Webtoon's backgrounds created in 3D

Kakaa Studio, a local venture firm, provides a technology to create 3D backgrounds for web comics. / Courtesy of Kakaa Studio

By Chung Ah-young

Digital comics, called “webtoons” here, already dominate the nation’s cartoon scene, replacing traditional book form work.

An array of webtoons has been adopted into films, novels and stage works, providing more opportunities for amateur artists.

However, the digital works are not as easy as conventional mediums for some artists. To help them concentrate on developing creative content, Kakaa Studio, a local venture firm, developed a technology to create 3D backgrounds for web comics.

The technology enables cartoonists to choose a color tone, which fits their characters and stories. Through the 3D space, cartoonists can see their background views in advance from diverse angles equipped with building exteriors, interiors and the composition of the buildings and details of the props.

“The popularity of webtoons continues to grow. The digital comics are offered in full color. Thus various color tones and details are needed. Many web cartoonists are now focusing on their characters rather than making the backgrounds. So many support their background work through computer graphics, but they can’t express fully what they really want to do. Our technology can help them work in more details,” Kim Cheol-jin, CEO of the studio, said.

Kim said that the studio produces computer-generated backgrounds fit for the characters, with various colors and tones which are frequently used in architectural designs and animated films. The firm provides various types of backgrounds with two-tone colors, gradation and oil paint-style to inject vitality into the work.