It takes a fair number of tools to create a web comic like Sorien. While it is possible to hand draw web comic frames, then scan them and post them online, I’m not that talented. Well, I can draw. Sort of. Mostly flowers and stuff. My people always come out looking like the Pillsbury Dough Boy, if I’m lucky. So I… um… well, some people would call it cheating. I call it using a different set of tools.
Sorien is built in 3D on the computer and rendered out as images. I use Daz Studio from Daz3d.com for most of my work, with about a TON of content from Daz3d.com, Renderosity.com, and Contentparadise.com. I used to frequent Runtimedna, but they joined forces with Daz a while back.
Once the image is rendered, I use Photoshop to post-process the image. That means filters. Lots of them. My besetting sin is over-use of filters in my work. I primarily use Filterforge, just because they have a bazillion filters available for download. I also use the Photoshop native filters, and I’ve been known to use Eye Candy from Alien Skin software from time to time as well.
When I’ve got the frames processed, I pop them into Comiclife software for lettering. Then they’re saved back to images, and uploaded to this site. And if that all sounds time consuming…yeah, it is. This is why I only publish 4 frames per week, and will continue at that rate for the foreseeable future.
Are there quicker ways to build comics? Oh, you bet. I’ve done the 24 hour comic challenge something like 5 times, and never gotten past 10 frames or so while other artists are cranking out their requisite 100 frames. But this is the media where I can get the results I like, and where Sorien comes to life for me, so it’s what I use.
Next post, I’ll start talking specifics about the 3D content that goes into the comic, just because I believe in giving the original Published Artists a boost when I can.
The Champions of Sorien 