Anatomy of a Comic - Part Three

In this portion of my overview of creating a GMod comic, I will be discussing the posing practises I use to create my shots.

Before you load up GMod, it might be helpful to print out a copy of your script for quick reference, unless you got a fancy dual monitor setup. Lucky...

Now we load up Garry's Mod, and pick our map. To be honest I'm not going to go into major detail here, as posing is really easy to start. Trial after trial, with plenty of errors, and a few game crashes, will teach you how you want to go about it. Really I'm just going to offer some tips.

First we start with out 'stage':

Then we go through the rigorous process of adding our props to make it fit our script:

Sometimes you might want to add some background elements, even though it may not appear in your planned shots. Even if only a piece of it falls into frame it will add a sense of realism.









Next we add the ragdolls, or actors, remember to be careful and NoCollide when necessary:

Another good tip is to add temporary lighting. Place a lamp or two shining at your ragdoll to help see better.

And finally we take our shots. Panel one, the desk view.

And panel two, the door.









When doing a pose like poking out from a door, or around a corner, don't worry about the whole body like you would other poses. Unless you plan to have a behind shot, then it might be best to get the limbs looking right.









And there you have it. The best thing to remember is avoid the badly posed flailed limbs look, and the even worse face poses, extreme grins and such. If you spend the extra time on the the face and expression, the limbs and realistic looking poses, and added little touches to the background and just out of view areas, it will upgrade the quality of your comic immensely.

Stay tuned for part four early next week.