Best Comic

Hey guys, just a quick update right before Xmas. Pixologic has just released a great new update for Zbrush, introducing some attractive new features and much needed improvements. Most important are of course the introduction of the Autosave feature and a new, see-through option for the GUI, while the Posterize feature lets you easily create great looking cell shaded renders, mimicking traditional 2D artwork. A demo video is still in the works, so check out all the info below or go here.  Have a great Christmas everybody!

Polish by Features - A new set of Polish sliders has been added in the Tool >> Deformation sub-palette to improve your surface and make them cleaner, especially for hard surface models and product design objects. It includes Polish by Features, but also Polish by PolyGroups and Polish by Crisp Edges. DynaMesh functionality has been greatly enhanced and can now retain more of your shape in a lower polygon count than ever before, thanks to the new Polish by Features volume preservation characteristic.

Curves by Features - Creates curves based on the models PolyGroups, creased edges or its outline. These curves can then be used with any of the curve-based sculpting brushes.

Panel Loops - Based on PolyGroups, this feature will transform the selected model into individual panels with thickness. Or it can extrude those panels from the surface with clean borders and bevels, perfect for hard-edge sculpting.

Delete Loops - Allows you to remove unnecessary edge loops. At higher settings it can also drastically change the shape of your model.

Align Loops - An alternative to the Delete Loops feature, this produces the same visual effect but doesnt change the models topology.

Dynamic Brush Size - Makes it possible for the brush size to dynamically change as the model moves closer or further away from the camera. This becomes extremely helpful when sculpting items such as bolts, alpha pattern, scales, etc. No matter the distance the model is from the camera the bolt, alpha pattern and scales will remain the same size due to the brush dynamically changing.

Above: Yes, rendering great looking comics with a 3D modeling package is indeed very possible! Check out the interview with Olivier Thill and Benjamin Alcover here to know how they created their graphic novel using Zbrush.

PolyGroup Enhancements - Several functions have been added relating to ZBrushs PolyGroup options. You can now group by normals, merge stray groups (useful when groups have been auto-assigned), crease or uncrease by PolyGroup and also a Smart Polish By Feature function to improve your mesh shape without losing volume.

Posterize - Posterization takes a smooth gradient and converts it to fewer steps with abrupt changes between them; a staircase kind of effect. With additions made to the profile curves, Material Mixer, BPR Filters and a new 3D Posterize feature, you can now easily create a cell shaded render.

See-Through Mode - Makes the entire interface transparent so that you can see open windows behind ZBrush. As an example, you can use your browser to find a reference image and sculpt against it without even needing to import it into ZBrush!

Auto Save - Auto Save uses the same mechanism as QuickSave and periodically auto-save your work in the QuickSave folder. It will also auto-save when ZBrush is idle, such as if youre away from your computer or switch to another application without first closing ZBrush.

Comic artist Don Rosa has built quite a following in the international comics scene. For most of his life he has been creating stories for Disney, and his most famous stories are about Uncle Scrooge. His work was published all over our little blue planet. Now however Don quits comics and explains why.

Recently Egmont published the Don Rosa Collection in Sweden, Finland and Norway. For the nine volume series Don had to write several autobiographical texts, which he wasn t happy about doing, as he wanted to be sincere about his experiences. Although painfull, Egmont decided to go ahead and publish his words as part of the last volume. At the very last moment however, the Disney Company stepped in and refused to allow his personal experiences to appear publicly.

Now Don Rosa tells us his story, honestly and names six reasons why he quits comics...and he does so personally through the internet on a private website:

Here are some quotes of his personal story:

"...How many people know how the “Disney system” of comics works? When I describe this to some fans when asked about it, they often think I’m kidding them or lying. Or they are outraged. But it’s an unfortunate fact that there have never been, and I ultimately realized there never will be, any royalties paid to the people who write or draw or otherwise create all the Disney comics you’ve ever read."

 "... My depression was a direct result of reasons #1 & 2, as you will see. Depression is a seriously debilitating problem, and hard to understand. I’ve learned that either you don’t know that you are gradually falling victim to it, or you are in subconscious denial that you are. I would never have imagined that I had a mental problem without knowing it."

"I thank Carl Barks for creating the comics that I loved so much that I serendipitously fell into the blessed work of paying homage to those great comics for over 20 years. And I thank you for receiving that work so graciously and making me feel very special… until they broke my spirit. But if you’ll excuse me… I think I’ll now go back to being only a fan."

To read Dons entire story please Check Here.

I think its sad that such an enthusiastic and eager artist feels forced to quite the love of his life. Sure, he could persevere, but that would probably cost him his health. Its a shame to see people care more and more for making Millions of Dollars and less about developing a healthy climate for artists to flourish and pass their skills on to new, hopeful generations. This is not exclusive to the comics industry by the way, but also felt in other areas of the entertainment industry (movies, videogames, animation, VFX).

Don, I wish you all the best and hope that someday we will hear and see more great stories of you yet again, in any form.

Today Ill post a series of original background artworks created by the New York based Terrytoon studios for their Mighty Mouse theatrical animated shorts between 1942 and 1961. Paul Terrys studio also created animated shorts featuring Heckle and Jeckle and Gandy Goose. Ill do a seperate post on those next. Make sure to click any image to see it in full view.