The other day I was reading some paper on “colorization by optimization” which is a technique for programmatically/algorithmically coloring grayscale images via some human hints. The geek in me couldn’t resist trying out how Mumbai Confidential would look like (since Vivek’s awesome grayscale style is uniquely suited to this approach). So I hunted for some sample code, found some and tweaked it and ran it with a sample page.

Algorithmic generation:
So I took a grayscale page from MC, with a mouse gave some color hints and ran it through the program. The algorithm works by a weighted mean of Luminance (Y) of the neighboring pixels and uses a technique of creating blended pixel sets (based on pointers taken from here) the source image and using the hint image generates the Color (Cb) and Chrominance (Cr) values. Basically “spreads” the hint colors and “smears” them across pixels.

As you can see the process is cool enough, but doesn’t yield good results. I chalk it up to my inability to demarcate areas in the base image (with a mouse).

So I tried a bit more and finally came up with something that resembled a flatted out image.

A few mins of TLC with GIMP filters with layers and I had some passable color images of the page.

After applying softglow (and fixing the sky):

Now, I am no talented artist like Vivek and this was just for the heck of it to explore a mathematical approximation of something that the artist does intuitively. Maths (especially Applied Maths) has been an interest of mine and programming is my dayjob. Add to that, how passionate I’m about comics and this sort of thing is what makes life enjoyable.

As an aside, all of this isn’t my work. The grayscale image was drawn by Vivek and the algorithm and implementation hints came from people who have done work in this field. I just put them together and played with it a bit.

Found a GIMP plugin that implements the colorization at http://zenthought.org/content/project/colorize. makes the pipeline much faster. Plugin code has a bug which manifests if first image is closed, will try to get it fixed and maybe take over the development of that plugin.

Here is another sample page after a quick pass through GIMP plug-in:

– Saurav

About Mumbai Confidential

Mumbai Confidential is a crime noir comic book series created by Saurav Mohapatra and Vivek Shinde [more...]

So, Times of India has posted a list of notable Indian comics or as the byline puts it “Indians who bring a different side of the country to light via their comic book characters”.
[click the image for a hires view]

link to the ePaper for Dec 3rd, Mumbai Edition

As an aside, DEVI, a book I worked on at Virgin comics from issue #10-20 also made the list.

About Mumbai Confidential Digital Shorts

MUMBAI CONFIDENTIAL Digital Shorts are a series of companion comics to the first book “GOOD COP, BAD COP” by various artists using the characters created by Saurav Mohapatra and Vivek Shinde. These shorts are set in the same “universe” as the main story. Though these are not required to follow the main book, they do enhance the backstory of GOOD COP, BAD COP.

About Mumbai Confidential

Mumbai Confidential is a crime noir comic book series created by Saurav Mohapatra and Vivek Shinde [more...]

So we’re not dead . I made the move from east coast of USA to the west coast and was down and out for a good part of last quarter => hence, the paucity of updates on this site. We’re back to a schedule and will post Vivek Shinde’s delicious art as soon as I get my hand on it.

In other news, Saumin Patel (my frequent collaborator from the Virgin Comics days on DEVI and co-creator of MUMBAI MACGUFFIN) honored a long standing request and sent in some pieces about his interpretation of MC. Saumin has a style that is truly unique and I feel his renditions of a hard boiled genre piece like MC, makes me wanna bug him some more for a full fledged digital short.

–Saurav

MUMBAI CONFIDENTIAL Digital Shorts are a series of companion comics to the first book “GOOD COP, BAD COP” by various artists using the characters created by Saurav Mohapatra and Vivek Shinde. These shorts are set in the same “universe” as the main story. Though these are not required to follow the main book, they do enhance the backstory of GOOD COP, BAD COP.

About Mumbai Confidential

Mumbai Confidential is a crime noir comic book series created by Saurav Mohapatra and Vivek Shinde [more...]

Mumbai Confidential has certainly been in the news recently. Firstly, Anisha Sridhar covered both MC and Dhurandhar for New Indian Express.

Gangsters and Ghosts in new format by Anisha Sridhar in New Indian Express

On Nov 21, Sneha Mahale covered Mumbai Confidential for Hindustan Times.

City cops in graphic novel by Sneha Mahale in Hindustan Times

About Mumbai Confidential

Mumbai Confidential is a crime noir comic book series (about the infamous encounter cops of Mumbai) created by Saurav Mohapatra and Vivek Shinde [more...]

About Mumbai Confidential

Mumbai Confidential is a crime noir comic book series created by Saurav Mohapatra and Vivek Shinde [more...]

We make no secret of the fact that Mumbai Confidential is a love song to the pulp crime / hard-boiled movies and books we love (both Indian and Foreign). So from time to time, when Vivek and I discuss the visual tone/feel of MC, the amazing Mr. Shinde dashes off some quick explorations. These may or may not have direct implications on the main story art, but they are damn cool to look at.

We’ve used old hindi movie posters like this one, pulp crime book covers etc. for inspiration to strike the correct balance between the classic pulpy hardboiled-ness and Vivek’s unique painted style in MC art.

Since Vivek has been overloading my awesome-ness sensors for a while now, I felt that the time has come to share with you some of those images.

About Mumbai Confidential

Mumbai Confidential is a crime noir comic book series created by Saurav Mohapatra and Vivek Shinde [more...]

The image is for preview purposes only. Mumbai Confidential is copyright and trademark of Saurav Mohapatra and Vivek Shinde. All rights reserved. This site’s content are copyright of Mohapatra and Shinde. All rights are reserved.

Today Vivek exploded my inbox with the sheer awesomeness of his artwork. In keeping with his painted style, he just knocked the visuals out of the park. If it were up to me, I’d dump the whole goddamned chapter over here. But I guess you’ve got to buy the book, to see it all.

So while I scoot off to San Diego for SDCC 2010, why don’t you already hold your jaw wide open (to save time) at the sneak peek below.

Click the image above for a hi-res version

About Mumbai Confidential

Mumbai Confidential is a crime noir comic book series created by Saurav Mohapatra and Vivek Shinde [more...]

The image is for preview purposes only. Mumbai Confidential is copyright and trademark of Saurav Mohapatra and Vivek Shinde. All rights reserved.

Things are sort of humming on the art front after a lull and Vivek is busy churning out story pages. We always envisioned Mumbai Confidential as a universe rather than just one book (something like Ed Brubaker’s CRIMINAL or Frank Miller’s SIN CITY). So apart from the main book “GOOD COP, BAD COP”, there will be a series of digital shorts about characters, events outside of the book’s scope. Reading these shorts isn’t mandatory to enjoy the book, but they do enhance the backstory.

First digital short is pencilled, inked, lettered and ready. We’ll be releasing it soon on the website. The art is by Sid Kotian (DEVI, EAT THE DEAD, RAMAYAN RELOADED, THE STRANDED). So keep your eyes peeled for that. The shorts will also be available for other digital readers like iPhone, iPad and Kindle.

Ah, and before I forget — a new one sheeter for MC.

Mumbai Confidential is a crime noir comic book series created by Saurav Mohapatra and Vivek Shinde [more...]

Following up on teaser I posted earlier, here’s another one done with a slightly more “euro” style. The images used are from interior art by Vivek. As usual, your comments/crits are most welcome.

Also in other news, good things are happening vis-a-vis MC in a medium other than comic books , more on that when we are allowed to share.

In case you haven’t seen it yet, here’s the chapter 1 preview

Mumbai Confidential is a crime noir comic book series created by Saurav Mohapatra and Vivek Shinde [more...]

Ordered some ashcans off of ComiXPress of the Chapter 1 preview for Free Comic Book Day (FCBD) on May 1, 2010. I shall most probably be giving these away at my awesome local comic book store That’s Entertainment in Worcester, MA on FCBD 2010.

The ashcans really came out great. Going to order some more of these to give out at Albany Comic Con in April 2010, if I decide to attend it. Here are some hastily snapped cellphone photos. Click on the images for larger versions.