London_Ranger

Cheers Darkwave

...And be in no doubt that I know exactly what you mean about the 'never getting around' to things. I've had the idea for a graphic novel floating around my head for about 8 years, but been putting off doing anything about it for ages . Finally decided to get my [censored] into gear and do something about it this year, hence I've got myself some software and I've spent the last few months driving myself batty trying to get my head around the ins and outs ...heheh even started reading the manuals

Anyway, the more I messed about, the more I picked things up, and I'm glad I pulled my finger out.
Whatever it is you want to do - don't let it drag on, push yourself to set aside some time. Once you get the ball rolling you won't look back

Funny that you mentioned the SG ad thing - I've been faffing around working on a snippet of cgi video myself, a sort of tribute to the whole SG/Avengers/JLA team-up thing.

Still fiddling with it though, its not like we're talking high production values

Hatesman - my first tip is "GO FOR IT!"

Whatever your strengths or weaknesses in any particular field of drawing, your imagination is your greatest asset
Photoshop, Illustrator and Corel Draw all have great tools for making spectacular looking pics.
If you're thinking about using CGI/3D software there are some great applications though they tend to be a bit on the pricey side. Having said that, there are often demos or "learning" editions avilable at heavily discounted prices.

I found the thing with 3D apps is to have a think about the sorts of things you think you will want to make images of. If figures feature prominently in that then something like Poser may be worth a look, however if you are fairly accomplished at drawing figures yourself, but are more interested in producing spectacular settings (particularly outdoor settings), then Bryce, Vue or similar apps may be more appropriate.
If you have the ambition of creating 3D objects completely from scratch direct from imagination to screen complete with all your own details and sculpturing, there are a wide range of apps from Blender, Hexagon and DAZ Studio, all the way up to wallet-busting apps like Carrara, Cinema 4D and 3DS Max all of which give you total control of whatever you are creating and allow you to import or export your creations to be used in other apps.

The key thing, is to think about the kind of things you will want to do, and what inspires you.

So far, I'm finding something like Poser offers me a fair deal of versatility.

Here's one I did of RED Sentinel in a sort of 'stylised' version of his armour. There are actually 2 RED Sentinels out there - Originally my first Fire Tank back before i5, I recently re-rolled a variant as a Fire/Fire blaster, just for curiousity

Here's a couple more - I made up Bios for these guys, way back before I had played as much of the game as I have now so you'll just have to ignore a couple of clangers in their

The Blue Sentinel

and here's the Bio for this guy.

yeah, I read too many comic books as a kid. I hold my hands up

EDIT: Hah! So much for imageshack's slideshow option ...doesn't seem like there's any way to make that Bio readable as I can't edit the transitions between slides and it doesn't let me change the viewer window size

I'll try and find another way to host it.

Thanx mate
The renders are done in Poser and then I do some post-work in Photoshop to correct stuff, and maybe add some extra details and so on.

After seeing Sanguinius's excellent work here I thought I'd post some of my own compositions and pics.

Like Sanguinius I've been away from the game and the boards for a few months while dabbling with CGI and Photoshop. Here are some of my toons and members of my SG ....what can I say, I'm an alt-oholic!

London Ranger

Another day in Atlas Park

...more to follow.

Thats an interesting idea

If not for issue 11, which we don't have that much info on just yet, maybe folks could post a few of their own alternative covers for some of the previous issues ?

And on another note I've got some sketches and some renders I've managed to crank out of Poser but I can't post them yet - I'm in Italy at the moment visiting friends so away from my PC. I'll try and post when I get back to London tomorrow evening.
Looking forward to seeing more CGI stuff you've done in the CoH field

Now that is very cool, good work!
And how's that for a coincidence. I picked up Poser and Vue myself a few months ago and have been trying to get to grips with it in-between breaks from CoH/V.
Hopefully I'll have something passable to post eventually - meantime I'm liking your Issue 10 cover idea

Well I guess its about time I showed up for one of these - congrats on last night by the way

You can add Neutr0n En/Elec/Elec Blaster to the blaster corps

hhhmmmmm.... Intriguing

I may join your 'Fellowship' with my freshly rolled BS/Regen 'Knight-Avenger'