Paneling tutorial (big download)

[Mayshing]

updated more on cluster...
iconic section finished.

Variety and Balloon transition to be covered:
Texture:

• Texture on the panels themselves
• Patterns that create texture and leads to a different mood

Balloon arrangement:
Same pages showing how the different arrangement of balloons will affect the reading flow

Vertical composition:
Examples of vertical composition-

-Final words and final suggestions-


(Actually... I really want to skip the balloon part cuz others have covered it...)


Other suggestions to think about: Making a good composition on the layout

Answer: A good composition is the layout that supports the content on the page, there's no certainty here.

I can tell you what needs to be done:

1. Grand entrance of a new character usually requires a big panel, even upto a spread.
2. Fighting sequence tend to require large panels or spread pages
3. Emotional moment needs a lot of space, sometimes upto two pages
4. When characters are talking, crops, close ups, a constant change of angles are required to keep it interesting.
5. Never cramp a lot of text on one page, that's what a written novel does, not manga, if the story is very text based, like Deathnote, spread out the text to several pages.

[Ramune]

I've started reading up on this and I'm happy that I can find such a useful resource in you. This knowledge for me is way overdue, since I've generally been using published manga and my own sense of flow for how I direct my partner to present characters and panel them.

Might I ask what would be the best process to go about creating a comic page from pen and paper to scanning, to digital paneling/formatting? This is something I've been struggling to resolve for my webcomic production, but have had great difficulty with.

[Mayshing]

Might I ask what would be the best process to go about creating a comic page from pen and paper to scanning, to digital paneling/formatting? This is something I've been struggling to resolve for my webcomic production, but have had great difficulty with.

What's your problem exactly? I need a specific scenario to answer you properly.

[Ramune]

Hm..I wouldn't call it a "problem" but more lack of a solid, working process that I can teach my partner and know for myself. I guess I'm wondering what SPI/DPI you scan your work in, how you go about paneling and/or touching-up your lineart digitally, and how you prep your illustrations for print/selling.

[Mayshing]

Hm..I wouldn't call it a "problem" but more lack of a solid, working process that I can teach my partner and know for myself. I guess I'm wondering what SPI/DPI you scan your work in, how you go about paneling and/or touching-up your lineart digitally, and how you prep your illustrations for print/selling.

Wow..... that's a lot to cover there... you are asking for a tutorial on the whole manga process. lol~

OK, for now i will give you a basic, later on in the summer (if God willing I find the time) i will prepare for a whole manga tutorial from start to finish for you guys.
Since u are key to my production, i will give you my knowledge.

Basics:
I work on A4 manga paper for doujin size printing, not the professional size because i draw small and in detail, i know most guys find working big and shrinking more beneficial to their art, but anything bigger than standard A4 requires scanning two times per page, that's a process i decided to eliminate.

I scan at 300 dpi, gray scale, usually... but at times i scan at 300, color.

For animation i scan at 150, that's plenty.

After you scanned it you need to go into photoshop, do Image>Edit> Level

and adjust it.

See:
http://artistshospital.deviantart.com/art/Library-reference-Anime-Manga-24740728
for more tutorials. It looks overwhelming at first, search for the category on what you need first. I suggest looking into line weight from toykopop, inking and lineart at the end of the section.

Go to http://Ka-blam.com to download their mechanical guide for printing, use that to prep your pages and make sure your main content does not go out of live area. Other wise you risk it getting cut off unless you decide not to do bleed (which will result a white border around your page)

[Elginive]

hehe, this is awesome... I have to say, Panelling is one of those things I still feel very flawed at- I don't go psycho with dynamics anymore, it's rather simple now- but I remember when I used to try and tell the whole story on one page... It's scary just thinking about it -.-'