Just curious. Once I get good at Poser and some other apps I have, I'd like to start making my own digital comics. I wonder if anyone is making any money doing that sort of thing? Is there even anyone willing to pay a membership, for instance, to view updated 3d comics? I ran into a couple sites that seem to be charging customers a membership fee to view digital comics online (which all seem to be done using poser), which is what gave me the idea, but I really doubt there are many people who make more than enough to pay bandwidth fees doing this. I can't imagine there are many folks out there willing to pay to read comics online. Anyone know anything in this area? Anyone from here actually doing it? I wanna quit my dayjob! LOL!!

I don't think you'll make enough money to quit your day job but I do know of at least one artist making money from 3D comics. Adult comics, that is. The artist's name escapes me but he and I discussed the subject approximately a year ago. AFAIK, he's still going strong.

I'm starting to create a digital comic. Hey, if I could even make enough money to pay for the bandwidth I'd be hella happy. But I have no plans to charge for it and expect it will just be money lost- lost to a fun hobby, so worth it. As a consumer, I wouldn't pay a subscription to read a digital comic unless it were really good. I would think you'd need to establish a reputation before you could make some profit. Plus, even an internet business is going to require spending money to make money. You have to market it, and that isn't easy or free. If you start getting enough hits, you might be able to make some money selling ads on your site. If your comic becomes the next big internet obsession, then you might be able to charge some money. Purely from a business advice standpoint, I'd say start cautiously and don't quit your day job until you already have some money rolling in.

Hi, Samtherapy! I wonder if that person works on them full time? Does he own a website or just do work for others on a commission type basis? I'd love to know if there is a lot of demand for digital comics (adult or otherwise), because it's something I feel I might really be good at, unlike the miserable excuse for a job I currently have. LOL! I personally would probably purchase a membership to a site that does regular updates on some good comic series, but I feel like I'm the only one willing to do so. Everyone I seem to ask tells me there's no money in it, or they would never pay to read them online. I'd have a lot of questions for someone who knows, and is doing it. hehe.

Thanks, bjbrown... good advice! Do you know any way that one may develop a reputation as having a good series? Will posting pieces of a series on sites like this help establish this, or perhaps most people here are artists themselves and wouldn't care to join a subscription site anyway? I just have no clue in the area of internet business or how to market something as intangible as a digital comic.

Attached Link: http://www.pvponline.com/rants_success1.php3

Quote: " So if you're currently a web cartoonist and your hosting is being paid for you, you might want to take a long look at how your provider is paying for all this bandwidth. If they are counting on ad banner revenue to pay for their hosting, you might be looking for a new place to put your web comic soon. Ad banners are not generating revenue for anyone in the industry (Including UGO, the network I'm technically affiliated with) and hosting bills aren't getting any cheaper."

You could probably sustain yourself (or at least pay for bandwidth) if you ran an adult comic site, because let's face it, sex and/or violence can sell just about anything. God knows, I get hit with enough unsolicited poser-porn spam in my email on a daily basis to make my own comic! However, if you plan on doing mainstream themes or stories, then be prepared to find yourself decending quickly in debt should your comic get popular. You might be left with no choice but to charge a membership to view it, but that could devistate it's popularity.

Attached Link: http://www.brickhousedigital.com/

The main one I'm aware of is spcebbecentr*l dot com (replace the *'s with a for Adult when deciphering). I think Mr. X is involved with that one. My impression is that there's a market of some unknown size but mostly for well done adult content. If you could find a slot on an established site that would probably be the best bet. More artists/variety/content would improve the chances for success. Like anything else on the internet, there's no good way to prevent people ripping off your content of course.

The artist I talked to sells his comics to adult sites specialising in female superhero characters and a strong fetish content. I cannot remember anything other than that, unfortunately.

Attached Link: http://www.hatcheckkelly.com/

Message edited on: 07/03/2005 16:21

You are more likely to make money on-line by selling kitchen appliances on ebay than you are to make money with 3D comics.

shrug

Sorry -- but that's the way that it is.

I make about $500 - $600 a month on my AltaWoman site, an adult membership 3D comics site using Poser. I know I could make a lot more if I put more effort into it, but right now I don't have as much time as I used to. I average about 100-200 members at any give time, and again I could probably get more if I was more agressive with my advertising, trading links and such. If you find a niche, stay with it. But don't expect it to happen overnight. I started my superheroine character back with Poser 1 in 1997(?) I think it was, with a free online gallery. Since then, its turned into a nice little side business.

pzrite wrote: " I make about $500 - $600 a month on my AltaWoman site, an adult membership 3D comics site using Poser. I know I could make a lot more if I put more effort into it, but right now I don't have as much time as I used to. I average about 100-200 members at any give time, and again I could probably get more if I was more agressive with my advertising, trading links and such." Hmmmm. This is the kind of thing I was hoping to hear. I mean, I certainly couldn't quit my job making $600 a month, but if it were possible to somehow build on that to make... I don't know... say around $600 to $1000 a week (before taxes), then I might be able to do it for a living! In your experience, pzrite, do you think such a goal is worth pursuing? Do you think it's possible to gain that kind of income with 3D comics that are 'well done'? I'd like to thank everyone for responding so far. I see there's a lot of regard to the word 'quality' as being a key to success with this. Aside from a good, solid story, and interesting characters, what would be a good definition of quality for a 3d comic? Obviously, the artwork means a lot... but in regards to 3D, specifically Poser, do people prefer a comic that is rendered in a cartoon form (like hand-drawn traditional comics), or high quality photorealistic 3D? What do you think would sell better, assuming the story and character quality were high also? Do people not like a high level of detail and realism in their comics? I'm a big fan of photorealism in 3D, and would love to do a high quality comic containing that kind of imagery when I get more proficient at Poser. However, if cartoon style will sell better, then I'll concentrate more on improving my skills in that area. Any thoughts about that?

"do people prefer a comic that is rendered in a cartoon form (like hand-drawn traditional comics), or high quality photorealistic 3D? " Maybe you should contact the owners of AmazonSoul. I can't put a link to their website here due to the TOS, but they do an online interactive comic with adult themes that is rendered in an extremely photorealistic style. It's one of the few 3D comics I've seen that is not done in Poser... looks more like Maya or one of those expensive packages, because it's obvious they're using HDRI and GI in the renders. No idea how successful the site is, but it must bring in some kind of income for them, because the renders seem expensive in terms of production time.

Mr. X does adult comics @ superbabescenteral I belive.

justpatrick wrote: "In your experience, pzrite, do you think such a goal is worth pursuing? Do you think it's possible to gain that kind of income with 3D comics that are 'well done'?"

I think the goal itself is definitely pursuing. The question is always will things turn out like your goal?
For me, there were many times I thought of shutting down my website just because I don't always enjoy the constant committment. But I realize I have come to depend on that extra money each month, so I kick myself in the butt and start working on it again! ;)

I guess if I were to give you one piece of advice, is when you create your artwork, try to stay away from the "Poser look". If you want people to pay, you have to give them something different. They don't want to see the Poser Dork in his usual polo shirt and pants. Or the same old Vicki.
Also great stories help too. I've been lucky, I've had some excellent writers working with me. Sometimes when I feel I can't come up with another story, someone will write a script for me and psych me up for another chapter.

Hope that helps!

Message edited on: 07/03/2005 19:25

I don't do this myself, but I recently talked to someone who did. If you want to make money, it pretty much has to be "adult." Digital porn.

He said what sells an online comic or animation is not beautiful art or shocking content. What keeps them coming back are good stories.

The only way I can think of to earn a reputation for a good product is to in fact offer the product and market it heavily. When you get people in and looking at it, if they like it they'll start sending the site link to their friends- and then you have something. I've created a sort-of business plan for my upcoming comic- and I say sort-of because my goal is not to make money- but I want a huge readership because I'm narcissistic that way. But I'm speculating at this point. You have a few sources to whom you can talk and discover what their experiences are.

I'd have to agree with randym77- the story is at least, if not more, important than the art. I know all of my favorite cartoons on TV (South Park, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Tom Goes to the Mayor) have primative art, but they are so damn funny. With South Park, not only is the art very simplistic, but the voice acting is awful. Yet, it's a popular show. When the show makes me laugh, my head can make up reasons how the artistic style is genius (though in the case of at least South Park and ATHF, the artists didn't necessarily create the style, but budget constraints created the style). I'm a little surprised to hear that rendered porn sells. Though now that I re-read my last sentence, I'm surprised that I'm surprised that rendered porn sells.

Hmmm. South Park is actually done with Maya, so most, if not all the episodes you see on TV are done in a not-so-simplistic 3D technique that fools the viewer into thinking they're looking at very simple paper cutouts. It's like killing a fly with a bazooka. LOL.

South Park is done with Maya??? I never knew that. Geez, I never would have guessed that was 3D.

Attached Link: http://www.spscriptorium.com/SPinfo/MakingOfSouthPark.htm

As of 2001, they started exporting the stuff made in 2D programs like photoshop and illustrator, then animate and render them in Maya. Pretty cool.

You have to first be very good at Poser, and Photoshop, and story telling, and character creation as well as figuring out what the most popular fetishes are out there and how to exploit them to attract your audience.

If you can do all that then you can indeed earn a living doing this.

"...figuring out what the most popular fetishes are..." That's probably a pretty key factor. The advantage of 3DCG is that you can do things that would be difficult/impossible/(illegal?) with live models. If your material is high quality, I'm sure there's an enthusiastic niche audience for just about anything. I'm sure a non-erotic comic could be successful but I'm guessing it would a tougher sell for the same level of quality. Nicely done animation should definitely be a good bet but then ypu're talking about a LOT of work--pretty much full time I bet. Poser is nowhere near as easy as getting a girl, a motel room and a guy in a pizza delivery uniform :-) That's very fine work NW316--a nice level of realism but still with a comic feel.

Aqua Teen Hunger Force is done mostly in Photoshop.

Great topic; both informative, and a little depressing ...

I'm currently developing a 3D comic, intended for print rather than the Web; it's not an erotic comic, so maybe the difference in market will be advantageous. It does have certain adult elements, but they're of a more mature - rather than an erotic - nature. I found the comment above about Dork (and Posette) not being acceptable a valid observation - however, the story I'm developing specifically requires these characters to contrast against the more realistic Millennium figures; I'm trying to show a schism between humanoid robots and actual humans in the story, and I hope that the lighting and 'photography' will prevent the less-realistic characters from looking unrealistic in the finished work.

Thanks for all the links above, folks; AmazonSoul looks really good! Of course, one can't use interactive graphics in the print medium, but there's nothing to prevent one from being inspired by the layouts and general production quality when trying to create a finished product which stands out from the simple "9 square panels on a page" that so many digital comics seem to fall into. I sometimes wonder why more of these creators don't seem to actually read comics, to see what is being done, and to learn how to adequately lay out a page, or compose dialogue, or to create a shot which tells a story all by itself; there's not a single "How to draw comics" book which is not 100% applicable to trying to do the same thing in 3D. And of course, the important thing is to actually write a compelling story with believable characters, no matter how unbelievable it all may seem. Even the Dork can be useable if he's written and handled with some sort of aptitude and not just stuck in the frame like a Ken doll ;-).

This turned out to be a really interesting thread. Even though I have no interest personally in creating digital comics, the business aspect of it seems fascinating.

Message edited on: 07/04/2005 22:13

Attached Link: http://www.superheroinecentral.com/mrx/xpage/xblm.htm

I think it's against the TOS to post links to adult sites, which is why no one else posted that link.

This thread is very interesting for me. I have drew comic strips with Poser during one year and a half. I tried to sell the series in different websites; no success. But... ... I drew my first erotic comic, and Renderotica magazine not only published it but they selected it as Featured Story in the june issue... and they want more... Sadly I would like to draw for Pixar, but... if business is in erotic art & comic, then... business is business ;) EDITED AUTOCENSURED I posted a page of the comic, but ... better not. Too much near of TOS line

Attached Link: http://www.striker3d.net

Just an observation: erotica is all niches. Though some of them are bigger than others. The niches, that is.

WOW! Some really incredible information and links here. Thank you ALL for the great response to this thread. It really gives me some hope that there is indeed a market for this out there. Definitely seems like "erotica" has the bigger success rate, and likelyhood of making money.

Hmm, let's see- political satire to make no money, or erotica as a living ... Nah, if I want to whore myself I'll go back to practicing law. Erotica is great if that's what you want to do, but if not, then it's the same as any other meaningless job to put ramen on the table. The dream will be slow in spare time and penniless, but fun.