The Digital Art Thread

I'll jump in ^_^.
I'm addicted to Photoshop (Currently using CS4). I use Toonboom's Animate Pro for my vector stuff and animation.
At home I just upgraded from an intuos 3 to a HD24 Cintiq - I've been gradually working my way up for years, starting with a 4x6 tablet that wished it was as good as the bamboo ones kicking around! So I'm pretty good if anyone has questions comparing things.

At work I use Toonboom's Harmony, and an Intuos 4.

I've played with as many programs as I could get my hands on, everything from MS paint - painter plus a bunch of 3D stuff: Freemind, Maya, Zbrush. But I always go back to Photoshop and Toonboom - So I'm good for any questions on those too

@Rhub

I've been looking at toonbom. Does it integrate well with illustrator files or does it work better if you build your puppets in the program?

I use Photoshop and Illustrator for drawing. Painting is solely Photoshop although I have used Painter in the past. I use a Wacom Intuos 2 (hey it still works). I was freaking out last month because it was becoming unresponsive but I saw a write-up about the screen getting too scratched from the nibs. They suggested taking off the Wacom screen and just using transparency film (taped down). I did it and it works like a charm now.

aibrean said:

I was freaking out last month because it was becoming unresponsive but I saw a write-up about the screen getting too scratched from the nibs. They suggested taking off the Wacom screen and just using transparency film (taped down). I did it and it works like a charm now.

Click to expand...

The replacement surface sheets run between $20-30. Very reasonable.

https://www.wacom.com/en/Store/Older-Wacom-Products/Intuos-Products.aspx


EDIT: My bad. I see you said Intuos2. Looks like there aren't replacements for that model anywhere. Glad you found a fix though.

Gale Haut said:

@Rhub

I've been looking at toonbom. Does it integrate well with illustrator files or does it work better if you build your puppets in the program?

Click to expand...

Sorry my response took so long, been out of the province.
I have always created the puppets in toonboom, but the import settings are pretty robust, so I think it would be easy enough to work from illustrator.
Having said that, the major advantage toonboom has over flash are the drawing tools.
I don't use Illustrator anymore, I do all my vector work in Animate pro 2.

aibrean said:

I use Photoshop and Illustrator for drawing. Painting is solely Photoshop although I have used Painter in the past. I use a Wacom Intuos 2 (hey it still works). I was freaking out last month because it was becoming unresponsive but I saw a write-up about the screen getting too scratched from the nibs. They suggested taking off the Wacom screen and just using transparency film (taped down). I did it and it works like a charm now.

Click to expand...

I use felt nibs. They're a bit of a pain to get here in Toronto, but if you can get your hands on them they're really nice to draw with and don't ware into a shard of scratchy doom. If you're using plastic nibs replace them frequently.

I'll say it again: though I use Photoshop, I am a Painter Fool, and have been since version 3. I used Painter (can't recall which version) to make this image for a website.



I wear out surfaces on my Wacom regularly, so I've gone to just laying a sheet of thin Duralar over the top. Works fine, and I have yardage of the stuff left over as surplus from a large-format printer I used to work for.

I use Photoshop CS3, mainly.

Also SketchUp, Sculptris and Alchemy. All three of those are free and totally worth checking out.

Filigree said:

I'll say it again: though I use Photoshop, I am a Painter Fool, and have been since version 3. I used Painter (can't recall which version) to make this image for a website.

Click to expand...

That's fantastic! I love the texture of the sky.

I really only use CS5 and SketchUp.

Filigree said:

I'll say it again: though I use Photoshop, I am a Painter Fool, and have been since version 3. I used Painter (can't recall which version) to make this image for a website.

I wear out surfaces on my Wacom regularly, so I've gone to just laying a sheet of thin Duralar over the top. Works fine, and I have yardage of the stuff left over as surplus from a large-format printer I used to work for.

Click to expand...

I already rep'd my opinion of this picture, but it deserves saying that it is really impressive to see stuff like this from Painter. Gorgeous work! I love that fountain!

I use PS CS5 & 6 in concert to Illustrator, and I'm also fond of After Effects and Blender.

This is the only completely finished digital painting I have that's ready for show, completely made with a wacom on Photoshop. There was no painting by numbers involved.

Okay, I cheated with the fountain and water - the basic structure was mapped out in Bryce (anyone here old enough to remember Bryce?), but all other layers were added/tweaked in Painter. That sky is a simple marbling brush applied to the base colors.

I'm not happy with the cost and complexity of later versions of Poser. I need a free or cheap 3D mapping program that will let me build humanoid figures as wells as landscapes/cityscapes. Anyone have favorites?

Another great time-saver is Snap Art from Alien Skin Software. They have suites of filters that mimic pre-programmed art techniques.

I can take one of my own photos of the Sedona Red Rocks, for example, run it through Snap Art's Oil Paint or Impasto filter, and print the result on 8"x10" paper. That goes up beside the easel and a larger proportional canvas. Since I've already got the brushstrokes mapped out, I can do an original acrylic painting in about one-fourth the time it would take working from the photograph. If I'm really lazy I just project the smaller image on the canvas and rough in the basic shapes.

Pre-made filters are also great for website image backgrounds.

These are the tricks one learns in commercial art, alas.

Filigree said:

I need a free or cheap 3D mapping program that will let me build humanoid figures as wells as landscapes/cityscapes. Anyone have favorites?

Click to expand...

In terms of free, there's a huge learning curb to blender, but it pays off. The sculpting tools have a very organic feel to them. It's kind of limited though in the number of polygons once you get really in depth into art.

MudBox is super expensive, but if you're just using it for tracing in Painter, then I suppose you could take screenshots of your models from the view screen while using the free watermarked version. I don't even think that would be a ToS violation to be honest.

I'm guilty of being a program whore.

Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Blender, Daz 3D (free, BTW), Carrara, Mojo world (which no longer works on my Mac anymore TT), Manga Studio EX, Adobe Flash, Corel Painter 12... Yup. Addict. It's not because I think one program will be better than the others to create a vision or whatever, it's that I just like shinehs, like inhaling the smell of paper and going into an arts and craft store, or collecting Copic markers.

Daz looks fun!

Filigree said:

These are the tricks one learns in commercial art, alas.

Click to expand...

Sometimes the jobs make you do dirty things. There's never enough time for the quality that a client wants. There have been a few special effects I've done on my current job that are held together by duct tape and prayer behind the scenes lol. As long as it looks good, the client doesn't care.

I've played around with Sketch up a bit, and I think it's a good tool for blocking out major perspective lines for structural things. I don't know of any product other than Poser that is meant as a digital manikin, but there's always bribing friends and family to pose for you.

Having said that, I believe drawing from life is the best tool for personal improvement, regardless of your ultimate artistic goals.
A strong foundation in fundamental art skills gives you a lot more freedom then any combination of programs.

I have the foundation skills, but I don't have friends and family willing to model for me. Considering the stuff I need to model, it's easier just to work with the basic renderings from Poser and 'art up' the results.

Rachel, I hear you on the shineh objects. I worked three and a half years in an art supply store, mostly for the employee discount.

Rhubix said:

I don't know of any product other than Poser that is meant as a digital manikin, but there's always bribing friends and family to pose for you.

Click to expand...

Daz Studio does. Daz 3D also regularly put out the figures for free. And also give away free objects in their newsletters. Personally, I like their figures better than the Poser figures also their GUI (Graphical User Interface--not sure everyone will follow) is better than the Poser one.

They do it in the hopes that you will buy some of their better and more expensive products. Their community is fairly active as well.

I have to admit, though, that I miss Mojoworld a lot. It did incredible fractal art. Also plays nice with Poser and Daz 3D.

(None of the following are mine)
http://www.dragonlord.net/images/02-February.jpg
http://www.rantsandraves.co.uk/images/rantpix/oldrants/rant202mojoworld.jpg
http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs11/i/2006/240/4/9/Mojoworld_No_13_by_john0452.jpg

You still need to be able to understand how the body moves, etc to do the figure manipulation well. And a live human model won't beat that.

Filigree said:

it's easier just to work with the basic renderings from Poser and 'art up' the results.

Click to expand...

Easier is a bad habit to get oneself into.

I worked three and a half years in an art supply store, mostly for the employee discount.

Click to expand...

That's smart

You still need to be able to understand how the body moves, etc to do the figure manipulation well. And a live human model won't beat that.

Click to expand...

In my experience, this is the biggest tell for 3D manipulation. Most common are the raised arm without using the clavicle trick- or the weight distribution with incorrect pelvic tilt problem. A less obvious tell is the lack of muscular involvement. The muscles are all in the right relative area, but the rigs don't have any flex deformers so they're not engaged. It's the worst in the Kristen Stewart facial expressions.
I took a look at Daz and another look at the most recent poser stuff. The general textures have really improved since I last played with poser. Can you do specular mapping?
There are some great custom modeling jobs kicking around.

I think I would be more inclined to do more 3D work if it wasn't for the UV mapping and scripting. That stuff makes me go cross-eyed
Keeps me going back to my trusty bic pen.

Rhubix said:

I think I would be more inclined to do more 3D work if it wasn't for the UV mapping and scripting. That stuff makes me go cross-eyed
Keeps me going back to my trusty bic pen.

Click to expand...

That's pretty common to hear, but without the UV maps it would be way harder on the eyes to figure out what goes where. Besides, most applications let you toggle them off and on.

Gale Haut said:

That's pretty common to hear, but without the UV maps it would be way harder on the eyes to figure out what goes where. Besides, most applications let you toggle them off and on.

Click to expand...

I mean the actual process of mapping the UV's from scratch. I'm not sure what method poser uses, I learned it in Maya with it's 'trusty' projection system. I always ended up with a pile of spaghetti, and had to pick all the stupid vectors apart by hand.

Rhubix said:

I mean the actual process of mapping the UV's from scratch. I'm not sure what method poser uses, I learned it in Maya with it's 'trusty' projection system. I always ended up with a pile of spaghetti, and had to pick all the stupid vectors apart by hand.

Click to expand...

Oh right... mapping the textures is not easy.

I don't have a lot of experience in that honestly.

Rhubix: the UVs are pre-mapped. You just double click to change the maps. Its not the same as Maya. It's more like working with a mannequin than it is building it from scratch. You could DL Daz Studio for free and figure it out. It's pretty idiot proof. You don't need to know anything about modeling, just how to bend and render things. Bryce plays along those lines too.

There are some easier programs for organic 3D sculpting and painting. In Mudbox and Zbrush you paint directly onto your polys while you're still in 3D. It will save the image as a UV Map and you can even edit them in 2D later, but you don't have to place the map on the object, and you can view the render as you paint the textures.