The advancements in 3D software make creating 3D Comix possible for any skilled artist, designer, animator, web designer, or comic enthusiast. Whether you want to create a traditional comix, a 3D comix, or an innovative print or web ad campaign using comix, this text provides the instructions. For professional illustrators and designers making the leap from pen and ink to digital, and/or students and novices trying their hand at comic creation, every step of the process is covered in this book, from creating 3D art and effects, compositing and text, to storyboarding, script writing, and marketing your comix. It details how to integrate digital elements, new media looks, and special effects while preserving your personal style and uses various comix themes throughout from fantasy and adventure to instructional. The text covers popular 3D programs for all aspects of comic creation including Poser, Amorphium, Photoshop, Illustrator, Freehand, After Effects, page layout application hints, and a variety of other 3D programs. It provides an indepth look at traditional and non-traditional archetypal characters. The Colour Gallery is a series of comix page examples that show how to create through the information in the book and the files on the CD. 3D GLASSES are included for viewing the stereogram, and the CD-ROM (Mac/Windows) includes a library of ready-to-use comix elements, a variety of characters and backgrounds, and the files for the sample comix pages covered in the book.
As computers grow in power and the learning curve for graphics and 3-D software applications eases up, artists and designers who are more focused on content and less on the latest computer trick will be able to use these tools to fashion compelling stories.
Creating 3-D Comix gives you an overview of the tools available today and how they can be used to create such content, primarily for pseudo-comic-book-style work.
The examples in the book are rudimentary, but they provide a good cross-section of the capabilities of each tool. Poser, formerly from MetaCreations, is the most widely used application in the book. Poser is good for this type of work: it includes lots of models that are easy to work with and easily exported to other tools like Photoshop for finishing. (There is a demo of Poser 4 on the CD-ROM.) Other tools such as Amorphium, Organica, Nendo, Photoshop, Painter, and After Effects are also covered.
There are 19 chapters in this book, on not only the development and creation of the stories and characters but also how to combine the separate elements (text, background, characters) in a tool like Adobe Photoshop. Adding lighting and texture effects is also discussed.
The focus is on tools and their features, but there's nothing about comics' basics: composition, design, line flow, leading the eye across the page. So while this may be an interesting book on creating comics-like images using today's accessible computer tools, you'll have to go elsewhere to learn what makes a good comic work. --Mike Caputo, Amazon.com
