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HGohwell
Oct '18

I've seen a lot of people talk about using Sketchup and similar to create back scenery, especially room interiors and that seems to be the most common use of 3D in comics. I've seen a few people create small details or props for their scenes too, although that doesn't seem as common. I've also seen people compare it to photobashing, paint overs and similar, referring to it as cheating. I've seen some people call it tracing, or that you should tell people what you're doing like they would expect you to credit photos used for backgrounds.

Do any of your use 3D in your comics/art? In what ways? What's your opinion on people who do? Is something that needs to be acknowledged in the description?

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    Oct '18

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kip
Oct '18

Hm I used it once for a room so I could understand how a cerian perspective would work, and i drew ontop of a screenshot i took (of the room i modled)
but it is.. not cheating
this goes right back to the timeless argument (mainly coming from very young inexperienced aritsts) that references are evil and we should do everything from our minds

3d is just another tool we can use to our advantage. personally, i find that seeing obviously 3d items and backgrounds (ones that haven't been drawn ontop of in any way) can kind of throw me out of the story becuase they're so blatantly different from the art style used with the characters? but i definitly don't think it's wrong, i can completely understand how, in order to get those X pages a week, sometimes shortcuts need to be made, and background work is without a doubt a big, big time spender.

it's really weird honestly because so many times you see people praise works and artists for amazing background work (for example, Kengo Hanazawa)
when in fact.. the backgrounds in those works are just photoshop-edits of real photos they took and digitalized.

תמונה.png1200x852 669 KB

same goes for shoujo manga that's been using screentones instead of manually drawing their backgrounds for.. ever
תמונה.png819x813 560 KB

people have been using "shortcuts" to do backgrounds since the beggining of popularized comics, and people have been using references to draw since the beggining of time itself, just because it's a bit more visually clear now doesn't make it less legitimate. it's the creator's choice if they want to make it more or less obvious, but in terms of Telling The Reader because it's Cheating?
Nah.

*sidenote, legally and potentialy ethically speaking, if you're using someone else's works (you didn't model the 3D room, or you're using photos someone else took without their permission,) that's a whole other animal which can bring up a lot of disscussion too!

BobbyjoeX
Oct '18

since sketchup has this rediculous licensing fee, i used blender and the assets i can get off clip studio's little shop thing

HGohwell
Oct '18

Sketchup has a free version now. I don't know how it compares to the one you need to pay for, but it seems perfectly serviceable.

SleepingPoppy
Oct '18

Heck yeah!

I've modeled the interior of a decent portion of the main setting of my comic using maya. It's a huge help for perspective, and I think my methods integrate it well into the comic (I take multiple shots of the scene to line up perspective, then trace, taking liberties as needed). It saves me time and has things looking really nice and consistent. :thumbsup:

Do you! I know sketchup has some weird new rules, so not 100% on whats going on there (though I honestly wouldn't personally be mad at anyone using it as a ref anyway XD ), but yeah, use what you can, and if you can make your own assets all the better!

I think the important thing is just integrating things well and looking consistent.

Not really? You aren't obligated to explain your process. No one blinks an eye about sharing what program you're drawing or coloring in.

LouisMiz
Oct '18

For some reason, a lot of people like to ignore that 3D modeling also takes time and skill to execute properly ¯_(ツ)_/¯
But for those that do use sketchup, be careful with how you handle downloading the models that have been created by others (or even models you make yourself). If it ends up becoming a for-profit project and you haven't purchased a license or transformed the sketchup image sufficiently, you could possibly end up in legal trouble.

BobbyjoeX
Oct '18
HGohwell

Yeah but free version is personal use only, you have to pay $800 or so to use the models commercially

TheFireDragon
Oct '18

I actually like to use pictures from real life, like parks and alleyways, to get an idea of what things look like naturally before I try exaggerating them, if that makes sense. : )

HGohwell
Oct '18
kip

Quickly touching on the photo filtering, point, I totally agree, there's a surprising amount of it in manga that isn't noticed. And people should definitely have permission. For my more painterly style comic that I'm working on a lot slower, I use photobashing for my sketch layer.
Anyone reading this looking for a fantastic high quality, not so stocky images that are free to use and edit even for commercial pieces, I cannot recommend Unsplash enough.

I know what you mean about it looking jarring sometimes, the same way bad CGI in films and animation looks super jarring. Of course when it's done well it can look absolutely stunning and I'm not sure why 3D modelling in illustration seems more controversial than in animation/movies.

HGohwell
Oct '18
SleepingPoppy

Oh wow you use Maya? I hear that's supposed to be one of the industry standard but I looked into it and it seemed so expensive. I actually use Sketchup for my scenery, in the form of boxes just to get perspective and to stop me getting too reliant on having everything built already. I often use it more as a floor plan than an actual model for drawing over too. I do have the old Sculptris that I've used for modelling the mechs in my comic, more for design consistency than to actually use in the comic itself.

kip
Oct '18

I just want to point out that like... while sketchup isn't that difficult, and maya/belnder/other 3D modeling programs are insanely hard, there are simpler solutions for people looking to build their own 3D models for rooms and such.

For example,

Sims 3.

HGohwell
Oct '18

@LouisMiz Very true, I'm not sure why people don't understand this. Maybe for the same reason some people still think digital art is easy because "the computer does it all for you".
@BobbyjoeXforgotensb Ahh, yeah, gotcha. Like what LouisMiz was warning about. This is part of the reason I only use Sketchup to draw boxes or the very basic shape, or I can edit it enough during my drawing.

@TheFireDragon I think I get you. Gathering lots of references from real life is a good way to go.

@kip Absolutely. Sketchup is rather simple to learn but 3D modelling/sculpting is ridiculously tricky, it was a very steep learning curve, I have so much respect for people who do it professionally. Definitely not something I'd recommend just picking up and thinking you get get great results first time. And wow I had never considered the Sims at all. I used to spend hours building homes on that. I'm not sure where it stands legally but that's a great simple solution for layout and floor plans if nothing else.

SleepingPoppy
Oct '18
HGohwell

Yeah, my emphasis in college was animation, so I'm pretty familiar with maya. It is expensive, but I'm just using the same license I've had since ages ago that I got through school. I hate adobe's monthly pay model they have going now.

I think thats an awesome way to utalize sketch up! It helps you get the angles right, but you're still depending on your own drawing skills. At the end of the day it's what works for each person, but I think thats a very clever way to go about it. I don't do suuuuper detailed models, but I have more or less blocked everything out since I know I'll be using it a lot (most of the comic takes place in a particular area).

Haha, I don't know if I could make a mech. Very impressive!

I considered making my setting in sims 3 when I was first deciding I didn't like sketchup! I do think thats a good idea, though I ended up just modeling everything in maya because I apparently needed that level of control. XD

But I'd love to see some people utalize the sims creatively. =D

Sadly I think this is a big part of it.

kip
Oct '18

@HGohwell
Definitly not something you'd want to use as a direct reference for the designs (unless you customize the shit out of them) but in terms of using as a picture to reference from (never touching your finished product), 100% legal as far as I'm aware.

@SleepingPoppy
I can see why if you'd have that option you'd like it better, haha. It covers more ground too!

Rhonder
Oct '18

I'm not a huge fan of comics that just straight up drop the models in, solely because a lot of the time it looks uncanny in contrast with the cartoony looking characters xD;;

I do think that using models as trace references or just references in general is a cool idea though :smiley: I'm an architect for work, so I work with modeling buildings pretty much every day... maybe I should try this method sometime in the future xD dig out my student license for Rhino lol