Thread "Ultimate Digital Artist's resource on a shoe string (or no string) budget." in forum "Tips and Tricks/Support *"

Posted at 7:01PM, Jan. 25, 2011

Open Office Writer

Open office writer is a pretty good alternative to word for writing comic scripts. They have a drawing program too but I wouldn't recommend it.
http://www.openoffice.org/

Price: Free

Pros: Has most of the features Word does and pretty much all the features you'll need for writing.

Cons: No grammar checker.

Also, if you're a student it's a good idea to look into Adobe's creative suites student editions. They're the exact same program but at a serious discount. I know someone who bought, I think it was the master suite, for only $200. You really have to go looking if you want a deal like that.

Posted at 11:01PM, Jan. 25, 2011

Open Office Writer

Open office writer is a pretty good alternative to word for writing comic scripts. They have a drawing program too but I wouldn't recommend it.
http://www.openoffice.org/

Price: Free

Pros: Has most of the features Word does and pretty much all the features you'll need for writing.

Cons: No grammar checker.

Also, if you're a student it's a good idea to look into Adobe's creative suites student editions. They're the exact same program but at a serious discount. I know someone who bought, I think it was the master suite, for only $200. You really have to go looking if you want a deal like that.

There are extensions and plug ins avai;lable for open office,, and most open source software like gimp et al.

http://afterthedeadline.com/download.slp?platform=OpenOffice

Posted at 12:02AM, Feb. 5, 2011

Wings 3D

Price: Free

Medium: 3D

Description: Wings 3D is an advanced subdivision modeler program with texturing and uv mapping capabilities.

Pros: Said to be easier to pick up than blender and good for UV mapping) can export in a lot of different formats.

Cons: No animation and rendering capabilities.

Where to find: http://www.wings3d.com/

I do not use this software so if anyone can add to this… great.

Posted at 12:02PM, Feb. 12, 2011

Brusheezy

Price: Free. Premium accounts are available and are priced at 8, 14, and 19 dollars a month.

Medium: Textures, vector, flash, and Photoshop brushes.

Description: Brusheezy is a website, which has a wealth of free textures, brushes, vector, and even flash for the artist on a budget. Though you have to read the descriptions carefully on some textures; I.E "Brush X is free for personal use but if you do use it in a professional manner please contact/pay the creator". Good portions of the creator’s on Brusheezy do not have stipulations like this but there are a few. Getting a premium account with Brusheezy grants you access to files that are Royalty Free to use, meaning if you use them in your comic you don't have to worry someone will send your publisher or you a complaint about copyright infringement. The key to using Brusheezy is really reading the descriptions once an artist’s realizes this Brusheezy really becomes super handy.

Pros: Free content is well made and can really help make your designs stand out more.

Cons: You NEED to read the descriptions, otherwise you could find yourself violating a fellow artist's rules and creative domain.

Where to find: http://www.brusheezy.com/

Posted at 8:02AM, Feb. 15, 2011

Sweet! Thank you, I didn't even know about that.

Note: This ain't dead, I just need to promote it more.

Posted at 10:03AM, Mar. 8, 2011

GFXartist Tutorials

Price: FREE!

Medium: 2d images

Description: A collection of tutorials covering everything from drawing hands to painting clouds. While it has many interesting things that you can apply to your comics, the vast majority assume at least a basic competency in the tools used.

Pros: Lots of interesting tutorials, including a couple on human hands and heads.

Cons: Most assume a good degree of skill and knowledge.

Where to find: http://www.gfxartist.com/features/tutorials

Posted at 10:03AM, Mar. 8, 2011

Armor Tutorial by Kataabalzuua

Price: FREE!

Medium: 2D images

Description: Covers different types of armor and what needs to be considered for when designing armor. The descriptions elaborate more on what's in the images and sometimes is the only explanation for what's in the images.

Pros: very general and can be applied to just about any era you would armor a person using normal materials

Cons: can be vague to confusing, no links to the next page in the previous page.

Where to find: http://kataabaizuua.deviantart.com/art/Armor-Study-and-Guide-1-199540665?q=gallery:kataabaizuua&qo=0
http://kataabaizuua.deviantart.com/art/ASG-2-Head-and-Neck-Armor-199760331?q=gallery:kataabaizuua&qo=0
http://kataabaizuua.deviantart.com/art/ASG-3-Body-Armor-200171548?q=boost:popular%20in:resources/tutorials%20max_age:24h&qo=9

Posted at 11:04AM, Apr. 6, 2011

UV mapping and texturing by D.Pattenden

Price: FREE!

Medium: 3D images

Description: Gives tips about mapping and texturing an high resolution 3D face using an example.

Pros: Simple explanations. Images to support the content.

Cons: Basic knowledge of UV's and texture is needed. Is conceived for Maya, but I suppose most other 3D programs work similarly.

Where to find: http://www.daz-art.com/hi_poly_tut_uv.htm

Posted at 9:04AM, Apr. 14, 2011

Thank you! Sorry about not updating this earlier, but I will definitely be giving this a look.

Posted at 5:01AM, Jan. 10, 2012

Postworkshop

Price: Free to $99 (depending on the version)

Medium: Digital 2D art

Description: Postworkshop is a combination of drawing tools and art-oriented filter tools. You can layer different effects to come up with unique styles. I discovered this around Chapter 7 of my comic and it has fundamentally changed how I work (http://www.drunkduck.com/Found_Art/5368246/).

Pros: The basic version is free and has a lot of useful filters. It allows rendering at a resolution suitable for web comics. The pro version can work as a plug-in version in another graphics program such as Photoshop.

Cons: The free versions do not allow output at resolutions suitable for print.

Where to find: http://postworkshop.net/

Posted at 12:03PM, Mar. 8, 2012

Thanks for this thread. Very helpful!

Posted at 10:09PM, Sep. 14, 2012

Makehuman
http://www.makehuman.org/
Price: Free!
A program for making human 3D models (with "bones" for posing) that can be exported into Blender.
Fairly simple to use. You change the, gender, musculature, tone, and age with sliders. Also you can choose multiple ethnicities.
It's good in itself if you simply need a muscle refrence for some artwork.

Posted at 10:09PM, Sep. 14, 2012

Alchemy
http://al.chemy.org/
Price: Free!
Mostly a protoyping program, but, it has symetrical sketching (like Sketchbook Pro)
It's also a cool way to come up with prototypes for your characters if you've got a creative block.
There are several good tutorials on youtube for it. Including some by David Revoy (art director on the open movie Sintel) It can be kind of odd to use when you start out, but, once you get the hang of it and understand it, it becomes a very useful tool in your arsenal.