This is a test for doing a 3d comic strip. Typically 3d comics are very challenging to do. It's a big challenge to get the subtle expressions and keeping the character from looking lifeless. So my goal here was to create a mock up of what a comic strip might look like. I have no story or anything but I thought it would be a fun challenge to do something that's so rarely done well. I think a big problem with it was that the character is too realistic.
Realistic characters cause are problematic for a comic strip that's supposed to have humor. According to Scott McCloud's excellent book, "Understanding Comics", the more cartoony a character, the more we put ourselves in that character. For example, Charlie Brown is very easy to identify with because he's so simple and like a smiley face. We can see ourselves in him. If he had been a realistic character we'd see him as another person, harder to identify with. It's like seeing a photo of a person - we immediately see them as a distinct person. On the other hand when we see a very cartoony character like a smiley face we don't distinguish them as a distinct individual. When we see a smiley face it's easy to see ourselves in it. At least that's the theory. So then if you want your readers to identify with a character more, then make her more cartoony. If you have characters you don't want the reader to identify with, make them more real. Again, that's the theory and just explaining it makes my head hurt.
Even so, I think I was fairly successful at this attempt at making a believable character. Another example of a 3d character, and a more manga inspired cartoony character, is the following.
Click on it to see it full size. I really like how the expressions came out. Of course, the pink girl's pose is a little painful to look at. That's what I get for using a stock pose for a quick result. I wanted to spend more time with the custom expressions. The costumes are something I bought off Daz 3d that I thought had kind of a cool Trekkie look to them. I especially like the "phaser" design they're holding. The only thing is that they have the body of a 25 year old, and the faces of a teenager. That's because I was trying to make their faces cute and cartoony in a manga style. But I think I should have not gone quite so far with it. Even so I think it was a good start. Something I'm very interested in doing is an interactive comic. This was an experiment to see how well that might work. It's still a possibility assuming I can come up with a story I like.
