Questions Thread - Technical Help for Art & Music

[BRPXQZME]

While that is a GIMP limitation when saving, it has no trouble opening and viewing a GIF with separate colormaps for each frame (which it opens in RGB mode if I’m not mistaken). There is a plugin that interfaces with more advanced GIF software (gifsicle) to do more advanced GIF stuff. I’m not sure how well it works; it has been years and years since I used the GIMP and I’m not about it install it on my wizened old MacBook (using X11 apps on OS X is a thing to avoid if you can).

Whereas that fly by night software package I use for GIFs is way better at optimizing for 256 colors overall, and also opens them mostly okay, but best I can tell it isn’t capable of saving with a separate palette per frame, and I know of no plugins that do this. One could always use separate software to accomplish this, though; that didn’t stop being an option that exists. (So... Adobe CS 278 - GIMP 6.)

[98714123340]

Just wanted to inform you that the latest release of Gimp is out.

Gimp 2.8
http://www.gimp.org/downloads/

So fresh there isn't even a proper windows binary though there is a release candidate you can use to wet your hands on.

Direct download link to windows gimp 2.8 rc1 32 and 64

And of course the release notes.
http://www.gimp.org/release-notes/gimp-2.8.html


Have fun!

[ashdenej]

This section - under the "Tools Drawn With Cairo" section - worries me a little bit: "All tools rendering on canvas [...] provide smooth antialiased graphics and make GIMP's look and feel match modern users expectations."

Does this mean that aliasing support has been released? That would be unbelievably inconvenient for spriters.

[98714123340]

Nah man it's toggable.

[Soadreqm]

This section - under the "Tools Drawn With Cairo" section - worries me a little bit: "All tools rendering on canvas [...] provide smooth antialiased graphics and make GIMP's look and feel match modern users expectations."

Does this mean that aliasing support has been released? That would be unbelievably inconvenient for spriters.

I haven't tried it yet, but I think it just means that the GIMP UI is antialiased.

EDIT: Single-window mode seems to work as advertised. Apparently, the version of GTK used doesn't play nice with some tablets, but mine worked fine. The brush dynamics settings are a lot more complex, there's a whole new dialog with a shitton of curves you can adjust. The brush size slider is difficult and finicky at the moment, but you can always just type in a number, and I expect they'll be fixing things in future releases.

Also the pencil tool is still aliased, as it should be.

[BRPXQZME]

No, it means GIMP now draws everything onto your canvas using Cairo. This is a Good Thing, if you know what Cairo is (I know what it is; take my word for it). If you are an artist and not in any way interested in the nitty gritty of how software uses hardware, you probably don’t know what that means, and you probably shouldn’t really care.

In other words, I think it’s a poorly chosen blurb and someone just got carried away with the opportunity to use the word “antialiased”, because that is a thing Cairo helps with. But all it really means is that drawing is now hardware accelerated if applicable and if your system supports it, and that status messages are now displayed on the canvas. Rest assured, it does not diminish your artistic capabilities.

[Menen]

Here is my problem. This sprite you see here is called an Endeavor sprite, designed by one of my friends. However he never took into account that i would ever want to animate them. I cant seem to make a good walking sequence.


Here is my current sprite sheet for walking sequences. It isnt finished. Whenever i try to put it all together, it looks god-awful


So can anyone help me out?

(the 3rd sprite was not intended to be part of the sequence [The jumping one])

[Soadreqm]

Does anyone know where GIMP starting settings come from? Like, right now, whenever I start GIMP, I'm handed a 20px square airbrush tool with white and black for foreground and background colours respectively. No idea what happened here. It's a tad jarring since the background colour is used for new images. Just closing GIMP doesn't automatically save current tool settings, but is there something I can actively do to save them?

Looks tricky. I can't really imagine how those stick-legs could move naturally, but maybe you could do something lo-fi and purposely stilted, to capture the same aesthetic that the rest of the sprite seems to be aiming for.

Other than that, I'd suggest looking at other walk animations to see how they work. Lemmings managed some really fluid motion in 8x10 pixels.

[Menen]

Does anyone know where GIMP starting settings come from? Like, right now, whenever I start GIMP, I'm handed a 20px square airbrush tool with white and black for foreground and background colours respectively. No idea what happened here. It's a tad jarring since the background colour is used for new images. Just closing GIMP doesn't automatically save current tool settings, but is there something I can actively do to save them?


Looks tricky. I can't really imagine how those stick-legs could move naturally, but maybe you could do something lo-fi and purposely stilted, to capture the same aesthetic that the rest of the sprite seems to be aiming for.

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Other than that, I'd suggest looking at other walk animations to see how they work. Lemmings managed some really fluid motion in 8x10 pixels.

I love you. I was overcomplicating it way too much, as usual.

Thank you so much

[Freack]

I am going to try a fan-made SBnHJ movie, to get some practice at working animation software without needing to be overly worried of artistic talent.

And I have hit a very obvious road block.

How can I have the background stay present in every frame? Do I just have to have the background present a million times And draw on top of it?, or is there a lazier way?

[Dr._Com]

I have a quick question:
Where would I get a set of Vectors for Problem Sleuth?

[FowlJ]

I am going to try a fan-made SBnHJ movie, to get some practice at working animation software without needing to be overly worried of artistic talent.

And I have hit a very obvious road block.

How can I have the background stay present in every frame? Do I just have to have the background present a million times And draw on top of it?, or is there a lazier way?

Well, knowing what software you're using would be useful. In most programs I know of it's fairly simple.

[Freack]

Well, knowing what software you're using would be useful. In most programs I know of it's fairly simple.

That should have been obvious to me, sorry. I am using GIMP right now. And I sort of have that problem figured out. I think it may have been a fluke the first time, because after that I got it to work by accident.

However, if anybody knew of a better (free) program for animating, that would also be a huge help.

[98714123340]

You are using just the thing. For a better animation experience I suggest getting the animation plugin "GAP"
http://registry.gimp.org/node/18398

You will need to use gimp 2.6 for this I don't there there is a version for 2.8 yet.

though it also depends on what kind of animation you intend to do. You can look up the free program Synfig.

I haven't tried it out myself so I won't be much help with it.

[Soadreqm]

Does anyone know where GIMP starting settings come from? Like, right now, whenever I start GIMP, I'm handed a 20px square airbrush tool with white and black for foreground and background colours respectively. No idea what happened here. It's a tad jarring since the background colour is used for new images. Just closing GIMP doesn't automatically save current tool settings, but is there something I can actively do to save them?

I managed to figure this out. In case anyone else ever has problems, or if I forget what I did to fix it, it turns out that you can save color settings at least by going to "Input Devices" in Preferences and saving their settings. Not the most intuitive thing to do. Not sure if it's actually intentional.

Dr._Com: You mean, like, Problem Sleuth panels converted into vector images? As far as I know, no such things exist. You'll have to make your own.

[Dr._Com]

No, I mean the parts of Problem Sleuth turnned into vectors, so you could make Problem Sleuth on your own. Like a puzzle. Or just how to Vector Problem sleuth.

[Recyth]

Ok. So i've been using GIMP since it's free. That's not the problem. The problem, is that i'm trying to make a strife animation, and Flash CS6 Pro ( trial version, still has all facilities ) but it won't let me edit exported images. It just automatically deletes or ignores any attempt at redrawing the sprite. I can't think of any way around it other than deleting it, editing it in gimp then re-pasting it and hoping i get the alignment right. I can edit and draw and generally dick around with anything else ( When i figured out why it would let me to begin with, which was due to colour density - alpha % - being 0 for some weird reason ), but it just slides off the pasted sprite like butter on a hot steel pan.

Halp please.

[Recyth]

Ok. I REALLY need someone to talk to about Flash CS6 and ActionScript. The movie is 'done' but it ignores the code i put in to stop it looping back to the beginning, it ignores the sound file i attached to it, it IGNORES ALL CODE ENTERED. It's infuriating, because i -know- that my code is supposed to be valid. Which means either my code is wrong somehow, i've missed a checkbox somewhere or the whole damn suite is broken and is just fucking with me.

Please respond ASAP before i lose my sanity over this.

[FowlJ]

Ok. I REALLY need someone to talk to about Flash CS6 and ActionScript. The movie is 'done' but it ignores the code i put in to stop it looping back to the beginning, it ignores the sound file i attached to it, it IGNORES ALL CODE ENTERED. It's infuriating, because i -know- that my code is supposed to be valid. Which means either my code is wrong somehow, i've missed a checkbox somewhere or the whole damn suite is broken and is just fucking with me.

Please respond ASAP before i lose my sanity over this.

Sometimes that happens with Flash. Just select everything and copy it over to a new file and it should work.

[misanthropicRusk]

So is it okay to ask about musical things in this thread?

Um, I started taking piano lessons about a month ago, and I'd like to be able to read sheet music faster. Is there a way to practice this or is it something that you just learn play more and more?
(also how long does it usually take to learn stuff like this and am I a complete idiot for asking this oh god i am arent i)

[98714123340]

Much like how when you first learn to read words you sound out the letters. After a while it becomes second nature. You just need to keep at it.

[BRPXQZME]

Take it easy. Work your way up, but don’t chicken out when you get to hard stuff! You’ll get faster at it the more you see. There are indeed tricks that players use to read (and memorize) their music; a lot of music is based off of common patterns, and the more music you’ve been exposed to, the more of these patterns you’ll recognize.

Howard Richman lists ten general tips for improving your sightreading; some of them you can start with right away, others you can feel free to put off for a bit. Like, for pianists, studying music theory won’t do you a whole lot of good until you have your “which note is which” down pat (just my opinion, but I had a lot of classmates struggling through a freshman-level music theory course because they still hadn’t grasped the stuff we went over in the first couple of weeks). But #1-8 will become second nature eventually; #9 and #10, on the other hand, are a deep well of learning that you could study for a lifetime even though you can start right now.

[ThereWillBePayne]

Okay, hey guys, this looks to be a good of a place as any, so, What tablet would you recommend for someone on a ~$250-$300 Budget?
More specifically, I'd be happier with a Wacom tablet due to the overall popularity and support for them, and I'm just looking for something simple that doesn't limit application, it doesn't need to be particularly fancy, as long as it has pressure sensitivity and will work well with Photoshop CS4 and Windows XP.

Also, on a side note, I notice a few artists use photoshop, one of the most notable being Penny Arcade's artist Mike, but I was wondering, Are there any programs you guys prefer for art over photoshop, or alternatively, set ups for photoshop that work best for general painting/drawing?

[Recyth]

Since i don't know a damn thing about tablets, i'll answer the one about programs.

Realistically, most current suites sport more or less the same features, but while some are the 'same' some have different ways of doing it, or produce different results - not necessarily better. To take GIMP and Photoshop as an example, being the two most commonly used, Layers are more easily manipulated in Photoshop due to the more advanced options settings and what have you. But GIMP is just easier in general since a lot of the stuff in advanced suites is pointless nitpicky BS that are like the extra buttons on your TV remote.

[FowlJ]

Okay, hey guys, this looks to be a good of a place as any, so, What tablet would you recommend for someone on a ~$250-$300 Budget?
More specifically, I'd be happier with a Wacom tablet due to the overall popularity and support for them, and I'm just looking for something simple that doesn't limit application, it doesn't need to be particularly fancy, as long as it has pressure sensitivity and will work well with Photoshop CS4 and Windows XP.

Also, on a side note, I notice a few artists use photoshop, one of the most notable being Penny Arcade's artist Mike, but I was wondering, Are there any programs you guys prefer for art over photoshop, or alternatively, set ups for photoshop that work best for general painting/drawing?

Literally any Wacom tablet should do you good. I use the bamboo, which is nice and cheap. Spending more makes it bigger and gives it some fancy hotkeys, but that's pretty much it.

I don't know exactly what you mean by 'set ups' for Photoshop. Like, tool settings and stuff?