard non-animated comic in other marketplaces, such as DriveThruComics, Comixology, Kindles, and good old fashioned print.

It's definitely a cool idea, these apps. But I don't see the allure in either one, honestly. Perhaps it will take some pioneers to release some outstanding content in one or the other, or both, for these to catch on, but I'm certainly not that pioneer. I mean there's great content out there already, on MadeFire I'm sure of at least, and it just doesn't seem to catch on. Maybe because these can also double as typical comic pages they're losing sight of the app's potential?

I don't know. For now though, I'm apt to suggest that comic creators not bother with motion comics, but if they do, to do it in MadeFire.

Edit: Just learned that Motion Artist exports movies and HTML 5. So I guess those are the sellable files?

nonesuch00

I don't know but if I were making a comic I think I would:

1) Insist on creating on my local computer.

2) Insist on one of the formats that was exportablebeing easily readable on a Kindle, whether the Kindle Reader HW or just the Kindle Reader SW, like on an iPhone. 

vrba79

nonesuch00 said:

I don't know but if I were making a comic I think I would:

1) Insist on creating on my local computer.

2) Insist on one of the formats that was exportablebeing easily readable on a Kindle, whether the Kindle Reader HW or just the Kindle Reader SW, like on an iPhone. 

Yeah. Hence why I just can't bring myself to use Madefire. Has some nice features, but I'm not gonna sign over the rights to my artwork to someone else like that.

tkdrobert

I'm just trying to learn regular comics.  Motion stuff will have to wait for another day.

kaotkbliss

If I were to do a motion comic, I would do my animations in DS, then import the renders into GameMaker and add them to a single animated object, then it would be exported as an app for Google Play/ Amazon, HTML, Windows and iOS.

The downside is GameMaker is quite expensive (and then you need to purchase each export option seperately) Fortunately I was able to get GameMaker Pro with the android export for $50 durring one of their specials and then was able to pick up all the other export options durring one of humble bundle's "pay what you want" specials so the rest of the exports were only a couple bucks.

At any rate, there are other free app makers out there and that's the way I would go for making an animated comic.

nonesuch00

kaotkbliss said:

If I were to do a motion comic, I would do my animations in DS, then import the renders into GameMaker and add them to a single animated object, then it would be exported as an app for Google Play/ Amazon, HTML, Windows and iOS.

The downside is GameMaker is quite expensive (and then you need to purchase each export option seperately) Fortunately I was able to get GameMaker Pro with the android export for $50 durring one of their specials and then was able to pick up all the other export options durring one of humble bundle's "pay what you want" specials so the rest of the exports were only a couple bucks.

At any rate, there are other free app makers out there and that's the way I would go for making an animated comic.

This reminds me of a Unity Asset Store product that conceivably be used to create an interactive 3D or 2D comic. The product is called 'Adventure Creator'. It's in the Unity 3D Asset Store.

Greycat

I thought I’d show some of things I used Clip Studio Paint for. For the past couple of year I’ve making my own calendars. The pinup was rendered in DAZ Studio, all the rest done in Manga Studio/CSP.

Greycat

I have created a lot of characters for comic ideas, in order to keep them organized I created a catalog. Here are a few pages from the catalog created in CSP.

Greycat

Here is a background I created for CSP, the buildings were rendered in DS and the sky was created in CSP.

Greycat

Here’s a trial comic page I created in CSP. The figures and backgrounds were rendered separately imported and arranged CSP. This helped me decide on things such as panel organization and naming, gutter size, and page size. I created two page temples; one for 8 ½” x 11”page and one for 4 ¼” x 5 ½” page.

Greycat

One of the importance things in creating a comic is the script. This is how I am doing my script. I’m going to do 20 pages this way and then edit and create finished pages. I saved each panel as a scene. I’ll use the saved scenes to create finished panels.

Greycat

This is what the finished figures will look like. (see lower right panel).

nonesuch00

I like those, particularly the Venture Girls panels but also some of the caricatures are funny looking in a good way.

tkdrobert

For those who don't know, this is a site with lots of free comic book fonts for indie comic creators.  Some pay stuff too.  I spent all my art time last night downloading and installing fonts from the site.

http://blambot.com/

diogenese19348

Thanks robert, that looks useful.

tkdrobert

Greycat said:

Here is a background I created for CSP, the buildings were rendered in DS and the sky was created in CSP.

I like this alot.

tkdrobert

Greycat said:

Tkdrobert

Take a look at this

https://sellfy.com/p/2g7Q/

Have you used any of these?

Greycat

They sound pretty good

I haven’t purchase them yet, but I probably will

Here’s a U-tube clip where he explains how they work.

 https://forum.smithmicro.com/topic/2082/60-artistic-filters-for-clip-studio-paint