I've experimented with doing comics/stories with Poser/DS

I want to do my comic in one day but for some reason the pics i make for my comic look plain , they dont look like others do it where it's a picture but it looks as if the characters are alive.

Any techniques for creating great pics for comics/stories that look alive?

Maybe i'm not doing good lighting, is that what my problem is?

Here's a pic from one attempt i made.
Notice that it looks plastic and it doesn't look like the characters come alive

look at this , you can kind of feel something when you look at the picture. She looks like she has emotion

 What kind of lighting are you using in your render at the top, josterD?  Lighting has a HUGE impact on renders, whether it's for comics or anything else.

Lighting for comics is usually very dynamic and vibrant.  It's exaggerated to he point of being a character in the story at times.  I'm looking at an old comic I bought last year, looking at the lighting in the drawings, and there are whole pages where the story is told by nothing other than the light and shadow.  

But, lighting takes a bit more time to learn than just one day...especially in Poser.

JenX, it's a lighting dome kind of light.

Quote - I've experimented with doing comics/stories with Poser/DS

I want to do my comic in one day but for some reason the pics i make for my comic look plain , they dont look like others do it where it's a picture but it looks as if the characters are alive.

Any techniques for creating great pics for comics/stories that look alive?

Maybe i'm not doing good lighting, is that what my problem is?

Here's a pic from one attempt i made.
Notice that it looks plastic and it doesn't look like the characters come alive

The problem is that I don't understand what's going on here and what am I as a viewer supposed to pay attention to. Also, I can't figure out what the girl is doing in this picture, it seems that there's something wrong with either her pose or camera angle.

Honestly though, this is exactly the kind of result you can expect from creating full comic in one day. Just focus on the story and posing at this point - there's no way you can reach any kind of decent result in such a short time.

The example image you posted has a greater impact because (1) her eyes are looking directly at you, creating an intimacy and (2) the camera is zoomed right in to the figure, enhancing the intimacy even further. In your picture, the viewer is simply looking at a scene. In the other image, the viewer feels like they're part of the scene.

As Jenx says, lighting is important. Composition, though, is arguably even more important. The camera angle and point of view should engage the viewer.

Posing of figures is critical too - care taken with posing can add an air of believability to a scene which even great lighting, GC, realistic shaders etc. cannot do by themselves.

Check out the Nikki Sprite comic at
[link removed]

Go back to the first page of the comic and read it all the way through. That's how to do it.

 Please don't post links to sites with age restricted or graphic adult content, with or without an age-restriction warning.  It is a violation of the TOS.

Thanks Jenx for spotting that and upholding the integrity of the TOS.
It's probably also best to advise people not to Google for the term 'Nikki Sprite' as the very first link returned seems to point to the site.

 Malysse, you can tell people about websites, even name them.  We point people to Renderotica or RaunchyMinds all the time.  However, you cannot post a URL, as text or a clickable link, to a website with adult content.  This has been in the TOS for the entire life of this website.  I'm not sure if you have been here before under a different username, but there are legal reasons we can't let you post the URL.  Outside that, we try to trust people to use their own judgements when deciding whether or not to search for a term posted here.  So, please respect the request and know that I'm not trying to be mean or single you out, but it is a reasonable request that we ask you not to post links of that kind.  This wasn't a black mark against your membership, I just removed the link and told you why.

That's fair enough Jen, I don't have a problem with that. The request is perfectly reasonable.

That agreed, does anyone else know of other good comic sites created with Poser?
No need to post links, unless the sites are innocuous. Just enough info to identify them.

I find you can learn as much from examining the work of outstanding artists as you can from loads of theoretical advice.

 I don't personally know any outside sites offhand...but there are several that I like in the gallery here:

DAZ1971

genefleeman

and some Pros in the comic biz:

Mikeall

Archangel_Gabriel

SeanE (I know he's a colorist, but he's REALLY good at it.)

Thanks for those links - I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed by so much great artwork! It'll take me a while to appreciate all that those guys have done.

If JosterD checks out those links I'm sure he'll have all the inspiration he needs.

 LOL, I've had years to get to absorb their work.  So, take your time and enjoy. 

josterD, I hope these help :)

I dunno how to do a comic book in one day, but let us know when ya finish yers.
ya need inkers, pencillers, colourists, editors, gofers, printers and that.  still takes
at least a week IMVHO.

BTW, your approach to lighting is all wrong.  The example you showed was an image rendered with raytrace lighting and perhaps a better skin shader construct for it's character.  I see that you have nostril glow in second attempt, making me believe that you are rendering with depth map shadowing.  You also have a tremendous amount of skin glow indicating that the skin textures are probably plugged into another channel other than Diffuse_color.  My suggestion, if you plan to venture into something more realistic for your comic, is to invest time analysing and reworking shader content for your models.  You are looking to produce a comic in one day which I think is not a realistic approach.  Especially if you expect realism.  Comics require a storyline and a storyboard, with careful planning and snapping dialogue.  Scenic approaches should be simplistic for quick renders, no displacements, no bumps.  Expect to use more DoF focusing to concentrate on the main characters or action.  But you are still talking about investment in time.

 Assuming you have all your Poser figures already, if you then go out and buy all your sets, and poses and facial expressions and clothes and props then maybe you could do a page in one day. But that process sure would be expensive.

I guess it's expected for most comic book pencillers to draw a page a day but i would hate to know how many hours their day consists of.

I think i would try for a few pages a week, maybe like three, rather than a page a day.  

Beautiful work, Esther.  It just illustrates that quality work like this does take considerable time and effort and a good amount of forethought.

 thanks.  But I do need to get a lot faster or it will never be finished.  I'm hoping with practice that I will find work process that speed things up.
Love esther

http://www.comiccinema.com/webcomicsfolder/rainhomefolder/index.htm

Have fun, Take good care
AJ

D3D's !Toon script is helpful for a comic look inside poser, as is ZFlatten. Although ZFlatten has a problem in Poser 8 and PP2010, mentioned in another thread.

Just some ideas.

Bob

ajmarti.. that's awesome!!!!

that's what i want to do. How do you bring life into it? Your pics look so real like they are actually alive.

I wonder if it's because it's pure action.

hi JosterD
Yes, the action scene helps, but your comic will look dull and "fake" as you said before... what can i tell you?... EXAGGERATE!.... that's the key. Poser is a very cool weapon but characters can look as bad acting LOL. Exaggerate everything as much as you can! The eyes, each pose, the mouth, brow... dont be afraid, just take it to the limit!!!!

Marvel secret to great looking comics is EXAGGERATION... even when draw by hand!...
keep that in mind!! TAKE your time!. Enjoy the process.... and if you need any helping hand just drop me a line!

Thanks for your words about my images. I hope this helps. I know you'll find your way to create great images soon!.

Take good care.

AJ

 Neat work all of you :)

One of my friends once did a graphic novel http://old.sadiepayne.com/ pretty awesome if you ask me. She used a mix of Poser 4 and Photoshop actions IIRC. And she managed to make it in an amazing speed, but certainly not in a day :)

I really like your friend’s work Trekki.

That painted look does a lot more for me than the typical “inking”.

Thanks

Quote -  Neat work all of you :)

One of my friends once did a graphic novel http://old.sadiepayne.com/ pretty awesome if you ask me. She used a mix of Poser 4 and Photoshop actions IIRC. And she managed to make it in an amazing speed, but certainly not in a day :)

Yeah, you're right!  That is great work.  Very consistent style also.  Read that some time back I think.  

Attached Link: http://www.kirbymuseum.org/?q=gallery&g2_itemId=14828

The one area where 3D art can speed up comics is in providing models for repetitive hardware that doesn't change shape. Most traditional comic book artists gravitate to the medium because they love drawing the human form in dynamic poses. They don't like drawing background elements as much and that's where 3D models can be a tremendous time saver. The artist won't have to draw every widget on a tank or spaceship because those details are built into the model. It's very easy having that tank or spaceship model in dozens of panels because it's very easy to compose the model into the scene.

Posing figures takes a lot of time and practice to look good. Pose packs help, but there's still the time searching for a good pose and tweaking the pose for the specific action being performed. Even finding a wanted pose takes a lot of time. I used to dream of being a comics artist and got fairly good at figure drawing, but not quite good enough to believe that it could be a profession. I haven't found Poser as being a timesaver for drawing. I prefer it to get a nice finished semi-realistic result. Poser figures are too literal and the kind of exaggeration that can be drawn into a figure is much more dramatic than the figure constraints in a pose. The kind of figure exaggerations, emphasizing perspective and dynamics, can look right in a drawing, but may not be physically achievable with a preconstructed model in any reasonable fashion.

The fastest artist in the 60's (and maybe of all time) was Jack Kirby (link above to sample pages of his work) who drew 3-4 pages a day. Jack regularly drew, on a monthly basis, Fantastic Four, Thor, Captain America, and occasionally a few other comics all at the same time. I don't imagine that Jack's style of art is very popular today because it was a lot more cartoonish, but he was the king of comic artists duing the 60s and 70s. Having been drawing comics since almost the dawn of comics, Jack created most of the comic dynamics that artists still refer to today.

I don't think anybody can crank out the kind of dynamic pages, that Jack Kirby could pencil, using Poser.

Quote - Here's a better one but notice the face doesn't really feel like she has emotions.
Even when i apply a bought FACIAL EXPRESSIOn set, it looks like she's faking it.

Well, for one thing her hands are all f-ed up. I know that's not part of her face, but it still detracts from the overall appearance of it. It's already been mentioned but lighting is VERY important. And Ray traced shadows for sure are the only way to go. I like to keep my lighting as simple as possible actually. Often just two lights, placed in the exact same place, each set to half the total intensity I want and one with ray traced shadows and one with no shadows. Sometimes I use a glancing light. There's a pretty good tutorial for it here:
http://www.runtimedna.com/forum/showthread.php?13853-Glancing-Lights-Or-Using-Edge-Blends-on-Intensity

Also, postwork helps a lot. You can add a lot of life to a render with a little postwork.

Lastly, I like to add a little depth of field to my renders. Softens up the backgrounds a bit.

 I know there are a lot of good opinions posted so far.

Sorry to add to the overwhelm:

Doing a comic in one day is not a bad goal to have. As my projects tend to grow faster than I can render them it makes sense to scale the project within a time frame one can afford.

Liquid Stealth Page 11

There's my example. Those strips were taking me around a week to write, sketch, layout, choreograph, light, render, and composite. Five days was a good turn around when I could do it.

What makes it go faster?

First subtract, writing, sketching and layout from the timing. You have to do them but for the moment consider pre-process.

With those items considered as finished, you're ready to choreograph. 
Start with the camera in your chosen setting. Render.
Next, in an empty scene bring in your characters using the rendered setting pics. This will allow you to pose your character(s) without the weight of the environment slowing down your computer.
Also if you can, pose the character wearing shoes only. Check your surroundings first to consider whether this is appropriate. This will also keep your Poser-time responsive while you do the gross positioning. Eventually you'll add the clothes, as you'll need to check for poke-through.

Save camera files from the scenery files and load them in your character scenes if it helps speed up the process. If your characters are close to the camera you can sometimes wing it.

A lots been said about the lighting. Very important as you and others have mentioned.

As someone else mentioned, DO POSTWORK. I'm not yelling, just emphasizing.  : )

Your goal is a comic in one day, not to prove how you were able to do dirt being kicked in the air in Poser.  Many pride themselves on what they can do with no postwork. As a static comic that isn't animating that pride will not let you achieve your goal on time, imo.

If you do look at my link, you'll see that I did a lot of my characters in their setting and many times I didn't. Hopefully you are more interested in the story than trying to figure out when I did and didn't. 

What slows things down?

Locations. Locations. Locations. ; ) 
The more places I added, the more lighting I had to do, add props, do more post. If you can minimize your backgrounds then more time can be spent on what's going on in the foreground.

And that's my advice, in one day. ; )
Good Luck

 I actually speed things up by having a fully dressed cast of characters including cameo characters.
I do a couple of renders from a distance then for the closeups I might miss out the background and just blur an image of the background a bit.
Love esther
PS can't be done in one day though - no way!