Picpost: Conquered Grapes -- Captain Buzzkill

[the_z]

Still learning my way around Manga Studio. Still banging my head against the wall. I think I'm making progress (or a nice indentation). Progress is progress.

Comments

[telophase]

I just recently bought this book, which broke my firm resolve of never, ever, ever buying anything labeled "For Dummies", because I find that insulting. Haven't been able to go through it yet, due to not using my computer when it was running hot, but now that it's fixed, I should be able to get to it. :D

There's also this one, but it's not out yet. I'll probably get it when it is.

[the_z]

I'm the same way about the 'for Dummies' line. But, I just happen to have this book already! It's useful in explaining the tools, but he doesn't give a clear step by step outline. It's one of those books I had to give a read-through and then go back to review.

I still haven't got it right, but it's giving me some understanding.

[telophase]

Hee! I felt dirty even clicking the "Buy this book" button on Amazon.

Does he give a decent explanation of how to use rulers and ruler layers? Or perspective rulers? I'm sort of feeling my way through those and mostly failing.

Or I suppose I could wait an hour and a half and look it up in my copy when I get home. XD

[the_z]

He has a whole section dedicated to rulers, but until I put his instruction to practical use, I can't say just how helpful it is. It looks like a great feature, though!

[mad_and_crazy]

What makes Manga Studio a good investment, anyhow? I can't help feeling you'd get better results - and can still do all the same fancy dithering, fills and halftones - with a package like CorelDRAW.

[the_z]

There are paneling features and features specific to publication built in that are particularly helpful. I'm sure there are several more features to make this a preferred tool, but I'm so new to the program that I'm still only scratching the surface. I did this particular piece in a lower resolution, so the lineart looks really jaggy, but at print resolutions, the pen tool is very smooth and precise. I've seen some peoples' lineart really improved based on the proficiency of those tools.

What I'm really interested in are the panel tools. I've been doing most of my comic pieces in Photoshop, oekaki, or by hand, so I'm very used to the long-hand version of doing things. I'll take any help expediting the process at this point. The biggest annoyance to me in making comics is the time investment ^^;

I'll post more about the program as I familiarize myself with it. I got it at a great price, so even if I can't make the most of it, I don't feel I'm out too much for trying.