How the Poser and Renderosity impacted my creative life

The sponsors of the Renderosity contest I recently won (see previous post) asked me to write up something about how Renderosity impacted my creative life. Here's what I sent them:

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I was asked to think about how the Poser software and Renderosity Community has impacted me creatively. That’s a tall order because, as cliché as it might sound, Poser has changed my life – my artistic life, that is. I was always interested in creating line art that looked hand drawn, and to be honest, although I can draw tolerably well with traditional tools, it’s just not my strength. In other words, my skills have always fallen short of my goals, which is why I turned to various software tools. Looking back at my Renderosity gallery, I can track my progress for 20+ years. I see that I dabbled with Poser 3, but really dove into it with the release of Poser 4 with the Pro Pack. Looking back at my gallery, I see my first image was an attempt to create a hand-drawn sketch of a cowboy; this was back in July 2003. Over the next few years, I used various techniques – like tracing renders in Photoshop, using PS actions, etc. – but none of them really succeeded in delivering a consistent result.

That didn’t stop me, though, as I continued to plod along creating logos and doing artwork for some Role Playing Games, but I was never really happy and I was limited to creating single images instead of sequential art (in other words, comics). During this time, it was positive feedback and interactions with other members of the Renderosity Community that helped fuel my creativity and let me know when I was on the right track and when I was going astray. It was like having my own private art commune at my beck and call. I made some great friends online and found several artists who, like me, were still exploring how shift the inherently detached nature of digital tools and humanize it by creating art.

Time moved on and, although I kept buying the latest versions of Photoshop up through version 10 (I had vers. 11, but I was fortunate enough to have won it in a contest so I didn’t pay for it), it was falling further behind in usability and I had almost completely transitioned to using Daz Studio. I was very close to abandoning Poser completely, and then something momentous happened.

There are very few single incidents that I can look back at and say, "This changed the way I work or think." There are a few teachers and classes in college, one particular issue of a fanzine (I was editing a fanzine and I abruptly changed from just tossing it together to being mindful of layout and design; it went from looking like a high school kid did it to looking like a professional magazine).

Attending the Anomaly Webcast was one of those “life-changing” events. It was a broadcast of a discussion/demo by professional comic book creators who used Poser as part of their daily workflow. I was fortunate to attend it live on Jan. 30, 2016 and was blown away by what I saw what they were doing with Poser 11’s “Live Comic Book Preview.”

There it was on the screen: a simple, repeatable way to produce consistent line art.

After this event, I completely changed the way I approached making comics and using digital tools to create line art. I found a combination of software and a methodology for using Poser and Clip Studio Paint that energized me and my creative endeavors. And, at the risk of blowing my own horn, other people at Renderosity noticed a change in my work and began to react enthusiastically on what I was doing. And I’ve apparently stunned a lot of people by revealing that my work is entirely 3D based, including several people at Renderosity who know Poser and know what it’s capable of. Not that I ever start out to pull the wool over anyone’s eyes, it’s still a thrill to know that my work is finally approaching the level of consistency and quality that it really does look hand drawn.

I’m currently working on comic book projects that would not be possible without Poser, and without its incredible depth of available content, both already purchased and that’s available in the Poser Marketplace.

And that raises another benefit of Poser: in an age where almost everything has a pre-set shelf life of obsolescence built into it, I am still able to draw on my library of Renderosity-purchased content that dates back to 2004! That’s two decades of props (and, to be honest, it’s mostly the older props that still work well; the ancient figures are often clunky looking) and other content that I can pull from to populate scenes and make artwork that looks fresh and professional.

My entire workflow for line art is now rooted firmly in using Poser and Clip Studio Paint: the work I’m doing isn’t possible in Daz Studio or any other commercial-grade 3D software. So, thank you to comic book artist Brian Haberlin for taking the time to share his secrets, and a particular thank you to everyone in the Poser Community. I would be a much sadder and unfulfilled artist without the Poser software, the incredibly deep library of content which has been lovingly created over the ensuing decades and the knowledgeable and accepting community of artists at Renderosity. Without all of you, my artistic dreams would remain in my head and unrealized.

Thank you all!

Graveyard Shift 04 - Lauren's Car

Visual arts convey a LOT of info via clothing and props. Off the top of my head, I can think of a few things that Lauren's clothing and vehicle can tell us:

• She wears scrubs, so she's some kind of medical professional from the latter part of the 20th century to present.
• If she were a nurse in the 1940s or 50s, she would be wearing one of those sexy nurse costumes.
• If she were dressed like a nun that would put her sometime after Florence Nightingale revolutionized nursing (mid 1800s) to early 1900s.
• Also, I put her in tennis shoes ("trainers" for you blokes across the pond), that shows she's on her feet all day and values comfort and utility.
• She drives a car, so:
• We know that she's not in the wild west (or some other time period).
• She's not riding in a Model-T, so that moves the timeline up into the 20th century.
• She's not riding the bus, so she's at least got enough money for a car.
• This also indicates that she values her privacy, or at least works someplace that doesn't have bus routes.

But what KIND of car should she drive?

What you drive says a LOT about who you are, or at least the "who" you are trying to present to the world. I have a buddy who loves driving a Dodge Charger (I think he got hooked when he watched The Dukes of Hazzard as a kid). But he's also had a Dodge pick-up and a Jeep. And those suit his personality. I, on the other hand, prefer a non-flashy sedan that blends into the crowd. As a young man, I had too many speeding tickets to ever want to draw attention to myself these days.

But let's get back to our lady vampiress, shall we?

I browsed through my runtime directories to find out what I already had on hand. I had a lot of sports cars and racecars. I had a cool 1961 Corvette convertible, but that's a vintage car that's got a hefty price tag. Would a humble nurse be tooling around in a hot number like that? Especially one who wants to fly under the radar?

That got me thinking about cars that could be described as "basic," "reliable" or "unassuming." I thought, maybe an Audie or something like that. Or maybe an old sedan or station wagon. Browsing my own stuff, and then checking out Daz3D and Renderosity didn't really find anything that leapt out at me. Sure, there were lots of nice cars, but none of them said "old reliable" to me by having a boxy, almost clunky shape.

Looking deeper, I found something that clicked, and it was neither boxy nor clunky: A VW Bug.

© 2023 Mike Mitchell
First render with a VW: it was not used.

The first one I found was a nice, modern bug with a sunroof. This was okay, but something just wasn't right about it. Even though the sun roof was great for me because it would make lighting her face a lot easier, it seemed too expensive and nice for a struggling vampire.

So I dug deeper and found one from 1969, and it was perfect! Rex thought so, too. Here's what he said when I showed him the rough draft of the splash page with her driving to Victor's house:

I love that you placed her in a VW bug.

It has just the right amount of retro to fit a vampiress-nurse.

© 2023 Mike Mitchell

The above is basically the first panel of the story, although I am going to go back and add a few shadows on her face.

◄ Back to Graveyard Shift main page

Graveyard Shift 03 - Character Design Lauren Transformed

 There's no way to progress this series of blog posts without dropping some serious spoilers. Since this is a horror comic I don't think you'll be very surprised to find out that our dear Lauren is a vampire who hides her existence by working as a night nurse for dying people; she drinks a little bit of their blood each night. When they die, who's going to do an autopsy? After all, her patients are dying.

In Rex's story there isn't really a transformation from human to vampire; he handles that subtly.

Of course, this is a comic book, and in a visual medium like this (and with the tropes of trying to emulate the old Warren horror magazines) "subtle" just won't do. So, I'm going to modify Rex's original description of the confrontation scene (below) and have her do a full-on "vamp-out" scene.

Original text by Rex Munsee:

Loren smiled and began to rise up from her chair. Victor reached into his shirt and held the crucifix out in front of him. Instantly, Loren turned her head and moved against the wall. He heard a cry of pain and a guttural snarl.

“Stay back! I don’t care that you’re a vampire! 1 need you to listen to me! I want to make a bargain.”

In a hoarse voice she croaked. “Put it away.”

Victor lowered the crucifix to his side.

Her crimson eyes glared at him through her tangled mane of hair. 

Here's my take on what she'll look like with full frontal fangs.

© 2023 Mike Mitchell

If you compare this to the previous character design, you'll notice I did more than just add a vampy face. I changed her entire physique by making her a lot thinner and exaggerated her poses. The hair still clearly needs work, by the way. I'm still playing around with its color, as I'm still concerned about how I'm going to standardize it against dark backgrounds. (Yeah, I did a few tests already, but they're a waste of time until I really settle on the look and feel of the interior scenes in the house.)

◄ Back to Graveyard Shift main page

Graveyard Shift 02 - Character Design Lauren Normal

 Rex's original story is brisk in its pacing and doesn't dwell a lot on detailed descriptions. That was perfect for my needs, as I wanted to have a lot of freedom in designing the characters and setting. One thing I did have to go on was the cover illustration he created for the story. As you can see below, it's kind of rough and he doesn't exactly follow his own descriptive text (illustration shows "Loren" as a blonde but the text says she has dark hair).

© 2023 Rex Munsee

Here's the text from the story:

“Evening, Loren,” he smiled at the tall woman, wrapped in a long coat and carrying a large handbag. “You’re right on time.”

“Hi, Victor.” He watched as she set her handbag down, shrugged out of her coat, and picked up her bag. She handed Victor the coat and he folded it over the back of his recliner. As she was smoothing out the wrinkles on her solid green scrubs, he gazed at her coal-black hair which contrasted with her pale skin, which his deceased mother would have said was a “peaches and cream complexion.”

Loren vs Lauren

If you read headlines, then you'll have noticed that I changed the spelling of the lady's name. Although "Loren" is an acceptable spelling of the name, in my experience that spelling is usually for males. "Lauren" is more often for females (and that includes the two to which I am relate). I discussed this with Rex and he was okay with the change.

So, spelling settled, I started work on the character sheet. I don't always do character sheets for my own work, but as I'm working with a collaborator, I decided it was something I should do this time around. As it turned out, it also provided me with space to make notes about the various assets and dial settings I used to refine her look.

As you can see, I'm still playing around with the hair color – I'm not sure how light or dark it will be. I'll need to test it with the dark backgrounds called for in the script before I will make that decision. After this, I have three more character designs to whip up.

As you can see in the notes, the main figure is Victoria 4. I've documented the various dial and prop settings on the sheet (I didn't share these with the writer, as this would only confuse him because he doesn't know anything about Poser or 3D art). My standard workflow is in play: I create 2-to-3 renders in Poser 13 and transfer them to Clip Studio Paint for compositing, setting the tones and clean-up.

◄ Back to Graveyard Shift main page

Graveyard Shift 01

 I've started work on adapting a short story into comic format. The exercise is really just so I can take a stab at doing something that I have not written myself. I also think it would be fun to go back and do some public domain horror stories and try to nail down the style of the old Warren Magazines like EERIE, CREEPY or VAMPIRELLA.

I am starting with a short story titled "Graveyard Shift" by Rex Munsee. He's a member of the Snicker Snack Amateur Press Association (APA), which is a type of fanzine. Rex wrote the story a few issues ago, I read it and decided it would be fun to adapt it. So I wrote to him and he agreed to let me do his story, and the results will be printed in Snicker Snack and the Collectors' Club Newsletter.

The story has simple modeling and set requirements, which is a major criteria for my selection process:

• Few character designs (there are 4)
• Limited locations / sets:
• Exterior:
• Country road a night with a small car driving on it
• Country road leads to a nice house in the woods
• Front of the house as she enters
• Interior:
• Living room
• Bedroom
• Possibly another part of the house, like a hallway or kitchen area
• Props (key items):
• Reclining chair (i.e. La-Z-Boy)
• Lamp, side table, misc. items
• Hospital-type bed
• Hypodermic & medical equipment
• Set dressings (pictures, furniture, etc.)
• Video/security camera
• Video monitor
• Antique mirror

If you're familiar with my workflow, then you know I start out in Poser (a 3D app) and then render line art which is composited and cleaned up in Clip Studio Paint. This makes the first step is to collect the 3D assets I need, and fortunately I already had most of the items above. The exterior of the country road has proved to be the most problematic because I didn't have exactly the sort of hilly environment I imagined when I started to block out the story and make thumbnails.

As for the character design, we'll cover that next time!

Other Posts in this Series

• Graveyard Shift 01 - Project Overview (you are here)
• Graveyard Shift 02 - Character Design Lauren Normal
• Graveyard Shift 03 - Character Design Lauren Transformed
• Graveyard Shift 04 - Lauren's Car
• Graveyard Shift 05 - Character Design Victor
• Graveyard Shift 06 - Character Design Vincent
• Graveyard Shift 07 - Exterior Night

Captain America illustration selected by Renderosity

 Awesome news! Another illustration I created was selected by the Renderosity moderators to be included in their Poser Pulse Gallery for August. I think this may have replaced their "Staff picks of the Week" feature.

As you can see, this illustration uses my standard workflow of creating the base renders in Poser (in this case, Poser 13) and then combining them in Clip Studio Paint (in this case, version 3.0). In this case, I also added retro comic book colors with the True Grit comic book color tools.

© 2023 Mike Mitchell
Captain America and Red Skull are TM by Marvel Comics

A link to the image – and my notes on its creation – can be found on Renderosity.

A link to the Poser Pulse gallery can be found here.

Red Sonja - Retro Selected as Renderosity Poser Staff Pick of the Week (Feb 29 - March 6)

 HUZZAH! It's always gratifying when you put in some hard work on something and it garners recognition from your peers! Once more, an illustration I created has been selected by the Renderosity site as a "Poser Staff Pick of the Week." And, if you're counting, this is the eighth illustration to receive this honor. You can see the whole list here.

They selected my "Red Sonja - Retro" illustration, as shown below.

© 2022 Mike Mitchell
Red Sonja TM 2022 by Red Sonja LLC

The moderators of Renderosity's Poser gallery review all the submissions for the week and pick the most outstanding work posted during that time. This week they selected 6 illustrations, which includes some pretty cool work. 

The entire list can be see here: https://www.renderosity.com/forums/threads/2969252/poser-staff-picks-feb-28-thru-march-6#msg4435565

And, once again, I didn't get any money or prizes for this honor. I just got a nice, virtual pat on the back for making something memorable.

Retro Coloring - Red Sonja Attacks

 This is an illustration for a fanzine (in other words, this is for print and the "Anthems" is the name of the feature in the magazine.). This is my first serious attempt at using the KraftTone brushes from Vintage Texture Supply Co. These are a product that emulates old-fashioned comic book coloring techniques from the 1930s through the 1980s. A very nice set of tools, which are available for Clip Studio Paint, Photoshop, Procreate and the Affinity tools.

I used my standard workflow: I rendered the figures in Poser Pro 11 using the Comic Book Preview. I then took them into CSP for clean up, inking adjustment and coloring.

Figure is a customized Victoria 4.2 wearing the cool Red Sonja cosplay costume by the inimitable Terry McG. Hair is End of Summer Hair by goldtassel and Daz Originals.

Image © 2022 Mike Mitchell
Red Sonja TM 2022 by Red Sonja LLC

Devil Wing™ Takes Flight

 Here's a character study for a comic book character I might work with. Devil Wing™ is an anti-hero in the tradition of Vampirella or Satana. Here we catch her in a light mood as she revels in the joy of flight.

Figure is V4 with Bettie Page morphs and hair. Outfit includes the top from the Rockabilly Burlesque and the boots are custom for me by Terry McG.

Workflow is Poser Pro 11 renders with clean-up in Clip Studio Paint.

© 2021 Mike Mitchell

Using Poser to Make Comics: Create Custom Library Collections, pt 3

When I finished last week's tutorial, I didn't think there was a Part 3 to this series. But, as I thought about some of my other organizational techniques/practices, I realized that there is one other way I approach the Poser Library that might help give you guys some ideas.

In addition to creating lists of Favorites, you can also create a custom Runtime Library with assets that will be used in your project. In other words, a Project-Specific Library. This could include customized figures (Michael 4 and Victoria 4 are my favorites), poses, buildings, landscapes, and vehicles. 

In addition to making it easy to find the items you're looking for, it also offers you the opportunity to easily make back-ups of all the assets that go into that project. For example, here's a screenshot of my current Runtime structure.

Project-specific libraries are highlighted.
Click image for a larger view.

When I create a Library for a single project, I duplicate a lot of things that are in other Runtimes. For example, the Gutshot Library (shown in the image above) is a collection of my Western assets. This definitely includes duplication with my Architecture Library, and with some stuff in My Library (which is the Daz Studio Library). I tend not to worry about duplicates in this situation because I follow one basic rule: If I start off by using an asset from a project-specific folder, I keep on doing it. In other words, I don't get the Hat out of the Gutshot folder and then get the matching bandana from the Poser 11 folder. That sort of crisscrossing can cause problems in the long run.

At any rate, like the Favorites, I only tend to use this approach when it's a Larger project with a lot of potential for confusion later down the road. With a big visual narrative project, keeping stuff where you can find it is a powerful tool/practice that can really pay off in the end.

Creating Custom Libraries

I'm not going to go through the whole step-by-step process on this process because there are already LOTS of great tutorials on this subject. Here's one that combines text and a great video:  

https://www.posersoftware.com/article/476/how-to-manage-your-poser-library

Using Poser to Make Comics: Create Custom Library Collections, pt 2

 Continuing our discussion from last time, we're going to dive into the nitty gritty of exactly how you customize the "Favorites" tab in the Poser Library, and we'll look at the ways I categorize my assets for a comic book story.

How to Save a Favorite Item to the Poser Library

1. Browse through your Library until you find an item you like (note, it must be a single item, you cannot add a folder).
2. Click on the "Favorite" icon (it's a star) at the bottom of the Library window.
3. Open / Expand the Project Folder
4. (If the folder doesn't exist, create it by clicking on the "New Folder Name" button).
5. Highlight the sub-folder where you wish to place the item
6. (NOTE: This is VERY important and easy to forget, so be careful).
7. Click "OK" button.
8. The item is now available in the "Favorites" tab in your Library.

One thing of note is that this actually creates a duplicate of the object – not a shortcut. So, if you are short on hard drive space, you might want to be judicious with your Favorites lists.

PRO TIP: If you ever need to reorganize your Favorites, you can right-click on an object and select the "Show in Explorer" option. Once there,  you can move files around. 

This is just one of the methods I've learned to use after significant trial and error, and I know it seems like a lot of work. Really, I get it. There are times when it feels like I'm spending more time "shopping" through my Runtime than I do making art. But, this process delivers numerous benefits, including:

• Helping me see what I've already got, rather than rushing off to Renderosity or Daz to go buy something that I already have (like sunglasses... Randy needs a pair and I almost bought some, but looking carefully through my stuff, I found I already had a pair that were perfect for him).
• When I post the image to Daz or Renderosity, this makes it a lot easier to track back to the item so I can list it in the promotional credits.
• Also helps remind me that, when I do find a great asset, I should go write a review.

I know that a lot of you don't use Poser, so this article may be of limited value to you, but hopefully it will get you thinking about the logistics of creating a big, Visual Narrative projects. So, for you Daz users, the takeaway I want to leave you with is simply this: Using ANY sort of asset organization on a big project will be helpful in the long run.

Using Poser to Make Comics: Create Custom Library Collections, pt 1

 

Getting Started with a Visual Narrative Project

Using Poser to create a comic (or any project that requires a lot of images/renders) consumes a LOT of assets. There are figures, costumes, equipment, vehicles, weapons and numerous other items that will be needed. Like most of you (I imagine), I have MANY thousands of items at my disposal. Purchases, freebies, and who knows what are lurking in my Runtime and it's up to me to find out what's there so i can bring the story out of my head and out into the world.

One of the approaches I use is to think of it as a movie, mentally visualizing the places and people in my story, and then doing a deep search through my Poser Runtime to find the various bits and pieces I might need or want. And this includes selecting different options, especially for clothing. If I were working on a movie, these tasks would be handled by different professionals:

• For example, some standard movie roles include:
• Set Designer / Set Construction (interiors)
• Location Supervisor (exteriors)
• Wardrobe (clothes, sunglasses, wristwatch)
• Prop Master (guns, crucifixes, wooden stakes, possibly cars)
• Hair & Makeup specialists

I'm not even including all the lighting and other stuff, such as "casting" because we kind of create our characters, rather than find them (at least partly – I frequently do look for pre-existing characters in my library and use them if they look right for the part; this is especially true for minor/background characters).

So, back to the tip I'm trying to summarize.

Poser has a great feature in the Library called FAVORITES, which is a fantastic way to organize assets. For a new project, I will open the Library and, on the Favorites tab, I will create a Project Folder (in this case, "Devil Wing 2021"). Then, I will go through my Runtime and look for the various items I will need and save the various items to separate, organized folders. As you can see in the attached screenshots, the folder names are pretty specific to what's in them.

In this case, that includes places/locations (the two big scenes take place in a mansion and in a graveyard, but I will also need some other assets, like a cityscape (she flies over it on her way to the graveyard) and a Greek island (flashback) and I'll also need trees and shrubs to flesh out those locations), interior (mansion interior includes long hallway, library, occult "study" room, & some other room yet to be determined). I'm not sure I'll need a vehicle this time, but I might in the future, so I tagged a few that I like. And, of course, I need to dress the characters (wardrobe) – for them, I will have different folders for each character, and possibly for different scenes (for instance, fancy dress versus casual).

SIDE NOTE: If the project goes beyond this initial two-issue short story, I would create a more detailed "Call List / Catalog" in Excel or Word (or the Google Docs equivalents) to better organize things and make it easier for me to sort out the various references and image credits.

NEXT TIME: Step-by-step instructions on how to create custom collections in your Poser Library.

Cerebus Attacks

 Cerebus the Aardvark is one of the most successfully published indy comic characters of all time. Artist Dave Sim, running 300 issues published from 1977 thru 2004. After the series veered off into politics, it faded away from my interest, to be honest. But the early issues are still brilliant and I still learn a lot from the artwork and storytelling (seriously, even though you probably cannot see it in my work, Sim's approach to lighting and backgrounds are a strong influence on how I approach comics art).

Anyway, I found a 3D figure of the Aardvark over at ShareCG, so I downloaded it and was pleasantly surprised to find that it's pretty good. It also "kind of" accepts poses for Michael 4. So, here is just a quickie illustration I did to play around with the figure and some free brushes I got from Clip Studio's website.

Typical workflow applies: Poser Pro 11 and Clip Studio Paint.

© 2021 Aardvark-Vanaheim

Insectoid [Galaxy Prime]

 Here's the final illustration that I created for the Sector Treks anthology being published by Epic Age Media. The deadline on this one was super, super short (in other words, I was behind schedule again). So I repurposed an older character study and updated it to fit the format for this book. The problem was, all I really had was an alien standing menacingly in front of a starfield. 

I thought about adding another ship back there, but I really didn't have anything ready and none of the ships I had available looked "alien" enough for this race. So, I opted to do something simple that would harken back to the 1970s and 80s: The giant head floating in space.

© 2020 Mike Mitchell

As you can see, it's really just a simple render with the shadows being set to vanish (I used the Screen Blending Mode in Clip Studio Paint – this makes the solid blacks disappear). All in all, pretty good for a quickie (definitely less than an afternoon's work).

Claim Jumper [Galaxy Prime] selected as a Poser Staff Pick of the Week

I did five illustrations for the interior of the upcoming Galaxy Prime: Galaxy Treks rpg supplement. And I'm pleased to say that one of them has been selected by the staff at Renderosity as a "Staff Pick of the Week." In this case, it is the one that gave me the most trouble: Claim Jumper.

© 2020 Mike Mitchell

As before, this is a nice honor to be recognized from among the many great illustrations that are posted to the Renderosity website. This week they selected six illustrations, and as usual, I'm the only one working in b&w. Although this time there was another "artistic" render in the mix, which was rather nice. 

The entire list can be seen here: https://www.renderosity.com/mod/forumpro/?thread_id=2949374

If you'd like to see my illustration at Renderosity, you can find it here: https://www.renderosity.com/mod/gallery/claim-jumper-galaxy-prime-/2949721/

Space Station Sector 4 [Galaxy Prime]

The second completed illustration for the upcoming Galaxy Prime RPG supplement: Galaxy Treks. On a production note, this will be printed in b&w on a 6x9 page. I'm working at 900 dpi so – if needed – this could be blown up to a cover or poster. I'm creating a series of 5 illustrations: one per chapter in the book. I've got a great deal of artistic freedom on this project. I was given a one-sentence description of each chapter, and this one simply said "This one takes place on a space station."

As usual, my workflow consists of creating two renders in Poser Pro 11 and then combining them (and doing additional touch-ups) in Clip Studio Paint.

© 2020 Mike Mitchell

And I owe a special thanks to Bob Keck. He saw an earlier version of this illustration and suggested pulling the entire space station out of the frame (previously, the station was smaller and the wheel was inside the circle). This suggestion really helped make this illustration work on a whole different level.

I also thank Divamakeup from the Daz forums. She provided some great tips about where to place the motion lines for the shuttle. 

Both of their contributions made this a much stronger illustration.

Kitbashing a Space Ship 3

Next up, something that's a mix of the previous two:

• Keeps the stair steps of the main unit.
• Brings back the three engines to the rear, but smaller.

© Mike Mitchell

Similar problems continue. The proportions are off and it just doesn't look as cool as the first one.

I still have a few more to go, and these will be rather different from these first three.

Kitbashing a Space Ship 2

When I started kitbashing these spaceships, I spent about four hours one night just going through my Runtime and mixing and matching ships and pushing things together. The next night I reviewed my work and chose the one I thought would work best, and that is the one I posted on Wednesday.

Here's the second one I thought would be workable. The things I liked about it:

• The little "stair steps" behind the main module; I thought they would catch some cool shadows.
• I thought the square engines on the back would be more in style with the square engines on the front.

© 2020 Mike Mitchell

It's not bad, but not good enough to be the "hero ship" of my series. I think the main issues are that it's just too stubby and the stair steps don't really catch the shadows the way I thought they would. They're kind of weak.

Oh well, maybe it can appear as a background ship.

Kitbashing a Space Ship

I'm working on a comic book set in space (more on this soon), and so (naturally) I need a space ship. Unfortunately, I have not yet found a model at Renderosity or Daz3D that suits both my artistic and my story needs.

Specifically, I need a starship that can fulfill two needs:

• It needs to look cool when rendered in b&w (which means more angles and less curves).
• It is about the right size to fit 4-6 crewmen and some cargo.

© 2020 Mike Mitchell

Most ships are too big or too small (Enterprise vs X-Wing Fighter). So I got a bunch of stuff at Renderosity (50% off sales are verrrrry dangerous to my wallet) and decided to mix-and-match it. In modeling terms, this is known as "Kit Bashing" (or kitbashing). And by "modeling," I mean this terms goes back to the days when boys routinely spent a rainy afternoon working on plastic kits wherein they glued together replicas of airplanes, spaceships and cars. My older brother was really into that pastime around ages 10-14; right up until that time he "discovered girls" and then started obsessing about cars.

So, back to my ship. Poking around the stuff I bought from Renderosity, I really liked look of the HeavyLander by shawnaloroc, but its not big enough. So I decided to modify it to create a slightly larger/longer version of the ship by adding elements from Simon-3D's Space Ship Constructor Set 4 (which came with a pre-built ship called the C Hume).


I'm not sure this ship will make the cut, but I think I'm on the right track. A few more experiments (and mixing-and-matching parts) should yield something I can use, so stay tuned: more ships to come!

Workflow: Poser Pro 11 (Comic Book Preview) and Clip Studio Paint

Thoughts about Poser and Daz Studio

A recent topic over at the Daz3D forums sparked me to reminisce about my interactions with Poser and Daz Studio. Like almost all 3D artists in this arena, I started out with Poser and then shifted over to Daz Studio when Poser was floundering (and it looked like the product might die). But for me, the shift was gradual.

I didn't care at all for Daz Studio until version 4 came along. I remember looking at DS2 and asking people, "What's so great about it that I should invest the time to learn it?" And I just kept getting the same answer: "It's free!" I remember that I finally snapped and said, "Look, I'm an adult with a JOB. I can afford to buy Poser. What the heck is in DS that would make it worth my while?" Finally, one guy said, "Nothing. If you have Poser just stick with it. DS2 isn't a mature program."

 And that was true, until Daz Studio 4. That was when it finally had the tools and power to make it worthwhile. And that's when I jumped ship and went over to Daz Studio. Things I really liked:

•  The Download Manager. One click and everything comes down and goes where it's supposed to. 
• Smart wardrobes: Again, click on the figure and the library filters the view to show you stuff that works with that figure. 
• Easier figure manipulation. 
• Iray (Poser's Superfly is a poor, VERY distant runner up to Iray). 

But... As much as I liked DS and the pretty Iray pictures I could make, it wasn't fulfilling my desires to create line art out of 3D. Workarounds like Toon shaders and geoshells were (not to be rude): rubbish. Yes, with a LOT of work you could make something that worked. But the look wasn't all that good. The same is true for using Filter Forge and other image manipulation tricks. Yeah, you could get something that looked okay... but it really wasn't anything that knocked my socks off.

Even in the hands of an expert it usually looks like someone did some Filter magic on a standard render. And then in January 2016 I attended a Webinar hosted by professional comic artist Brian Haberlin and he showed a feature I had never seen before: "The Live Comic Book Preview" (he added the word "Live" to its name).

Brian showed the tricks to setting up lights and adjusting the geometric edge settings, and suddenly I was off and running because I had actually won a free copy of Poser 11 and had it installed on my computer. For about a year I tried to duplicate his workflow (even bought Blacksmith 7 so I could work on my texture maps the way he did in Z-Brush), but soon tired of copying him and developed my own style.

Now I finally have a style and workflow that I like. BUT... even though I'm happy with the art I create, I'm a bit frustrated by exactly one thing that is still missing from Poser: a modern flagship figure that content creators supported. Yeah, that's still a problem.

I see lots of great content out there, but mostly I pass on it because I can't use it in Poser. I know Renderosity has high hopes for La Femme, but I just don't see the market support for her, yet. The new products are tickling out, and frankly they're not that interesting.

Yeah, I know "slut wear" sells, but not to me. I need clothes, characters and POSES. So far, there just isn't enough support for her to make me consider using her for any project. Which is too bad: I think she has potential.

Frankly, unless Poser gets support for the Genesis figures, and soon, I don't see a bright future for the software. Especially since I've hear rumors that Daz Studio is working on creating its own Comic Book Preview.