Episode 32 Production Report

Table of Contents

• Sketches
• Line-art
• Flatting
• Coloring
• Post-processing
• Post-mortem

I think I'll always remember the production of this episode as one of the smoothest of all time. Every work session was solid and productive, and I was able to consistently end each day having reached a new key milestone in the development process.

Sketches

During the preproduction phase of this episode, I created numerous digital sketches. Many of these sketches perfectly captured the ideas I had in mind for certain panels, so I later copied them directly onto my pages.

Line-art

For this episode, I didn't create traditional line-art, but instead worked through a series of sketch iterations on a medium gray (#c0c0c0) background. Each iteration refined the previous one, with the final version being the cleanest. This process also allowed me to create rich grayscale values and shade certain areas.

Three iterations

Screenshot, while doing this line-art pass

Later on, all I had to do was adjust the contrast of this pass to produce a complete black and white drawing, ready to be colorized.

Contrasting to get rid of the #c0c0c0 paper

Flatting

Before recoloring my lines, I segmented the ground in the picture by creating separate layers with flashy colors. Later, I was able to lock the opacity on these layers, which prevented me from painting outside of the defined shapes.

Coloring

Here is a sample of colored panels:

I made extensive use of the "reference docker" with a custom-made color palette to ensure consistent coloring for the main characters.

Post-processing

For this episode, I created a merged copy at the top of my layer stack to post-process the colors. I had envisioned a greenish, cinematic look, and you can see the result compared to the original colors in the screenshot below (with the original colors shown in the smaller image at the bottom-right).

Post-mortem

I often revisit the workflow of this episode, as it left me with a lasting impression of being particularly smooth. However, I also recall struggling with the gray values, attempting to increase the resolution despite the base line-art being somewhat too thick, and extensively post-processing the episode because I felt that it was missing a certain cinematic quality.

Overall, this episode's workflow was one of the most contrasting experiences I've had, where I thoroughly enjoyed the process, but had difficulty being entirely satisfied with the final result.