What Software Do YOU Use?

[Amnesiac]

Hey all, it's the TMF technovice again looking for advice from the more mechanically inclined members for future reference. In this week's thread, the subject is on graphics software, more specifically, which ones you tech-saavy folks use and reccommend.

I'm specifically looking for the kinds of software that you can use to build and polish off comic book pages like Tomato Dragon and BZTickler do (if you guys are reading, drop a line!). On top of that, I'm also on the lookout for the best of the reccommended software that doesn't have too many tools that nobody uses.

Last, but not least, I'm also looking for the kind of software you can use to build GIFS like the kind we see in the "tickleanims" thread of 108 that Venray so kindly posted for us. Considering the plethora of artwork you guys build on your signature pages, chances are you're the people who would know.

A few things to consider though:

- Adobe Photoshop vs. Illustrator...which one is the better investment? Which has the better/more useful tools?

- Where did you buy yours? Website, retail, wholesale?

- Creative Suite this, Creative Suite that...how do you tell the difference between the best?

- Is Macromedia Flash the only reliable way to get a program that does GIFS? Specifically, creating them, not necessarily using pre-digitized photos as anims.

Help is definitely appreciated. Feel free to gloat about what you have as well.

 

[MÿTicklingStudios]

Hi Amnesiac,

Adobe Photoshop Vs Illustrator?

I personally use photoshop, which comes with a secondary animation program called image ready. Graphics are first created in photoshop, and then exported to image ready to make your animated gifs. I work on the web, so photoshop works well for me as you can even export the images and animations straight out into html which saves you having to make the end webpage from scratch. The html it produces is quite good quality, but still needs cleaning in an html editor, especially if you are using it for high traffic web sites.

If you are designing for printed media, you would be best using a combination of both illustrator and photoshop.

There are other less intensive graphics applications that are easier to pick up and better for novices to learn the basics.

One great example would be: Macromedia Fireworks. I actually learnt on this application myself and you can get some great results with it although they don't seem to finish quite as polished as you can get with photoshop. Still good results nevertheless though and it also comes with a built in animation program to make .gifs

Macromedia Flash is generally used to make flash movies although can be a good tool to make animated gifs due to the additional animation features of flash. Even using flash, you still need a graphics program to create the graphics you want to put in your animation.

I hope this helps.

 

[ViperGTS]

My digital imaging background isnt as diverse as I'd like it to be, but I very strongly vouch for Photoshop, given it's the most powerful imaging tool for under $200. PS Elements 3.0 is $99.99 when not on sale ($69.99 when it is) and is amazing. I use it for all my photo editing.

I'll make sure to show it off after this spring's NEST. 😀

Don't download it from a website. You're asking for trouble. Get it retail.

 

[cinnabar]

I would recommend checking out Xara Xtreme

 

[kurchatovium]

Photoshop is the best but their strongarm activation tactics make it a real pain. If you can use Paint Shop Pro its works very well and is much cheaper and no activation issues.

For Gifs I use Gif Animator 5.0 and Gif Construction Set Pro (from alchemy).

For 3d work I use Bryce 5.5, Mojoworld, Cinema 4d, POSER 5 predominantly

 

[MistressValerie]

I use Ulead Photoimpact for photo retouching only, though several friends of mine also use it to create excellent artwork. An optional program, Ulead Animator, can be added to give extensive .gif support.

The current version is $90 and offers a 30-day free trial: http://www.ulead.com/pi/trial.htm