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  • JCThomasJCThomas Posts: 254
    tkdrobert said:

    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/

    Sorry, I would have brought this up too, thought it appeared earlier in the thread. Honestly, it's nuts that he offers so many of these fonts for free. These are all excellent, professional quality fonts designed by a seasoned comic book letterer. He also has a lot of useful information about comic grammar and lettering rules. An utterly invaluable resource, glad you found them and brought them to everyone's attention. I used Might Zeo for my graphic novel The Gates of Dawn, and Ninjutsu for my picture book, Ninja Mouse: Haiku. Lettering is one of the most important parts of a comic page, but most people don't realize until it looks wrong. Even on Comixology's submit instruction, they basically say don't use Comic Sans or any other font that's not from Blambot or Comicraft.

     

    tkdrobert said:
    Greycat said:

    Tkdrobert

    Take a look at this

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

    Have you used any of these?

    I haven't used these. I suppose they're cheap enough to give a whirl. But if you already have photoshop they're very likely redundant. Also, since these are custom actions, they don't do anything that you wouldn't be able to do on your own after some (or tons of) experimenting. I think the price reflects that.

    Another good investment for Manga Studio is custom brushes:

    https://www.flylanddesigns.com/custom-manga-studio-5-clip-studio-paint-brushes/

    I have these, and have pretty much stopped using the stock brushes.

    On the other hand, Manga Studio or CSP is a robust software, and it doesn't need a whole lot of add-ons. In the past, I've found myself falling into a cycle of buying small tools like brushes, or custom actions, or filters, in both Photoshop and MS, learning how to use them, but not actually making comics with any of my tools. So, I like the brushes I have for MS, or PS for that matter, and those actions look cool, but you already have everything you need to start making comics.

  • GreycatGreycat Posts: 332
    nonesuch00 said:

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

    As an artist creating a comic it’s important that you have a style that is recognizable as your own.

    I am hoping this will be my style. Whether this will work in this story I don’t know yet. In the image, the figure on the left is how the main character originally looked, added a little Girl 4 to give a more stylize look.

     

    Compare.jpg
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  • nonesuch00nonesuch00 Posts: 17,944
    edited July 2017
    Greycat said:
    nonesuch00 said:

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

    As an artist creating a comic it’s important that you have a style that is recognizable as your own.

    I am hoping this will be my style. Whether this will work in this story I don’t know yet. In the image, the figure on the left is how the main character originally looked, added a little Girl 4 to give a more stylize look.

     

    Well I sort of know what you are doing in trying to be unique in style as I am trying to too but say I try to be original by caricaturing people I know and well no danger of copyright infringement or unintentionally copying other famous successful styles as I and they are't famous or have a Disney Teen Singer look or such popular things but yet ultimately it's pert near impossible to create art using people as models, even unknown and not having strong similarities to others in previous works of art. So I just will do something I like and infringes on no trademarks or copyrights instead and not worry about being consciously original. And sometimes if I want to make fan art sometimes I will do that too.

    Post edited by nonesuch00 on
  • JCThomasJCThomas Posts: 254

    Here are links to two obviously-made-in-Poser-or-DS comics:

    https://www.comixology.com/Agent-1-22/comics-series/79971?ref=Y29taWMvdmlldy9kZXNrdG9wL2JyZWFkY3J1bWJz

    https://www.comixology.com/Extraterrestrial/comics-series/83120?ref=Y29taWMvdmlldy9kZXNrdG9wL2Fsc29fYm91Z2h0L3BkX3NpbXNfczJz

    These are probably two of the better examples I've seen of this type of art. I stll find it jarring, the juxtaposition of the comic elements with the obvious CGI. Agent 1.22 particularly had some nice covers, but the interior didn't seem to have the same post-processing to it. But you peek at the preview pages of Aget 1.22, you'll notice that there are only ever hints of a background. The detailed renders are just the characters. Page three of issue 1 (not zero) has a nice fade from the ground to a dark background. If anything, there could be perhaps an establishing shot of the detailed setting. But overall it's a good example of what I mentioend earlier, regarding the busy backgrounds of most 3D scenes detracting from the important parts, like the characters and what they're doing/saying. I mean, this comic doesn't do that...

    Went ahead and bought these comics to see what the rest of the art is like, might be worth checking out.

  • MJ007MJ007 Posts: 1,679
    edited July 2017
    Greycat said:

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

    Looks pretty good.  Do you have other Sci-Fi City sets and would consider rendering backgrounds like similar to the one attached for commercial use?

    -MJ

    KlingonHall1.jpg
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    Post edited by MJ007 on
  • JCThomasJCThomas Posts: 254
    MJ007 said:
    Greycat said:

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

    Looks pretty good.  Do you have other Sci-Fi City sets and would consider rendering backgrounds like similar to the one attached for commercial use?

    -MJ

    I would. Shoot me a PM if you wanna chat further.

  • tkdroberttkdrobert Posts: 3,534
    edited July 2017
    JCThomas said:

    Here are links to two obviously-made-in-Poser-or-DS comics:

    https://www.comixology.com/Agent-1-22/comics-series/79971?ref=Y29taWMvdmlldy9kZXNrdG9wL2JyZWFkY3J1bWJz

    https://www.comixology.com/Extraterrestrial/comics-series/83120?ref=Y29taWMvdmlldy9kZXNrdG9wL2Fsc29fYm91Z2h0L3BkX3NpbXNfczJz

    These are probably two of the better examples I've seen of this type of art. I stll find it jarring, the juxtaposition of the comic elements with the obvious CGI. Agent 1.22 particularly had some nice covers, but the interior didn't seem to have the same post-processing to it. But you peek at the preview pages of Aget 1.22, you'll notice that there are only ever hints of a background. The detailed renders are just the characters. Page three of issue 1 (not zero) has a nice fade from the ground to a dark background. If anything, there could be perhaps an establishing shot of the detailed setting. But overall it's a good example of what I mentioend earlier, regarding the busy backgrounds of most 3D scenes detracting from the important parts, like the characters and what they're doing/saying. I mean, this comic doesn't do that...

    Went ahead and bought these comics to see what the rest of the art is like, might be worth checking out.

    Those look pretty good.  I recognize some of the Daz assets they are using.  I don't know how to do that effect in Daz where you blur the background.  I've tried with no luck.

    Post edited by tkdrobert on
  • JCThomasJCThomas Posts: 254
    tkdrobert said:
    JCThomas said:
    Those look pretty good.  I recognize some of the Daz assets they are using.  I don't know how to do that effect in Daz where you blur the background.  I've tried with no luck.

    Are you rendering from the perspective view rather than from a camera? If so, add a camera to your scene, select it from the drop menu at top right, then select the thing you want to be featured most prominently, the CTRL+F to focus the camera on that object. Usually gets a nice depth of field effect. Fiddle with the F-Stop settings in the camera tab.

    Though in Agent 1.22, I'm 99% positive that the characters were rendered with a transparent background, and then added to a separate background layer. The scifi effects are probably some of Ron's Photoshop brushes, availabe here.

  • GreycatGreycat Posts: 332

    That’s the Klingon palace from Star Trek? I can’t do that.

    Planet Skyline.jpg
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  • 3Diva3Diva Posts: 11,287
    esther said:

    Great. you will love it!  here is a page from my comic made in poser. I do lots of postwork.  Some of it bad postwork hehe.

    Love esther

     

    That page looks great esther! What do you use for post work? Or what do you use to get that "comic look"?

    If it's a "trade secret", I understand. :)

  • JCThomasJCThomas Posts: 254
    edited July 2017

    Figured since I've been posting in here perhaps I should attach some samples from one of my recent projects, the Gates of Dawn. All of the characters are either G2M or G2F. Happy to hear any feedback or answer any questions.

    Edit: should have made it clear at first, but these pages are not consecutive.

    GOD 006.jpg
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    GOD 011.jpg
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    GOD 013.jpg
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    GOD 017.jpg
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    GOD 023.jpg
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    GOD 049.jpg
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    GOD 051.jpg
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    Post edited by JCThomas on
  • 3Diva3Diva Posts: 11,287
    JCThomas said:

    Figured since I've been posting in here perhaps I should attach some samples from one of my recent projects, the Gates of Dawn. All of the characters are either G2M or G2F. Happy to hear any feedback or answer any questions.

    I really like that water-color and ink look you've created. Looks cool! Nicely done.

  • nonesuch00nonesuch00 Posts: 17,944

    I like the Halloween Depot line.

  • 3Diva3Diva Posts: 11,287
    Greycat said:

    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.

    I really like Silver Hawk. Great looking character! 

  • LotharenLotharen Posts: 282
    edited July 2017

    I played around at one time and created this as just a test:

     

    I really didn't like how it turned out. I wanted a graphic novel feel but I didn't think I captured that.

    Maybe on day.

    Post edited by Lotharen on
  • JCThomasJCThomas Posts: 254

    @Lotharen I think there are a lot of strengths in the pages you shared. The pacing is especially strong, and the placement of the splash page (full page panel) really works. The color palette also works really well, and I think you did a great job connecting the character's outfit with her apprent fiery powers.

    Using a different font and centering the text in the dialog would really change the overall feel to this a lot. Also, something else to try is completely getting rid of bump maps in the surfaces tab. Bump maps sometimes give unnecessary or unwanted detail, and look very computer generated. If I may, the black speckly dots on the stone is very prominet and looks unnatural. Line detection tools in filters pick up every little detail, and sometimes we don't want that. Getting rid of the bump maps or significantly reducing their strength can help get rid of some unwanted lines and dots in the filter.

    great job and thanks for sharing, will you be returning to the project?

  • Griffin AvidGriffin Avid Posts: 3,758

    I think I must be doing the opposite and NOT trying to 'look like a comic book'. I call my work a graphic comic. Some traditional comic aspects- I dropped completely.

    If it didn't make sense for me to do, I got rid of it.

     

    One thing that always did bother me - was the painted comic book cover and then the inside was line drawing/black and white.

    So many people are suprised when the outside matches the inside.

     

  • Griffin AvidGriffin Avid Posts: 3,758

    For fonts I use a site called DaFont and for photoshop brushes, I like https://www.brusheezy.com/

    Also Ron's brushes, althogh they're kinda expensive and he seems to be slowly turning towards CC only.

    His last release is both CS and CC so it's coming home with me tomorrow morning.

    I would love to find a hangout where creatives can kick it. - but all the forums are for webcomics and very young people.

     

  • tkdroberttkdrobert Posts: 3,534
    JCThomas said:
    tkdrobert said:
    JCThomas said:
    Those look pretty good.  I recognize some of the Daz assets they are using.  I don't know how to do that effect in Daz where you blur the background.  I've tried with no luck.

    Are you rendering from the perspective view rather than from a camera? If so, add a camera to your scene, select it from the drop menu at top right, then select the thing you want to be featured most prominently, the CTRL+F to focus the camera on that object. Usually gets a nice depth of field effect. Fiddle with the F-Stop settings in the camera tab.

    Though in Agent 1.22, I'm 99% positive that the characters were rendered with a transparent background, and then added to a separate background layer. The scifi effects are probably some of Ron's Photoshop brushes, availabe here.

    I always render from a camera.

  • tkdroberttkdrobert Posts: 3,534
    edited July 2017

    Feeling a little frustrated this morning.  Last night I worked on another concept character and I couldn't get him to look the way I wanted.  Now I think I have to go back to the drawing board on him.

    Anyway, I have a question about Ron's Brushes.  In CSP, there are brushes that you don't have to pick the colors or anything.  For example, I have a fire brush that paints fire perfectly.  I don't have to worry about picking the right colors or filling anything in.  Do Ron's brushes do that?  Can I just paint it and the effect is there or do I have to chose the right colors and fill stuff in or paint multiple layers of the same thing in different colors?  I hope I'm making sense.  I haven't had a lot of cafeene yet.  I've looked at this brushes, but I haven't baught them because I'm still a PS noob and I don't know if I can produce the effect he has in the preview pics.

    Thanks to everyone that shared comic pages.  I'm still trying to figure out if I want to stick with the syle I have right now (see concept pics) or try and do something like what I saw in that Agent 1.22 or Extraterrestria comic.  Right now I'm leaning toward the former not the latter.  I don't know if it's because of last night's debacle, but I'm feeling a little bit discouraged.  I'm sure it will pass.

    Post edited by tkdrobert on
  • kaotkblisskaotkbliss Posts: 2,914
    JCThomas said:

    Figured since I've been posting in here perhaps I should attach some samples from one of my recent projects, the Gates of Dawn. All of the characters are either G2M or G2F. Happy to hear any feedback or answer any questions.

    Edit: should have made it clear at first, but these pages are not consecutive.

    Really good, I like it :)

    My only irk is in the GOD 013 page, the very first panel. The headlight section of the motorcycle has too much detail in it or something and makes the bike look almost out of place.

    Lotharen said:

    I played around at one time and created this as just a test:

     

    I really didn't like how it turned out. I wanted a graphic novel feel but I didn't think I captured that.

    Maybe on day.

    I like this one too, very dramatic. I have to agree that there's too much detail in the rock but other than that, I really like the style.

     

    avxp said:

    I think I must be doing the opposite and NOT trying to 'look like a comic book'. I call my work a graphic comic. Some traditional comic aspects- I dropped completely.

    If it didn't make sense for me to do, I got rid of it.

     

    One thing that always did bother me - was the painted comic book cover and then the inside was line drawing/black and white.

    So many people are suprised when the outside matches the inside.

    Very sweet looking comic.

    You all will have to let me know where I can find these when they are done! 

  • Griffin AvidGriffin Avid Posts: 3,758

    Thanks. This is the link to the main page of the free version of my comics

    https://issuu.com/producersedge

    I'm almost done with episodes 9 and 10 now. That will wrap season 1.

  • GreycatGreycat Posts: 332
    tkdrobert said:

    Feeling a little frustrated this morning.  Last night I worked on another concept character and I couldn't get him to look the way I wanted.  Now I think I have to go back to the drawing board on him.

    Anyway, I have a question about Ron's Brushes.  In CSP, there are brushes that you don't have to pick the colors or anything.  For example, I have a fire brush that paints fire perfectly.  I don't have to worry about picking the right colors or filling anything in.  Do Ron's brushes do that?  Can I just paint it and the effect is there or do I have to chose the right colors and fill stuff in or paint multiple layers of the same thing in different colors?  I hope I'm making sense.  I haven't had a lot of cafeene yet.  I've looked at this brushes, but I haven't baught them because I'm still a PS noob and I don't know if I can produce the effect he has in the preview pics.

    Thanks to everyone that shared comic pages.  I'm still trying to figure out if I want to stick with the syle I have right now (see concept pics) or try and do something like what I saw in that Agent 1.22 or Extraterrestria comic.  Right now I'm leaning toward the former not the latter.  I don't know if it's because of last night's debacle, but I'm feeling a little bit discouraged.  I'm sure it will pass.

    All the background was painted, the waves, clouds, and birds are Ron’s brushes. I put together something to show how I use Ron’s brushes in CSP.

    SG1.jpg
    2185 x 3600 - 5M
  • tkdroberttkdrobert Posts: 3,534
    Greycat said:
    tkdrobert said:

    Feeling a little frustrated this morning.  Last night I worked on another concept character and I couldn't get him to look the way I wanted.  Now I think I have to go back to the drawing board on him.

    Anyway, I have a question about Ron's Brushes.  In CSP, there are brushes that you don't have to pick the colors or anything.  For example, I have a fire brush that paints fire perfectly.  I don't have to worry about picking the right colors or filling anything in.  Do Ron's brushes do that?  Can I just paint it and the effect is there or do I have to chose the right colors and fill stuff in or paint multiple layers of the same thing in different colors?  I hope I'm making sense.  I haven't had a lot of cafeene yet.  I've looked at this brushes, but I haven't baught them because I'm still a PS noob and I don't know if I can produce the effect he has in the preview pics.

    Thanks to everyone that shared comic pages.  I'm still trying to figure out if I want to stick with the syle I have right now (see concept pics) or try and do something like what I saw in that Agent 1.22 or Extraterrestria comic.  Right now I'm leaning toward the former not the latter.  I don't know if it's because of last night's debacle, but I'm feeling a little bit discouraged.  I'm sure it will pass.

    All the background was painted, the waves, clouds, and birds are Ron’s brushes. I put together something to show how I use Ron’s brushes in CSP.

    That's very nice.  I thought his brushes only worked with Photoshop.

  • GreycatGreycat Posts: 332
    edited July 2017

    They will work in CSP, but they need to be converted to PNG files with abrViewer

    Post edited by Greycat on
  • tkdroberttkdrobert Posts: 3,534

    There’s No Excuse Not To Follow Your Dreams And Break Into Comics The Marvel Way

    https://www.bleedingcool.com/2017/07/21/theres-no-excuse-not-follow-dreams-break-comics-marvel-way/

    Nothing ground breaking but I thought I'd share anyway.

  • LotharenLotharen Posts: 282
    JCThomas said:

    @Lotharen I think there are a lot of strengths in the pages you shared. The pacing is especially strong, and the placement of the splash page (full page panel) really works. The color palette also works really well, and I think you did a great job connecting the character's outfit with her apprent fiery powers.

    Using a different font and centering the text in the dialog would really change the overall feel to this a lot. Also, something else to try is completely getting rid of bump maps in the surfaces tab. Bump maps sometimes give unnecessary or unwanted detail, and look very computer generated. If I may, the black speckly dots on the stone is very prominet and looks unnatural. Line detection tools in filters pick up every little detail, and sometimes we don't want that. Getting rid of the bump maps or significantly reducing their strength can help get rid of some unwanted lines and dots in the filter.

    great job and thanks for sharing, will you be returning to the project?

     

    I really didn't have much more than that. I created that on the fly. I'm sure if I really put my mind to it I could expand on the idea though.

  • dreamfarmerdreamfarmer Posts: 2,128

    I feel like I ought to show my comic even if it's just straight renders presented via Topaz filtering and Comic Life. I have CSP but the ease of Comic Life helps keep me from getting trapped by perfectionism when it's just supposed to be a fun side project. The first two pages were from months ago and I changed the style some between them. I may change more bits for the next pages; I promised myself I'd do a page today (well, this week) and this is how i'm motivating myself. Opinions welcome!

     

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    Page 4.jpg
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  • JCThomasJCThomas Posts: 254
    tkdrobert said:
    JCThomas said:
    tkdrobert said:
    JCThomas said:
    I always render from a camera.

    Only other thing I can think of is to make sure you have the Depth of Field option ticked to on in the Cameras Tab.

    divamakeup said:
    JCThomas said:

    Figured since I've been posting in here perhaps I should attach some samples from one of my recent projects, the Gates of Dawn. All of the characters are either G2M or G2F. Happy to hear any feedback or answer any questions.

    I really like that water-color and ink look you've created. Looks cool! Nicely done.

    Thanks!

    nonesuch00 said:

    I like the Halloween Depot line.

    I know right? Should have mentioned that I didn't write this...just did the art. I adapted this from the writer's original short screenplay.

    kaotkbliss said:

    Really good, I like it :)

    My only irk is in the GOD 013 page, the very first panel. The headlight section of the motorcycle has too much detail in it or something and makes the bike look almost out of place.

     

    You all will have to let me know where I can find these when they are done! 

    Thanks. Looking back, I agree with you about the bike, but I think what's causing it to look out of place is that I didn't strengthen its outline on the left side. Alas. The Gates of Dawn is actually finished already. You can find it on Kindle, Comixology, or paperback from Amazon or Barnes and Noble. I'd recommend getting it on Comixology for digital, and Barnes and Noble for print, if you're interested. No pressure though :). I used one of Amazon's competitor's to have it printed, and they don't reliable keep it in stock, which is why it's only available from third-party sellers there. The paper back should be $8.95, don't pay more for it than that. B&N has it for the right price.

    Not including a link because it's not free, not sure if we can link for commercial purposes. But just searching for the title at one of the marketplaces should turn it up.

  • tkdroberttkdrobert Posts: 3,534

    I still have a lot to learn in DAZ but camera and lighting are the 2 most important I think.

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