The Sinkha Project is a series of

digital comics Digital comics (also known as electronic comics,Ian Hague, ''Comics and the Senses: A Multisensory Approach to Comics and Graphic Novels'', Routledge, 2014, ch. 2: "Sight, or, the Ideal Perspective and the Physicality of Seeing". eComics, e-comi ...

and

multimedia Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to tradition ...

novels created by Marco Patrito, an Italian

science-fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel univers ...

author and illustrator who has published comic novels in Italy, France, Germany, Sweden, Belgium, Holland and North America since 1984. He has drawn more than 150 cover illustrations for Italian publisher

Arnoldo Mondadori Editore Arnoldo Mondadori Editore () is the biggest publishing company in Italy. History The company was founded in 1907 in Ostiglia by 18-year-old Arnoldo Mondadori who began his publishing career with the publication of the magazine ''Luce!''. In 1 ...

.Episode 2, Extras, 2007. The Sinkha Universe, originally conceived by Patrito in early 1991, was used as a set for the first ''Sinkha'' multimedia novel, which was completely realized using ground-breaking

3D computer graphics 3D computer graphics, or “3D graphics,” sometimes called CGI, 3D-CGI or three-dimensional computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data (often Cartesian) that is stored in the computer for th ...

over the course of five years. In 1995, the ''Sinkha'' CD-ROM was finally distributed by Virtual Views in Europe, USA and Japan for

Mac OS Two major famlies of Mac operating systems were developed by Apple Inc. In 1984, Apple debuted the operating system that is now known as the "Classic" Mac OS with its release of the original Macintosh System Software. The system, rebranded "M ...

and

Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

operating systems.

Episodes

As of 2008, the Sinkha Project is composed of four multimedia novels (Episodes 0, 1, 2 and 3) and three graphic novels (Episodes 1, 2 and 3). The printed versions are available in Italian, French, Portuguese and German languages. Episodes 0 and 1 were also published in English on special issues of the American magazine Heavy Metal.

Sinkha 0: First Encounter
995 Year 995 (Roman numerals, CMXCV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Japan * 17 May - Fujiwara no Michitaka (imperial regent) dies. * 3 June: Fujiwara no ...

''Sinkha'' tells the story of Hyleyn, a bold girl who lives in the mysterious city of Thalissar. This gigantic and gloomy agglomeration of howling metal, located on the hostile planet Ogon, proves to be of great interest to the Sinkha, a race of immortals who send their living starship Darcron to investigate. Presented as the first multimedia novel completely realized in 3D computer graphics; although it was published in 1993, ''Donna Matrix'', by

Mike Saenz Mike Saenz (born 3 December 1959John Jackson Miller, Miller, John Jackson"Comics Industry Birthdays" ''Comics Buyer's Guide'', June 10, 2005. Accessed December 12, 2010WebCitation archive) is an American comic book artist and software designer. He ...

, is credited as the first digital graphic novel utilizing 3D rendering. ''Sinkha'' was released in 1995 for

Mac OS 7 System 7, codenamed "Big Bang", and also known as Mac OS 7, is a graphical user interface-based operating system for Macintosh computers and is part of the classic Mac OS series of operating systems. It was introduced on May 13, 1991, by Apple Co ...

Windows 3.1 Windows 3.1 is a major release of Microsoft Windows. It was released to manufacturing on April 6, 1992, as a successor to Windows 3.0. Like its predecessors, the Windows 3.1 series ran as a shell on top of MS-DOS. Codenamed Janus, Windows 3 ...

and

Windows 95 Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented operating system developed by Microsoft as part of its Windows 9x family of operating systems. The first operating system in the 9x family, it is the successor to Windows 3.1x, and was released to manufacturin ...

. It features

8-bit In computer architecture, 8-bit Integer (computer science), integers or other Data (computing), data units are those that are 8 bits wide (1 octet (computing), octet). Also, 8-bit central processing unit (CPU) and arithmetic logic unit (ALU) arc ...

graphics and a

monaural Monaural or monophonic sound reproduction (often shortened to mono) is sound intended to be heard as if it were emanating from one position. This contrasts with stereophonic sound or ''stereo'', which uses two separate audio channels to reproduc ...

soundtrack. It specifically requires QuickTime 2 and does not work properly on recent operating systems, although it is possible to run it via emulators like

Basilisk In European bestiaries and legends, a basilisk ( or ) is a legendary reptile reputed to be a serpent king, who causes death to those who look into its eyes. According to the ''Naturalis Historia'' of Pliny the Elder, the basilisk of Cyrene is ...

and

DOSBox DOSBox is a free and open-source emulator which runs software for MS-DOS compatible disk operating systems—primarily video games. It was first released in 2002, when DOS technology was becoming obsolete. Its adoption for running DOS games i ...

. In 1998, Marco Patrito was approached by a Hollywood film producer wanting to turn ''Sinkha'' into a movie. Patrito was asked to draw up a "feature film treatment" based on the novel, with the addition of some variants. The draft was approved and pre-production started, but budget troubles quickly arose. A non-negotiable clause was that the movie would have to be done entirely in computer graphics, which at the time were very expensive. When the estimated figure (over twenty million dollars) was judged to be insufficient, a proposal was made to use real and affordable actors that were not overly famous, but the situation stalled. It was impossible to move beyond that impasse, and the project was ultimately abandoned. However, in 2002, the second multimedia novel, ''Hyleyn'', included an abridged version of Sinkha based on the synopsis of this aborted movie. Subtitled ''First Encounter'', it contained fewer, but enhanced (although static) CG artworks, as well as an expanded description of the original events. In 2008, the original ''Sinkha'' was remastered with 24-bit graphics and a full

stereophonic Stereophonic sound, or more commonly stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configuration ...

soundtrack. It was re-released as ''Sinkha Zero''. The music of Episode 0 was composed by the neo-prog band Fancyfluid (Sandro Bruni and Fabrizio Goria). ''Sinkha'' received a score of 2 out of 5 from ''

MacUser ''MacUser'' was a monthly (formerly biweekly) computer magazine published by Dennis Publishing Ltd. and licensed by Felden in the UK. It ceased publication in 2015. In 1985 Felix Dennis’ Dennis Publishing, the creators of MacUser in the UK, l ...

''. The author praised the graphics, but heavily criticized the story, noting that "the writing is, well, even more stilted and sloppy than that of the average graphic novel."

Sinkha 1: Hyleyn
002 002, 0O2, O02, OO2, or 002 may refer to: Fiction 002, fictional British 00 Agent ''002 Operazione Luna'', 1965 Italian film Zero Two, a ''Darling in the Franxx'' character Airports 0O2, Baker Airport O02, Nervino Airport Astronomy *1996 ...

As an added bonus, ''Hyleyn'' includes an abridged version of ''Sinkha'' which contains fewer but enhanced (although static) CG artworks, as well as an expanded description of the original events. The music of Episode 1 was composed by Ettore Cimpincio.

Sinkha 2: Atmosphere
007 The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

Episodes 2 and 3 were released together on a single CD-ROM. The disc contains two bonus features: an Extra section in which Marco Patrito explains the genesis of the Sinkha Project, and a second section which offers a detailed presentation of the Sinkha Universe. The music of Episode 2 was composed by Bjørn Lynne, Nery Bauer and Jacek Dojwa.

Sinkha 3: Planet of the Clouds
007 The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

Episodes 2 and 3 were released together on a single CD-ROM. The disc contains two bonus features: an extra section in which Marco Patrito explains the genesis of the Sinkha Project, and a second section which offers a detailed presentation of the Sinkha Universe. The music of Episode 3 was composed by Bjørn Lynne, Nery Bauer and Jacek Dojwa.

Authoring

The Sinkha Project was created and realized by Marco Patrito, with the collaboration of Fabio Patrito and Tullio Rolandi. Some works and suggestions were contributed by Flavio Chirico and Francesco Chirico (Episode 0), Laura Patrito, Maurizio Manzieri (all Episodes), Marco Rolandi (Episode 1), Daniele Totolo (Episodes 1 and 2) and Massimo Zuanazzi (Episode 2).Episode 3, Credits, 2007. Episode 0 was developed on

Macintosh The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and ...

with the following tools: * Strata Studio *

Adobe Photoshop Adobe Photoshop is a raster graphics editor developed and published by Adobe Inc. for Microsoft Windows, Windows and macOS. It was originally created in 1988 by Thomas Knoll, Thomas and John Knoll. Since then, the software has become the indu ...

Adobe After Effects Adobe After Effects is a digital visual effects, motion graphics, and compositing application developed by Adobe Inc., and used in the post-production process of film making, video games and television production. Among other things, After Eff ...

Macromedia Director Adobe Director (formerly Macromedia Director, MacroMind Director, and MacroMind VideoWorks) was a multimedia application authoring platform created by Macromedia and managed by Adobe Systems until its discontinuation. Director was the primary edi ...

Apple QuickTime QuickTime is an extensible multimedia framework developed by Apple Inc., capable of handling various formats of digital video, picture, sound, panoramic images, and interactivity. Created in 1991, the latest Mac version, QuickTime X, is avail ...

All other Episodes were developed on PC with the following tools: * Wavefront Maya *

Autodesk 3DS Max Autodesk 3ds Max, formerly 3D Studio and 3D Studio Max, is a professional 3D computer graphics program for making 3D animations, models, games and images. It is developed and produced by Autodesk Media and Entertainment. It has modeling capabil ...

References

{{reflist

Episodes

Sinkha 0: First Encounter 995 Year 995 (Roman numerals, CMXCV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Japan * 17 May - Fujiwara no Michitaka (imperial regent) dies. * 3 June: Fujiwara no ...

Sinkha 1: Hyleyn 002 002, 0O2, O02, OO2, or 002 may refer to: Fiction *002, fictional British 00 Agent *''002 Operazione Luna'', *1965 Italian film *Zero Two, a ''Darling in the Franxx'' character Airports *0O2, Baker Airport *O02, Nervino Airport Astronomy *1996 ...

Sinkha 2: Atmosphere 007 The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...