Freeware (Demo)Tools
category: general [glöplog]
I just wish Gimp had support for adjustment layers and more than 8 bits per channel...
Did anyone mention Paint Shop Pro X?
ara: afaik gimp should nowadays(or in the very near future) support more than 8 bits per layer. Well that doesn't make it good yet tho...
per channel*
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I just wish Gimp had support for adjustment layers and more than 8 bits per channel...
I just wish Gimp had a user interface which didn't suck more than anything else imaginable in this corner of the universe... (and wouldn't be totally buggy on osx, on the top of this - and i don't even dare to say words like "native")
(paint shop pro was pretty good, but i would guess corel ruined that, too)
Waffle: maybe in the next major release (2.8) . It's quite a crutial feature for serious photo retouching (digital cameras easily output 48 bits per pixel) and something that Photoshop had since version 6, I believe. See http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=74224 , if you're interested.
Cinepaint and Krita both support higher bit depths, but they are far less complete than Gimp.
But we're going off topic here.
That was just to say that while being a Linux zealot myself, I have to admit that Photoshop and Gimp aren't always comparable.
Cinepaint and Krita both support higher bit depths, but they are far less complete than Gimp.
But we're going off topic here.
That was just to say that while being a Linux zealot myself, I have to admit that Photoshop and Gimp aren't always comparable.
Later versions of Paint Shop are completely fucked. The last good (actually the best) version was v7.0.
Not available to buy, afaik, but who need to do that anyway.
Not available to buy, afaik, but who need to do that anyway.
Considering what has happened to Paint Shop Pro I was surprised how nice, clean and tidy Corel Photo-Paint X4 has become.
lol. I should have seen a GIMP vs PhotoShop debate coming from amile away. I think they both suck. But at the same time are kinda essential, just like Windows(tm).
Which one of them is best depends on exactly what you want to do with it. Anyway...
I *was* using an old version of PaintShopPro for those things which PhotoShop could not (easily) do. But the afore mentioned XNView has now replaced it. For batch conversions and whatnot.
Photogenics functions much the same way as it did way back when it was an exclusively Amiga app. And has the features you'd be wanting from PSP with a usable UI. But I digress, as that is a commercial app. Hence no link.
Which one of them is best depends on exactly what you want to do with it. Anyway...
I *was* using an old version of PaintShopPro for those things which PhotoShop could not (easily) do. But the afore mentioned XNView has now replaced it. For batch conversions and whatnot.
Photogenics functions much the same way as it did way back when it was an exclusively Amiga app. And has the features you'd be wanting from PSP with a usable UI. But I digress, as that is a commercial app. Hence no link.
I use gvim, gcc, ca65, make, bash, Grafx2, Project One, GangEd, Inkscape, Gimp, mtPaint, Python, Cuneiform and a bunch of other tools, all free.
Regarding Gimp vs. Photoshop: Gimp is clearly behind, but not being as good as the best application available doesn't automatically qualify it as being "bad". In fact it's still quite good, especially considering the price tag.
On the other hand, Inkscape measures up equally with Illustrator.
Regarding Gimp vs. Photoshop: Gimp is clearly behind, but not being as good as the best application available doesn't automatically qualify it as being "bad". In fact it's still quite good, especially considering the price tag.
On the other hand, Inkscape measures up equally with Illustrator.
Last time I checked, Inkscape had horrible performance and usability issues, but it's improving with every version.
And regarding the "but it's free of charge!" argument: As much as I want to use OSS for everything, I'd rather pay a buck or two for good DCC software than coping with the myriad of problems of no-cost software. Especially in professional environments, cost of software is a rather minor issue. The issue is getting shit done. :)
And regarding the "but it's free of charge!" argument: As much as I want to use OSS for everything, I'd rather pay a buck or two for good DCC software than coping with the myriad of problems of no-cost software. Especially in professional environments, cost of software is a rather minor issue. The issue is getting shit done. :)
if i want to draw a picture, i code it with FORTH.
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gvim, gcc, ca65, make, bash, Grafx2, Project One, GangEd, Inkscape, Gimp, mtPaint, Python, Cuneiform and a bunch of other tools, all free.
keep 'em coming guys.
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The most sensible thing I've read on pouet all week.Regarding Gimp vs. Photoshop: Gimp is clearly behind, but not being as good as the best application available doesn't automatically qualify it as being "bad". In fact it's still quite good, especially considering the price tag.
Now regarding sound tools, I ought to be shot for not mentioning SOX.
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_sof_pir_rat-crime-software-piracy-rate
Arguing about free/non-free software in Europe is quite a bit stupid. Not saying that graph is exact or anything... but quite right, indeed.
Arguing about free/non-free software in Europe is quite a bit stupid. Not saying that graph is exact or anything... but quite right, indeed.
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keep 'em coming guys.
ghc, gcc, smultron, terminal.app / bash, gimp (i hate that with a definite passion), audacity (i hate that almost as much as i hate gimp), my friend how does all the work so i don't have to use gimp and audacity :)
by the way, compilers are the best tools. well, at least when you have a sufficiently advanced language :)
Jcl: Yep, the most viable alternative to commercial software seems to be warez. Which of course has never been a problem in the demoscene.
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the most viable alternative to commercial software seems to be warez
That's bollocks. Have you read any of the replies in this thread?
I wish it were bollocks. I'm in no position to judge (especially with my own history...), but the scene has always been and still largely is a warez stronghold. Photoshop, Watcom C, Deluxe Paint, 3ds (Max), Lightwave, Turbo Pascal - who paid anything for those?
I'm not saying that warez is necessarily best... I'm saying that is not that we all (or well, the majority of us) would care wether the software is free or not, except for the means of downloading it... so looking for "alternatives to commercial software" is a useless discussion.
We should be arguing about "good software", wether it is commercial or not :-)
We should be arguing about "good software", wether it is commercial or not :-)
Most of my productivity software is free[/ware]. For C64 stuff my tool chain looks like this: Notepad++, Goattracker, VICE, Retro Replay, KickAssembler and Processing for testing ideas and writing graphics converters. I'd be surprised if I found any commercial solutions that did these tricks as well :)
The only non-free programs I use that I can think of (besides Windows XP and a bunch of old game warez) are Fruityloops 3, Max, Reaktor 5 and Sunvox, and none of these for demoscene productions so far...
The only non-free programs I use that I can think of (besides Windows XP and a bunch of old game warez) are Fruityloops 3, Max, Reaktor 5 and Sunvox, and none of these for demoscene productions so far...
Well there are two categories of sceners I guess:
those that work on old platform and those that work on new platform.
When your doing your work on the old or less-known platform the commercial solutions are inexistant or way too old, so the noncommercial, and usually free ones will do the job. On recent and widespread platforms (windows, osx), the use of commercial softs (pirated or not) is not only possible, but it also makes sense, i mean, you comapre a tool made by a bunch of guys over the nets all with their own vision of the perfect UI or functionality or one made by a software house, with paid engeneers and specialists, made only to be the best there is for the end-customer.
I see open source development more as an art, the developpers do what they want to and allow themselves to experiment. In the best cases that gives us Blender and its revolutionary UI.
In the commercial world, the companies have to care about their users. That's why you won't have revolutions, but you will (almost) always have something easily usable and that does the job quite well. The exception being with old apps like max and photoshop where they kept concept from 20 years ago, before things were standardised (differently).
and cuz it's been asked for: crimson editor, dev-cpp+gcc (for gp2x development), modplug tracker, homemade toolds and converters, and the rest (music/graphics/3d) is commercial stuff
those that work on old platform and those that work on new platform.
When your doing your work on the old or less-known platform the commercial solutions are inexistant or way too old, so the noncommercial, and usually free ones will do the job. On recent and widespread platforms (windows, osx), the use of commercial softs (pirated or not) is not only possible, but it also makes sense, i mean, you comapre a tool made by a bunch of guys over the nets all with their own vision of the perfect UI or functionality or one made by a software house, with paid engeneers and specialists, made only to be the best there is for the end-customer.
I see open source development more as an art, the developpers do what they want to and allow themselves to experiment. In the best cases that gives us Blender and its revolutionary UI.
In the commercial world, the companies have to care about their users. That's why you won't have revolutions, but you will (almost) always have something easily usable and that does the job quite well. The exception being with old apps like max and photoshop where they kept concept from 20 years ago, before things were standardised (differently).
and cuz it's been asked for: crimson editor, dev-cpp+gcc (for gp2x development), modplug tracker, homemade toolds and converters, and the rest (music/graphics/3d) is commercial stuff
tools? too many to list.. my favs are emacs, bash, make, msvc, gcc, totalcommander, plus some homemade ones, of course :)
btw, what good and free sample editors would you ppl recommend ?
btw, what good and free sample editors would you ppl recommend ?
audacity is free but not so good
audacity is okayish but it's not a dedicated sample editor (more like a recorder).
so, where's the good and free sample editors or is everyone just using warez ?
so, where's the good and free sample editors or is everyone just using warez ?
i actually cant think of any software im using in demo development which _is_ free/opensource. mmm.. very occasionally virtuldub?
