Issue One Production Post 7

I'm back after a month spent rebuilding my files after the loss of my SSD. I'm not quite to rendering yet but I have one more panel I decided to redo for Issue One so I'm having to recreate that scene. I'm much happier with the rebuild of Skeeto that I'm having to do, if nothing else than because I have a new app called RealityPaint that allows me to paint textures onto models. This was a sore point of mine last year when I began this project and I had to find workarounds that only managed to satisfy me about 75-80%. I've also learned a few new tricks and techniques since I've been on this ride once, and am working on incorporating them into Issue Two.

As for Issue Two, I'm building a couple of sets and did some quick rewriting to throw in a few ideas I've had since the last draft of the script a year ago. I'm excited to be embarking on a new story as I am quite ready to put Issue One to bed and move on!

I plan on a few new teasers next post. See you then.

Update and Issue One Production Post 6

Update: Found 'em! The two pages of renders for next issue were backed up, I just overlooked them until last night. Yay, less work than I thought, always a good thing.

In Production: Okay, finally finished that panel I was procrastinating on. I think it was the last one. Time will tell. More work done on the cover and it's shaping up well, still not sure if I want it to be the final cover or an alternate design. Once I have Daz back I'll render up some other ideas and see what comes of them.

Issue Two is getting closer....

Eh, We've Had a Problem

I promised in my last post a teaser peek into Issue Two. Well, that's been postponed due to the fact that the SSD hosting my Daz3D app died last week, taking the two pages of renders I did a few weeks back and the Daz runtime folders with it. It's not catastrophic (that would be losing all of Issue One, which is safely triple-backed up) but it does put a spanner in the works since I'll have to rebuild the runtime and, after getting a replacement SSD, get Daz up and running again. And even then I'm not sure how that will affect the scene files I have backed up (Will I have to reimport .obj files? Redo clothing? No Idea!) But maybe, if I look on the bright side, it could be a blessing in disguise and allow me to build better 2.0 versions of some of the models I will be reusing (Skeeto, for example). It should make for an interesting adventure.

Issue One Production Post 5

All right, number 5. Things are progressing well, but I still have one panel (yes, the same since my last post) that I've been procrastinating about. Yeah, I'll get it done. Soon. Okay, all pages are set, cropped, balloons (oops, one I have to add after some reviews) added and even a better idea for the cover, but the image is not quite there yet, but at least I'm heading in the right direction.

I've been researching the web for digital comics publishing, and one of the two I had in mind, ComiXology, seems to be a fairly good deal. Free uploads, no contract pitfall and a heavy hitter with the Big Two, the smaller guys and indies. That seems to be the way forward with small creators like me, but I still want to have at least a few print comics, because I'm old school. Ka-Blam is the only self-publisher with any sense of history that's still around from what I've read and prices for small (very small) runs probably aren't going to break the bank. I'm not under any illusions that I'll be swimming in cash from this endeavor—this is a labor of love and making comics is a childhood dream of mine.

Up next: News about Issue Two!

Issue One Production Post 4

After a second round of extensive renders to edit the originals I was unhappy with and finally finishing all (save one panel, arrg) the Photoshop post work, I can finally say that the interior artwork for the first issue of Agent Maya is in the can. This took me longer than I anticipated, but the outcome is much, much better for the extra labor involved—leaving me quiet on the blog since my last post a while ago. My next hurdle is completing the panel layouts of each page, some of which are locked down but several others need to be scaled and cropped. After this step the dialogue balloons and narrative text I mentioned on a previous post will be added in; this will be a time-consuming task unto itself. And finally I have some rendered ideas for the cover, but I still haven't captured a definitive image yet that best represents the story inside to my satisfaction. I never said anything about this project would ever be easy!

As promised, I have a few images to show for my hard work—sorry it took so long to post again. Hopefully I won't go more than a few weeks next time!

Issue One Production Post 3

Welcome back to a slightly delayed post 3. I have had to re-render some panels, after compositing attempts needed more to go on, so that's slowed down the post process. I have a few pages ready to go, captioned and set aside for lockdown. Dialogue, words balloons, narrative boxes and credits are done for all pages and they will be composited when page panels are complete.

So the post train is moving down the tracks and I'm just a passenger at this point!

More teasers on the next post.

Issue One Production Post 2

Barring any "reshoot" renders, primary production on Issue One is now complete, three months' worth of work. Overall I'm satisfied with the renders, but somewhat disappointed in my skill level with UV mapping and texturing with the app software at my disposal. I hope to improve in this area with my succeeding set of issues this year and into 2014.

Next I will begin Photoshop post-production editing—compositing, masking, filter application and a "rough edit" to see how the story flows before the pages are locked down.

Until next time, here are more teaser images:

Uh-oh, a little B&E.

Knocking on the front door.

Dropping off.

A Neptune rendezvous.