What type of computer do you use for web comics?
Submitted by Kota on August 2, 2003 - 12:39
Okay. Just out of curiosity, what platform do you guys use for your web comics? I'm running a Pentium 2 450 and Windows XP. Photoshop being my graphics editor of choice. Does the Mac offer any advantages? Is it more reliable (this of course being a relative term)? Once again, just out of curiosity and to get folks talking.
- Array
by Wednesday Burns-White - 08/02/2003 - 20:59
Sweet merciful Zeus, XP on a PII-450?! You're cracked.
The mythical comic presently has most of its digital components carried out on an Athlon ... either 750 or 800, I forget, running XP and 2k dual-boot (okay, triple-boot; it runs Linux, but we seldom bother). But all files for the comic are stored on the household Linux fileserver, and I do everything else in my life from a first-iteration iMac DVSE running Jaguar (I never said I wasn't cracked). Photoshop is the main editing app on both user boxen, but I'm having a go at openCanvas for colouring and I would love a copy of Painter.
My partner thinks I should be using the GIMP, but I never could wrap my head around the UI. (A big chunk of my willingness to use Photoshop under Windows probably stems from the app being geared towards Mac users...)
I... I don't like using Windows for this. I'm too wired for Macs and outright *nix, I hate the instability inherent even in the NT strain of Windows (I can count the crashes I've experienced under OSX with one hand, and have fingers left over; I could count the crashes I've experienced under XP and 2K, but I'd have to amputate the country), and the EULA for *basic Win32 security patches* just makes me itch. I'm also stubborn enough to stay in the room with the web browser I prefer (Safari, which is just luscious). But the scanner has no OSX drivers, and the tablet is PC serial; since USB support under Linux was crapadelic at the time of purchase and Umax had shown no signs of turning into buttheads, we were shortsighted. So I'm stuck until we have money for a proper tablet and a new scanner, which isn't going to be anytime soon.
It's not that I have any particularly rabid advocacy tendencies for anything; I've done my time in the holy wars, I've worked as a Windows support drone, and I've always preferred to have a diverse network environment. It's just that working with Windows is like hammering nails with a wrench -- it gets the job done, but man, does it feel inefficient by comparison.
I am using a PIII with XP
by Xaviar Xerexes - 08/04/2003 - 08:04
I am using a PIII with XP right now - one key thing with windows is to set your windows swap drive to one hard drive and your photoshop scratch drive to a different drive - I read that somewhere and Photoshop times improved for me.
I've always heard good good things about MAC/OSX but haven't wanted to spend the $$ to buy a new computer recently.
I run this place! Tip the piano player on the way out.
by Wednesday Burns-White - 08/05/2003 - 13:26
[quote:113a7605a9="xerexes"]I am using a PIII with XP right now - one key thing with windows is to set your windows swap drive to one hard drive and your photoshop scratch drive to a different drive - I read that somewhere and Photoshop times improved for me.
Feh; BTDT. BOOM!wakkawakkawakka*SMASH*. HI I AM A BLUESCREEN 0e2XFOAD:439508594375397
Ah, but have you considered a used computer? An older iMac with the coping skillzors can be had pretty cheaply, as such things go.
by Anonymous - 08/07/2003 - 15:01
I swap between a Sony Vaio at home and a Mac G4 at work on lunch breaks. Macs have better mouse control, but sweet jeezus they crash if you look at 'em funny.
"Anonymous" wrote: I swap
by Wednesday Burns-White - 08/07/2003 - 18:10
OS9 crashes if you look at it funny, but an OSX box which crashes more than once every few months needs to be looked at. (Apps crashes are another matter altogether.)
by sethtriggs - 08/07/2003 - 22:19
I draw mine by hand, and then the engine I use to bring them to the web is as follows:
Athlon XP 1600 (1.0 GHz)
512 MB DDR RAM
120 GB master hard drive
20 GB alternate hard drive
Windows 2000
It runs pretty well! Oddly enough, the galleys for my comic (preprinted guides for drawing the strip "live") are created in Powerpoint, of all things. Any port in a storm! Heh heh...
-Seth
"Wednesday"
by Steve_Hogan - 08/08/2003 - 15:53
OS9 crashes if you look at it funny, but an OSX box which crashes more than once every few months needs to be looked at. (Apps crashes are another matter altogether.)
I'm stuck with OS 9.22. I have OSX lurking on the drive taking up space, but the programmers haven't gotten around to getting the art department switched over.
[url=http://www.acidkeg.com/][img]http://www.acidkeg.com/akbanner.gif[/img][/url]
"Steve_Hogan" wrote: I'm
by Wednesday Burns-White - 08/08/2003 - 21:12
My condolences. 9.2.* was far from kind (although it fell over, on average, about a quarter as frequently as any given Windows -- 9x or NT fork! -- in this house). The UI took a little getting used to, but I'd not go back to Classic without a lot of money to persuade me. :)
(Why are the programmers in charge of a tech support job? o_O)
by Kota - 08/09/2003 - 09:21
Okay. Let me tell you why I won't actually be switching to Mac at any point in the foreseeable future and why I can't use other people's computers
I have this nasty habit of crashing any given machine I touch (Kevin Of The Apocalypse = KOTA) and have heard that Macs are more stable. So I went to CompUSA with a friend recently. They had a new Mac set up for display. Running OSX and it had that huge screen they have in the commercials for the G5 or what ever. I clicked on one icon down in the little tool thing at the bottom, I swear. . . .
Damned thing crashed. Flat. Dead. Unsavagable. I then watched in horror as all the Windows boxes near it went into stand-by and refused to come out as store personel tried frantically to get things back in order. Unfortunately it spread. All the PC's in the place locked and died. Needless to say I was rushed out by my friend. I think the only reason my PC runs as well as it does is because it's used to me. *sigh*
Any ideas on why this would happen to most computers near me, other than me and a select few being a remenant of a long dead race of beings that control entropy? And how could I keep my PC from locking up on occasion?
http://www.nightgig.com/sweatshop
and
http://www.kotasworld.com
by sethtriggs - 08/09/2003 - 14:06
Go to Linux! Heh heh...
-Seth
by Levk - 08/10/2003 - 18:08
Hummmm.....
I have ((for now)),
Win XP :-P
P4 1.7GHz
1gig Ram
80gig HD
GeForce2 64MB Graphic Card
I draw my comics by hand then scan then line em and color em, I use, Flash MX, Photoshop 6 or 7((which ever i open)) Paint Shop Pro 7, and Illustrator. Depends really what I need done and which is easier to do it on, LOL
I rather have a Mac, and a Multi boot PC, with Linux and Win2000 but that is me.. hee hee
by Steve_Hogan - 08/13/2003 - 09:38
Some days I miss DOS....
[url=http://www.acidkeg.com/][img]http://www.acidkeg.com/akbanner.gif[/img][/url]
"Steve_Hogan" wrote: Some
by Wednesday Burns-White - 08/13/2003 - 19:27
Hey, that line of thinking leads to BBC Masters and BBC Micros in the damn closet that your partner insists on not throwing out!
by Dex - 08/18/2003 - 13:58
G4 tower with a four-year-old Epson Scanner that we had to find a freeware OSX driver for because Epson wasn't going to bother! (As in, "It's old, you should just get a new one." Gee, maybe I LIKE the scanner I've got and it works great still, ever think your product MIGHT BE WORTH KEEPING?)
Anyway. I've only had Photoshop quit on me once in 16+ months of use (after I'd gotten out of the habit of saving all the time) and now I save after critical steps-- which is only after I'm done if the comic is going to be black & white, because it would be faster to start from scratch than to bother with mini-saves.
by Xaviar Xerexes - 08/28/2003 - 09:44
I am trying to put LINUX on an older Pentium machine right now. Just need to find time between family, work and Comixpedia tasks....
Anyone recommend a good how-to sight to walk me through it? Also I read GIMP is the Photoshop equivalent in LINUX - any other must have LINUX art tools/programs?
I run this place! Tip the piano player on the way out.
by Wednesday Burns-White - 08/29/2003 - 10:26
What distribution are you using? Linux installs are a rich and varied universe, full of diversity and baldness for all.
The GIMP isn't really a Photoshop equivalent so much as a rough analogue serving many similar (and a few distinct) functions. The UI takes some getting used to, and there'll always be something missing that you really got used to in Photoshop. This is why I haven't migrated...
by Xaviar Xerexes - 08/29/2003 - 15:28
That's a good question - I did a redhat install earlier this year on a laptop which works (but I haven't gotten the GUI to work yet). Is there a diff. distro you'd recommend? I'm not an idiot but not a complete geek either.
I run this place! Tip the piano player on the way out.
by Wednesday Burns-White - 08/31/2003 - 08:57
Er. It's hard to say without grilling you on your ethics with regards to software licenses, because I get the impression I'm not meant to recommend SuSE (binary-only X video drivers 'n other stuff). Debian's popular with people I know over here, but they are hardcore geeks.
Laptops can be unusual challenges; proprietary devices galore. If this is an older desktop you're moving to, I'd say go with what you've done before -- you're more likely to have a supported video card for X purposes.
On a purely practical level, I think Redhat's fine for anyone getting their feet wet and feeling uncertain about device support.