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Design / Concept: R. Ortiz Storyline: R. Ortiz Art: R. Ortiz
Creation 101Q: When and where did you first come up with the concept for Federation 21? How old where you?
A: Well, the concept of Federation 21 was always in my head. I just never had an outlet for it. We didn't have personal computers back in the early 70's so everything had to be created on something we called Paper. It was very crude, made from trees, prone to giving you these little sliver cuts if you didn't handle it carefully. Terrible stuff, but it was all we had. I guess I was about 7 to 9 years old when I finally visualized the entire idea of the "Federation". Only back then the comic wasn't called Federation-21. I called it Altered-States.
Q: Altered-States? Wasn't that the name of a movie? A: Yep. Here I was thinking I had this clever idea for a name and it turns out some other dude in Hollywood was already slapping it on a finished movie! But what could I do? I was just a kid. So I set out to change the name and eventually settled on Federation-21. But I showed them - to this day I haven't watched the movie. Hmph! Q: Nice. So tell us a little about you. Where do you live? What's your favorite softdrink? A: I was born and raised in New York City 32 years ago. About 10 years ago I moved from the city to a small town in the suburbs. It's actually pretty nice in this area. I'm surrounded by mountains with a short walk over to the nearby Hudson River. If I go over a few towns I can stare at Westpoint Academy from across the water. My favorite softdrink? Pepsi (with Rootbeer following a close second). I once took one of those taste tests and was able to pick it out every time as my favorite. Unfortunately I never got to be on tv because the people doing the testing were from that "other" cola company. I won't get into which is better, but let's just say that my choice was confirmed later on in life when I went to actually work at that "other" cola's factory and got the inside scoop for myself. Q: Sic. Got any hobbies?
A: No I don't have hobbies, I have a habit, an expensive, dirty little habit. I'm 32 years old and I'm addicted to videogames! But in my defense it's merely because I just love creating 3d imagery myself. When I play videogames it's very inspiring to me. I get to see and interact with the work of hundreds of talented 3d and texture artists.
Q: Beat Halo on Legendary? A: But of course. Q: Cool. Ok let's get back to Federation-21. Can you tell us a bit about the storyline? A: I could but then I would have to send Ninja assassins to your home to destroy any evidence of this interview. Q: Oh come now! Can't you tell us anything?
A: Well, ok. I suppose it couldn't hurt to give you a little back story. The story behind Federation-21 revolves around a strange pattern that Scientists have been tracking throughout history. The pattern first comes to light in the early 1990's as a team of scientists discover a pattern hidden throughout the history of mankind. The governments of the world unite to help fund the research and they soon discover that the pattern predicts an upcoming apocalypse.
Q: Deep! Now where did you get Eve from? What role does she play in all of this? A: Originally Eve wasn't even Eve. It was Ace. Q: Yikes! It's ah man baby!! A: You guessed it. Eve, in the original hand drawn comic was supposed to be a dude named "Ace", with purple hair to boot! As time went on I had to stop drawing the comic for a while and during that intermittance I began creating art on the computer. Q: Is that when you discovered Poser?
Q: Tell us a bit about how you put a scene together. Can you tell us what kind of computer your running?
A: I'm running a workstation with dual processors, 1GB of RAM, and a 40GB HD. I'll eventually be tossing in another HD just for messing around purposes as well as a DVD burner so I can start making stuff for my dvd player.
When I put my scenes together it starts out with some simple sketches of what I'd like the environment to look like. Nothing fancy, just something to keep me reminded of what the goal is. Sometimes it's just a matter of jotting down a few notes, other times I just get straight into the modeling. By far what I tend to have fun with is the texturing. It's a tedious pain in the buttocks, but the end result is so satisfying if you get it right.
After the texturing I get to putting the scene together. I start out by modeling the scene in Rhino3d or Max 4, then importing everything into Max 4 for rendering. With the characters and lighting all set in place I make my final renders, tweak them in photoshop and get them web ready. All in all the process can take up to several days to finalize just one panel if the scene is complicated enough or if I am not satisfied with it. One thing that makes it easy is that at the moment I am only creating single panels (500x400), but that's all going to change in the near future as I finalize the rest of Issue #5. Oops! That's right you heard correct.
Q: Awesome! So can you tell us a bit about that cash register icon on your nav page? Does this mean there's going to be (ahem) merchandise!? A: Definitely! It's one of the things I'm most excited about. Since I was a kid I've always wanted my own Federation-21 t-shirt! Now I can actually have an official one! Sure I realize that I created the comic and I would be wearing my own stuff but I can't help it, I really am excited about getting my own shirt! There will also be other items too, not just shirts. You'll be able to get a mug, or a mousepad, or even a baseball cap. I want the merchandise to be fun too. Nothing worse than cheesy merchandise. So I'll be pretty selective on what gets the Fed label. So those of you waiting on the Fed21 socks, don't hold your breath. Q: Well, before we end this interview, is there anything you would like to share with someone else who might be starting out with their own comic? A: Sure, keep up your confidence and remember one thing: You can do anything. If your having a hard time coming up with concepts but you really want to create your own comic book world, get a book called "The Writer's Guide to Creating a Science Fiction Universe" by George Ochoa and Jeffrey Osier. I picked it up a long time ago and it really helped during some of the tougher points when creating Federation 21. Back up your files ALWAYS. You don't want to lose a HD or a file after you've put out an issue that contains a particular character you can't duplicate from scratch. Go around and see what the other artists are doing. See what they are doing wrong, see what they are doing right, and develop good work habits for your comic. It's basically alot of common sense really. You'll make mistakes, it's inevitable, but you'll also learn a great deal. Good luck and remember, just have fun with it!
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There are many a night I just sit there oogling a 3d model because the texturing and bumpmapping is so impressive. Realizing how that may be taken I would also like to make note that I do NOT own DOA: Xtreme Beach Volleyball. I own every system that's out, and have a ton of games for each. If you're lucky you might even catch me on Xbox Live. Check out games like Ghost Recon, Midnight Club II, Wolfenstein, or MotoGP2.
Unable to clearly pinpoint the next event in the pattern, the military takes over the project and soon moves the research in radical new directions. Anyone previously associated with the project prior to military involvement soon fades away from memory and is never heard from again. By the time the reader comes into the story, this has already happened. The present is now the year 2029, and the world as we once knew it has changed dramatically. In it's place
has risen a world full of hatred, fear, and evil, ruled by men with cruel hearts. What little
remains of most major cities has been abandoned as military armies under the control
of Federation 21 sweep in and take control. Those under the rule of the Federation are
forced to live in military states with the constant fear of death to them and their loved
ones.
The people that struggle in this dark new world are born infected with the "Neo virus".
A virus whose origins remain rooted in deep speculation and rumor. For those with the
money and influence, a cure is easily obtainable. For those without, a horrible and
unusual death awaits them.
Day to day the people cry out for peace and are met with violence. The world has no
hope for them anymore.
A: Yea, that's exactly when. I was working for IBM back then and had a great deal of free time on my hands. Instead of just sitting there and wasting away, I put my time to good use. I taught myself Html, Bryce, and then Poser. One day I thought to myself "Hey! I could translate the whole comic into 3d!" but then no matter how hard I tried the default Poser male looked like a complete "dork". Hardly the stuffs of comic book legend. That's when I started to think. What if I changed the main character from male to female!? Hmm. Before I knew it I had mock advertisements announcing the comic and a few beta shots of what she might look like. The rest is history.
Issue #5 is not finished. I just felt that because I was taking so long in getting the issue out I would put out what I had to hold people over until I could finalize the rest of it. There's a great deal to still be told (not to mention some action sequences featuring a few new characters!) and I wanted to tell it properly. This means, and your hearing it here first, that the next releases for Federation-21.com will be in the traditional comic book sense. As in actual comic pages. If this is going to be a comic...it's gotta look like a comic. That's just how I feel and I hope others will like it too. If you notice I've already started to implement more of a comic book feel with the fonts, and text balloons, etc.