3D comics
From Webcomic Wiki
3D comics are comics whose artwork suggests three dimensions.
3D comics come in two distinct varieties:
Stereoscopic comics, which are line art comics published in two colors and designed to be viewed through special tinted glasses. When read with the glasses, the comics present various three-dimensional effects. A notable practitioner in this style of comic is artist Ray Zone.
CGI comics, which are comics created with 3D Computer Generated Images. These comics actually consist of two-dimension images, but the images are rendered by software that bases them on three-dimension mathematical models of objects and alegorithms for the distribution of light, such as ray-tracing. The resulting image resembles a photograph of a three-dimensional object. Also frequently referred to as 3DCG comics.
Common 3D software used in comics include Poser, a figure-creation application; Bryce, a low-cost modeling program, and Vue D'Esprit, a landscape program capable of rendering realistic vegetation. Professional artists more often use costly and sophisticated applications like Maya and 3D Studio Max.
One of the earliest and longest-running CGI comics is artist Mitch Waxman's and writer Ancram Hudson's Weirdass.net, currently a daily psychedelic, Lovecraftian fantasy created in Poser and Bryce. Previously, Waxman and Hudson published a weekly serial, The Starry Ones, that ran from April of 2000 to August of 2003. Few other CGI cartoonists are as prolific as Waxman, because 3DCG rendering is so complex and time-consuming.
A number of webcomics' most notable artists have experimented with CGI. Patrick Farley created two major works, Shapeshifter and Delta Thrives with Poser and Bryce. Demian5's When I Am King includes a sequence where the titular character is transformed into a 3D character and has a surreal 3D-rendered adventure. Eric Millikin's Fetus-x has used CGI renderings, and often employs old, decayed CGI images in highly-distorted tableaus used for satiric effect.
Occasionally, high-end 3D artists will use the comics form as a showcase and portfolio for their work. An example of this is Marco Patrito's Sinka, a "multimedia graphic novel" praised in Scott McCloud's Reinventing Comics. Such works tend to be brief, high on rendering values and low on storytelling values.
Cartoony CGI comics are relatively rare, since cartoonish characters usually require custom-modeling and a sophisticated knowledge of CGI principles. A notable example is Syntax Errors, by Damon Reisberg.
CGI comics often take the form of fan fiction, borrowing trademarked characters from commercial comics, especially super heroes. This is a natural development since Poser figures, especially the models sold by Daz3D, can be morphed to assume great muscularity. Examples include the Hulk comics of Blake Chen.
Less frequently, the potential of CGI comics to create realistic scenes is exploited. An example of this is Ben Adams' autobiographical comic Misfit's Journey.
Poser-rendered CGI often appears in erotic comics as well, exploiting the ability of Daz3D's Victoria 3 model to assume the dimensions of a stereotypical centerfold.
The CGI fan site Renderosity is a gathering-place for many CGI cartoonists. Renderosity has a forum devoted to comics, and has recently launched an ongoing comics feature.
An emerging variation on CGI comics is the genre known as gamics, comics made entirely from scenes and characters in video games. Examples include Concerned: The Half-life and Death of Gordon Frohman by Christopher C. Livingston. The term gamics apparently was coined by Nathan Cipric, whose website, Gamics.com, contains dozens of examples.
Criticism of CGI comics tends to focus on skepticism that a computer program is appropriate for the creation of art. However, advances in CGI applications and the increasing skill of CGI artists has reduced this criticism considerably.
Another common criticism is that CGI comics all look alike. This is especially relevant to comics created with Poser, because Poser figures can only be modified in a limited way. More advanced Poser figures have increased their flexibility, but it is not difficult for an experienced eye to identify the model used.
CGI comics also are criticized for many of the same reasons photographic comics are.
link title== External Links ==
CGI listings at Online Comics website
