Turn a Sketchup model into an awesome webtoon background! [Tutorial]

Thank you for joining me!
I'm SoenKai and I'm a full-time comicartist and illustrator.
As such I always try to keep my workflow efficient. 3D backgrounds are a great way to save time when you're working on a comic full-time. =)
So this is the way I do my backgrounds in the year 2021!
Links to the applications I use:
• SketchUp: www.sketchup.com/
• Fotosketcher: fotosketcher.com/
• Illustrator: www.adobe.com/...
• Clip Studio Paint: www.clipstudio...
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You can read all my original comic series at www.webtoons.c...!
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If you liked this video, please comment, subscribe and give the video a thumbs up!
I livestream art every Sunday from 4pm to 8pm CET on Twitch:
/ soenkai_art
Find more about me on soenkai.carrd.co/
You can also support me on / laubhaufen where I post exclusive (yaoi) content!
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♦ Software: #SketchUp #Fotosketcher #Illustrator #ClipStudioPaint
♦ Tablet: #Wacom Cintiq 24 Pro
Thank you for watching!

[@Matobit]

personally I like sketchup "styles" option that changes the look of the lineart. But your method is nice too. Thanks so much for this tutorial, really useful😍

[@SoenKaiArt]

I know there are styles. But so far there was none that fit the style I'm going for so I had to find another way... =)

[@JeromeProductions]

Agreed

[@lars7282]

I think we can agree on „Webtoon backgrounds“ being the worst backgrounds in comic history

[@SoenKaiArt]

No, I don't think anyone agrees on that. lol

[@catcactus1234]

Thank you so much for the tutorial! This video is a treasure trove of amazing shortcuts and edits for all these programs. Personally I thought your result still looked a little too CG for my tastes (I’m making a very cartoon-y style type of comic) so I altered the process a little bit. I only rendered the line art and shadow layers, then manually filled in the colors in CSP because the SketchUp flats are just too dull and fake regardless of the filters used afterwards. I used file>Smart Smoothing to smooth out the sharp edges of the line art and shadows. Then I added a gradient map to get those vibrant comic book colors. The result is absolutely amazing- it looks like a hand-drawn comic book background that only took 10 minutes to create. Great advice!!

[@mutiarasagita9196]

What version sketchup are you working on?

[@SoenKaiArt]

This should be Sketchup Pro 2019 or 2021.

[@RaissaOzsari]

Thank you!! I use SketchUp but usually use models without shadows because my PC dies xD I will check out export shadows alone, learned a lot with this tutorial!!

[@SoenKaiArt]

As always feel free to ask me any questions about the video! =D

[@smokeychatz]

Could you if possible make a video about the photoshop filters you use for your background that suit your style? 🥰

[@zeynepsaglam-x1]

Whis was the tutorial that ı was looking for a long time ıt helped me a lot thank you very much

[@bruh-dm3gs]

Oh dear thank you soooo much !!! That was extremely helpful 💕💕💕💕💕

[@momeristic817]

I thought clip Studio paint was a monthly purchase that's why I didn't get it I didn't know it was a one time??

[@SoenKaiArt]

You can get both a one-time license without updates and a monthly subscription with updates. Back when I made this video there was only a one-time purchase and you still got all the updates but CELSYS changed it since then - understandably so. They need to make money somehow. XD

[@chariots8x230]

Are there any alternatives to Sketchup? I don’t think we can use the free version for commercial use, which isn’t great if we want to monetize our comic 🤔

[@SoenKaiArt]

Yes, Blender is a good alternative to SketchUp if you don't want to buy the pro version. (understandable) Blender has some really great tools for rendering backgrounds, but the learning curve is much steeper than with Sketchup. It is a free to use program though which is also allowed to be used for commercial projects.

[@gurfild1906]

Sweet Home 3D is open source and easy to use

[@SoenKaiArt]

Updated reply: There's now also ABLER by ACON that can import Sketchup files and exports pretty nice results.

[@k-popcorn2294]

Thank you for this! It’s the most helpful video I have found on the topic! But I have a problem. I followed all the steps in clip studio paint and merged the texture with the lines and the shadows to make two backgrounds and everything went well. But then I tried to make another background and now the layers don’t merge like they’re not transparent. But both lines and shadows were exported as transparent so I don’t know what’s the problem. So I tried to make again the previous backgrounds I had already made but again they don’t merge like the first time I made them. Do you know if there’s any possibility that I pressed something and now the program doesn’t see them as transparent? Thanks in advance ☺️

[@SoenKaiArt]

Phew it's always a little hard to give advice without seeing the actual problem. But I'll try. So what you're saying is, that the white around lines and the shadows are not transparent when you layer them on top if the texture in clip studio, correct? Maybe something did happen in between, but you can easily make them transparent by going to "Edit" -> "Convert brightness to opacity". Did this help?

[@k-popcorn2294]

@@SoenKaiArt thank you very much it worked!

[@MrRossT1]

SUBSCRIBED!!!!!!

[@dcss322]

Thank you 😍😍😍

[@gurfild1906]

Sketchup Make is no longer available

[@SoenKaiArt]

You are right. =) It is now called "SketchUp Free" and works browser-based. I can't say much about the usability of that though, since I'm using the standalone 2021 paid version. ówo

[@t2tan_art]

Thank you so much 🤗🥰

[@Rivershield]

Aspiring webtoon autor here. Do you know if I'm allowed to use assets downloaded from Sketchup's 3d warehouse to compose my backgrounds? I will modify them of course but I won't be going through all this proccess because, for the type of background I'm making (very sci-fi) there's simply not enough time to do that and publish weekly. I want to know if I can simply populate my scene with 3d models downloaded from 3D warehouse and change just the affter effects (like lighting and blur). PLease help me, I live in a third world country so i simply can't afford to buy models.

[@SoenKaiArt]

Sorry for the late reply! =) Actually the Warehouse has a general model license in their terms of use, stating that you can use the free models (for commercial purposes also) if it's part of a larger work and / or has been significantly altered, which is both the case if you use the models for comic backgrounds. You can read the full general model license here: 3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/tos/

[@kaye3468]

Um can i use the backgrounds available in 3dwarehouse for my comic?

[@SoenKaiArt]

Yes, the Warehouse has a general model license in their terms of use, stating that you can use the free models (for commercial purposes also) if it's part of a larger work and/or has been significantly altered, which is both the case if you use the models for comic backgrounds. You can read the full general model license here: 3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/tos/

[@kaye3468]

Thank you♥️♥️

[@kira33533]

this was really useful ^^

[@SoenKaiArt]

Glad it was helpful!

[@nomi3912]

OMG IT LOOKS AMAZING!!!! TY SO MUCH

[@JeromeProductions]

Great tutorial

[@BreHuang]

Very helpful-thank you so much for sharing and would watch many more videos on your comic-making process!

[@sketchy5770]

thaaank you so much this has so useful and very well explained, thanks again

[@hermonday2800]

Thank you so much for this useful tutorial!1!1 I love how you explain all of that and its not boring.. i'm laughing at 37:57 skskksjsjs.

[@namach00]

what is your version of adobe illustrator? I can't find the image trace, very good the tutorial helped me a lot

[@SoenKaiArt]

I'm using Illustrator CS5 =)

[@namach00]

@@SoenKaiArt ooh Thank you💖

[@terdk-drawing]

19:52 no encuentro esa opción en mi ilustrator

[@SoenKaiArt]

¿Qué versión de Illustrator estás usando? Estoy usando Illustrator CS5. Puede tener un nombre diferente en su versión.

[@graceo8648]

For photoshop what filters do you use

[@SoenKaiArt]

I use Topaz Labs Clean and / or Simplify filters usually. But as they're paid filters I didn't show them in the video.

[@nellygunasetia6612]

Thank you, this is very useful 🙏

[@rajeshkumsr6685]

This is excellent! Thank you.

[@graceo8648]

Could you do a tutorial of your process in photoshop

[@SoenKaiArt]

I can do that, yes =)

[@AKS-zl6be]

Awesome!

[@SoenKaiArt]

Thanks!

[@mirzaaditya3881]

Thank you for tutorial it's help me alot.. But I wonder how to add interior light? Or it must be done manually?

[@SoenKaiArt]

Yeah, you'd have to do that manually. (if it's just about shadows I usually make the ceiling disappear and set the sun really high)

[@musyfins2769]

wow your tips it's really good.. but why can't it be as simple as when we just take it from clip studio asset? I need a way like that. I converted it to a FBX file but unfortunately, when I imported it for clip studio, the object got corrupted. And I need tips from you ❤️

[@SoenKaiArt]

Sorry, I can't give you tips for that. I tried something similar to no avail which is partially why I use this kinda roundabout way.

[@vickysarahigomez2004]

Does anyone know if one can use legally the free 3D designs from Warehouse to the backgrounds? If I use those designs would that be plagiarism even if I give credit to the designer?

[@SoenKaiArt]

Sorry for the late reply! =) Actually the Warehouse has a general model license in their terms of use, stating that you can use the free models (for commervial purposes also) if it's part of a larger work and / or has been significantly altered, which is both the case if you use the models for comic backgrounds. You can read the full general model license here: 3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/tos/

[@supriyantongerab483]

ur tutorial is really great!! but i have problem. why my sketchup only able to open .skp file it cannot open obj file?

[@SoenKaiArt]

You need a plug-in to open obj files in Sketchup. I use FluidImporter for example.

[@supriyantongerab483]

@@SoenKaiArt thankyou so much i'm in trial period now XD

[@yaj1206]

as cool as this is, this is too time consuming when you actually work in the webtoon industry with all the tight deadlines and all that.

[@SoenKaiArt]

You opinion is not wrong, but also just your opinion. I work in the print-comic industry and it helped a lot with cutting time. =) Not every webtoon is an original with inhuman deadlines and even then this may be a way to cut time and still have good looking backgrounds. So what was your comment supposed to do here? ;)

[@yaj1206]

​@@SoenKaiArt to start off, I understand that my original comment was lacking in explanation but to my defence I was in the middle of working and in a hurry; and I'm not really a fan of writing THIS much because most people on the internet doesn't like to read a wall of text, especially not in a youtube comment. But since I'm trying to explain myself please pardon my rambles. tl;dr I don't really know how you perceive my comment but I wasn't trying to shit on your video if that's how it came off, if it came off shitty I apologise. I wouldn't call my comment an opinion because I was speaking from my own experience and is indeed facts at least for the people I intended the comment for. -- For the sake of reference and background, I've worked in this industry for 5 years now as a lead artist; working in a team of 8-ish where time is of the essence, if one fell (especially the lead artists ;;) the rest follows suit. I work mostly with SK publishers; the competition over there is hella fierce (15 publishers, 100-ish production house) hence the tight deadlines but demanding quality. I was trying to see if I could change it up and somehow make my background look better, but didn't find what I was looking for so I left a comment intended for those who are in the same situation as me; tight deadliners. Again, I wasn't exactly explaining it properly because of time and that was my bad but I really don't think my comment was anywhere near rude to receive such a defensive reply; at least that's how it came off for me, but if it was rude for you I do apologise. I put the cool at the beginning so you'll know I thought this video was neat but not for someone who as I mentioned "actually work in the webtoon industry with all the tight deadlines" the tight deadlines was my point but maybe the misplaced "actually" is what gets you because as I reread my own comment it could insinuate that you are not in the industry when you actually are, I greatly apologize for that but still... I don't really appreciate the passive aggressiveness of your reply just because my original comment may look negative :( But rice has became porridge and water has turned to wine, misunderstanding happens and it is what it is, but I just want to explain myself so you wouldn't further misunderstood my actual intention. I'm not going to edit my original comment as a reminder for people to proofread their comment if they want to avoid misunderstanding. Cheers!

[@magalivarela5116]

How can I change the lines style with photoshop instead of illustrator? Thanks for the tutorial!

[@SoenKaiArt]

You can't really use Photoshop and Illustrator interchangeably since one is a pixel-based program and one is a vector-based program. If you don't have Illustrator I'd recommend getting another free to use vector program like Inkscape. However, as I am not familiar with Inkscape I can't tell you how to achieve the "hand drawn look" in that program. (It would probably be easier to find a roundabout way to change the look of the lines in CLIP Studio EX for me.)

[@magalivarela5116]

@@SoenKaiArt Yeah, i used "smart smooth" on clip studio paint as someone here recommended. Is it possible that you could do more tutorials on how to mix 3d background with traditional illustration? I like the way you explain things 😊

[@ldngarcia5522]

my illustrator doesn't have the image trace options. pls help i can't find it😭

[@SoenKaiArt]

Oh! What version are you on?

[@gabrielaandreaherrerajara2251]

me too AAAAAAwu