Making comics

"But I would have done it differently..."
"I wish you hadn't killed her..."
"I want more sex..."
"More red-heads..."
"How do you make your comics...?"

I get a lot of questions, in comments, messages etc... so I thought I'd have a go at answering at least one of them.

Yes, you can have more red-heads...

Oh, wait, no, not that one. Let's have a look at how the comics are created. I've put this page away from the normal flow of blog posts as I'm aware it won't be filled with the normal treats and may only appeal to a small sub-set of my readers. I've mentioned some of this in a few comments over the years, but I figured I'd put it all in one place as an easy guide on how everything gets made.

This won't be a how-to. There's no way I could teach you how to make a comic. What I can do is point you to the tools I use so you can teach yourself, like I did, and maybe give you a few tips along the way.

First thing to do - download Daz3D from HERE. This is the main design and rendering software that I use to make the comics. It's free... mostly, but I'll come to that.

Daz3D gives you a few free resources to play with to get started. The characters are all based on the Genesis model, which is up to version 8 (although they went straight from 3 to 8 for long and complicated reasons). The basic Genesis models are free and are a good place to make a start.

Stick to Genesis 3 or 8. The older models have a lot of resources out there but nothing new is coming out and if you go with the new models you'll have a steady stream of new characters and outfits to play with. Once you are more confident you can start to buy characters, outfits, environments etc, but it isn't cheap so don't buy anything to begin with. When I say not cheap, you could (and I have) spend hundreds on making a single comic and never make anything back until you have a portfolio to show potential commissioners you know what you are doing.

There's a lot of free content out there too if you are just starting off:
http://www.sharecg.com/
https://www.most-digital-creations.com/freestuff.htm
https://www.renderosity.com/mod/freestuff/?browse

To install, open the Zip file you've just downloaded and you will either see a folder that says "Runtime" or one that says "Content".

IF it says Content:
1. Open that folder and select everything in it.
2. Drop it into your "Daz Library" folder or "Content" folder. (Whichever way you have it)
or
IF it says Runtime:
1. Select the "Runtime" folder and everything in it.
2. Drop into your Daz Library/Content folder.  

Then open up Daz3d and it will be in your Library (if you already have it open you can right click on the library and hit refresh.

Once you have all the bits you need then have a play. Load an environment, pose your character, play with the lighting. There are a tonne of tutorials on the creation process and everyone will have different advice, so read around, play with the software. Just have fun.

Then hit render and BAM, you have your first picture (be prepared to wait a long time for complex renders, and make sure you're using an NVidia graphics card).

Then what?

Then you need to make them speak! To do this, I use Comic Life. It makes the job of putting the comic together and adding speech bubbles pretty easy, and definitely easier and cheaper than Photoshop (I do have Photoshop but I generally just use it for touching up clipping on the models and lightening/darkening renders).

Most of my early work was pretty dodgy (worse than Supers even) but I had to play and give the software a go before I made anything halfway decent.

So, you've made a fantastic comic. What do you do with it? Put it out there. For free. Make a blog, post on DeviantArt, hell, ask me to post your renders here (if they are good I'll happily do it). Seriously. There are sites where you can charge for content, but you won't make a lot of money and no-one will actually see your comic. Get good, then people will ask you to make things for them. Anytime you see a commission on this site, it's because some kind soul has paid me a small fee to make what they want to see. Commissions are fun. Other people have such different ideas and it's the best way to challenge myself, but I worked for a few years to get good enough (and to have the resources) to do commissions, so don't jump into it unprepared.

I've got selfish motivations for this post too. I want to see more comics! There are a few amazing series out there (https://g9comics.blogspot.com, http://h3ncomics.blogspot.com), but there is also a lot of dross, so get creating, amaze us all with beautiful evil babes! Then come back here and tell me I started it for you and how great I am!

Useful links:
https://www.daz3d.com/home
http://plasq.com/apps/comiclife/macwin/
https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/478/list-of-freebie-websites