The Resource Thread

[noworry]

Hi people This thread will have listings of programs you can use for different types of creative work. Remember that a program will only get you so far, and it's mostly about what program you personally prefer using.

Drawing programs:

Free:
• FireAlpaca | Simple to use and reminds me a lot of Paint Tool SAI.

• Gimp | Good program for image editing and drawing as well.

• Krita | Works well for concept art, illustrations and comics.

• MediBang Paint | Free program that lets you draw wherever you are. (You can download it on your phone, tablet, PC etc.)

Non-free:

• Adobe Illustrator CC| Program that lets you do vector art. Perfect for icons. Gives you a 30 days trial.

• Adobe Photoshop CC | Classic program for editing photos, but also works for drawings. Also comes with a 30 days trial.

• ArtRage | Unlimited trial, but you cannot save your work. Nice program for digital painting, and easy to use.

• Autodesk Sketchbook Pro| 15 days trial. For all kinds of illustrations and designs.

• Paint Tool SAI | Simple drawing program with a 30 days trial, you cannot save your work once it's over.


Other programs:

Free:

• Audacity | The most complete free audio editor. Available for multiple platforms.

• Blender | Program for 3D modeling

• Ocenaudio | Another varied audio program, which is easier to master than Audacity but with less options.

• Pencil2D | One of the most complete software for 2D animations. Multiplatform and open source. (This is the best free animation software, TBH.)

• Piksel | Program for making and animating pixel art.

• SketchUp | Program for 3D modeling

• Wings 3D | Program for 3D modeling that works well for beginners

Non-free:

• Adobe Animate CC | Animation program that works well for vector animation for games and apps. Has a 30 days trial. Formerly known as Flash.

• Flipbook | 2D animation program. The free version includes a watermark in each frame, which can be removed with the paid version.

• FL Studio | One of the most complete programs for audio editing. It includes composing, mixing and all kinds of other features. The trial allows you to save your works and projects, but you can’t open your projects back.
FL options.

• Maya | 3D program for sculpting and modeling. Sort of expensive.

• ZBrush | 3D program. Has tutorials, but is rather expesive.

Feel free to suggest programs that aren't listed, ask questions or just talk about programs in general in this thread

 

[NMLewis]

All the Adobe products have been listed as Adope!
Though I feel that's an apt name when it comes to some experiences with them, lol.
That said, I <3 Flash. Much as it is randomly annoying AF sometimes. I've mentioned before I'll keep using it long past its upcoming "death". Being able to resize things without loss of quality and that kind of thing is what really makes it great. I have Flipbook also, but since it doesn't have those capabilities, and comparatively a very limited colour palette, I haven't done much with it....

In terms of audio editors, Audacity is great. Mostly. It has its share of random crashes. With me at least.

 

[noworry]

LOL, my bad x_x

I really like Paint Tool SAI myself, it's like Photoshop but without the image editing. I've also used FireAlpaca a lot. I've also used Flash a bit, and I gotta agree with you

 

[Soki]

I used to work with Photoshop first, before I discovered Paint Tool SAI and have been using that since. Pros for SAI opposed to Photoshop for me:

• Way less buttons. I guess it's great than you can do so many things with Photoshop, but the vast majority of it I just never need, so I prefer to only have access to buttons and features I will actually use. Makes it easier to find things and just makes working faster in general.
• Stabilizer tool. It makes it easier to make smooth lines, it's great.
• Zooming in and out by scrolling. Afaik you can't do this in Photoshop and I hated it a lot, since I zoom in a lot when I do lineart and it's just easier by scrolling.
• Vector tool. Way easier and faster to use than the Pen tool in Photoshop.
• The canvas you work on is always transparent but still has a white background. You don't need to specifically state it has to be transparent beforehand, and you don't need to first make the background white yourself. You can just choose to either save it as transparent or not. Bless this.

The only thing that was missing was a text tool, but iirc that was fixed in SAI 2.0, which I still have to get. It was about the only thing I still had to use Photoshop for.

 

[Cresselia92]

Well, I wanna suggest a program for people who use iOS and would like to draw on the fly: ArtStudio, which comes both as a free Lite version and as a paid one (which is the version I have).

The lite/free version allows you to create only two layers and doesn’t allow you to save your projects, but you can still export your works in your photo library and have access to all other tools.

I’ve been using this program a lot recently, as I can draw and edit things virtually anywhere. There are a few negatives about this app, however: the canvas has a size limit of 2448 x 3264 pixels and you can have only 32~ layers, and the bigger the canvas’s size is and the less layers you can use. Also, there aren’t many text options (although you can import new fonts with iTunes) and there are still no “fusion” options.

Regardless, I still love it and I’ve been using it to draw plenty of stuff, like my avatar and other recent drawings. :3

 

[diamondpearl876]

Just heard about MediBang Paint a little bit ago. I haven't tried it, but it's free, so it already gets a thumbs up in my book.

 

[noworry]

I'll put it on the list then

 

[Kharixi]

There's this. It's a completely free pixel art app, and you can even make animated sprites.

 

[Cresselia92]

Well, I’ve finally gotten a new powerful computer and I wanted to give a go with SAI, since it is a recommended tool that many fellow artists use.

It may be because I still need to try it more, but so far it left me largely unimpressed. It seems just like a MS Paint with extra buttons and options to me. The waterbrush is interesting, but other than that it seems more a tool for quick sketches than for more polished stuff.

I may be underselling it, of course, but so far my experience with it has been lukewarm at best. I prefer programs that follow my pressure on the pen more closely and intuitively.

 

[Zenlexi]

Would you consider adding 3D programs to the list? They're a lot harder to come by when it comes to finding free alternatives and people might need the resource

 

[Cresselia92]

Would you consider adding 3D programs to the list? They're a lot harder to come by when it comes to finding free alternatives and people might need the resource

Yeah, I have seen many people and artists who would like to tackle 3D modeling and animations, especially if they want to work for the gaming or animation industry, so it would be indeed nice to have some resources here.

Among the ones I recommend, I surely would say to eventually add Blender to the list. It’s one of the best and most complete free programs for 3D modeling, and it’s also multi-platform.

Otherwise, there are also things like SketchUp (which is compatible with 3D printers, iirc) and Wings 3D (ideal for beginners) as alternatives.

 

[Zenlexi]

Yeah, I have seen many people and artists who would like to tackle 3D modeling and animations, especially if they want to work for the gaming or animation industry, so it would be indeed nice to have some resources here.

Among the ones I recommend, I surely would say to eventually add Blender to the list. It’s one of the best and most complete free programs for 3D modeling, and it’s also multi-platform.

Otherwise, there are also things like SketchUp (which is compatible with 3D printers, iirc) and Wings 3D (ideal for beginners) as alternatives.

SketchUp is great for architecture. Also, for 2D artists, if you know what a room looks like in your head, you can make a rough model in sketchup and then draw over it to get the perspective you want/need.
I'm going to mention Autodesk Maya and Zbrush first, they are your "industry standard" 3D modeler and 3D sculptor respectively. Problem: They are expensive as all get out. Zbrush alone is like $600 (or so I've been told.) This is where Blender becomes the great alternative because it is basically both of these programs rolled up into one. Which is freaking amazing. While the learning curve is a bit steep, there are a bunch of tutorials out there to get started.

 

[noworry]

I added Cresselia's suggestions. I'm a bit unsure about the others, as they're really expensive, but I'll add them anyway :B