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Tag Archive: KCCC 2015

The next coolest thing: Cosplay preserved online in 3D and in 3D figures

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September 13, 2015

It almost looks like a hall full of cosplayers at a comic book convention, doesn’t it?

Once these figures get painted that’s exactly what it will look like. As we mentioned four weeks ago in our coverage of Kansas City Comic Con, the latest, greatest, newest addition to the Comic Con front is 3D photography turned into 3D printed figures. Specifically, it’s artist Jo Kamm’s new concept called The 3D Photobooth. The end result is an approximately 8-inch figure, the next thing every cosplayer will be clamoring for. (Note: the sheen is in the photo, not the figure, which follows the 3D photography quite well. Once painted, these will look like the real thing).

It starts with a turntable and the cosplayer being still for up to two minutes while the camera records every detail:

Then the software records the images, later to be cleaned up back in the office:

The result is a near perfect image that can be rotated 360 degrees and viewed from any angle.

Jo uploads his images to Sketchfab. You can see the best gallery of cosplay anywhere here. Make sure you click “more” to bring up hundreds of his 3D images.

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Tags: #KCCC2015, 3D Photobooth, 3D printing, cosplay, Elizabeth C. Bunce, Gimli cosplay, Jo Kamm, Kansas City Comic Con 2015, KCCC 2015, Radagast cosplay, Sketchfab, The 3D Photobooth

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More fun with Sean Astin and Middle-earthers at KCCC 2015

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August 19, 2015

So what is the point of cosplay anyway? For some it’s costume contests, for others it’s the challenge of creating the closest look possible to the real thing, for others it’s making a new mash-up or creation no one has thought of. For others, it’s getting garb together to meet up with the actors or creators that made the character famous in the first place. Whatever your motivation, you know you put it all together just right when the result is all-out fun for you and everyone you encounter, whether you’re attending a local or large convention or visiting your local Renaissance Faire or other gathering.

This year at the Kansas City Comic Con, with the announcement of The Lord of the Rings’ own Samwise, actor Sean Astin as guest, it meant it was time to bring Middle-earth to Kansas City. It’s a surprising rarity at pop culture and comic book conventions–fantasy characters. Sure, you see plenty of superheroes, sci-fi movie and animated characters, but fantasy, via films, TV, or books, seems to just be gaining steam.

Your fearless editor brought out the Radagast and Gimli fatigues (see here and here for some photos) and joined up with Mimosa Bunce aka Rosie aka borg.com writer and author Elizabeth C. Bunce and her newly minted Hobbit feet and garb, and we met up with the Springfield Fellowship of The Lord of the Rings for some fun. Astin called the Middle-earth contingent together at day’s end and Elizabeth broke away from Artists Alley to join the Fellowship for a fun photo shoot thanks to Froggy’s Photos.

Want to know what in-depth preparation, research, knowledge and sewing skills go into the creation of garb for cosplay?

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Tags: Elizabeth C. Bunce, Froggy's Photos, Hobbit cosplay, Kansas City Comic Con, Kansas City Comic Con 2015, KCCC 2015, Lord of the Rings, Lord of the Rings cosplay, Lord of the Rings props and costumes, Sean Astin, Sean Astin 2015 KCCC, Sean Astin Kansas City Comic Con, Springfield Fellowship Lord of the Rings

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Kansas City Comic Con wraps after successful three-day event

Filed under: Backstage Pass, Comics & Books, Con Culture, Fantasy Realms, Movies, Retro Fix, Sci-Fi Café, Superheroes, TV — Leave a comment

August 10, 2015

The first Kansas City Comic Con comic book and pop culture convention wrapped Sunday at the Kansas City Convention Center at Bartle Hall. We bid farewell as Doctor Who’s Colin Baker headed to the airport to return home to England and other guests set out across the country after a long and exciting weekend in the Midwest, leaving behind some happy and (exhausted) fans. But first, crowds again lined the aisles Sunday, grabbing last-minute selections of prints from artists, books from writers, and comic books and collectibles from the several dealers on site.

Sunday saw more panels, more autographs and photo ops, and more conversations with creators.

Our vote for the best cosplay of the show? This Kansas City Royals-inspired Iron Man. What better cosplay ambassador to the first Kansas City Comic Con than this superhero?

But it was hard to beat this great costume of a Gnoll from Dungeons & Dragons:

Excellent work!

Our vote for the best new addition to conventions anywhere this year was Jo Kamm’s 3D Photobooth. Unlike the 3D photobooth featured at last year’s World Series, the 3D Photobooth at KCCC printed highly detailed, large figurines. And unlike other 3D printing booths we’ve seen before, Kamm’s software and technology recreated recognizable faces. We’ll feature the process used at the booth in a later article, but our response and those of various passersby watching the imaging in process was simply “Wow!”

Here Kamm renders examples of a digital 3D, 360-degree image of both our Radagast ensemble from Saturday…

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First Kansas City Comic Con nets big weekend turnout and plenty of fun for all

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August 9, 2015

We could stop after just the above photo with actor Sean Astin, but we won’t. Kansas City Comic Con broke the mold this weekend, setting up a fun environment for thousands of attendees to get a major league dose of pop culture fun. You could meet icons of classic movies, like Pam Grier (1970s action film star), classic TV, like Butch Patrick (Eddie, from The Munsters), from current hits like Game of Thrones (Kristian Nairn), and classic 1980s video games (Billy Mitchell of King of Kong fame), to kids’ favorites (Power Rangers’ August St. John), classic British TV (Doctor Who’s Colin Baker), and megahits like The Lord of the Rings (Sean Astin) and Star Wars (Nalini Krishan and Orli Shoshan).

Creators from the Star Wars universe could be found everywhere, from current Marvel Star Wars writer Jason Aaron, to artist icon Michael Golden, to Disney-era Star Wars artists Bryan Fyffe and Joe Corroney. Creators from several major licensed characters could be found with Phil Hester, Ande Parks, Jai Nitz, Greg Smallwood, and Tony Moore. And then there is Jim Shooter and Mike Zeck from the superhero sphere of classic comics. Phew! That’s a busy weekend.

We had a great time with Rick Howland, star of Syfy Channel’s Lost Girl, which only recently wrapped its final episode.

Here’s writer CW Cooke talking with attendees at his booth…

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Photos from Day One of Kansas City Comic Con 2015

Filed under: Backstage Pass, Comics & Books, Con Culture, Fantasy Realms, Movies, Retro Fix, Sci-Fi Café, Superheroes, TV — Leave a comment

August 8, 2015

The first ever Kansas City Comic Con began yesterday afternoon at the Kansas City Convention Center at Bartle Hall in downtown Kansas City. Thousands of fans met hundreds of creators of comic books, fiction, cosplay, and other creative pursuits. Many fulfilled dreams to meet celebrities of TV and film both new and from the past. Comic book conventions are all about spending the weekend with like-minded fans of anything and everything you could conceive of fitting between the sci-fi, fantasy, and superhero genres.

The first day was full of con-goers getting the lay of the land–getting sketches commissioned by their favorite local or nationally-recognized artist, getting in the front of the line to meet a host of celebrity guests, and getting the first selection from the great volume of dealers at the show. Helping out everyone were the yellow shirt-garbed “henchmen”–a well organized group of ambassadors that handled everything with a smile.

You can’t beat a day when you get to meet one of the coolest women in the history of cinema. C.J. Bunce with Pam Grier.

Guests included Pam Grier, star of dozens of movies in the 1970s as well as TV and film roles since, and in particular the lead role in Quentin Tarentino’s Jackie Brown. Ms. Grier is everything you’d hope for in such an iconic actress, and she had plenty of stories to share with fans Friday. She also hosted a special screening of Jackie Brown after the show at the Alamo Drafthouse Theater. Attendees received an exclusive Jackie Brown print signed by Ms. Grier.

Nalini Krishan and Orli Shoshan arrive for the opening of KCCC 2015 Day One.

Nalini Krishan and Orli Shoshan signed photos for fans and participated in photo ops, as did other media guests. Ms. Krishan and Ms. Shoshan were featured as Jedi Knights in the Star Wars prequels.

Author Elizabeth C. Bunce in steampunk cosplay.

Your humble editor spent the day with author (and borg.com writer) Elizabeth C. Bunce at Table 617 in the convention’s Artists Alley. As much a part of comic conventions as print media creators and celebrities are cosplayers, and plenty could be found in the convention halls.

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