So, something you may have noticed in friday’s comic as well as today’s comic is that the TimberWolf (It’s based off of a TimberWolf from Mechwarrior 2. I know it’s technically a MadCat, but I will never refer to it as such. :) ) is pretty damned detailed. Well, the reason for that is simple – it’s a 3D render using 3D Studio.
I found a free, moderately detailed model of a Madcat online and played with the colors a bit to get it to match what I’ve worked with. I then got it set up with some decent lighting and rendered it against a transparent background so it would fit right in with the comic. It allows me to get really creative with what perspective I use, and saves me about 2 hours per panel of work. (Though I spend almost that much time RENDERING the damned things.)
I’m not going to start making Real Life a 3D comic all of a sudden or anything. :) But it’s a nice way for me to tell the story I want to tell without having to limit it because of my level of ability. I might use this kind of thing in the future for smallish things like detailed props and whatnot, if the opportunity arises.
(Actually, if anyone with some decent 3D modeling ability could help me make a 3D maquette of Greg and maybe some of the other characters using the inverse kinematics system for a skeleton, I’d be eternally grateful. I’m really bad a figure drawing by hand, and most maquettes don’t fit with my proportions, so having something made that actually LOOKS like my characters would allow me to get WAY more creative with the comic in the future. Hell – even if I could just get a HAND modeled to look like my characters’ hands, it would be a boon.)