Open Source Solutions, Problems, and Pitfalls: What I've learned
After a falling out with Adobe over billing issues, I became interested in different alternative platforms. On the developer side, it's been the same mindset:
Software for all, baby! Stick it to the corporate man!
And...how's it gone so far?
Mixed results, honestly. As Coronapanic 2020 winds down, I'm going to analyze problems I've had with design programs like Inkscape and OpenToonz. If you've struggled with these programs, I hope this is useful for you.
Here's the thing about professionally made creative software - say, Adobe - and open source software:
Professionally made software is made for the creative professional to get stuff done. It's engineered and tested with that goal in mind.
Open source creative software is made for the developers to show off how good they are. So they can get a job coding with, perhaps...Adobe?
When you do the same task in Adobe and then in open source software, you know the difference.
For example, Adobe Illustrator vs. Inkscape. I can draw just as well in Inkscape as in AI (it's great for web design too, as your drawing is SVG - handy! and you can export to a javascript canvas or JavaFX natively) but there are so many gotchas in Inkscape that are not in AI.
Example #1: You draw a pen curve. Now you want to continue in an opposite direction. What do you do?
In AI, you just tap the Esc key. In Inkscape, it's the Enter key. Why? How would I have guessed that? (Good luck finding that in the docs. I had to search Google to find out how to do that very simple thing.)
Example #2: I want my paint brush to have tapered ends so my brush strokes are smooth but have a distinct line to them. This is useful drawing characters.
AI (and OpenToonz, which we'll get to) have a vast array of brushes and adding more is simple.
Inkscape? You gotta make your own. In the Fill/Stroke area, which is where you'd expect to be able to edit brushes?
Nope. You have to do the changes on the top menu, and then save it as a preset.
And the structure of a calligraphy brush is strange - brush width is called 'thinning', and you set a negative number to thin the ends of your brush strokes. Then you have 'fixation' to control the direction of the brush because it defaults to a calligraphy style thin wide brush...fine. But you can't steer the angle when you're painting or inking - you have to click on the icon at the top of the window to alter the angle.
Example #3: I want to draw a colored line. (Advanced stuff here! Try to keep up!)
AI's color picker is intuitive - you click the box or the outline, depending on what you want to change the color. And then you can drag that color into your swatches, and just click with the pen as needed.
Inkscape gives you the fill and stroke color pickers on the bottom of your screen; you pick your color, and then open the Fill & Stroke tab to save a color scheme to something you will use, say, for related projects. Meanwhile, as you experiment with colors, you'll see a long list of colors pile up. You click each icon in the Stroke/Fill tabs to figure out how to set your color before you start painting. Well...you can't. You have to paint, THEN set the color, all while making sure you haven't inadvertently changed the swatch you very carefully fine tuned a second ago.
Oh, and guess what? While you were painting, it changed to the wrong swatch! Why?! Because you didn't check your preferences to make sure Last New Style is checked and Select New Path is not! Or is that the other way around?...
There's also weird stuff like it will default to a transparent background so you have to add layers behind your main art. And if you try to draw a very big piece, you'll end up trying to draw on the pixel level and it will look terrible...What else did I miss?
Sorry if this is intuitive to the rocket scientists reading this. We simple graphic designers get frustrated trying to work against the machine to get these things done. And that's just practicing at home. At work...nobody got time for that.
NEWS FLASH: Version 1.0 is here!!! It's still very difficult to set colors without conscious practice, and now it crashes a lot more! But hey, nice OSX keyboard shortcuts with no need for XQuartz. That's apparently something other users wanted.
What to do at this point? Tweeter Martin Owens recommends going to this link, which is a bug repository for Inkscape's UX and design "department". If you're better at this stuff than I am, you should check it out. I check it out anyway, and it's a nice look at how open source software programs cultivate input and work on improvements. In case you thought I was beating up on open source!
So we move on...
Now let's talk about OpenToonz, which in many ways is much better. But in some of the details, well...
I'm a former Adobe Flash semi-pro. It was the greatest software ever...in 1996. BUT times move on, and we now need dedicated tools to make webpages, animated clips, interactive interfaces, games, and all that other stuff Flash did.
And Opentoonz is a good substitute in the 2D animation department. It's actually a good drawing program, too - right in the middle between AI and Inkscape in terms of features and the quality of the drawing experience. Then just add cells - the z key - and animate.
So what problems have I pursued that I can now help you with? Well now...
* You have to remember to create your level as a vector level, or you're going to have all kinds of problems with selecting brushes, making tweens, et al. Just saying since it defaults to create as a raster level, although you might have some use for that.
* Now it's time to draw! Oh wait...you can't add animation on the individual frames (in the level window). You have to select them in the scene level > timeline, then draw in the stage.
* Adding effects is a strange process. You have to open up the Schematic window, select the FX option, and then right-click on the line connecting your layer and the output window icon to add, say, a blur. Don't forget to click it so you can actually see the effect happen! No, not just on the FX icon - you also have to click the icon on top of your workspace to see the FX included in your Lightboard view (don't select Camera for this, it will become a huge mess).
* So you wanna make an MPEG of your work. Maybe a GIF. Everyone loves GIFs, am I right? (No. But I digress...)
That means you'll have to import FFMpeg to your Opentoonz folder in your Applications folder. The docs tell you where to put it, but what they don't tell you is the download link from the FFMpeg site itself won't work. Long story short: I used Homebrew via my OSX Terminal to download FFMpeg and then option-dragged the 3 recommended files to the pre-defined folder. That I had to create.
And other stuff that shouldn't be that hard to do.
I will continue to use Inkscape and Opentoonz for my motion graphics, design, and other related visual creative work. And I will probably have more really annoying things to report back here, in the hopes that others don't suffer like I did.
But what do you want for nothin'? A gold plane?!
PS I have added the Rakuten and Clickbank affiliate programs to this blog. I might bring back Amazon, which I've discussed on this blog, if there's any interest.
So if you like my writing, please support it by clicking on some links below and finding what you need! I appreciate it!
Shop Gaiam Yoga
Get Website Templates Here!
Software for all, baby! Stick it to the corporate man!
And...how's it gone so far?
Mixed results, honestly. As Coronapanic 2020 winds down, I'm going to analyze problems I've had with design programs like Inkscape and OpenToonz. If you've struggled with these programs, I hope this is useful for you.
Here's the thing about professionally made creative software - say, Adobe - and open source software:
Professionally made software is made for the creative professional to get stuff done. It's engineered and tested with that goal in mind.
Open source creative software is made for the developers to show off how good they are. So they can get a job coding with, perhaps...Adobe?
When you do the same task in Adobe and then in open source software, you know the difference.
For example, Adobe Illustrator vs. Inkscape. I can draw just as well in Inkscape as in AI (it's great for web design too, as your drawing is SVG - handy! and you can export to a javascript canvas or JavaFX natively) but there are so many gotchas in Inkscape that are not in AI.
Example #1: You draw a pen curve. Now you want to continue in an opposite direction. What do you do?
In AI, you just tap the Esc key. In Inkscape, it's the Enter key. Why? How would I have guessed that? (Good luck finding that in the docs. I had to search Google to find out how to do that very simple thing.)
Example #2: I want my paint brush to have tapered ends so my brush strokes are smooth but have a distinct line to them. This is useful drawing characters.
AI (and OpenToonz, which we'll get to) have a vast array of brushes and adding more is simple.
Inkscape? You gotta make your own. In the Fill/Stroke area, which is where you'd expect to be able to edit brushes?
Nope. You have to do the changes on the top menu, and then save it as a preset.
And the structure of a calligraphy brush is strange - brush width is called 'thinning', and you set a negative number to thin the ends of your brush strokes. Then you have 'fixation' to control the direction of the brush because it defaults to a calligraphy style thin wide brush...fine. But you can't steer the angle when you're painting or inking - you have to click on the icon at the top of the window to alter the angle.
Example #3: I want to draw a colored line. (Advanced stuff here! Try to keep up!)
AI's color picker is intuitive - you click the box or the outline, depending on what you want to change the color. And then you can drag that color into your swatches, and just click with the pen as needed.
Inkscape gives you the fill and stroke color pickers on the bottom of your screen; you pick your color, and then open the Fill & Stroke tab to save a color scheme to something you will use, say, for related projects. Meanwhile, as you experiment with colors, you'll see a long list of colors pile up. You click each icon in the Stroke/Fill tabs to figure out how to set your color before you start painting. Well...you can't. You have to paint, THEN set the color, all while making sure you haven't inadvertently changed the swatch you very carefully fine tuned a second ago.
Oh, and guess what? While you were painting, it changed to the wrong swatch! Why?! Because you didn't check your preferences to make sure Last New Style is checked and Select New Path is not! Or is that the other way around?...
ETA This has been reported as a bug in Inkscape! See my latest posts for details.
Sorry if this is intuitive to the rocket scientists reading this. We simple graphic designers get frustrated trying to work against the machine to get these things done. And that's just practicing at home. At work...nobody got time for that.
NEWS FLASH: Version 1.0 is here!!! It's still very difficult to set colors without conscious practice, and now it crashes a lot more! But hey, nice OSX keyboard shortcuts with no need for XQuartz. That's apparently something other users wanted.
What to do at this point? Tweeter Martin Owens recommends going to this link, which is a bug repository for Inkscape's UX and design "department". If you're better at this stuff than I am, you should check it out. I check it out anyway, and it's a nice look at how open source software programs cultivate input and work on improvements. In case you thought I was beating up on open source!
So we move on...
Now let's talk about OpenToonz, which in many ways is much better. But in some of the details, well...
I'm a former Adobe Flash semi-pro. It was the greatest software ever...in 1996. BUT times move on, and we now need dedicated tools to make webpages, animated clips, interactive interfaces, games, and all that other stuff Flash did.
And Opentoonz is a good substitute in the 2D animation department. It's actually a good drawing program, too - right in the middle between AI and Inkscape in terms of features and the quality of the drawing experience. Then just add cells - the z key - and animate.
So what problems have I pursued that I can now help you with? Well now...
* You have to remember to create your level as a vector level, or you're going to have all kinds of problems with selecting brushes, making tweens, et al. Just saying since it defaults to create as a raster level, although you might have some use for that.
* Now it's time to draw! Oh wait...you can't add animation on the individual frames (in the level window). You have to select them in the scene level > timeline, then draw in the stage.
* Adding effects is a strange process. You have to open up the Schematic window, select the FX option, and then right-click on the line connecting your layer and the output window icon to add, say, a blur. Don't forget to click it so you can actually see the effect happen! No, not just on the FX icon - you also have to click the icon on top of your workspace to see the FX included in your Lightboard view (don't select Camera for this, it will become a huge mess).
* So you wanna make an MPEG of your work. Maybe a GIF. Everyone loves GIFs, am I right? (No. But I digress...)
That means you'll have to import FFMpeg to your Opentoonz folder in your Applications folder. The docs tell you where to put it, but what they don't tell you is the download link from the FFMpeg site itself won't work. Long story short: I used Homebrew via my OSX Terminal to download FFMpeg and then option-dragged the 3 recommended files to the pre-defined folder. That I had to create.
And other stuff that shouldn't be that hard to do.
I will continue to use Inkscape and Opentoonz for my motion graphics, design, and other related visual creative work. And I will probably have more really annoying things to report back here, in the hopes that others don't suffer like I did.
But what do you want for nothin'? A gold plane?!
PS I have added the Rakuten and Clickbank affiliate programs to this blog. I might bring back Amazon, which I've discussed on this blog, if there's any interest.
So if you like my writing, please support it by clicking on some links below and finding what you need! I appreciate it!
Shop Gaiam Yoga
Get Website Templates Here!
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