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Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Gears of Art

Taking a break from the art stuff to give you more info about... well... more art stuff. I've listed here some of the hardware/software that I use. FAQ, of sorts.

Rig: Laptop Intel C2D T6500/4GB DDR2/Nvidia Geforce G102M
OS: Windows 7 64-bit Ultimate
Input device: Wacom Graphire 4
Software: Alchemy, Adobe Photoshop CS4, Adobe Illustrator CS4, Corel Painter 11, Artrage Studio Pro (3.0)

Why a laptop?
It's good enough for concept art, plus I never get projects that require hi-res, billboard-size stuff.

Why not get a mac? It's good for graphics after all.
That is a myth. The last 1up that the mac has was out-of-the-box color-accurate display. You can have the same with a properly calibrated monitor, anyway.

But macs never get viruses!
I've never had a virus. I'm using a free antivirus/firewall.

But macs never get BSoD!
That's... well that's true. But I've also had macs freeze on me. As far as I can tell the error rate for both OS' is almost the same.

But macs have a better UI!
That's subjective. I like Win7's UI

But macs...
Look, I get that you like macs. I'm not bashing it. My point is PC loving graphic/digital artists exist.

Why don't you upgrade to an Intuos 4?
I don't need the 6D brush and tilt functionalities yet. I can do whatever I want with the G4 so far. Also, the Intuos 4 has a sandpaper surface that flattens the pen nib with just one artwork.

What's 'Alchemy'?
Alchemy is an open-source software that is useful for the initial stages of construction/conceptualization. I use it when I can't think of anything to paint, letting the random shapes appear on screen until I see some hidden form in the mass of chaotic shapes.

*Looks at previous posts* That's cool but why don't I see that stuff ?
Right now, I'm uploading stuff from '09. I was practically a beginner in digital painting back then. Just follow the blog until I upload more recent works.

...

Well, that's all I can think of right now. Also, I am not a professional concept artist. I am a professional graphic artist (layouts and stuff for print media-- no example worth mentioning). I hope to make a transition to a more fine art related job (such as matte painting/concept art) in the future.

Thanks for reading, friends!

13 comments:

  1. This was an interesting read. Knew most things but learned some as well.

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  2. @sirjohnbear: True, but you also have to know your equipment very well, no matter how crappy or awesome a system it may be, in order to come out with something good. As I said, I don't get projects for billboard-sized stuff so my rig will do.

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  3. But macs..but but but! It's like the same argument that iphone users have, but iphones .. but but but!

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  4. Its not that macs are bad, it's that the computer business is like the car business. You dont want to buy an pricey car that your gonna get rid of or have it be obsolete in 3 years. Thats why you buy a pc.
    How to Hack Life.

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  5. Macs are very good for doing graphics... yay!

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  6. >That is a myth.
    its not you cant find any software that beats finalcut pro(video) or logic pro(audio) and for the gfx part you have many many tools that are not available on windows

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  7. I'll investigate the Wacom Graphire 4.

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  8. @mac-and-me: The myth was for the graphics editors (adobe stuff, corel, etc.). I won't argue with the video and music editors as I don't use them, though you're probably right about that. Being in the industry and having worked with both OS' I would just like to say that the Photoshop output for mac osx and windows are both industry standard. Again, I'm not bashing the mac and I would use one if I'm given one.

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  9. oh this is and excellent blog my man. very interested in seeing the progression of your art over the years. i still shamble through making typography but maybe ill be able to pick on tips from your posts. not trying to go pro or anything but i think its a nice skill to develop. also the gf is an artist but not so technoliterate so maybe i can give her steps in the right direction from what you have done.

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  10. Good post.

    bigunicorn.blogspot.com

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