Digital Arts and Video Editing on Ubuntu

I have been working with Ubuntu 11.04 lately in hopes to move to it full time.  I have made progress but still there are many issues to overcome before making the move.  The issues I have been having involve networking (adding Linux PC to a Windows network) and Video Editing.  There are other issues and I will go into them more in depth later when I present my options for alternative apps for the various tasks I need to be able to accomplish.  The one thing I have come to understand, which I tend to re-learn every so often, is that no matter what OS or program we use, there is always some kind of compromise.  People have issues with Macs, Windows, and Linux.  Same goes with commercial applications, which can glitch and cause crashes.  They usually cost more than the operating systems do.

I primarily have also been working with various video apps on Ubuntu and have had good success.  I still believe that video editing on Linux is a weak point, but I was able to locate substitutes for my apps on Windows (the ones that won't work in WINE) and a few work flows for creating Video Tutorials using only apps from Linux repositories.

I will have a more in depth article on applications and work flows and some quick how-to videos.

-Steve

How To Install Gimp-Painter in Ubuntu 11.04

I have been working on moving from Windows to Linux for some time. I have been able to substitute most of my commercial apps with Open Source of Free ones. But since I go back and forth between Windows and Ubuntu I try to use the same apps on both systems. Recently David Revoy has posted a lot of info on his site in regards to Gimp-Painter and GPS (Gimp Paint Studio) that patched Gimp to emulate Corel Painter.

Needless to say I am a Windows user and know it pretty well, but I am in the process of learning Linux.  Lucky enough there are people like David that will share the command lines that you can usually paste in Linux terminal windows which is similar to Windows cmd function.

Photoshop: How To Create Perspective Grids with Paths

Grids are essential to the digital artist to help design in perspective. In this video I use the Pen tool in Photoshop CS5 to create paths, adjust them, and stroke them to create a one point perspective grid.

Steve

IrfanView: A Free Alternative To Adobe Bridge

This is a quick tutorial showing the use of IrfanView as a free alternative to Adobe Bridge. IrfanView Thumbnails can display PSD files as thumbnails, help organize your images, display thumbnails of text files and allow for full preview of PSD files without opening Photoshop. It is a great tool for digital artists or anyone with a large library of photos.

Steve

The Post

This sketch was done with graphite and charcoal on smooth Bristol paper. I haven't done any real sketches in charcoal though I have always liked the smooth gradients and rich dark tones that I have seen others achieve. 

How To Combine Video Clips with Authoring Works 4

In this tutorial I use Authoring Works 4 to convert and combine two video clips at the same time. I have found AW4 to be very useful over the years and indispensable at times where no other application will work.

Steve