3D to 2D comic creation (BL)

[Sada]

I’ve been playing around with some character design roughs for my comic idea I’m working on. The outline is finished and I have the first two episodes scripted out in its entirety. These are the WIP profiles for the two leads.

[A-weird-girler]

There's some work to it. No offense but now it just falls slightly into the uncanny valley. The 3D models are very good though

[Sada]

Thanks for the input, A-weird-girler! I’m glad you like the models. The uncanny valley issue is kinda one of the big challenges you have to confront when transitioning from 3D to 2D. I love working in both 3D and 2D and this is my personal favorite method for making comics/illustrations, so it’s a challenge I enjoy tackling.

This is my first attempt for these characters. I still have a lil’ ways to go...

[A-weird-girler]

Well I'm sure you'll get there! Best of luck on your comic!

[Sada]

Thanks so much! I will do my best! ;D

[Wumbl]

When it comes to using 3d models for 2d art I'd honestly recommend not doing a direct conversion - it looks kind of off because there's no organic lineart. It is probably better to create the poses with 3d models and then use them as drawing reference. Otherwise you get that uncanny look. You really can't "cheat" drawing because it's almost always pretty obvious if something is a 3d model - no matter how good the model is.

If you can figure out some way of altering them to make it work then fair play but it's gonna be a LOT of work.

[spadesart]

just a small concern, careful to not make the short one look too much like a child, dont want to fall into bad territory.

[Sada]

Hi wumblebumarts!

This is just the first round of renders. Like I said, I have a bit of a ways to go. I get your point about not doing a direct conversion, but that's not my goal for this project. I've created illustrations using 3D as a base for drawing reference before, but I'm actually working towards creating the line art mostly via render settings here. It's a challenge, but one that I enjoy tackling.

Thanks for the post!

[Sada]

He's actually still a work in progress...

I'm pretty happy with the larger one, but I'm currently reworking the smaller character; elongating the face, making the eyes smaller, etc. Things that will age him up a bit. Sometimes, it hard to find a balance when you're trying to make a cute character in a certain age bracket. I've personally found it's easier to get the look you want and then just work on aging the figure up. At least, it's worked for me that way so far...

Thanks, stnmaren!

[Sada]

My second attempt rendering 3D to 2D. Reworked the smaller character to age him up a bit. Still a work in progress...

[deltastic]

Sada this is really cool!! I love how you did this- I think the way the 3D is rendered with the outlines looks great, and the way you've drawn the eyes really makes them look real to me. You've done a great job with the body language in all the renders, can already get a sense of who these characters are. I'd be super interested to read a comic in this style! Keep up the good work!

[Daknight]

This is a nice technic and I know you are still working on it. Reminds me a lot of the movie A Scanner Darkly that uses real-life to animated style style on it.

As for your version on the second render attempt I believe the hair looks a bit out of place, maybe have it not that many line 'details' when render to 2D might work (speaking on the taller one, the hair on the smaller one seemed fine).

It still looks 3D, but I believe with coloring and some light adjustment it can fool easier into it looking 2D full.

[Sada]

Thanks so much for your kind words, deltastic! They’re very much appreciated XD

Btw, I took a sneaky-peek at your comic and your artwork is amazing!

[Sada]

Thanks Daknight! I wasn’t aware of A Scanner Darkly previously, but now I’m very curious about it. I’ll have to check it out!
I also think the render settings used for the smaller character this time around works better for the hair’s appearance. Thanks for the tip! XD

[Sada]

Decided to bow out of the Writers Camp this time around due to my hectic life at the moment (Good luck to everyone who's taking part!).

I did have a bit of free time last night and this morning to tinker about with linework rendering. I refined the settings a bit and then added digital watercolor. Unfortunately, I smudged the line work layer and was just playing about, so I didn't bother fixing it.

Still needs work, but I'm getting kinda partial to this character and his freckles. I've been planning this short comic for a while now. I've got it scripted out, thumbnailed, and ready to go... as soon as I stop procrastinating.

I wonder when classes end this semester, if I should start creating the artwork for the webcomic...

This post is becoming a sort of journal...

[BobbyjoeX]

was going to say something about the uncanny valley but girler beat me to it

[Sada]

Yes, the Uncanny Valley is something I knew I'd run up on when tackling this, but I enjoy doing it this way. Plus, I have hand tremors that makes inking a stressful and frustrating endeavor, so I decided to go at it this way since I have an easier time with 3D work. Digital painting is sometimes a challenge (see the smudge in the colored image above), but I do enjoy the painting process regardless.

Thanks for posting, BobbyjoeXforgotensb!

[BobbyjoeX]

well with the recent one with the colouring, you can pull it off, besides. i heard from somewhere that cutting corners is a key to success XD