Robots! in 3D

Launch Date Update.

2010-08-12T21:14:00.000-07:00

Robots! in 3D is moving it's launch day to Mondays. Start your week off right with a little dose of 3D comic.

Issue #2 Page #2 - Getting into the swing of things

2010-07-09T08:57:00.000-07:00

Sometimes finding the right timing is more difficult than finding the right words.

Issue #2 is moving right along quite smoothly. Page 2 is now online and you can read it here. You may have also noticed that we made some new additions to the cast page. They will be appearing fully in the next few weeks and you'll get to learn all about our two new cast members. Stay tuned!

Issue #2: Anti-meridian

2010-07-02T09:33:00.000-07:00

Adam and I are pleased to announce that Robots! Issue #2, Anti-meridian, is now online. This week's update includes our new 3D chapter cover and page 1 of the new issue. Make sure you get to check them both out. Also, head on over to our Facebook group where we are holding a give away! The first three people to correctly answer our trivia question will get their own FREE 3DiY kits. With two glasses per kit, we're giving away six total! Got any feedback on the completed Issue #1? Leave a comment and let us know what you think.

Concept art: A taste of things to come

2010-06-25T10:48:00.000-07:00

Robots! in 3D Issue #2 will begin next Friday, but until then enjoy some brand new concept art! This sketch features a character that will be introduced next issue and will become a major player in the Robots! in 3D universe. I am very much looking forward to drawing him into the storyline.

Looking for some things to satisfy your Robots! craving until next week? Click the jump for some ideas.

Why don't you:

-Catch up and read Robots! from the beginning.

-Make your own pair of fancy 3D glasses! Send us a picture on the final product and we'll feature it on the blog.

-Go see a 3D movie and share your thoughts on the Robots! Facebook group. Adam and I are going to try to see Toy Story 3 (when we're not working on Issue 2 that is).

-Put together a Robo Couture look and share it with us! Also follow Nicole Lindner on Twitter and keep up to date on all 3D glasses related clothing

Have any other 3D and or Robotic related ideas for a way to spend a weekend? Leave a comment and let me know!

3D glasses dress!

2010-06-23T08:06:00.000-07:00

How awesome is this 3D glasses dress? Each one is custom made to order by Nicole Lindner via request in her Etsy store. If (or when?) Adam and I take Robots! to a convention, I'm totally going to have to have one made for me to wear behind the booth. It's the kind of thing Ms. Frizzle would wear to explain stereoscopy!

In that same vein, I tried to come up with an idea of other outfits inspired by Robots! in 3D. I went and put together a hodgepodge of a set of robotic/space-agey/red-blue items on Polyvore:

It would be so awesome to see someone coming down the street toting all of this! And I would love to modify those red sunglasses into a pair of really sweet 3D specs. If you had to pick an outfit that encapsulates the theme of "Robots! in 3D" what would you choose?

Issue #1 Complete!

2010-06-18T15:42:00.001-07:00

Today's the day! With the addition of page 21, Issue #1 is now online to read in it's entirety. Start from the beginning here.

Issue #2 launches on Friday July 2nd, and keep an eye out in the interim for some exclusive sneak peeks of the upcoming issues. And also stay tuned to find out how you can win your own free set of 3D glasses.

Sometimes all it takes is the magic word - Robots! page update

2010-06-11T10:55:00.000-07:00

Page 20 is now online! Just one more to go until the end of issue #1! Adam and I have been cranking the last few weeks getting started on issue #2 and we have a lot of exciting things planned. So until then, enjoy page 20, and when you're done, check out some of these awesome vintage robot photos I discovered on Flickr:

Photos via the Vintage Robots Photo Pool on Flickr

Have you found any especially awesome robot photos recently? Send em our way (robotsin3[at]rewiredpictures.com)!

When it makes that noise it is never a good sign - Robots! page 19

2010-06-04T10:10:00.000-07:00

A new Robots! page is up today. We're just two more weeks away from the end of issue #1! Also, for all of our readers in the Bay Area, be sure to check out Stan Heller's talk about the history of 3D comics at the Cartoon Art Museum this Sunday (June 6th) from 1-3pm. The CAM is a great museum and we've been trying to find the time to see Heller's work in person for a while now. So, if you attend and see us (we'll be the couple sitting in the front completely geeking out), say hi! We'd love to hear from any fellow 3D enthusiasts.

Do you use the Navgo or does the Navgo use you? Page 18

2010-05-28T09:44:00.000-07:00

Robots! page 18 is now online. Share the news with all your friends! We're fast approaching the end of issue #1 and I couldn't be more thrilled. We've got a lot of awesome treats for you coming up, so stay tuned!
Also, Adam and I were watching this last night and it seemed very apropos to share it with the update today:

Watch At Hulu
Watch At NBC.com
I love it when people get robot costumes just right! Next time I find myself in possession of a bunch of old air conditioner tubes I'm totally going to make one for myself.

Seriously, retro robots are truly grand.

Page 17 Photoshop Stereoscopic How-To

2010-05-21T16:48:00.000-07:00

Page 17 is now up - check it out! As we wind down this issue and start working on the next we've been tweaking our production pipeline to see what we can change to make our process faster and easier to control. Adam happened upon a new 3D technique last night that accomplished both of those goals. Read about his findings here.

Nano-Intelligence and Other Speculations - Robots! page 16

2010-05-14T11:58:00.000-07:00

Page 16 just launched this morning and I do hope you guys are enjoying the story so far. We only have five more pages left in Issue #1 and I just put the finishing touches on the artwork for the last page yesterday afternoon. The story is starting to get moving and I'm excited for the places we're going in the next few issues. That Lester Graves sure is an interesting character, huh? There's more to come of him in Issue #2, so keep your eyes peeled!

The End To All Human Inefficiencies - Page 15

2010-05-07T10:54:00.000-07:00

Leonard tries to finish his work while Leo packs, but something bigger is brewing outside of their farm house. Read about it in page 15.

Also we have some new features on the website today. Keep an eye out for a new Facebook "like" button and the ability to leave comments on each Robots! page. Got something to say? Let us hear it!

Sometimes They Don't Get It... Page 13

2010-04-23T14:59:00.000-07:00

The rift between Leonard and Leo grows wider. Read about it in page 13.

Page 12 now online

2010-04-16T09:31:00.000-07:00

Leo and Leonard talk it out. Want to know what they're saying? Read the page to find out!

Wondercon! in 3D: The Wrap-up

2010-04-09T10:08:00.000-07:00

Adam and I knew that if we wanted to really start taking this webcomic thing seriously, we needed to experience the world of comic conventions first hand. Neither of us had been to one before and we were both very curious. Luckily Wondercon in San Francisco was coming up pretty quickly, so we bought our tickets and then decided to figure out a plan of attack. After a lot of research and brainstorming, we decided that the best thing to do was to just go to have fun and get a feel for the scene. We wanted to meet some people who were also creating their own comics and if we got to promote Robots in the process then all the better. We assembled an eager street team and set off early Friday morning (click the jump to read more).

The BART ride over was totally packed. One of the trains to San Francisco was out of commission so we had to cram multiple trains worth of people into one 5 car train before we were on our way. Jake, Nick, and Juliana wore their 3D glasses on the ride over and apparently the BART map looks pretty cool in red/cyan. Once we arrived in the city we headed over the the Moscone center.

The street assembles outside the Moscone Center dressed for the occasion

In retrospect we probably didn't need to get there as early as we did. Even though there was already a substantial line formed by the time we arrived we ended up waiting another hour and a half to finally get in. Juliana left to go meet with a friend and we took in the sights. Waiting in line did, however, give us the chance to talk to a really nice guy named Sammy who talked with us about everything from Battlestar Galatica, to what to expect from cons, to the best places to get late night food in SF. We gave him a pair of 3D glasses and he read through Robots! on Adam's droid. He was excited about how the 3D looks on a small screen so now we're starting to think about making a mobile version of the comic!

Waiting in the long line to get in

Once we got in we wandered around the showroom floor. We didn't really have a plan, but there was so much to see we just kind of followed the things that caught our attention. The nice thing about getting there early was that we were able to have some really good conversations with some of the exhibitors. Over the course of the morning we met and talked with some really nice people (This was probably the most surprising thing for me - many people there were just as excited to talk with us as we were to them!). I quickly found the Tiny Kitten Teeth booth where I got a very cute button and sticker (but was a little embarrassed to say much more than, "I really like your work!"). We wandered over to Studiosb3's booth because we were attracted by his really lovely shadowboxes. We then found our way to the booth of another Bay Area comic artist, Elle Skinner. She was very friendly and had a really charming illustration of a robot for sale. We ended up buying one of her mini comics about her experience adopting a kitten (robots and kitties - a kindred spirit for sure). I walked by her booth later that day and was a little heartbroken to see that the robot drawing had been sold - I should have snatched it up when I got the chance! We got a great rocket ship print for our space-themed living room from Pascal Campion and Nidhi's booth and Nick got a beautiful monster print. At this point we were all pretty exhausted and decided to leave the convention center to get lunch.

Admiring our prints from Pascal Campion

Selection from Elle Skinner's mini comic

After lunch we met back up with Juliana and her sister and got some photos taken with The Hulk. We then decided to go to a panel. We decided on the "Queers, Comedy, and Camp: LGBT Humor Comics" panel hosted by Prism Comics. Originally we kind of chose it at random, but I'm so glad we went - the panel was GREAT! It was made up of Ed Luce, Joey Alison Sayers, Rick Worley, Sean Seamus McWhinny, and Brian Anderson. We sat in the back thinking we might want to leave early to go back and check out the showroom more but the panel was so good we didn't even think about leaving once it started. In fact, it seemed like our whole group was laughing harder than most everyone else in the room. They discussed a whole host of questions about queer identity, writing about personal material vs building a mainstream audience, and about accidentally building a furry fan base. The panel had really great chemistry together and what could have been a pretty dry Q and A session turned out to be hilarious and inspiring!

LGBT Humor Comics Panel

After the panel we had time to check out the floor one more time before we had to leave. We walked by booth 425 and I was excited to pick up two of Meredith Gran's Octopus Pie books. She was super friendly and was nice enough to sign and draw in the covers of both of my books. The ride back on the BART was kind of a blur. We were all tired and a little overwhelmed and I think everyone went back to our respective apartments and crashed. We had originally intended to stay longer to attend the Cartoon Art Museum's benefit for Ed Hannigan but we just couldn't do it. Adam and I fell asleep as soon as we got home and woke up at 9pm and recouped by eating popsicles and watching Boy Meet World.

Meredith's awesome doodles

Talking it over I think we both felt very inspired and very overwhelmed by the whole experience. It's easy to get caught up in worrying about how much further we have to go to be able to show our work at a place like Wondercon. Between just the two of us, Adam and I have been working on Robots! for a very long time now, but really we've only been online for 2 months (and are only 11 pages deep). I have to keep reminding myself of that to keep things in perspective. The best thing for me about the whole experience was to see just how nice the indie comics community can be. Talking with everyone on the floor, I felt like they were all genuinely interested in hearing about what we were doing. I know that we have a great story to tell and I hope that as we get deeper into it people will begin to find something in it that resonates with them. If we can keep ourselves on schedule (and I do think we can) we'll be done with the whole first book by next winter. Maybe at Wondercon next year we'll have a little more to show and share with the rest of the community.

Wondercon! and Robots! in 3D: The Live Blog

2010-04-02T09:13:00.000-07:00

Jump the link to see all the sights, tweets and news about Wondercon through the eyes of the intrepid Robots! in 3D street team.

9:15 The Street Team (itsmenicklane, jFunk, Jake, Sarah and myself) gathers to begin the adventure to Wondercon.

Wondercon here we come.

2010-04-01T16:10:00.000-07:00

The Robots! in 3D street team will be at Wondercon at Mosone Center tomorrow. We will be live blogging the whole experience as well as launching the latest page from the Wondercon floor. So don't forget to check out the blog tomorrow to see what sort of geekness is going down at Wondercon 2010!

Wait!! ...it's page 9 time...

2010-03-26T09:57:00.000-07:00

What's lurking in the barn? A new character perhaps? Read Page 9 to find out!

What's that lurking in the shadows?

2010-03-19T11:08:00.000-07:00

Something strange has taken over Leonard Walker's barn. Read page 8 to discover more!

Robots page 7 update

2010-03-12T08:51:00.000-08:00

Robots! page 7 is now up for viewing. He's finally tracked down the the location of the weird noises, but what's making them? Tune in next week to find out!

Page 6 Now Online

2010-03-05T08:32:00.000-08:00

Robots! page 6 is now online. What's making the crazy noises out in Leonard Walker's fields? Stay tuned!

Page 5::Enter Leonard Walker

2010-02-26T11:03:00.000-08:00

The next page in everyone's favorite anaglyph webcomic about robots has dropped. Page 5!

Dont' forget to check back next week more suspense.

Robots! page 4 now online

2010-02-19T08:47:00.000-08:00

Things are moving smoothly and this week's page is now live. Adam and I are going to work on getting some awesome anaglyph promo materials made this week (maybe even this afternoon if we can really get our acts together). If you want a pack of Robots! swag to hand out in your area, or if you have any really brilliant promo ideas, drop us a line - we'd love to hear from you.

Robots! in 3D launches today

2010-02-12T11:22:00.000-08:00

Welcome everyone! Today is the official launch day for Robots! in 3D. If you already have a pair of 3D glasses handy go ahead and start reading! Otherwise you can make your own following these tutorials. If you don't have any of the required materials to make some glasses or if you can't see 3D do not fret! You can also read the comic in 2D. Just go to the comic page and click the little purple button that says "2D" on the bottom. All the pages will now appear in 2D.

We love feedback so let us know what you think! And be sure to check back next week for the next page!

Make your own 3D glasses - Part 2

2010-02-11T11:11:00.000-08:00

After such a successful effort to make our own 3D glasses last week, Adam and I wanted to come up with another alternative glasses-making method for people who don't happen to have lighting gel samples around the house. We found this tutorial on Instructables that used red and blue sharpies and overhead transparency sheets to create 3D glasses lenses and decided to investigate. I have to say I was pretty skeptical at first, but with a little patience, the Sharpie method is actually quite effective!

We used some write-on transparency sheets, the second pair of weird Halloween glasses from my parents, blue and red sharpies, and super glue. We decided to try a variety of different shades of blue sharpies to see which was closest to the Cyan needed to achieve the 3D effect. We tested blue, aqua, and sky blue, but in the end the regular blue was a much better match.

We removed the Frankenstein nose from the glasses and traced around the frames to get the right shape for the lenses. We then carefully colored in the space with our markers. Because we were using fine point sharpies we were able to get better coverage by carefully drawing overlapping straight lines with the side of the marker. Scribbling ended up scratching off too much ink and was cloudy when looked through up close. Next time I think we should see what we get by using those super fat (and stinky) Sharpies

To finish the glasses we glued the lenses to the frames, touched up any places where we smeared the marker, and reattached the nose. Surprisingly the Sharpie glasses worked almost as well as the original version! The 3D effect worked incredibly well and the only difference was that the image was not quite as crisp. All in all it was a fun experiment and now Adam and I both have a pair of super sweet glasses that we can wear while working on the comic.

I know that there must be other cool and creative ways to make your own 3D glasses. If you have any ideas or tutorials that you want to share please leave a comment and send them our way! We're always looking for more ideas from crafty people and I'd love to feature them on our blog. How do you 3Diy?

Make your own 3D glasses

2010-02-03T10:44:00.000-08:00

While Adam and I are working hard to get our storefront up and running (where you will be able to buy your very own custom 3D glasses!) we wanted to give our readers a chance to actually see our comic in 3D if you don't happen to own a pair already. So we looked around the apartment and made a pair out of a few things we had lying around. Here's what we did:

My mom sent me these really strange Halloween-themed beaglepuss glasses a few months ago so we grabbed those, and Adam happened to have a Roscolux swatch book hiding in one of his many boxes of miscellaneous electronic parts (it helps to be a pack-rat when putting together spur-of-the-moment craft projects!). Those plus some scissors and super glue and we were ready to go.

First I traced around the lenses of the glasses to make a good template for the colored piece of filter. The swatches were pretty small and we couldn't risk cutting the shape inaccurately. Adam got to work taking apart the swatches. We looked through each shade of red and cyan to find the exact right colors that would make the 3D comic actually pop (Note: To test this look through your red or cyan lens. If you have the right shade of red, it should block out the cyan completely and vice versa).

The colors that worked the best for us were #26 Light Red and #370 Italian Blue.

After I cut out the filter pieces to the right shapes we glued them to the back of the glasses with super glue (I happened to have Gorilla super glue from a previous project but anything would work as long as it's fast drying and clear).

About 30 minutes later we had a really snazzy pair of new 3D glasses!

That's how we made ours, but the options are endless! What would you use to make a pair? What changes would you make to our design? Go on - show us your glasses!

Dawn

2010-01-29T12:31:00.000-08:00

This is the home of the new blog for the Robots! in 3D webcomic by Sarah Clark and Adam Sax. Follow us here to find out news and updates about the comic, website, or advances in 3D technology! Enjoy!