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noncanonical

Date:

April 16th, 2007 1:57 PM

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Non-Canonical Episode 27: The Bunker --and-- Some Comments on Background and Environments

Bulletin:

In the latest Non-Canonical join Gallimimus for a tour of the new underground-bunker / tv studio! Well, okay, the first part of it. But, just to whet your appetite, toast is involved!

Please click here for the latest Non-Canonical

If you want a better look at the bunker/studio, I have added a bird's eye view of the current set to Non-Canonical Out Takes.

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I've seen many things I like on ComicSpace, as well as strips which I think could be improved. With that in mind, my comments on:

BACKGROUNDS AND RICH ENVIRONMENTS
I am quite happy with new WLOBE bunker/studio which appears in the latest episode of my comic. There is room for improvement, of course, mainly with a couple of small props I modeled, but hopefully I'll be able to improve this as I add to the bunker for future shows. My goal has been to develop this as a "rich environment" for my characters, one which will hopefully improve the comic itself.

Scott McCloud, in his book "Making Comics," suggests that the "background" for a comic might be better thought of as an "environment." He is mainly speaking to those who draw comics, but the same idea applies for 3D rendered comics as well. A common problem with beginning cartoonists (an observation which I believe McCloud attributes to Will Eiser) is a concentration on the characters in the foreground and a neglect of the background. I'm not going to name names, but I have certainly seen this in both drawn and rendered comics.

There are certainly other stylistic choices that one can make which lead to a simple background, many humor strips don't use one and suffer not at all for their absence. But in many cases a comic benefits, I think, from backgrounds that convey a rich environment - one that seems like a real environment, with details and flaws, and not merely a set of painted flats for the characters to walk in front of.

The characters, whether they be superheroes or villians or hard-boiled cops, vampires, or ordinary people, exist somewhere, and that somewhere is going to be packed with details. (Except for special cases like the cliche of an afterlife scene with lots of white fog.)

For instance, at this moment I am sitting in a cubical with a low wall with a set of offices across the hallway. Not terribly different from the dozens of other software-office environments I have been in. It is a fairly simple environment, plain colors, no paintings or sculptures. But even here there are numerous details which add to the sense of place: small square labels next to the offices with the number, fire detectors attached high on the walls, sprinkler outlets arranged in a few ceiling tiles, ventilation fans, power outlets, data ports, odd square protrusions from the walls (presumably with pipes or a support behind them). If I went further I could details that only arise because of people: tiny odd stains in the carpet, bits of tape on the walls where a flyer was attached, trash cans in the hall waiting to be emptied, flat surfaces with printers and faxes (and littered with unclaimed sheets), evacuation route maps and exit signs.

These all add up to a real environment, one where the characters can live in and interact with, as opposed to merely walk through. Some comics, I believe, could benefit immensely from a switch to a richer background environment.

My Background Environments
Having said all this, I think I should mention what the heck I have done about these so-called rich environments.

Initially, because Non-Canonical is a comedy, I tried to use the non-existent background such as that used in Dilbert. Very soon I came to see that this was a mistake. While the office environment of Dilbert is very common and doesn't need extraneous details to cue the reader into understanding the location, that isn't the case with a television studio. I suspect that the first few episodes of Non-Canonical were confusing because of this lack of a visceral knowledge of place, that is, an almost unconscious understanding of where the characters were. Without that the jokes are much more likely to fall flat.

My first attempt address this problem was simple and direct: have Victoria and Gallimimus "explain" the show at a press-conference. However this isn't much of an improvement. Comedy never benefits from being explained. I feel that this strip (episode 3) was able to skirt the issue a bit because the explanation itself was part of the joke, but it remains a poor solution.

The only way to add a sense of place, I felt, was to create one. I began to add in more complex backgrounds during the "Robotic Tuna" mini-arc, until finally I was always including background vistas after Gallimimus was launched into Transdimensional Space in episode 20.

Part of that trend was due to the nature of the software I was using to create the rendered images. I use both DAZ Studio and Bryce for Non-Canonical. DAZ Studio (a free package that is compatible with Poser) is designed for characters and has the ability to pose them, add clothes, hair, many props and a lot more. Bryce is designed for creating terrains such as mountain ranges and other wide-open vistas, but can also be used for more confined settings. Both programs are now available from DAZ 3D and work very well together, it is trivial to import a character into a Bryce scene.

I used Bryce in episodes 19 to 23. Bryce is easily able to create some of the odd machines and weird textures, as well as supplying primitive objects (planes, squares, spheres, etc.) from which I was able to make the Transdimensional Gift Shop (ep. 23). On the other hand Bryce is not convenient when there are a number of chracters which have to be posed and so I began to use DAZ Studio for the background environments in episodes 24 and 25 (except for "Lobeville Flats" in ep. 25 which is a Bryce render).

I have been pleased with the results for the most part, and feel that they help to increase the impact of the strip even though it is simply a silly comic about a talking dinosaur.

So from this point on I am going to try and continue to have extensive background environments, such as the Bunker/Studio in the current episode, 27. Of course one big advantage of using 3D software over drawing is that once I make the "set" I can keep it and use it in a number of ways. I don't have to draw the thing every time.

Outside Help for Rendered Environment
The "trick" to making a good environment is not that hard, I think. The background just has to look nice. My own skills are fairly limited, and the Transdimensional Gift Shop (ep. 23) is about as good as I can do on my own. What helps is to have help from those who are much better. There is plenty of free stuff out there for use with DAZ Studio, Poser, and Bryce. Some of it is very good. (Victoria's hair is an excellent model and free.) Some not so good. Typically, I have found, that paid stuff is better than free stuff, and a mixture of both types can yield great results.

The Bunker / Studio in the current Non-Canonical is made using the "Modular Science Fiction Environment" from Vanishing Point. It's a great product and only $8. I have also used the Deco Club Interior from DAZ 3D for other episodes.

Inside the Bunker I have a number of free models including the chairs, glass table, and cabinets. In some cases I took existing models and made some (minor) modifications, for instance a clock and the flat screen monitor that is set on the glass table. In other cases I made the models and textures from scratch. The official seal for the "Strategic Toast Reserve" didn't come out very well, although I have to thank Mrs. AnteriorLobe for the latin phrase on the seal: "audemus jure biscoctus defendre" -- we dare to defend our toast!

The overhead lights in the first room of the bunker came out better, although I think they can use a bit more polish. A sensor and computer panel on the wall of the corridor in the second panel came out okay, although there isn't much to see in the strip other than white blobs. The computer panel, especially, might show up in a future episode, so I'm glad that the model includes a large texture for making the "screen."

And In Conclusion...
I'm not sure if anyone is actually going to read this. Feel free to drop me a comment and let me know.

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