Bard gone Corporate

Hello, and welcome to the new Orkan Graphics blog. Your digital content creation resource. This blog is going to try and function as a repository of tutorials, software reviews, tips, tricks, tutorials, as well as a log of the development of Orkan Graphics Studios from a basement to a studio space. So first off let me just say thank you for stopping by the site and if you have any questions, ideas, comments, or just want to say what’s on your mind feel free to comment. I can’t guarantee a response but I will do my best to make sure and continue the discussion.




So if you have spent any time on the internet you understand that there is a veritable smorgasbord of software out there, ranging in price from multiple thousands of dollars to completely free. We live in a bizaar time in which the free applications are often much more stable and stream-lined than the giant corporations expensive apps, this isn’t to say necessarily that the big corporations apps are bad necessarily it’s more of a toolbox situation. You wouldn’t use a sledge hammer to hammer in a shingle on your roof. So try to stay flexible. Following I’m going to try and outfit you with as much information as possible for you to assemble your own Digital Toolbox. The majority of apps I will be listing are freeware, the goal of this is to first help people realize anyone can get into this it’s not necessarily a huge investment of money and secondly to help layout a frame-work for the various bits of software we will be utilizing on this blog.







Image Editors

If there is such thing as a hammer for media artists these are it. Almost every project will involve one of these in some facet. There are so many uses for these pieces of software it becomes difficult to classify them. For our purposes we will break them down into two sub groups. Natural media simulators and Non-Natural media simulators, this is seemingly a simple division however with the myriad of plugins and brush’s it becomes too difficult to even separate them in this fashion. In general when we use this definition we will be referring to the usage of pressure sensitive tablets for input and if the software natively supports this. So without further ado let’s get into them.



Adobe Photoshop (non-natural media by default)

The grand-father of digital art has been around seemingly forever however it originally shipped in 1988 for the Apple. This mammoth piece of software can feel unwieldy simply because of the amount of tools and techniques available within it. The most recent versions of Photoshop have incorporated 3d rendering capabilities. Making getting to grips with what this app can do even more daunting. However if you are looking for the standard of the industry look no further on this list. It’s hard to imagine any art facility without this platform and with its integration into Adobe’s creative suite it really has stream-lined a great many tasks that use to be cumbersome. This program does support pressure sensitive tablets natively and it’s hard for most artists to imagine running it without one. A great piece of software all-together however it can get pricey in a hurry so stay mindful of you budget when setting up a studio. Cost - $700 (depending on options and add-ons)



Gimp (non-natural media by default)

Ahh gimp, or the GNU Image Manipulation Program, one of the more polarizing applications in the current internet media climate. Gimp is a great freeware application. It is another application that has assembled so many features and tools into one platform it can seem unwieldy. However unlike Photoshop its interface is clunky and stilted to use. Supports the same laundry list of formats that Photoshop does and duplicates many of the features that Photoshop does. It also supports pressure sensitive tablets just like Photoshop does. However I really think comparing this application to Photoshop is a misnomer. The innate beauty of Gimp is its ability to be run off a jump drive. So wherever you go you have your image hammer ready to go even if you don’t have your computer. There are a myriad of reviews how gimp isn’t as good as Photoshop and most of them boil down to the interface’s somewhat random nature and its lack of supporting software like Adobe’s Creative Suite. However it’s hard to beat free for a product that gets you up and running wherever you want to be. Furthermore the application is open source so customization is assumed by the developers. Cost $0 (maybe a few minutes of interface frustration)



Corel Painter (Natural Media Simulator)

The definitive natural media painting application. If you wish you could replicate the feeling of oil, charcoal, pencil, etc this application does it. One of the most professional feeling applications to use, however its steep learning curve can be daunting. Especially while trying to keep on top of all the other applications in your repertoire. If you need the natural feeling to your artwork and you don’t want to hassle with hours of adding texture over top of your works you cannot beat this application. Cost $400



Art Rage (Natural Media Simulator)

A great alternative natural media simulation program. Art Rage’s sleek interface makes it loads of fun to interact with and this seeming simplicity makes the learning curve feel much less daunting. The application is obviously oriented to function as your new sketchbook and if computer manufacturers would build a decent tablet PC this would be the perfect application to run on it. A great inexpensive application lacking some of the high power complex features of Corel Painter but priced in a way that it’s much easier to justify. Cost $80



OpenCanvas (Natural Media Simulator)

An interesting story goes with this software, it was initially released as a freeware app and it developed a great user base primarily in the digital sketchbook scene. Its cutting edge feature was the ability to rotate the canvas you were drawing on relatively fluidly. Also it recorded every stroke that the user would make and got to be quite a forum favorite for imparting techniques between people and critiquing work flows. Well what happens with many good free apps is as soon as they become a commercial product there user base is cut in half and it’s too bad because it still is a great product it’s just hard to justify 6800 JPY or $74 at the time of this writing for a fun sketchbook, did I mention it’s a Japanese piece of software? If any of you are Feng Zhu fans and you watch his older videos you will see this application in all its glory. A great software for concepting because watching yourself draw a concept can really help you examine what you were thinking as you were creating that series of shapes. I do recommend it however know that its interface is unique in the marketplace. Not to say that learning with this app is not applicable to other applications, just realize that it is a different style of software. Cost $78 (at the time of this writing 6800JPY)



Project Dogwaffle (Natural Media Simulator)

An extremely diverse program, with the feel of an old program called D-Paint. (I’ve been dated by that statement) Couple natural media simulation with the ability to do traditional cell animation all in one package. Sold for little to nothing in the grand scheme of things, a bit of a non-standard interface however readily adaptable to user preferences. It lacks a lot of the image manipulation tools of the bigger software packages however its ability to animate and its support of pressure sensitive tablets mean that when you couple this application with Gimp you’ve got a diverse set of features for a lot less than you would spend on a bigger named app. Cost $50 (for the new one they still offer Version 1.2 for free)







3D Packages

3d content creation is a necessary skill in the modern world, whether you are just making a flying logo or creating the next Avatar film. Users of these software packages are often much more fiercely opinionated about other software packages and it’s hard to stay objective. The important thing to remember is this shouldn’t be an emotional investment, you are looking at selecting a tool for your toolbox, so pick something that fits your budgetary needs as well as your pipe-line. Do yourself a favor and stay out of the Max vs. Maya debates or the even worse Mudbox vs Zbrush debates. They usually don’t amount to any real rational arguments and in the end it’s the artist who uses the tool to make the art not the tool that uses the artist. I’m going to stick to the applications that I have experience with personally so that excludes me from commenting on Modo. I have seen some amazing work produced from Modo so if you are so inclined take a look at it. For the purpose of this category we will have two sub-classes all-in one packages and high-poly modellers.



Lightwave 3d

A great all-in-one package, not recommended for beginners because of its non-standard interface and pipe-line. One of the first to allow Subdivision modeling, and still really shines when using subdivision techniques. A great render engine that is generally faster to render unless you get into radiosity and caustics. The package is divided into two applications currently a modeler where you create your objects and a layout where you stage things. This is the primary difference from a pipe-line standpoint and can either be a godsend or a pain in the ass. Has a new built in fur and hair system that is fast and integrates nicely into the package. Its hard body dynamics are a bit jarring when compared to some of the other packages however they are more than adequate for most needs. The integrated particle system is highly effective and easy to use. The killer feature for this package is IK booster, or inverse kinematics booster, a great tool for animating characters and getting a natural feel. People’s primary complaint against this application is its non-standard file format which has primarily to do with its two application structure; however Newtek is currently working on an update for Lightave called CORE which is said to eliminate this problem. Cost $895



3d Studio Max

The current defacto measurring stick by which all other 3d packages are measured. Incredibly versatile standard of the industry software. Built in Hair and fur system a little clunky to utilize at times but gets the job done. Very effective polygon modeling tool with a stack based workflow, allowing changes to be made in more of a variable way. Comes with a built in clothe simulator however dynamics are usually used through a plug-in of some-sort. Killer features for this product Mental Ray is integrated into the system so rendering with radiosity and caustics look phenomenal, also 3ds max biped rig is very helpful for getting a character moving. People’s primary complaint against this application is it’s over reliance on plugins. This over-reliance becomes even more frustrating when you take into account that new versions can very seldomly utilize older plugins. Granted the plugins available for this package are awesome it’s just too bad that these have to be controlled through plugins. Also there can be stability issues with this application. A great application, just keep an eye on how much you spend. Cost $3400 (before plugins)



Maya

Everybody loves Maya. The standard for dynamics, (just watch out if you say that in a forum people will go to blows for saying that). Maya’s great strength comes from its earlier life when it was more oriented towards an open platform. It maintains this with its easy to use mel-script, the killer feature for this app. The biggest complaint I have for this application is the user interface is a nightmare. There is always three different ways to access the same feature and often times two of these are by clicking on a picture that bears little or no resemblance to what you want to do. An app that requires customization before use. Another awesome feature it the paint effects, allowing an artist to paint in where they would like fur or grass or whatever they can come up with. An awesome all-in-one package, if a bit pricey and difficult to learn. Cost $3000



Blender

A unique all in one that is intensely feature rich. It is also open source and constantly being added onto by developers. A great app for learners or beginners because it’s free and has few limits as to what it can accomplish. It does suffer interface wise but only in comparison to the other 3 all in one packages we have reviewed. However it isn’t uncommon to see some great work being done with Blender and Gimp as the only pieces of software involved. Check it out and check out the awesome community of people who use it. Cost Free





Zbrush

I’m going to try and review this application non-biased. I should warn you upfront that I am in love with this application. If you have ever sculpted with clay and wished that you could model that way this is the application to use. Okay on with the non-biased review. Zbrush is a bit of a dark horse in the 3d realm having started as what they called a 2.5d program. Zbrush has always tried to maintain the feel of a paint program whilst giving the capabilities of a modeler. Its ability to handle extremely high polygon models without even flinching has helped build its fan base. Couple this with its easily customizable and no-nonsense interface and you have a very versatile and powerful application. Killer features include new hard surface trim brushes as well as rapid concepting Zspheres, ohh and did I mention it talks to rapid prototypers? So when you get the amazing sculpture of Pikachu in the computer you can have it printed in 3d. It’s hard to nail down this application. Primary complaints come from the applications proprietary nature and its difficult inter-software communication. Many of these have been resolved and are not huge issues however getting around these issues can be a bit frustrating at first. Little stuff like it exports texture files flipped vertically not a problem, just why do I have to flip this? A great application that can be extremely freeing for an artist. Cost $595 (the hours you will lose discovering your love of sculpture with this app)



3d Coat

An excellent alternative high poly organic modeling package. 3d Coat is the new comer in the new organic modeling world. Allowing similar functionality to the brush based modelers with some really cool new voxel based modeling techniques. The interface can be a bit jarring at first but once you adapt to it you’ll find yourself sculpting as freely as in other applications. Feels oriented more towards game artists, primarily because of its UV unwrapping capabilities that are the killer feature of this excellent application. Primary complaints are hard to discern currently because of its relative newness however I have run across a couple forum posts complaining of lack of diversity in sculpting brushes. I haven’t experienced this at all personally though. All in all a great modeler that is often over shadowed by Mudbox and Zbrush. Cost $280(for full however the educational version is $140)



Mudbox

The Autodesk high poly modeling package. Annoyingly similar interface to 3ds max. Functions as a no frills modeler with some extremely powerful features. You can tell that the time was not spent on the UI but on the modeling capabilities themselves. All the same can be hard to work with and much like Photoshop or 3ds Max feels unwieldy. The layered texture painting really is the killer feature of this app, its unrivaled in the high poly modeling field. Plus its ability to export multi-layered Photoshop files directly from what you have painted. It’s just too bad the interface is awkward. Another great app though from Autodesk.

Cost $600







Video Editing/Motion Graphics

Video editors have recently experienced a pretty radical change from being only for the professional to everybody having one. This has also led to everyone having an opinion about them. For our purposed I think the important thing is to always keep in mind what works for you. Some people can do everything they need in windows movie maker or imovie. I also think it is important to remember what inspired these interfaces that we now take for granted. Before the digital renaissance began (yes I know cliché term) people who would edit film together would have big long pieces of film laid out in editing rooms and would go through and cut out frames that weren’t necessary. Most video editing software keeps this same kind of visual. Try to imagine as you look at your tracks of video big long spools of film being laid out and it will help you be able to adapt from application to application. I would also point out that I am going to review only software I have experience with there are boat loads of video editors out there and they all function in the same basic way.



Windows Movie Maker/ imovie

Well if putting those two together doesn’t get me sued I don’t know what will. The fact of the matter is the two function so similar to call them separate applications is silly. Imovie comes with your shiny clean lined computer and Windows movie maker is a free download so I will assume you know about them. They work in a pinch; however know that there are some real limitations to where you can go with both of these programs. Cost free



Final cut

The touted Mac replacement to Premiere when Apple got into its first tiff with Adobe. It functions so much like premiere they are often indistinguishable. Whatever you do don’t say that in front of an Apple person though or they may very well start beating you. It is a great video editor with all the features one would expect. It does have a simpler interface than Premiere (to be discussed next). However the simplicity in no way limits your capabilities. A great video editor with few rivals other than the app it’s modeled after. $158 (for express)



Adobe Premiere

The first one and the current standard of the industry. A UI that stayed the same until the Creative Suite overhaul. The addition of basic after effects capabilities into this app has made it even handier for slicing dicing compositing and any other verbiage you can come up with for video editing. It does suffer from the Creative Suite syndrome of being a little unwieldy at first but the benefits out way the steep learning curve. Cost - $260







Audio Software

Since this blog is about digital media creation you can’t skip digital music production and recording. We will keep a narrower focus on this blog primarily because digital music production deserves it own blog but we will include the occasional audio project. These are good tools to have in your toolbox anyways you never know when you are going to need the sound of keys falling on your desk for something.



Audacity

You may have noticed I have an affinity for freeware applications. Audacity is one of those that I would pay to use, but I don’t have to because of open-minded developers. A great simple audio recorder and wave editor. Cost Free



Cubase

An awesome multi-track audio software. Supports VST plugins and interfaces with basically every piece of hardware in the known universe. Another one of those applications that has competitors that are very similar. I’m not going to comment on applications I don’t have experience with. What I can do is relay to you that I have had some real great experiences with Cubase and I recommend it to anyone who wants to make music with their PC. Cost $300



FLStudio

A great sequencer for those experienced with music and the complete novice. The somewhat silly interface can take a while to get used to. The slickest part is it will integrate into Cubase as a VST plugin so you can sequence and then sync that with your live audio. A fun way to make music. Also comes with a variety of effects and sounds to get you started. Cost $120







Handy Apps

Okay now I am going to list kind of rapid fire some apps that I think everybody should take a look at. These might not seem all that revolutionary but remember we are filling our tool box for media creation and sometimes you just need these.



7-zip

What WinZip could have been had it not been run by profiteering gluttons.



Asio 4 All

If you want to record with your sequencer you will need this little widget to avoid latency.



Video Lan Client

A great no frills media player. Will play almost any file format, couple this with the CCCP (Combined Community Codec Pack) and never worry about what codec’s you need to play a file again.



NotePad++

All of the simplicity of notepad with features for programmers.



Panda Cloud Anti-Virus

I am usually very leery of AV software because it slows my workstation down. However the cloud version of Panda has been working wonders without hosing my processing power.



Firefox

If you still use Internet Explorer stop! It’s unstable, unsafe, and annoying to web-developers.



Google Chrome

Another alternative to Internet Explorer. It’s nice to have a couple browsers so you can see how your webpage will look to different browsers. Also a good way to check your code.



Open Office

I used to recommend Open Office to everyone, it’s a great suite of utilities and it doesn’t feed the Microsoft monster, however the next batch of utilities render it somewhat obsolete.



Google Suite

Okay so it’s not really a suite but let’s face it they all work together.

Google Wave, Google Calendar, Google Docs, Gmail, Blogger, and Picasa.



Well I hope you have enjoyed this list of tools to get you started. Next time we will be diving into an application to get your feet wet and set you on your way to becoming a digital renaissance person. If you think of a tool we should add let me know and I’ll take a look at it. Keep in mind there are a lot of redundancies in this list so don’t think you would need all of them. It is completely possible to get through this list without spending a dime. For next time be thinking of a Cartoon character…

New toy, the bard returns

This is a diagnostic of the new gadget based input methodology. I do fear that having this always open might lead to an awful tendency for this to turn into a stream of consciousness blog. lolz

Blogger Buddy you do in fact work. So I recommend everyone go get blogger buddy because its stupid slick at posting to your blog.

A brief Photoshop Coloring tutorial

Okay, since my running survey is pointing me towards art lets do a super quick Digital Painting tutorial. I should preface by saying in no way am I the authority on digital painting, if you do desire more in depth tutorials I highly recommend Linda Bergkvist's Site. Also I'm going to use Photoshop for this tutorial, primarily for my sanity, however there are loads of alternatives some of which are even free. Gimp Dogwaffle OpenCanvas

1.Get you a good sketch of what your going to be painting, it doesn't have to be super detailed just enough to outline where the forms you would like to paint are. Then scan this guy into your computer, for those of you without the luxury of a scanner a digital camera works as well but requires some more cleanup afterwards.


2.Remove as much white as you can with color selection or curves. Then set that layer as Darken, over a gradient of what ever lighting scheme you would like. Let's keep it simple and use a super neutral gradient to tone our canvas.


3.Now we can start adding in base colors, I tend to use pretty hard blobby brushes for this step but as my Painting Proff once told me everyone paints differently. Now during this step you should keep in mind that there is no wet to wet blending in digital like real paint unless you are using Corel Painter so be mindful of where you will be either burning or dodgeing later to add light and shadow, or manual adding new colors afterwards.

4.Now it starting to look like something anyways lol. At this point it feels alien to its surroundings though. Lets attach this Hoplite to its ground and establish some depth at the same time. Using a big soft brush lay in some shadows with a warm dark color.

5. Now go through with your clean up and detailing tools. Burn, dodge, smudge, add some detail splash colors think about your light source and you should be on your way to a Digital Painting. I realize that this seems like a difficult step but its also the most personal. This is where style in a painting is determined so stick with your Digital Canvas until it looks complete to you.


And in true cooking form fashion we are done far before anyone feels we should be. Keep voting on the side and I'll talk about what ever gets the most votes. I hope you enjoyed this super quick digital painting tutorial if you have any questions or comments feel free to email or comment on the post and we'll see you again tomorrow.

Bards on CD

Fun stuff today. Really fun. We are going to talk about Sonoma Wire Works new free trial of riffworks that is fully functional. They call it Riffworks T4. I can not describe to you how much fun this little piece of software is. If you have a soundcard worth its salt, T4 should let you record directly into a "riff" based multi-track system. Add in a drumtrack that granted is simplistic but fairly versatile, and then you have all of the realtime effects. Amp modeling, Phase shifting, compression, multi-tap delay, graphic EQ, wah pedal, did I mention this all free?? So here is the obligatory link T4. Do yourself a favor if you want to sketch down some quick song ideas before they get away T4 seems to me to be a great little ninja music sketchpad. You'll be amazed how quickly three simple riffs can be organized into follow track for more serious recording or just getting the ideas in song format. I've read it will integrate with Cubase but haven't seen it first hand. It also has a very odd interface homage to an old Amiga program called Perfect Sound so for those twelve of us out there who still say "You can have my Amiga's from my cold dead hands" its fun. If you get something great and want to share it with the world feel free to email me, I would love to link to it so readers can hear what T4 does.

Free Office Alternative

Today I want to talk about something that has come up a lot where I work. Microsoft in all their capitalist glory have decided to utilize a very nasty trick to first get people addicted to Microsoft Office and then cut them off from files they have created using it. The trick in question is when you purchase a new PC it comes with a wonderful 60day trial of Office, of course the 60day marker is in tiny print so most salesmen breeze right by the fact that after 60days Microsoft will rear its ugly head(like Vladimir over Alaska) and demand at least $160. Why do we as a mobilized computing populace not rise up against such tyranny?? Simple most of us think that we have to be extorted for at least $160 extra each and every time we need office on a different PC. i say that it is time we overthrow the tyrannical dictator known as Microsoft and I say the first step is to stop using Microsoft Office. There are a multitude of alternatives out there for what office does but I am going to focus on one that is free. That's right free, and I will go so far as to say it is a better office suite than Microsoft Office. Most digital bard's already know about Open Office, but those of you who still haven't heard the gospel consider yourself notified. Not only does Open Office have a great streamlined document writer, it also has a far superior spreadsheet, a presentation software, a great database maker, and a really handy structured drawing program. Here is the kicker the new one even allows for XML code, so even you hold over IT guys can be free of Microsoft. Nothing could be quite so Bardly as a free piece of software to record your thoughts, ambitions, and even give you a way to make a vector based logo all for free.

The Bard

In medieval Europe Bard's were jack of all trades creatives. Today the concept of being a jack of all trades has taken on a bad connotation for some reason. In this world of obnoxiously specialized individuals I think its time bard's came back in a big way. From painting to poetry to music to programming, help me to bring some rash diversity to our highly specialized lives.