View attachment 2484770View attachment 2484771View attachment 2484772View attachment 2484773View attachment 2484774View attachment 2484775View attachment 2484776View attachment 2484777View attachment 2484778View attachment 2484779View attachment 2484780Frank Romano posted a message on the site explaining that he would decrease the posting frequency due to a drop in revenue and supporters at PigKing. The topic itself is controversial, and I am saddened by Juanito Brown's departure; he was a hardworking artist who always tried his best regarding visual quality, accepted criticism well, and truly sought to improve. I hope he returns to the team soon.
When I look at PigKing's older works, I notice that the major boom in supporters occurred precisely during the period when PigKing rendered in the 1:1 format. One could say PigKing's fame came from this era. After adopting the new 16:9 format, a series of questions began to arise regarding render quality and character positioning. For comparison, we can look at
Family Sins and see the "before and after." I am using
Family Sins 80 as an example, which is the work of TeddyāPigKing's best renderer. Despite all the updated plugins and attempts to improve the final aesthetics, it is clear that the older 1:1 works, even with outdated plugins, were still superior in terms of visual quality and finish.
Technical Analysis: 1:1 vs. 16:9
It is impossible not to question the lack of quality in the renders and the decline in supporters. When readers revisit old works, they realize those projects were factually better in terms of framing and render quality. This leads to a fundamental question: why not return to the 1:1 format if there is such a clear correlation between that format and quality?
- Pixel Density and Focus: In 1:1, the rendering power is concentrated on the character. In 16:9, the hardware must process a much larger area of scenery, which often dilutes the detail on the skin textures and facial expressions.
- Composition: The 1:1 format forces a foreground focus, increasing immersion. In 16:9, characters often lose their realistic "presence" and start looking like porcelain dolls because the focus is spread across a wider landscape.
- Lighting Efficiency: Managing light in a square format is more precise, especially in dark scenes, preventing the "blackout" effect often seen in wider renders.
No matter how much Teddy strives to present the best work possible with his hardwareāand he is the best in this regardānothing he does will be comparable to the visual quality and immersion of the 1:1 format. Persisting in this error does not seem like a profitable idea. Imagine the level of rendering the 1:1 format could reach today with updated plugins.