Interviews Conducted by Robert J. Beck

Does your comic support you financially? If so, when

was it you realised it would be able to do so?

Yes it does. As of about 2 and a half years ago. We
moved to Franklin, TN (just south of Nashville) from Los
Angeles. Doing so cut our costs and we make enough to
cover our monthly budget. Advertising goes up and down,
and we're working with an advertising group to maximize
the 6 million page views/month. But it's definitely a
blessing to be able to live off of something you love. It
doesn't pay NEARLY as much as when I was doing
animation...but I love it so much more.
 
What is the process of actually making a strip?

I start off with a script...much like a movie script. So far I've
plotted out the whole series and I've written out the first
15 chapters. Then I make lists of all of the characters,
environments, and any other things needed for the
pages. I give that to the artists who work with me to help
design these things and they work up some sketches.
Once approved, they're sent to modelers who create 3D
versions of the drawings. For the characters – they're then given bones so they can move and facial morphs so they can have expressions. I then layout each page...frame by frame. Here's where I get an idea of how the page will layout and what the position of the camera and body language will be. Then I take the characters and environments and put them all together. It's kind of like taking action figures and putting them into a doll house.

Once I'm given all of the parts I need, I load up the environment. Say, the dorm room where Alexander and Daniel live. Then, I set up the lights to give it the proper mood. After that I bring in the actors: Alexander and Daniel. Now, they have multiple layers of clothing so that they're not in the same clothes throughout the series. So I hide the clothing they aren't wearing and pose them for the first frame. Once they're posed correctly, I then position their eyes to look where I want them. Then I select one of the pre-made facial expressions that we designed and call up that on the head. Then once everything is just right, I render the scene. Because the computers are way too slow for calculating lighting, shadows, and all sorts of other intricate things in real-time a render has to be set up so the computer can calculate everything needed to make it look great. If I didn't do this, it would look like video game art. And since I'm trying for a more Pixar type look, I want to let the computer do its business. Within an hour, a frame is usually rendered (though some frames can take as long as 24 hours to render), and I then bring the frames into Photoshop to combine them for my page.

What kind of software does this take?

I use 3D Studio Max for the main software and Brazil rendering system to get that nice look. I also have a plugin for Photoshop called Lenscare that allows me lens effects like depth of field, soft glows, and other lens effects. Photoshop is used to put it all together for lettering and clean up.

Do you have a favourite strip that you've done?

No. Not really. I do find there are "moments" I really like. Some bits of dialog. Some perfect lighting.
A pose. A camera angle. That's what I live for.
 
Do you ever find it hard to come up with a new idea for a story/joke?

No. I'm at the point where the characters "write themselves" I'm so far in...that the hardest part of the story is tying up the loose ends. Making sure all the sub plots are working in conjunction with the major plot points. It's a lot of fun.