Digital Comics vs. Terror: The Nightgig Interview

By Park Cooper

I wondered if Barb and I should do podcasts. I didn't know enough about podcasts. So I asked someone who does know about them: Tim Shea of http://www.nightgig.com




Park Cooper: Now let's explain things for my audience like they don't know nuthin'-- who exactly are you and Scott?

Tim Shea: well that’s easy enough… Basically we are two guys who dabbled in making our own webcomics a few years ago and now are fans of the art form.

PC: And what were the names of those webcomics and do they still continue and if not are they still viewable and who did the art and who did the writing?

TS: Well I did Gecko Nation and he did Jack Splat, the latter of which is still currently readable on NightGig.com

PC: I seeeee

TS: Let me start from the beginning--

PC: All righty

TS: Erm… talking is so much easier… heh… ’bout 1999 I found out about webcomics, through a geeky friend of mine.. It was the uber geeky webcomic User Friendly that led to Penny-Arcade and Mega-Tokyo...and then keenspace as a whole and that eventually to Glych's No Stereotypes and eventually in 2001 to Blue Canary.

PC: So a friend led to User Friendly, and that was a gateway drug.

TS: Aye: http://www.userfriendly.org

Now, Blue Canary had a big role in my life, because, this being the internet, there is the possibility of artist/reader interaction, unlike, say, with newspaper comic strips.

I e-mailed Kit White, the creator of Blue canary, letting her know I enjoyed the comic... and she answered. We got to talking about how easy it was to put comics on the web...

It was through her forum that I met Scott-- he was doing Jack Splat at the time-- and I was motivated to start my own webcomic. I also met Kit’s then-boyfriend Ken Prince, who also had a webcomic. We got to talking, and when drunk duck had its first big meltdown in 2003, we started NightGig Studios together as a place for us to offer hosting to other webcomic artists and other artists… trying to build an active art-type community. during this time I put out maybe 50 or so Geckonation strips, www.nightgig.com

It still has a good group of folks… active chat and forum. Also, our second sampler book is at the printers. Hopefully back in time for Megacon Orlando, where we have a table for the second time… so things are going well. Scott came onboard at the beginning and is now my partner in running NightGig.

Ken, unfortunately, died last year. It's not fair really, after finally quitting his dead end programming job, and going back to school for 3d animation. It came as quite a shock. He had a massive stroke. He hadn't been that active on NightGig due to school and spotty internet access from his house, but he was a huge inspiration in getting NightGig up and running. Scott and I are a couple of webcomic fans who do what we can to help promote the webcomics we enjoy.

PC: Now tell me about the gigcast.

TS: Well, about two years ago I found out about podcasting; it was just after Apple's announcement about podcast support in itunes. As I mentioned before, I had mostly abandoned my webcomic and was focusing on promoting NightGig's members, and so on. A podcast seemed like a great way to do that. So, I did a little research on how exactly to make a podcast, and talked another couple members of nightgig into making the first Gigcast with PC: Karl Kuras and Jo Craft. Karl does (did) a webcomic called DrawnSword, and Jo does web design.

If you’re interested, the first episodes are still online... but they’ll make your ears bleed, the quality is so bad.

The first shows were done, on my end anyway, using a crappy headset mic, skype, and a program called Hot Recorder, which allowed me to record the skype conversation.

PC: Do you think people listen to you on itunes much or straight from the site?

TS: Right now we have more people listening via rss subscription then on the flash players.

PC:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000IBNXX2/ref=wl_it_dp/002-8190800-2220009?ie=UTF8&coliid=I2L6CHIY6BSO08&colid=3BM4S0ZJPS5ZQ Now, I'm an educator, and a few weeks ago I attended a podcasting workshop given by some colleagues... they mentioned this brand of recorder as being appropriate...

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000J10M62/ref=wl_it_dp/002-8190800-2220009?ie=UTF8&coliid=I2N1L4B31NKGBP&colid=3BM4S0ZJPS5ZQ

But then I found this one for half the price, because it has less memory...

TS: Well for a portable recorder... it's not bad… The only thing you have to remember, the built in mics on those things are gonna pic up EVERYTHING

PC: What DO I need to start a podcast, hardware/software wise? What might you suggest? What do you use?

TS: Honestly, you can do a good job with just a decent usb headset mic, or over skype, if you are dong a solo show. My current rig is a Behrenger Eurorack 1002 mixer, and an MXL990 condenser mic

PC: This would be with Barb and me, but we'd like to interview people from a distance too... on the other hand she'd like to someday record people at cons like ChicagoCon.

TS: You guys will record in the same room?

PC: Barb and me? Yes, that is the plan.

TS: Cool. just so ya know, Scott’s in Minnesota, I'm in Florida, and when Karl first started with the gigcast he was in Switzerland.

Ideally you guys will get an inexpensive mixer and a couple of cheap karaoke mics. Believe it or not, they make good podcast mikes because they are very uni-directional.

PC: http://www.amazon.com/MXL-990-Condenser-Microphone-Shockmount/dp/B0002GIRP2/sr=1-1/qid=1169949066/ref=sr_1_1/002-8190800-2220009?ie=UTF8&s=electronics Is this right? It sure is a pretty mic.

TS: Yep. That be it.

PC: Why’s this one good?

TS: It was cheap… heh. It was 10 bucks less when I got it. I got it, my mixer and cables/mic stand for about 150.00. Pretty much the standard podcaster set up for the time.

PC: Tell me about the mixer. What's that for? Editing?

TS: No the mixer allows multiple inputs (mics, mp3 players, etc) and outputs a stereo feed to you computers sound card, to be recorded in audacity or some other sound editing program

PC: Man, there's a lot to learn.

TS: There can be…

PC: So CAN you edit podcasts? Or is it more like you better get it right the first time?

Now that I think about it, maybe I need a portable recorder, because Barb loves to talk in the car -- oooh, but then there's road noise...

TS: The mixer allows me to be in the left channel and Scott in the right. This makes it easier (well, possible) to, say, remove any background noise on scott’s end, or amplify scott if he is a little low in places. I have put together a MPU for megacon. A mobile podcasting unit. I have an RCA lyra that has a line-in jack… I couple that to an old Tape deck I had that has ear-out and mic-in jacks.

PC: Yeah but if you start recording and the phone rings, can you stop and pick back where you left off?

TS: Sure. Or you can let it run and edit it out later.

I use the tape deck to power the mic only. Enter the 10 dollar karaoke mic.

http://www.amazon.com/UB502-Behringer-mixing-board-eq/dp/B000HPUTWW/sr=1-22/qid=1169949537/ref=sr_1_22/102-3166861-1620944?ie=UTF8&s=electronics

This is similar to what I use

PC: So you use the mixer to edit too?

TS: Not really-- once the tracks are in the pc, the mixer isn't really involved.

This is the latest version of the mixer I have
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Behringer-Xenyx-1002?sku=631264

PC: So... special software?

TS: http://audacity.sourceforge.net Is free and works great

PC: Yes, I’ve heard good things about audacity-- in the workshop I went to.

TS: Yep

PC: How long is each gigcast?

TS: We try to keep them under an hour, and so between 30-60 min depending on new, music, bits, and interviews.

PC: We'd like to use music in ours... you aware of any legal issues we should know about?

TS: Well, http://music.podshow.com is a great place to start for music with no hassles, or better yet is if you know a band, heh

PC: Mmmm... well I meant from CDs we own… But I take your point -- it matters.

TS: Yeah, that would be illegal.

PC: Gah.

TS: Not that it isn't done… it just breaks copyright law.

PC: Yeah I know a podcast that does it, although with very old songs... collector rarities that no one's gonna hassle him about.

TS: Yep, it's all good till the wrong/right person hears ‘em…

PC: So do you read print comics also?

TS: Not really… but grew up reading the funny papers and whatever superhero comic books I could borrow from friends… also Archie and Casper and Richie Rich and the like… read my share of X-Men and Spider-Man… recently I’ve read The Dark Knight and Kingdom Come… a friend had me read Transmetropolitan and Watchmen, loved those… so.. I guess I’ve read some. The only comic book I ever actually bought was the Serenity trade paperback… not counting webcomics in print, that is.

PC: How many webcomics do you currently follow?

TS: Sheesh. Umm.. I have over 100 in my bookmarks, but only follow prolly 12 or so daily. …I'll visit one I haven’t hit in a while and play catch up…

PC: Okay... but then not all webcomics update daily, some are once or twice a week or less, so you're hardly not following some just because you don't go there daily... so, 12 or so dailies and then more of the other kind.

TS: Yep. But I'll lose track of some for weeks.. and then find ‘em again and read what I’ve missed-- my bookmarks are full of comics that haven't updated in months... years in some cases.

PC: Okay, so that's actually an important difference for me to keep in mind... used to be that if people followed print comics, it was easy to say, because either they read them every month or not... you can't say that about webcomics that don't update daily.

TS: There are very few webcomics that update daily… those like The Devils Panties and Schlock Mercenary are few and far between.

PC: Would you say that the webcomics scene has changed much in the last three years?

TS: Besides there being lots more, very little. Sites like Drunk Duck and ComicDish make it very very easy to set up a webcomic site, and you get lots of the flash-in-the-pan webcomics that don't last. Heh, it's how I got into it…

The business side of it has changed a bit recently with Project Wonderful; it makes it cheap and easy to advertise and get advertisers. It's not a lot of money for the small guys, but it's more than before.

There are a lot more Pros getting in the online game as well, particularly with Platinum Studios buying Drunk Duck. The big guys are starting to realize there is a whole new market to use as advertising for their print material that they haven’t tapped before.

PC: What's the best way to interview someone who's far away?

TS: We use Skype. It's free and the sound quality is good... also it allows for conferencing so you can have multiple people on at once.

It also cross platforms with Windows and Mac, and you can also call regular phones if need be.

PC: Yes, I have a Skype account, but I've hardly ever used it.

TS: I can honestly say we'd probably not have the podcast if it wasn't for Skype.

PC: I don't know anyone else on skype except Ryan and Amber, and they’ve only used it once, with me anyway.

TS: Heh. It's amazing how your list grows

PC: So you put podcasts online for listening... how much room does that take up? Bandwidth?

TS: We host the podcast on http://www.libsyn.com. For as little a 5 bucks a month we have virtually unlimited space and bandwidth. They make it so easy to set up the rss feed and everything so honestly I don't even think about bandwidth, especially at 25-30 mb a show. That can add up pretty fast.

PC: Do you forsee radical changes for the gigcast? Or for webcomics? Or perhaps both?

TS: Not really, some minor tweaks, we kind of like to keep it free form, but with a good mix of webcomic news, and interviews. We have been getting more listener-submitted news stories lately, which is really cool to see. NightGig Studios and The Gigcast have a table in the independent press section of Megacon Orlando this year, (Feb 16-18th) and we'll be giving that MPU we talked about earlier a workout. We'll be talking with as many people in the webcomic and comic book industry as we can. We know that Jenny Breeden of The Devil's Panties and Groovi from O Deer is going to be there.

PC: Have you been at other cons before in this official capacity?

TS: Yeah, we had a table at last year’s Megacon as well; kind of a trial by fire, my first con, didn't really know what to expect-- this year we are a bit more organized. We'll have our Wall O Studios, raffles, two Nightgig samplers for sale as long with buttons, mini comic and ashcans. Not to mention Pixy Stix.

PC: So Pixy Stix are the representative sugar-based substance of the Gigcast and all that it represents?

TS: oh yeah. Also they’ll help us attract Jenny Breeden.

The idea is to get people to approach your table, so if we can attract even one person with the pixy stix, who then buys a "Podcast Naked" button… the terrorists lose.

PC: So the pure mindlessness-inducing sugar is key to loosening inhibitions one may have to webcomics, podcasts, and possibly capitalism/free trade, I see, I see...

TS: Well we can't give out Guinness, so we do what we can.

Anyway, I see the big boys, (Marvel, DC) trying to increase their web presence, but as for the guy who makes a comic as their night gig, I see better ways for them to publicize, and possibly make their hobbies profitable. But like everything, in order to be successful, it takes a lot of hard work, and some talent doesn’t hurt.

More webcomic communities form each week. Mutual promotion is the key. it always has been.

PC: Is there a master guide to webcomics anywhere? If I wanted to go somewhere and see as current as possible a list of all webcomics...?

TS: Funny you should ask. I was out with Karl, and Krishna from PC Weenies just the other night and that came up. There really isn’t. The list, if someone was to make one, would be dated as soon as it was posted. So many webcomics are born, live and die every day.

PC: Sometimes all on the same day, frankly. But such a list could be self-governing… except for one thing -- when a comic goes inactive/disappears, few are going to fess' up to it themselves, which means someone would have to police/manage it.

TS: Yes. RSS feeds and (insert web 2.0 buzz word here) are helping to keep some lists fresh... but I know of no truly active complete list. They can go on hiatus, gone, dead, sabbatical, break, ... who knows for sure.

PC: What you said about different communities was very true and also frustrating. …What Barb is doing a lot these days is shouting at institutions. "YOU! And YOU! You would be more effective TOGETHER! Combine your efforts, dammit!"

TS: [Laughs]

PC: And then, of course, you understand... they can't hear her.

TS: [Laughs] Well Comixpedia is trying with their wiki... and wikipedia is trying to stomp it out by deleting any "Inconsequential" webcomic... but by whose definition, really? Mine? Yours? Bah... who knows.

PC: Er... and why do you suppose they are doing that?

One can't just have numbers and be in the right. One has to have some of the currency of power as well.

TS: Yeah there should be, but I guess they want more than "Posted a weekly comic for the last 6 months..." But who knows for sure…

PC: I was told long ago that WikiP frowned on webcomics creators writing their own page.

TS: Yep. I haven't even tried to create a gigcast page on wiki. We've been posting for 75 weeks straight... but meh…

PC: A friend tried it for himself -- they kept trying to shut him down... finally, they succeeded.

Okay… The problem is there's no center.

TS: Right.

PC: No central meeting point. Comixpedia is close -- but using Wiki as a tool clearly won't be allowed for some reason. I guess it's the prejudice of print comics over digital comics?

TS: That has something to do with it, I’m sure. There are several webcomic lists, and now there is even comicspace.com, a myspace clone for webcomic creators and fans. But you know how "Yeesh " that can be.

PC: You mean the myspace taint? I find comicspace to be very little like the things people don't like about myspace. Like... 16 year olds won't care enough to invade it unless they are also interested enough to behave.

TS: Right. That does help. It has potential, but needs time to mature and whatnot.

PC: I was going to propose Comicspace to you as this sort of useful thing, really, alternatively to Wikiness. Webcomics creators and fans need a central rallying point. Comicspace could turn into that if everyone just agreed on it. Which is the hard part.

TS: Yes it is. Nightgig/the gigcast has a page there and we've gotten good comments from there and send out a bulletin with the details of the current gigcasts. And as new features are added, it seems to get more and more useful.

The Gigcast and NightGig Studios will do our part to promote webcomics. It's fun, and hey, if we can help someone make their night gig into their day job, then the terrorists lose.

PC: Would you call that your creed? The nightgig/gigcast mission statement?

TS: Pretty much.

PC: All righty then.