Based on the upcoming live-action series. This is the first release of the first 'net comic of Vampyre P.I.: Dead Ends. 1. GENERAL NOTES: VPI is not your garden variety "occult crime" story. Tara LaFontaine is no fluffy Buffy, no hand-wringing Dresden. She is decidedly darker, more ambiguous and more human than her TV screen counterparts. The "Tara LaFontaine" model and image is based on actress Carrie Cain Sparks (see carriecainsparks.com). The official VPI website is nightcrossings.com. E-frontier is a sponsor of Vampyre P.I. Since there is so much growing interest in Tara LaFontaine and VPI, why not adapt the storyboards into something of interest to the growing fan base? I hope you find the comic intriguing, creepy and enjoyable. 2. RENDER NOTES: What was done, and where: I - In Poser 7: posed - renders/lighting were pre-visualized with the Poser renderer (NOT Firefly - see below). II - In Vue 6: (a) lighting; (b) some materials modified; (c) renders at 1600x1200 and 800x600 with and without certain "post render options". III - In PSP 9: (a) resized down and cropped; (b) watermark/copyright/titles added; (c) lettering on phone added; (d) assembled & background. While the Poser renders are in fact very pretty (some of them will go up in the gallery at nightcrossings.com), its limitations make it unusable for anything beyond pre-visualizations in this case. I needed ray-tracing and the ability to fine-tune soft shadows, and to work with transparent objects and materials, create glows and the like, none of which the Poser renderer can do. I may have used the Firefly renderer in Poser if it wasn't so buggy. Another alternative renderer was Shade 8.5, which was provided to us by sponsor E-Frontier. But I couldn't use it in this instance because for some reason, the "Poserfusion" importer refused to bring in the textures with the Poser file, messed up the pose, and some props insisted on being transparent or miss-shapen. My next and final choice was Vue 6. The 1600x1200 renders were done at beyond "ultra" quality and took an average of about 32min each. the 800x600 versions at about 8min each. Other than as specifically listed above, there is no postwork on these pics. (BTW - The artifacts on AS Shanim's "Everyday vest" in the last pic of Tara are, so far as I can tell, peculiar to something in the geometry. They show up unpredictably in different renders (or not), and are unaffected by changes in materials, lighting, poses, etc.). 3. CREDITS (If you see something of yours that I don't mention here, or if I got the credit wrong, it isn't on purpose. Let me know and I'll fix it!). - The Study by DAZ. - Victoria 3. - "Tara LaFontaine" (Carrie Cain Sparks) head morphs done by NightCelt, with very minor refinements by myself. - Here I use the Zahina skin textures for V3. In the future I will experiment with different skin textures for the Tara LaFontaine character, as I do not as yet have a texture accurate to Carrie Cain Sparks. - Eyes from the V3 International Beauties. - 3Dream history hair. Color modified by myself. - Picture frame - Redhouse Studios from Apartment 39 package. The picture is a publicity photo of Carrie Cain Sparks as Tara LaFontaine, in Voodoo makeup. - Septum ring from Daz's V3 Piercing Pack - Daz skull - Tophat - don't know - zip file is marked "sz free". Materials modified by myself - Ancient Book by Dark Whisper - Crystal ball and "pantacle" by GAV. Crystal ball materials modified by myself. - Posable playing cards and single card by Trekkiegrrrl, re-textured by myself, using Aleister Crowley's Thoth tarot deck. - Mayan bowls by Sekhmet - phone - Couldn't find a credit. Materials modified by myself. - spiral jewelry by Nerissa Morgan "Silvermaid". Material modified by myself. - cobra arm band from "Egyptian Princess Nebhet", there is no author in the zip. - Everyday Vest by Awful Soul - Z-Knight pants - Pumps - They're in my Victoria's Clothing library. Don't know who did them.