This is a site for discussing roleplaying games. Have fun doing so, but there is one major rule: do not discuss political issues that aren't directly and uniquely related to the subject of the thread and about gaming. While this site is dedicated to free speech, the following will not be tolerated: devolving a thread into unrelated political discussion, sockpuppeting (using multiple and/or bogus accounts), disrupting topics without contributing to them, and posting images that could get someone fired in the workplace (an external link is OK, but clearly mark it as Not Safe For Work, or NSFW). If you receive a warning, please take it seriously and either move on to another topic or steer the discussion back to its original RPG-related theme.

Author Topic: Any recomendations for a Paint Program?  (Read 1221 times)

GameDaddy
BANNED

  • BANNED
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2931
Any recomendations for a Paint Program?
« on: November 22, 2008, 11:13:56 AM »
I have a classroom full of kids ages 10-14.

We are going to be doing mattes for a Flash game real soon... basically 1024x768 backdrops for a zombie shooter game.

Can anyone recommend a good paint program they can use for this?
Blackmoor grew from a single Castle to include, first, several adjacent Castles (with the forces of Evil lying just off the edge of the world to an entire Northern Province of the Castle and Crusade Society's Great Kingdom.

~ Dave Arneson

kryyst

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1682
    • http://www.forgedrpg.com
Any recomendations for a Paint Program?
« Reply #1 on: November 24, 2008, 04:44:58 PM »
I'd suggest Inkscape and The Gimp.  They are the two key free art rendering programs.
AccidentalSurvivors.com : The blood will put out the fire.

StormBringer

  • Harbinger of Chaos
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 9320
Any recomendations for a Paint Program?
« Reply #2 on: November 24, 2008, 05:10:14 PM »
Kryyst speaks the truth.

Depends on what you want to do, really.  The GIMP isn't really intuitive for working from scratch.  Inkscape takes up the slack there.  Lay down a primitive in Inkscape, then hammer out all the pretty details in GIMP.

Plus, they are both open source.
If you read the above post, you owe me $20 for tutoring fees

'Let them call me rebel, and welcome, I have no concern for it, but I should suffer the misery of devils, were I to make a whore of my soul.'
 - Thomas Paine
'Everything doesn't need

Engine

  • This Machine is a Fascist
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2435
    • http://www.freespeech-alpha.com/viewforum.php?f=6
Any recomendations for a Paint Program?
« Reply #3 on: November 25, 2008, 12:46:45 PM »
Of course, they could just use Paint.
When you're a bankrupt ideology pursuing a bankrupt strategy, the only move you've got is the dick one.

StormBringer

  • Harbinger of Chaos
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 9320
Any recomendations for a Paint Program?
« Reply #4 on: November 25, 2008, 01:16:46 PM »
Quote from: Engine;269476
Of course, they could just use Paint.
I wouldn't recommend that for the task the original post mentioned.
If you read the above post, you owe me $20 for tutoring fees

'Let them call me rebel, and welcome, I have no concern for it, but I should suffer the misery of devils, were I to make a whore of my soul.'
 - Thomas Paine
'Everything doesn't need

Engine

  • This Machine is a Fascist
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2435
    • http://www.freespeech-alpha.com/viewforum.php?f=6
Any recomendations for a Paint Program?
« Reply #5 on: November 25, 2008, 01:25:36 PM »
Kids 10-14 making a matte background? It's exactly what I'd recommend. It's clean, simple, and easy, and allows everything from basic painting to per-pixel modification. No, it's not vector like Inkscape, or able to do complex multilayer tasks like GIMP. But it uses the standard Windows interface, is simple to use and understand, and is capable of astonishing levels of detail for the really attention-fixated. If the kids were older, or the task more complex, it'd be far underpowered, but I've seen people do some unbelievable things with nothing but Paint.

That said, I'd never use it. For basic matte painting when you're not an image-processing expert, the best tool I've found is Photoshop 5. But it's a little hard to find. :) I keep my own copy backed-up just because I know it'll someday be impossible to locate, and for beginners, it's a hell of a lot better than CS3.
When you're a bankrupt ideology pursuing a bankrupt strategy, the only move you've got is the dick one.

StormBringer

  • Harbinger of Chaos
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 9320
Any recomendations for a Paint Program?
« Reply #6 on: November 25, 2008, 01:41:25 PM »
Quote from: Engine;269484
Kids 10-14 making a matte background? It's exactly what I'd recommend. It's clean, simple, and easy, and allows everything from basic painting to per-pixel modification. No, it's not vector like Inkscape, or able to do complex multilayer tasks like GIMP. But it uses the standard Windows interface, is simple to use and understand, and is capable of astonishing levels of detail for the really attention-fixated. If the kids were older, or the task more complex, it'd be far underpowered, but I've seen people do some unbelievable things with nothing but Paint.
Interesting.  Were they able to do blurs?  Some kind of fog or lighting effects?  Presumably the class is a foundation for further game or graphics design development.  I can't think of a single reason to use Paint in this situation.

Quote
That said, I'd never use it.
But, you recommend it for others.

Quote
For basic matte painting when you're not an image-processing expert, the best tool I've found is Photoshop 5. But it's a little hard to find. :) I keep my own copy backed-up just because I know it'll someday be impossible to locate, and for beginners, it's a hell of a lot better than CS3.
It's also a hell of a lot less free than GIMP and Inkscape.  Being almost ten years old, it's not the best tool for introducing kids to current graphics design theories or practices.

I mean, they could use crayons and scan the pictures directly in, too.  I doubt that has anything to do with what the objectives of the course, however.
If you read the above post, you owe me $20 for tutoring fees

'Let them call me rebel, and welcome, I have no concern for it, but I should suffer the misery of devils, were I to make a whore of my soul.'
 - Thomas Paine
'Everything doesn't need

kryyst

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1682
    • http://www.forgedrpg.com
Any recomendations for a Paint Program?
« Reply #7 on: November 25, 2008, 02:23:33 PM »
Paint is occasionally nice to start a picture out in but unless you are a per pixel painting genius it's not a friendly tool to use.

Also if this is an introductory course into any type of graphic work then why not give them a full set of tools to work with, like Inkscape and the Gimp.  They certainly aren't industry standard (adobe) however they do have a similar frame of tools to adobe products.

The reality is if you are doing digital work and you can't buy software, Inkscape and The Gimp are pretty much your only real standard and free choices.  The other advantage to using free software is that the kids can take it and install it at home.
AccidentalSurvivors.com : The blood will put out the fire.

Engine

  • This Machine is a Fascist
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2435
    • http://www.freespeech-alpha.com/viewforum.php?f=6
Any recomendations for a Paint Program?
« Reply #8 on: November 25, 2008, 02:25:20 PM »
I'm sure you're correct, StormBringer. Paint would be a terrible choice, and the Inkscape/The GIMP combo will suit the needs of this situation quite handily.
When you're a bankrupt ideology pursuing a bankrupt strategy, the only move you've got is the dick one.

kryyst

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1682
    • http://www.forgedrpg.com
Any recomendations for a Paint Program?
« Reply #9 on: November 26, 2008, 10:24:36 AM »
I just discovered another rather decent little drawing program called Paint.net.  It's kind of a half way program between Paint and The Gimp.  This could be a very nice intro program that gives a decent set of tools without being overwhelming.

http://www.getpaint.net/index.html
AccidentalSurvivors.com : The blood will put out the fire.

Aos

  • Huge Member
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 7724
Any recomendations for a Paint Program?
« Reply #10 on: November 26, 2008, 10:30:48 AM »
I just dled gimp the other day.
Somebody tell me something about inkscape. Can i use it to draw comics?
You are posting in a troll thread.

Metal Earth

Cosmic Tales- Webcomic

kryyst

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1682
    • http://www.forgedrpg.com
Any recomendations for a Paint Program?
« Reply #11 on: November 26, 2008, 11:31:47 AM »
If you are serious about drawing comics I'd suggest a watcom tablet as your medium.  But Inkscape can handle the post production colouring and line work.  Then again so can The Gimp.  The trick for comics is getting the drawing done first and a Watcom tablet is so much easier to do that with.  That or pen paper and a good scanner.
AccidentalSurvivors.com : The blood will put out the fire.

Engine

  • This Machine is a Fascist
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2435
    • http://www.freespeech-alpha.com/viewforum.php?f=6
Any recomendations for a Paint Program?
« Reply #12 on: November 26, 2008, 11:40:49 AM »
You could definitely use Inkscape to draw comics, and there would be some advantages to doing so, since it's vector-based, and thus more easily editable after-the-fact. I'd personally use Illustrator and Photoshop with a Wacom tablet, but I'm an Adobe whore of long standing. Many people I know simply draw directly in Photoshop, and have great success at it, but I can't speak to that; my experience with digital imaging does not extend to talent with drawing or painting.
When you're a bankrupt ideology pursuing a bankrupt strategy, the only move you've got is the dick one.

jswa

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • j
  • Posts: 472
Any recomendations for a Paint Program?
« Reply #13 on: November 29, 2008, 04:41:54 AM »
I'm a big fan of the GIMP, personally, although I do find myself using Photoshop more often than not.

noisms

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1231
Any recomendations for a Paint Program?
« Reply #14 on: November 29, 2008, 06:57:42 AM »
Use Paint.net. It's far easier and more intuitive than either Gimp or Inkscape. I don't know why it never gets recommended in these threads.

It's like Paint, but good, basically. What Paint should have been. And free too.
Read my blog, Monsters and Manuals, for campaign ideas, opinionated ranting, and collected game-related miscellania.

Buy Yoon-Suin, a campaign toolbox for fantasy games, giving you the equipment necessary to run a sandbox campaign in your own Yoon-Suin - a region of high adventure shrouded in ancient mysteries, opium smoke, great luxury and opulent cruelty.