Process
Producing Comics on a Small Budget
One of the most appealing things about comics, at least for me, is that they can be produced quickly and cheaply. This is an invitation for experimentation, creativity and growth; as it cost very little to try new things. Unlike other visual mediums such as film, T.V. and Video Games it does not take a team of people and a large amount of money to make one. Creating a comic book can be a simple and low tech as grabbing a few loose sheets of computer paper, stapling them along their spine and drawing images in it with a ballpoint pen.
Though there is much fun to be had creating comics the low tech way, Comics now and days often make heavy use of computer software. The programs that are considered ‘industry standard’ are, for the most part, very expensive; far beyond the reach of someone who is just getting into creating comics (or any other type of digital art). However, there is an alternative.
Although, there are some common hardware elements used by many professionals these are not necessary. Remember, the tools do not make the artist; Better tools simply make the job easier. If you do not understand the fundamentals of drawing or composition a computer will only allow you to make mistakes faster, it will not correct them for you.
But I digress, that is for a rant for a blog. This is about a few tools that can help you produce comic book that, depending on your effort, is a quality book.
Free Alternatives to Expensive Software
http://www.gimp.org/ – If you’ve seen Pulp Fiction then there is a certain scene from that movie probably going though your head right now. GIMP actually stands for General Image Manipulation Program. It has bunch of handy features similar to Photoshop. It will allow you to scan rough pencils or inks into your computer and manipulate them. However, there is a trade off, the GUI is not a clean and nice (but that’s my just an opinion).
http://www.inkscape.org/ – This is a vector art program, like Adobe Illustrator. Its handy for cleaning up inked images scanned from GIMP. It has the ability to be used with a tablet (Wacom tablet). The last time that I checked the tablet and pen tool were more for calligraphy, however, who’s to say that couldn’t be a cool way to ink a comic?
http://www.openoffice.org/ – An open office suit comparable to Microsoft Office. It can even edit files from office. It even has a feature similar to Microsoft Publisher, which I have used successfully to layout a comic, which I thin converted to PDF and had printed up at the local print shop.
http://www.celtx.com/ – This program is probably one of my favorites on this list. It is a program that helps with script formatting. It can handle, Film, Radio, Play and (most recently) Comics along with a bunch of others.
http://giantscreamingrobotmonkeys.com/monkeyjam/ – This one is not really useful to someone who is creating a comic book, but For animators it is gold. It’s a free pencil testing software, which on occasion I have used for stop motion animation.
http://www.blender.org/ – This program is by far one of the best on the list. Its a free 3d animation and editing program that has many features found in software such as Maya and 3D Studio Max. I have used this program in so many projects that it really deserves it own set of tutorials.
http://www.ubuntu.com/ – Any one who has ever built a computer from scratch knows that the Operating System is one of the more expensive parts of the machine. In case you’ve never heard of Linux, here is the Wikipedia link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux. There is a Linux version of almost every program on this list.
http://www.lingoes.net/ – a web based text look up / translation tool.
There are tons of other programs available for little or no cost that can be a great help to someone getting into digital art. This list simply simply list some of the programs that I’m more familiar with. With a little searching your almost certain to find them. Hopefully this list will be able to help you get started.