Since I've started my comic a month ago, I've been finding 3D comics get a bad rap. People don't like them. I ask you, why not?

What do you like/dislike about 3D comics?

I think they looks sweet if the artist is capable. (Shaman Quest... *drools*)

They can look pretty crappy and have a dead look to the characters at times (like they're posing a bunch of corpses around the page) But there are some that are pretty well done. I don't actively seek them out though since i prefer drawn art.

I think the dead thing has to do with the software i self because i've seen some marvel/DC comics that are trace-overs of some 3D software, and the stiff characters against the perfect/precise background just looks weird despite being in a non-3D style.

As Skullbie said, it's usually because they come across as deliberately posed, are stiff, etc. There's very little expressive body acting going on in a lot of them- because that is an animation skill rather than a modeling one, I'm guessing. Also, a lot of 3d comics skimp on the backgrounds and dramatic layout and 'camera' angles just as much as any poorly drawn comic- which tends to make them look even more like action figures someone posed in a cardboard box diorama. There's no 'world' there, just set pieces.

I've got one 3-d comic which I intend to feature when it gets more pages which looks really wonderful, lush, dramatic lighting etc. I'm hoping the updates on that one keep up because i think it's a good example of a really well done 3-d comic.

But now I'm left hanging! Which comic? I can't wait weeks, maybe months to discover it! Curse you skoolmunkee.

They are... really really stiff and kinda disturbingly deformed when they show adult content.

Despite the interesting story, The Dreamland Chronicles just doesn't have it for me as a comic and that's the best art for a 3D webcomic out there. It should be an animation or a video game not a comic.

in addition to what they said, there's also lighting. most 3D comics either use FAR too simple a lighting setup or dick around with some wierdass lighting tricks, and either have the same result of making it looks like some latex mold than anything else, and it just ruins the scene.

oh, and a lot of them seem to halfass their stories. probably they got tired of setting up poser and wanted to hurry and the the page over with (-already! i have thigns to do with my life, damnit!) but it really berks up the comic.

Hey 3D Glasses, thanks for the ego boost...XD

Speaking seriosly, I think that in one hand, it's a matter of taste.

Some people don't like manga style, some people don't like watercolors, some people don't like antro comics, some people don't like Poser or 3D comics in general.

I've always founded the evolution of 3D graphics something very atractive since the first days of games like Virtua Fighter to the current state of graphics of games like Tekken 6.

That kind of graphics are awesome to me, and really like to watch them, both in animation as well as stills. That's one of the reasons why I decided to go with a 3D comic, because I thought that I could get such impressive results in a shorter time.

The thing is that when some rookies take Poser or Daz Studio (the easiest ways to start to get in touch with 3D graphics), they overlook things like natural facial expressions and body poses. And the results are (like Skullbie and skoolmunkee said) of "Zombies posing".

Part of the challenge of use Poser is overcome those shortcomings and give the figures the most natural look posible. Is not always easy, but the results are pretty good in my opinion.

Personally, I respectfully disagree with JillFoo about Dreamland Chronicles, since I think that the art is amazing and it's one of my favorite non-DD comics, precisely because the great art...

JillyFoo
disturbingly deformed when they show adult content.

*shudders* This. I can sorta get the big breast fetish things guys do, but when those scary 3D blimp tits are pretty her entire chest section and go down to her waist i'm going to be horrified not aroused >_o

Another thing i think 3D comics do really bad is teeth, very scary and grey most of the time.

I'd like to see the comic Skool was talking about too.

There are a few 3d comics out there that I like, but I think my main issue with them (above all) lies in facial expressions. They just aren't...exxaggerated enough, I supposed. Rather boring and emotionless (opening their eyes a bit and making an 'o' with their mouths doesn't make them look surprised...)

Honestly, I think the prejudice against 3D/poser comics is just another form of clique-ism.

It's true that the figures can look stiff and "posed"; it's true that the characters' faces can be expressionless; and it's true that there is often limited variety in the camera angles and backgrounds used. But (a) that's not true of all 3D comics and (b) I'd be willing to bet that everyone who criticises 3D comics for those particular faults has at least half a dozen hand-drawn comics in their list of favourites which are guilty of exactly the same crimes (and worse!)

If you want to find some well executed 3D comics, I'd strongly recommend you start with Purgatory (SciFi adventure with intriguing plot and characters you can actually care about) and House of the Muses (historical drama recounting the life of the lesbian poet Sappho).

I find it pretty ironic that it's easier to do a good job on a drawn comic than it is on a 3D comic.

-In that one of the convenient things about 3D is you can have permanent sets, any camera angle, control over amazing multiple light effects etc. but it still takes a lot of setting up to get that stuff under-way (especially if you have to do a lot of custom modelling), and giving characters really natural, good poses and just the right expression can be tricky.
-whereas you can draw any setting you want without any set-up time. When you draw you don't have to worry about doing custom modelling to do something new, you can draw in all the props you want, and draw any expression or pose... -Admittedly the last bit is NOT always that easy... Ah well.

I never really liked the look of 3D in comics (or films either) It just doesn't seem natural to me and is a little distracting, it's as if the comics working hard to impress me

First I'll have to say that for me the purest form of comic is drawn and hand lettered. Having said this I don't disregard other types automatically.

Now let's try and analyse what happens when we read a comic. To make things short I'd say we enjoy a a comic on various levels. We all like a good story, the way it's told, frame and page layout, style... And of course the art. This is where a comic done with a "3D tool", specially one of these dedicated ones ie:Poser etcetera tend to go wrong. It's not very easy to make these images artistic, unique, recognisable. You could change the guy in charge of the art, and the result will be exactly the same or at least very similar, provided he uses the same software and 3D models.

This is in my opinion why 3D comics along with sprite ones aren't generally very highly regarded.

Everyone hates everyone else's style of comics.
Everyone hates Poser except for the people doing poser.
Everyone hates manga except for the people doing manga.
Everyone hates furry except the people doing furry comics.
People just like to form little groups and assume everything else is crap.

Then they go and read Shaman Quest and realise they should reconsider!

harkovast
Then they go and read Shaman Quest and realise they should reconsider!

I accept this challenge, I'm going to find a copy, read it and see if my opinion has changed.

Oh well, the internet just loves to hate I guess. I'm thinking I should start a hand drawn comic too, then I could compare without bias.

The problem I have with Poser generated comics is called the Uncanny Valley [en.wikipedia.org]
The uncanny valley hypothesis holds that when robots and other facsimiles of humans look and act almost like actual humans, it causes a response of revulsion among human observers.
Poser comics start to look real, but not real enough.
That said, I think Poser or 3D based comics are just as valid as Sprite or Manga or Marvel style or Stick figures. What ever it takes to tell your stories works if you like the results.

I do both, use poser and draw the comic, using the 3D as a base.



This works for me, but I fight with the problems of the characters looking too stiff.

@freefall_drift - That looks like a preposterous amount of work for a single panel... do you find it easier that way? I obviously can't argue with the results though. =P

freefall_drift
The problem I have with Poser generated comics is called the Uncanny Valley [en.wikipedia.org]
The uncanny valley hypothesis holds that when robots and other facsimiles of humans look and act almost like actual humans, it causes a response of revulsion among human observers.
Poser comics start to look real, but not real enough.
That said, I think Poser or 3D based comics are just as valid as Sprite or Manga or Marvel style or Stick figures. What ever it takes to tell your stories works if you like the results.

I do both, use poser and draw the comic, using the 3D as a base.



This works for me, but I fight with the problems of the characters looking too stiff.

I do really like the environment/background drawings of your comic. 3D programs really help with that. Haven't used it myself.

Well Dreamland Chronicles art is really good. They got like a whole team on it, but I rather see it as a video game or movie.

It's a struggle for me to render faces and people consistently. This way my proportions stays on track. I also like it for perspective and camera angle. Once I have the characters in the poses I want, I can move the camera around and play with FOV till I get a more dramatic shot. I render clothes and backgrounds when I ink. I try to keep the use of 3d to a minimum and I'll blur the 3d, so I'm interpreting it, not tracing it. It does sound like a lot of work, but I like the result.

3D Glasses
@freefall_drift - That looks like a preposterous amount of work for a single panel... do you find it easier that way? I obviously can't argue with the results though. =P

freefall_drift
The problem I have with Poser generated comics is called the Uncanny Valley [en.wikipedia.org]
The uncanny valley hypothesis holds that when robots and other facsimiles of humans look and act almost like actual humans, it causes a response of revulsion among human observers.
Poser comics start to look real, but not real enough.
That said, I think Poser or 3D based comics are just as valid as Sprite or Manga or Marvel style or Stick figures. What ever it takes to tell your stories works if you like the results.

I do both, use poser and draw the comic, using the 3D as a base.



This works for me, but I fight with the problems of the characters looking too stiff.

Of course this counts for me as drawn comic, Looks very nice.

freefall_drift
poser -> comic examples

This is actually a pretty good tactic, especially when it comes to backgrounds. I've done this sort of thing myself for some backgrounds now and then, although i don't think my computer has 3dmax on it anymore, so I might have to learn sketchup.

I suspect a number of comics do this sort of thing, really. It just depends on how well they put their own style over it. I suspect that saltwater witch uses poser or something for some basics and 'paints' over, sometimes people just have that stiffness to them. Frankenstein secret service something or other users some type of very processed 3d stuff. There was a black and white western comic ages ago which used processed 3d. The end results always look very good and it's not always as obvious that there's 3d behind them.

The Dreamland Chronicles is about the furthest away from stiff and generic I've seen a 3D comic get, and that's probably because the author has had all of his characters, sets, and props custom-built for his comic as opposed to using something that came with a 3D package. The problem is, even still there are problems inherent to 3D comics within it. For instance, the faces aren't completely able to reach the elasticity and expressiveness that a hand-drawn face can. Also, the lighting setup lacks the polish that a hand-colored comic would because 3D lighting systems are harder to control.

I won't automatically hate a comic because it's made in a 3D package like Poser or Daz, but it's gotta be spectacular. 3D comics often have the problem sprite comics do, in that the author is using something they didn't create to tell a story, rather than using their own art style (however, this is not always the case).

I've heard good things about Blender 3d also. If my ancient copy of Max dies, I'll switch to that. Blender is free also.
http://www.blender.org/ [blender.org]

Freefall cool comparisson images.
I think you are right, the uncanny valley is the posers greatest enemy!

I find in a lot of comics, what looks good is often not what is realistic.
Using my own comic as an example (if you will forgive me that indulgance) the characters all have slightly too large eyes in relation to their heads and their eyes are very often rectangular in shape.
It looks good to me, but bares no relation to reality. When I try to draw realistic eyes, they just end up looking wierd.

harkovast
It looks good to me, but bares no relation to reality. When I try to draw realistic eyes, they just end up looking wierd.

I have that problem with Alex Ross illustrations. When he is at his MOST realistic, the heroes start to look silly, starting to look like ordinary people at conventions look in home made spandex costumes.
http://www.mondolithic.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/alex-ross-invaders-avengers.jpg
http://www.dccomics.com/media/product/5/8/5802_400x600.jpg

freefall_drift

harkovast
It looks good to me, but bares no relation to reality. When I try to draw realistic eyes, they just end up looking wierd.

I have that problem with Alex Ross illustrations. When he is at his MOST realistic, the heroes start to look silly, starting to look like ordinary people at conventions look in home made spandex costumes.
http://www.mondolithic.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/alex-ross-invaders-avengers.jpg
http://www.dccomics.com/media/product/5/8/5802_400x600.jpg

Which proves that even if Uncanny Valley is 3D's worst enemy, is not exclusive to that aesthetic...

Hah. So I should just make my guys look WORSE to make them look better? Sounds logical to me...
NOT! (You see what I did there? Borat? Eh? Eh? Very nice.)

Maybe not worse, just stylized, either in form or rendering.

That's one of the reasons that Pixar keeps their people stylized. You won't ever thing that Mr Incredible, Elastica Girl or Edna Mode are real people so it doesn't trigger the Uncanny Valley effect.

Or why a lot of 3d comics use cartoon rendering.

Look at a lot of historical images, like tapestries and things.
The characters on them are really stylised and the poses seem unnatural to us (like Egyptian hyroglyphs, they are a good example.)
So the idea that trying to be too realistic could look worse is as old as the hills.

Freefall Drift I see what you mean with those superheroes, especially the picture where they are all just stood looking forward.
They look like they are waiting for the doors to the convention to open so they can get the latest issue signed!