The Most Dangerous Game

Hello folks, me and my scenarist are working on a comic book project since 4 years. It is a free adaptation from the novel by Richard Connell “The Most Dangerous Game”, and the Wonderful movie by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack. It was planned to be a mix between traditional 2D drawings and 3d environment. We have done many researches. The universe has changed many times, and we have included The Mysterious Island and the Capitain Grant from Jules Vernes, and the Lost World from Richard Conan Doyle.

2 month ago, we have decided to make the comics in full 3D, and maybe an anaglyph version of it. So I have remade all the characters and environment with Blender and cycles. It’s the hardest work I ever done, but we are proud of the first results.
First, here you have some of the most recent work we have done in 2D.





And Now, these are the most recent Works I have done in 3D. I want to make it looks like as much possible as the original draws.


Zaroff



Rainsford


Eve


Eve with Bokeh on the 2.72 version. I still have many work, to remake entirely the boat for cycles. I have to make the hair particles for each character, based from the mesh I have done. The rigging, and some dummies without facial expression. I hope you’ll like it, and any advices are welcome to hep us make the better work we can.


Ivan the slave of Zaroff

this looks great. really nice work. good luck with your project.

Thanks a lot we do the best we can.

The bokeh blur looks super cool. Would look interesting with a starry sky.

It’s a good idea, I will try it, when I’ll finish the boat. the first 5 pages of the comics occurs on the night.

Weekly update


Not finish



too glossy, the shirt is completely bad


I cannot find what’s wrong with the material






I think I have to rethink the Skin Material. There’s something that making too much noise. I’ve found a small solution by shrinking the light power, increasing the exposure, and doubling the render size, but there should be a better way.

It looks like it may be the normals texture to me. It is especially visible on the left shoulder of the bearded guy.
(edit) hm, looking closer, I think I was wrong about that. What about if you increase the amount of samples?

I disagree with the move to full 3D. With this project I think less is better …

Im no artist. Nor am I an animator. But I really, really, really like your art work to date.

In the sample shots, you portray great sense of action and mood in your characters faces and stances. Very expressive. Sort of like Tin Tin or Pixar. Regardless whether its 2D or 3D.

Have you ever seen Samauri Jack, or Little Ninja?! Outstanding, very action oriented cartoons, yet they were models of simplicity.
Action was portrayed using panels like comic books, with minimal body motions. Animated shots were typically traverses across landscape “Plates” Fast motion involved not only moving the character but moving the background as well to convey speed. The background plates were sparse but usual very artistic water color pieces.

That is where I think you should go and STAY!.. In the 2D realm with spare useage of 3D.

I say this because, you are already great at telling a story through your characters. Hell I haven’t seen anything other than a few posts, but I can see that.

So … GET the STORY DONE. It’ll happen far faster in a 2D medium, rather than shifting over in mid stream. And the end product will still be awesome.

Later on, if you elect to convert to 3D methodology for other projects, using pre rigged characters for ease of posing to take shots, then so be it.

But right now, I think time is a huge factor. So knock off the quest for perfection. With the artistry of the work you’ve already shown, keep at that. Your good 2D stuff is already borderline great

Modron : at this time, I cannot use much more samples, I use 200 samples and I noticed that 400 isn’t verry different, that needs much more samples, and my computer will die. It already shows sign of weakness.


this is a comparison of work done on the light. The first one use strength lights and an exposure of 1 (some of the have an energy of 60 000), and the second use low energy lamps (the biggest is 300), but with an exposure of 6. In this example the main light is stronger and there is more with saturated light on Eve’s face. But the funny thing is that the first picture has 400 sample and the second one only 200.

FXR : I love smurai jack too. I’ve got a region one dvd player especially for watching samurai jack (and some Hanna Barbera’s cartoons). And I love the Ervind Earles’ Backgrounds.


During the design of the comics I tried to go on that direction. But we wanted something completely new. The idea of 3D was an interesting one, because except the brand new Crisse’s comics, “Tinker Bell in Wonderland” which is a fake 3D comics (but a wonderful one). Indeed the time is a precious factor, but I’m student, and it’s time to experiment. maybe we are going in a stalemate, but the journey is interesting. I making Cinema’s studies, and one of my professors is a director of photography, he gives me some advices to manage light.

But except the choice I’ve made, I totally agree with you for the full 3D in general. 2D animation is about to die, especially with the news Peanuts and Popeye from BlueSky and Sony. Because the 3d is going to an upper level, and will show how 2D is old fashion. Im’ sad about that. because I love 2D. I want to make a thesis about History of 2D traditional animation, which is overmuch unknow today.

I’ve started to gather books and dvd about the first and the golden ages of traditional animation, to study them since 2 years. But I think for much reason that 2D has no future. In the 2000’s there was only Rolie Polie Olie on the TV, and now all the children’s TV shows are in 3D. It’s a financial reason, not an artistic reason. I fear that artistic reason will not find a place on our days.

And precisely that makes me choose 3D for my comics is that in the comics, there’s too much work and investment to convert it on 3D, that financially you have to make it on 2D. I’m a marginal :evilgrin:. (But I work from 9AM to 1AM, all the week and the sunday)

Weekly updates (I’m late)








and the best for the end

wow this is really moving along. the particle hair looks great. much better than the mesh hair.

i reall like your stylised look. the shaders also work great.