any budding virtual artist on here care to give me a bit of advice?

[Danny]

now i talk a fair bit about my scripts and the short films im working on like fallout (on that note i when to start the shots were no people are required and it frikkin' started snowing on a sunny day!), but i also used to do a lot of web comics andflash animations, but i got sick of trying to do smooth lines with a friggin mouse, i still get a magazine about painting in photshop and whatnot called imaginefx (it gives free demos and crap rather than having to buy the full programs ) and i found this on the site about a proper cheap as fook graphic tablet, but i dont know much about these, but as a leftie i think this would definatley help me out, and at £36 quid its seems to be a great price, ive seem it for 20 on ebay, but does anyone here use a graphics tablet and if so can they give me an opinion on this, or reccomend something else? http://www.imaginefx.com/02287754330...-volito-2.html acutally ive seen this on ebay for a single pound and only 3 quid postage but its advertised as for cards and posters im looking for somethign so i can do smooth drawing in photoshop and flash.

[MinionZombie]

What I've always wondered about these things is, if you take your "pen" of the "paper", how do you go back to the point you want on the image you're making? ... As an "old schooler" (gimme a "B" pencil (e.g. 6B ... ahhh, memories) and my hands covered in graphite any day), I also prefer seeing the image directly under my hand/pencil, so working with your eyes and the "pen" disconnected like that must be pretty weird ... mind you, drawing with a mouse can be utter penis sometimes. I guess if I'd had one of those tablet things I'd have kept up with my drawing...but it's something I've kinda faded out on and replaced with filmmaking...

[coma]

What I've always wondered about these things is, if you take your "pen" of the "paper", how do you go back to the point you want on the image you're making? ... As an "old schooler" (gimme a "B" pencil (e.g. 6B ... ahhh, memories) and my hands covered in graphite any day), I also prefer seeing the image directly under my hand/pencil, so working with your eyes and the "pen" disconnected like that must be pretty weird ... mind you, drawing with a mouse can be utter penis sometimes. I guess if I'd had one of those tablet things I'd have kept up with my drawing...but it's something I've kinda faded out on and replaced with filmmaking... Theres always Storyboarding, dude. Im a pencil and paper guy all then way. A tablet is useful, but thats not why I got into drawing etc. I loike the tactile experience utter penis.hehehehe

[Danny]

same here, i when i was younger i was going through about 3 sketch pads a week of crap and nonsense but when i got into more media stuff liek writing and filming it kinda whent forgotten. tht said ,try amking a decent looking flash animation with a mouse, its fookin' hard.

[7feet]

I'm pretty old school when it comes to drawing myself, but I did have until recently (got busted when I moved) a Wacom Graphire III tablet (6 x 8"), which I liked a lot. Though I'd rather have had a bigger one. My old GF had one that was 16 x 20" (she was a textile designer), that's what I learned to use them with. It's a little weird getting used to the pen on the tablet but looking at the screen while drawing, but If your hand-eye coordination isn't completely screwed most people can pick it up pretty quick. Most of them will let you switch between "mouse" style and "pen" style use. Mouse style, where ever you drop the pen on the tablet, you are automatically back at the last cursor position. Pen style is an absolute position, that spot on the tablet relates directly to that spot on the screen. I tended to use mine more mouse style, didn't use the pen style so much unless I was tracing. But once you get used to it, drawing with a mouse is just too damn annoying. It ruins you a bit, but in a good way.

[Danny]

this is a wacom one too, and its on ebay dirt cheap so for under a tenner can you recommend this?, cus try to draw smooth lines in flash sucks balls man.

[MinionZombie]

*ugh* ... not really a fan of storyboarding, I kinda feel a bit restricted with those, and oftentimes I'm filming somewhere I haven't been before until I rock up there, so storyboarding is a bit of a waste of time at the moment...

[Danny]

plus it takes to long, i prefer to keep it all in my head or type camera actions in the script, that way theres room to improvise if something changes on the day, cas ein point once the abandaoned building we were gonna film in got knocked down

[coma]

plus it takes to long, i prefer to keep it all in my head or type camera actions in the script, that way theres room to improvise if something changes on the day, cas ein point once the abandaoned building we were gonna film in got knocked down If your someone who thinks camera movement and tight composition is important that story boarding is essential. And the fact that you may forget important stuff when you are caught up in the stress and confusion of a shoot. If a shoot is too freeflowing you may end up with plot holes, no cutaway and shots that take too long or that you could have done better. When you aren't payng anybody, reshoots may be far out of the question. Choreographing an action sequence can be important so it makes sense. And it can be the difference between an ameteurish film and a slicker one. Also, it lets everyone on the crew know exactly what you want. And you dont have to stick to it either. No to mention you can story board only key sequences where yo know exactly what you want. If I spend a year writing a script and am spending all kinds of money and time I want it to be right. I hate "Couldve been better, If only I was more prepared". Having to apologize for mistakes means Ameteur.

[Danny]

i am amatuer and i never apologize for my mistakes! ,

[MinionZombie]

It all comes down to the style and level of the project itself. At the moment, the sort of films I'm making, and the projects I'm working on, don't require storyboarding. At most I'll scribble out a doodle of an idea I have in mind, but more often I find myself planning shots with a paragraph of text. Blatantly, when it comes the time to make a full on indie film, then I'll be doing storyboards, or having someone do them for me, but at the moment, personally, they're just a hindrence without a real purpose. That's what I'm trying to say.

[Danny]

yeah when it comes to short films all you need is an idea, and a map, go out without a map sometimes and your screwed, not for getting lost but knowing were theres a drop onto rusty old railway tracks from the 1800's. cus noone told me, que one minor fracture which meant i walked like igor for a week and now when it rains my leg hurts....y'know i never beleived when old people said that till it happened to me.

[MinionZombie]

Aye, at this stage it's all about experimentation, and learning to go somewhere with virgin eyes and make the most of it, and kinda 'shoot from the hip' in terms of your freedom (not necessarily sans tripod), is definitely a valuable exercise. No doubt at some point you end up doing documentaries and even wedding videos, well you can't storyboard those, so being able to react quickly, if not immediately, to something put before you, is great. Storyboards most definitely have their uses, when it comes to action sequences for instance (I did storyboard one of my films from a couple of years ago in fact, it just slowed me down and didn't help that much at the time though...) Or if you've got a bunch of people in a room all talking to each other, you'll have to plan the whole area out, where people will sit and how you will physically react to that situation, then you storyboard how you'll frame everybody so that it cuts together nicely. So storyboards most definitely have a good value, but it's when and where they're used that's important, and they aren't always necessary and can even become a complete waste of time and even a hindrance.

[coma]

cus noone told me, que one minor fracture which meant i walked like igor for a week and now when it rains my leg hurts....y'know i never beleived when old people said that till it happened to me. Welcome to my world. Ugh. You dont have to be old to be f**ked up. I like fiim noirish shots and Citizen Kane stuff and its hard to describe in words only. Plus I forget. I really like heavily composed camera movement and thought out shot composition. I comes down to what you are doing, project wise. Wining it is cool. Index card scripts are cool. But I am at a point where just being good isnt good enough. And that takes a lot of preparation. for me, at least. It is also very helpful for FX shots (like gore)to get the max effect. If you have someone else doing opticals you have to map it out I plan things but will totally throw it out if I want. I am not married to any idea.

[MinionZombie]

And this is what we're saying, at our stage we're working with friends or on our own, working with a very small group of people, so you can get away with keeping it in your head as you're directing, shooting and editing and of course, writing, so there's not much call at this stage. Also, at this stage, any effects are basic...*too lazy to continue* Basically, when they need to be used, they'll be used, 'nuff said...