#Animation Software for iOS

[anicehomicidaltree]

Finally got around to animating the Sillies!!!

Also more priest Mind

[emeraldbabygirl]

Wait so all my apps updated or some shit and I can’t access my photos and there is literally no option in settings on any of my apps that will allows me access to my own photos. I am mad, first Picsart doesn’t let me save my MASTERPIECE AS IT WAS and now it’s not letting me save anything and I can’t post pic to anywhere even tho there is literally no option in my phone settings to allow apps to access my photos. I am so confused, how am I supposed to allow access when the button literally doesn’t exist? I suppose I could try and turn my phone off or exit all the apps but I’m afraid this phone will delete all my photos if I turn it off and I can’t lose my photos. What do?? Help!

[torrentialtorque]

I’ve been having fun trying simple animations

[tofupixel]

⭐ So you want to learn pixel art? ⭐

🔹 Part 1 of ??? - The Basics!

Edit: Now available in Google Doc format if you don't have a Tumblr account 🥰

Hello, my name is Tofu and I'm a professional pixel artist. I have been supporting myself with freelance pixel art since 2020, when I was let go from my job during the pandemic.

My progress, from 2017 to 2024. IMO the only thing that really matters is time and effort, not some kind of natural talent for art.

This guide will not be comprehensive, as nobody should be expected to read allat. Instead I will lean heavily on my own experience, and share what worked for me, so take everything with a grain of salt. This is a guide, not a tutorial. Cheers!

🔹 Do I need money?

NO!!! Pixel art is one of the most accessible mediums out there.

I still use a mouse because I prefer it to a tablet! You won't be at any disadvantage here if you can't afford the best hardware or software.

Because our canvases are typically very small, you don't need a good PC to run a good brush engine or anything like that.

✨Did you know? One of the most skilled and beloved pixel artists uses MS PAINT! Wow!!

🔹 What software should I use?

Here are some of the most popular programs I see my friends and peers using. Stars show how much I recommend the software for beginners! ⭐

💰 Paid options:

⭐⭐⭐ Aseprite (for PC) - $19.99

This is what I and many other pixel artists use. You may find when applying to jobs that they require some knowledge of Aseprite. Since it has become so popular, companies like that you can swap raw files between artists.

Aseprite is amazingly customizable, with custom skins, scripts and extensions on Itch.io, both free and paid.

If you have ever used any art software before, it has most of the same features and should feel fairly familiar to use. It features a robust animation suite and a tilemap feature, which have saved me thousands of hours of labour in my work. The software is also being updated all the time, and the developers listen to the users. I really recommend Aseprite!

⭐ Photoshop (for PC) - Monthly $$

A decent option for those who already are used to the PS interface. Requires some setup to get it ready for pixel-perfect art, but there are plenty of tutorials for doing so.

Animation is also much more tedious on PS which you may want to consider before investing time!

⭐⭐ ProMotion NG (for PC) - $19.00

An advanced and powerful software which has many features Aseprite does not, including Colour Cycling and animated tiles.

⭐⭐⭐ Pixquare (for iOS) - $7.99 - $19.99 (30% off with code 'tofu'!!)

Probably the best app available for iPad users, in active development, with new features added all the time.

Look! My buddy Jon recommends it highly, and uses it often.

One cool thing about Pixquare is that it takes Aseprite raw files! Many of my friends use it to work on the same project, both in their office and on the go.

⭐ Procreate (for iOS) - $12.99

If you have access to Procreate already, it's a decent option to get used to doing pixel art. It does however require some setup. Artist Pixebo is famously using Procreate, and they have tutorials of their own if you want to learn.

⭐⭐ ReSprite iOS and Android. (free trial, but:) $19.99 premium or $$ monthly

ReSprite is VERY similar in terms of UI to Aseprite, so I can recommend it. They just launched their Android release!

🆓 Free options:

⭐⭐⭐ Libresprite (for PC)

Libresprite is an alternative to Aseprite. It is very, very similar, to the point where documentation for Aseprite will be helpful to Libresprite users.

⭐⭐ Pixilart (for PC and mobile)

A free in-browser app, and also a mobile app! It is tied to the website Pixilart, where artists upload and share their work. A good option for those also looking to get involved in a community.

⭐⭐ Dotpict (for mobile)

Dotpict is similar to Pixilart, with a mobile app tied to a website, but it's a Japanese service. Did you know that in Japanese, pixel art is called 'Dot Art'? Dotpict can be a great way to connect with a different community of pixel artists! They also have prompts and challenges often.

🔹 So I got my software, now what?

◽Nice! Now it's time for the basics of pixel art.

❗ WAIT ❗ Before this section, I want to add a little disclaimer. All of these rules/guidelines can be broken at will, and some 'no-nos' can look amazing when done intentionally.

The pixel-art fundamentals can be exceedingly helpful to new artists, who may feel lost or overwhelmed by choice. But if you feel they restrict you too harshly, don't force yourself! At the end of the day it's your art, and you shouldn't try to contort yourself into what people think a pixel artist 'should be'. What matters is your own artistic expression. 💕👍

◽Phew! With that out of the way...

🔸"The Rules"

There are few hard 'rules' of pixel art, mostly about scaling and exporting. Some of these things will frequently trip up newbies if they aren't aware, and are easy to overlook.

🔹Scaling method

There are a couple ways of scaling your art. The default in most art programs, and the entire internet, is Bi-linear scaling, which usually works out fine for most purposes. But as pixel artists, we need a different method.

Both are scaled up x10. See the difference?

On the left is scaled using Bilinear, and on the right is using Nearest-Neighbor. We love seeing those pixels stay crisp and clean, so we use nearest-neighbor. 

(Most pixel-art programs have nearest-neighbor enabled by default! So this may not apply to you, but it's important to know.)

🔹Mixels

Mixels are when there are different (mixed) pixel sizes in the same image.

Here I have scaled up my art- the left is 200%, and the right is 150%. Yuck!

As we can see, the "pixel" sizes end up different. We generally try to scale our work by multiples of 100 - 200%, 300% etc. rather than 150%. At larger scales however, the minute differences in pixel sizes are hardly noticeable!

Mixels are also sometimes seen when an artist scales up their work, then continues drawing on it with a 1 pixel brush.

Many would say that this is not great looking! This type of pixels can be indicative of a beginner artist. But there are plenty of creative pixel artists out there who mixels intentionally, making something modern and cool.

🔹Saving Your Files

We usually save our still images as .PNGs as they don’t create any JPEG artifacts or loss of quality. It's a little hard to see here, but there are some artifacts, and it looks a little blurry. It also makes the art very hard to work with if we are importing a JPEG.

For animations .GIF is good, but be careful of the 256 colour limit. Try to avoid using too many blending mode layers or gradients when working with animations. If you aren’t careful, your animation could flash afterwards, as the .GIF tries to reduce colours wherever it can. It doesn’t look great!

Here's an old piece from 2021 where I experienced .GIF lossiness, because I used gradients and transparency, resulting in way too many colours.

🔹Pixel Art Fundamentals - Techniques and Jargon

❗❗Confused about Jaggies? Anti-Aliasing? Banding? Dithering? THIS THREAD is for you❗❗ << it's a link, click it!!

As far as I'm concerned, this is THE tutorial of all time for understanding pixel art. These are techniques created and named by the community of people who actually put the list together, some of the best pixel artists alive currently. Please read it!!

🔸How To Learn

Okay, so you have your software, and you're all ready to start. But maybe you need some more guidance? Try these tutorials and resources! It can be helpful to work along with a tutorial until you build your confidence up.

⭐⭐ Pixel Logic (A Digital Book) - $10 A very comprehensive visual guide book by a very skilled and established artist in the industry. I own a copy myself.

⭐⭐⭐ StudioMiniBoss - free A collection of visual tutorials, by the artist that worked on Celeste! When starting out, if I got stuck, I would go and scour his tutorials and see how he did it.

⭐ Lospec Tutorials - free A very large collection of various tutorials from all over the internet. There is a lot to sift through here if you have the time.

⭐⭐⭐ Cyangmou's Tutorials - free (tipping optional) Cyangmou is one of the most respected and accomplished modern pixel artists, and he has amassed a HUGE collection of free and incredibly well-educated visual tutorials. He also hosts an educational stream every week on Twitch called 'pixelart for beginners'.

⭐⭐⭐ Youtube Tutorials - free There are hundreds, if not thousands of tutorials on YouTube, but it can be tricky to find the good ones. My personal recommendations are MortMort, Brandon, and AdamCYounis- these guys really know what they're talking about!

🔸 How to choose a canvas size

When looking at pixel art turorials, we may see people suggest things like 16x16, 32x32 and 64x64. These are standard sizes for pixel art games with tiles. However, if you're just making a drawing, you don't necessarily need to use a standard canvas size like that.

What I like to think about when choosing a canvas size for my illustrations is 'what features do I think it is important to represent?' And make my canvas as small as possible, while still leaving room for my most important elements.

Imagine I have characters in a scene like this:

I made my canvas as small as possible (232 x 314), but just big enough to represent the features and have them be recognizable (it's Good Omens fanart 😤)!! If I had made it any bigger, I would be working on it for ever, due to how much more foliage I would have to render.

If you want to do an illustration and you're not sure, just start at somewhere around 100x100 - 200x200 and go from there.

It's perfectly okay to crop your canvas, or scale it up, or crunch your art down at any point if you think you need a different size. I do it all the time! It only takes a bit of cleanup to get you back to where you were.

🔸Where To Post

Outside of just regular socials, Twitter, Tumblr, Deviantart, Instagram etc, there are a few places that lean more towards pixel art that you might not have heard of.

⭐ Lospec Lospec is a low-res focused art website. Some pieces get given a 'monthly masterpiece' award. Not incredibly active, but I believe there are more features being added often.

⭐⭐ Pixilart Pixilart is a very popular pixel art community, with an app tied to it. The community tends to lean on the young side, so this is a low-pressure place to post with an relaxed vibe.

⭐⭐ Pixeljoint Pixeljoint is one of the big, old-school pixel art websites. You can only upload your art unscaled (1x) because there is a built-in zoom viewer. It has a bit of a reputation for being elitist (back in the 00s it was), but in my experience it's not like that any more. This is a fine place for a pixel artist to post if they are really interested in learning, and the history. The Hall of Fame has some of the most famous / impressive pixel art pieces that paved the way for the work we are doing today.

⭐⭐⭐ Cafe Dot Cafe Dot is my art server so I'm a little biased here. 🍵 It was created during the recent social media turbulence. We wanted a place to post art with no algorithms, and no NFT or AI chuds. We have a heavy no-self-promotion rule, and are more interested in community than skill or exclusivity. The other thing is that we have some kind of verification system- you must apply to be a Creator before you can post in the Art feed, or use voice. This helps combat the people who just want to self-promo and dip, or cause trouble, as well as weed out AI/NFT people. Until then, you are still welcome to post in any of the threads or channels. There is a lot to do in Cafe Dot. I host events weekly, so check the threads!

⭐⭐/r/pixelart The pixel art subreddit is pretty active! I've also heard some of my friends found work through posting here, so it's worth a try if you're looking. However, it is still Reddit- so if you're sensitive to rude people, or criticism you didn't ask for, you may want to avoid this one. Lol

🔸 Where To Find Work

You need money? I got you! As someone who mostly gets scouted on social media, I can share a few tips with you:

Put your email / portfolio in your bio Recruiters don't have all that much time to find artists, make it as easy as possible for someone to find your important information!

Clean up your profile If your profile feed is all full of memes, most people will just tab out rather than sift through. Doesn't apply as much to Tumblr if you have an art tag people can look at.

Post regularly, and repost Activity beats everything in the social media game. It's like rolling the dice, and the more you post the more chances you have. You have to have no shame, it's all business baby

Outside of just posting regularly and hoping people reach out to you, it can be hard to know where to look. Here are a few places you can sign up to and post around on.

/r/INAT INAT (I Need A Team) is a subreddit for finding a team to work with. You can post your portfolio here, or browse for people who need artists.

/r/GameDevClassifieds Same as above, but specifically for game-related projects.

Remote Game Jobs / Work With Indies Like Indeed but for game jobs. Browse them often, or get email notifications.

VGen VGen is a website specifically for commissions. You need a code from another verified artist before you can upgrade your account and sell, so ask around on social media or ask your friends. Once your account is upgraded, you can make a 'menu' of services people can purchase, and they send you an offer which you are able to accept, decline, or counter.

The evil websites of doom: Fiverr and Upwork I don't recommend them!! They take a big cut of your profit, and the sites are teeming with NFT and AI people hoping to make a quick buck. The site is also extremely oversaturated and competitive, resulting in a race to the bottom (the cheapest, the fastest, doing the most for the least). Imagine the kind of clients who go to these websites, looking for the cheapest option. But if you're really desperate...

🔸 Community

I do really recommend getting involved in a community. Finding like-minded friends can help you stay motivated to keep drawing. One day, those friends you met when you were just starting out may become your peers in the industry. Making friends is a game changer!

Discord servers Nowadays, the forums of old are mostly abandoned, and people split off into many different servers. Cafe Dot, Pixel Art Discord (PAD), and if you can stomach scrolling past all the AI slop, you can browse Discord servers here.

Twitch Streams Twitch has kind of a bad reputation for being home to some of the more edgy gamers online, but the pixel art community is extremely welcoming and inclusive. Some of the people I met on Twitch are my friends to this day, and we've even worked together on different projects! Browse pixel art streams here, or follow some I recommend: NickWoz, JDZombi, CupOhJoe, GrayLure, LumpyTouch, FrankiePixelShow, MortMort, Sodor, NateyCakes, NyuraKim, ShinySeabass, I could go on for ever really... There are a lot of good eggs on Pixel Art Twitch.

🔸 Other Helpful Websites

Palettes Lospec has a huge collection of user-made palettes, for any artist who has trouble choosing their colours, or just wants to try something fun. Rejected Palettes is full of palettes that didn't quite make it onto Lospec, ran by people who believe there are no bad colours.

The Spriters Resource TSR is an incredible website where users can upload spritesheets and tilesets from games. You can browse for your favourite childhood game, and see how they made it! This website has helped me so much in understanding how game assets come together in a scene.

VGMaps Similar to the above, except there are entire maps laid out how they would be played. This is incredible if you have to do level design, or for mocking up a scene for fun.

Game UI Database Not pixel-art specific, but UI is a very challenging part of graphics, so this site can be a game-changer for finding good references!

Retronator A digital newspaper for pixel-art lovers! New game releases, tutorials, and artworks!

Itch.io A website where people can upload, games, assets, tools... An amazing hub for game devs and game fans alike. A few of my favourite tools: Tiled, PICO-8, Pixel Composer, Juice FX, Magic Pencil for Aseprite

🔸 The End?

This is just part 1 for now, so please drop me a follow to see any more guides I release in the future. I plan on doing some writeups on how I choose colours, how to practise, and more!

I'm not an expert by any means, but everything I did to get to where I am is outlined in this guide. Pixel art is my passion, my job and my hobby! I want pixel art to be recognized everywhere as an art-form, a medium of its own outside of game-art or computer graphics!

This guide took me a long time, and took a lot of research and experience. Consider following me or supporting me if you are feeling generous.

And good luck to all the fledgling pixel artists, I hope you'll continue and have fun. I hope my guide helped you, and don't hesitate to send me an ask if you have any questions! 💕

My other tutorials (so far): How to draw Simple Grass for a game Hue Shifting

[zapperrr]

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[oililylou]

Omg hi hi, I just wanted to start this off by saying that I love you art so so much (I love the way you draw Caitvi with a passion). But, the other thing I was wondering is what do you draw on and with?

I’ve been really interested in trying to draw digit art (having to start on phone right now) and I’d really appreciate some advice on what to buy to get something like this or atleast make it easier!

Love your art again, thank you so much!

hi !!! tysm 🥺💖

i use an ipad pro 12.9 inches with gen 2 apple pen, this one is kind of expensive but you can find a lot of similar tablets for a more affordable price !!

i definitely recommend having those kinds of device because you can draw everywhere without having to connect it to a pc !! i personally draw on it whenever i'm on a bus or train, in class or even when i'm at the tea shop with my friends :)

for software I use procreate (only available for ios and it costs around 15$ now I think??, but it's a one time payment) but it's (in my opinion) easy to use and you can also animate with it which is very cool !!

for phone, i'd recommend ibis paint, the free version already gives you a lot of cool tools and i myself uses it sometimes when i want to draw and have nothing else but my phone

i don't have a lot of experiences when it comes to tablets you can connect to pc, but if you're looking for those i think xppen is a well appreciated brand ?

okay last thing i can advise you, once you start digital art, make sure to take the time to really explore everything your software has to offer, watch tutorials, look for the shortcuts, for tips etc... to this day i still find new tricks on procreate that could have helped me a lot before haha

hope this helped a little !!

[marxistfurry]

Pinned Post

Side Blog: https://somethingdifferent.wordpress.com/

Software Projects (Fallen Star/Marxist Furry)

Completed Projects 

Reddit 

A simple picture posting reddit iphone app. A Computer Science University Project at Weber State University for an ios/iphone development class. It uses the reddit api for logging into an account to upload a photo to imgur and posting it to a user defined subredit. It also finds all the images on a subreddit and displays them in a list where the user can click ont one of the items in the list and it will display the image 

https://github.com/ballju/iReddit

In Progress 

Fallen Star 

Converting Gamemaker School Project from Gamemaker 8 to Godot 

Playlist Transfer 

Transfers Playlists from streaming apps from one service to another. Using C# and .Net framework. It will be a console application.

Mood Tracker 

Open-source daily journal and daily tracking of both mood and other important things. 

Avatar Sim 

Choose your own adventure based on JC’s Avatar 

ADHD Tracker

(Private Github Repo for now) An time tracker that using Android TTS to help those with poor time management to keep on track storing tasks by priority

DBT Diary Card

(Private Github Repo for now) An application for generating dbt diary cards for thearpy and personal tracking

videowyrm

A fork of a decentralized movie/tv/anime social tracker based on a book tracking app

Frequently Used Tags

For most of the posts the were posted by me its #original post 

#journal

#history #socialism 

#song lyrics   #song of the day   #metal #music   #Bandcamp 

#hg wells   #old movies   #colorized   #youtube movies   #Youtube

#movies

#open source   #linux   #computer #piracy #tech

#video games #mods   #quake 

[thatskindarough]

Oh it was only 3 actually, counting that one animatic on YouTube (that BTW i had no idea was yours! I was pleasantly surprised <3)

And I found it so funny that you have somewhat an idea of who I might be PFFF you can throw the guess, it would be funny if you get it right (don't have to say my name if you don't remember it, you can just go for something you remember NFKDSJ)

also time for an actual question since i'm already here, what program did you used for the animatic? I've always wanted to get into animating but most softwares cost money or are free but really bad so I could use some recommendations 👀

Good to hear there is no imposter lol. I should probably start using the false pfp so people know it’s me but I’m too lazy to change them all 💀 also my guess was right as to who you were but probably mainly because I put on my Aziraphale detective hat and you were the last notification before the ask inbox notification and your icon had a red beanie. We meet once again.

As for the animatic I used procreate for drawing and capecut for composting. Not the most efficient method but I liked it. I ended up segmenting off each camera angle into a different canvas and making any animation for the shot that way. I love capecut because the free version has every editing function you need for an animatic and the watermark only appears as a black screen at the end so it’s so easy to crop out. It’s probably the best free editing software I’ve found. (I also used a screen recording device to record the audio cause even if you buy a song it sometimes doesn’t allow you to put it in the program.)

I honestly recommend procreate if you have a device that supports it. I think it’s still only a 10 dollar onetime purchase. But if you don’t have a device that supports it, I have used things like flip a clip which is free, and the paid version is pretty cheap. I have also dabbled in an app called rough animate, also free (you don’t have to pay for the onion skins) which was also okay. I got frustrated cause of the lack of brush choice but other than that it’s not bad at all. If you can’t pay anything at all I’d recommend this because, unlike flip a clip, you don’t have to pay to unlock the a lot of the really helpful features. Ibis paint also added an animation feature I think so that’s an option. Idk if you need the paid version for it, but I remember only having to watch ads for a minute to unlock all the brushes so maybe it’s the same for the animation feature lol.

If you have a computer set up, I’ve also heard nice things about Krita for animation. It’s free and from what I remember it had a really good timeline set up. I actually tried to use it, but my computer at the time was old and slow and it lagged to much, and then I had a shitty no screen tablet and my hand eye coordination when it came to drawing and writing is quite bad, so it just wasn’t a good set up for me personally. But I know people make it work. I mean, people make this kinda shit in MS paint, if you’re dedicated enough you can technically do it in almost any program (though you may not be able to make it as polished as you’d like.)

Then there is Clip Studio Paint, which does cost money but is way less expensive than like, harmony or adobe. The EX version which gives you a second of free animation per project is a $5 monthly subscription for once device, PC MaC IOS, and the Pro version (which is more expensive) gives you unlimited animation animation access for I believe around 10 -15 dollars a month (still less than most streaming services lol). There’s also a one time purchase version that is $50 dollars, but it goes on sale A LOT for $25! Although I don’t think it gives you more than a second of animation. CSP also has a very long free trial period, for EX it was legit like 3 months. so if you try it out and like it, I’d definitely suggest finding a way to pay for it. It’s actually used in some professional studios in Japan, so if you have any professional aims for your work it’s a good starting platform to get into industry software. However a lot of the nice things CSP offers for animation are not needed in the story boarding/animatic stage, so if that’s as far as you wanna take your animations it maaaaaaay not be worth it unless you love it.

If anyone else has other cheap or free recommendations feel free to add on. I have attempted to make animatics on procreate, rough animate, and flip a clip; all of which I have uncompleted projects on. It just so happens that procreate is what I was using when I finally made an animatic I liked enough to see until completion. Whatever software you do use, just make sure you learn how to use it before attempting a big project. Do some smaller stuff before you try anything big.

Edit to check the comments! We got other good recommendations for computers!

[keitaiware]

📁 Interview 004: "Voicebank configuration on MacOS." ft. chevrefee

Today's topic is something we've covered on this blog before in my voicebank configuration tutorial series! In my tutorial series we go over the basics of configuring your first CV-VV voicebank on MacOS. After practicing the fundamentals, you can explore other configuration types for UTAU. Our guest with us today is Chevrefee who specializes in C+V English voice banks! There are many ways to record an English voicebank. This format is more compact than the standard VCCV English configuration, which is daunting for most users. If you are interested in configuring an English UTAU, Chevrefee has a detailed tutorial on their C+V method, I will link that below if you would like to read more about it.

Q. To start off this interview, please introduce yourself and your work!

Chev: With pleasure, I'm Chevrefee, an animator and creator for UTAUs Ceta and Veria! People might know me best for my C+V English voicebanks and tutorial, since I've been dedicating a lot of time to promote the format.

Your materials on C+V English are incredible! I have watched through your tutorial on it and would love to make a voicebank some day! In today's interview, we will be discussing this subject more.

Q. For our first question, how long have you been doing UTAU for?

Chev: Thank you for your enthusiasm!! I've only been doing UTAU for only a little more than a year, but I have been using other vocal synthesizers for 2 years at this point!

Ah really? That's really impressive as you know so much already!! UTAU is a very expansive format as its very customizable.

Q. What other synthesizers do you have experience in?

Chev: I mostly used Synthesizer V prior to using UTAU! I loved creating designs for the mascot-less voicebanks and I realized that I loved that customizable aspect of it, so moving on to creating UTAUs was somewhat expected.

Ah! I went through your website and was looking through your SynthesizerV designs, I love them so much!! It's nice having a face to attach to the character's voice, my favorite out of them would be Ryo as I love characters with glasses.

Q. Returning UTAU, before we discuss anything on voicebank creation, I am curious to hear what your workflow on MacOS is like! I want to share the process with the audience so its not from my own experience.

Chev: I exclusively use OpenUTAU, RecStar and VLabeler for my UTAU works! I record the samples on my iOS Recstar and a USB microphone, oto in VLabeler and tune in OpenUTAU ( sometimes doing both at the same time ), and then I move on to Adobe Audition to mix and bring it all together! Seems like an odd choice for a DAW (since its barely one) but I mainly use Audition for its compatibility with other Adobe software, since I also create my MVs there! I also use Audition to clean my samples since there's a batch processing option.

Its so cool hearing someone take advantage of UTAU mainly on MacOS that's not me! I'm pretty much the same except I do most of my OTOing inside of UTAU-Synth! Can't break the habit as I've been working in there for 7 years now. OpenUTAU, VLabeler, and Recstar changed everything on MacOS when they released. We finally had proper applications for bank creation. So I feel like as someone on MacOS you got into UTAU in the golden era! (haha) I've got a few friends who use Adobe Audition, and I've used it once myself! Couldn't exactly navigate it well, but my friends who do use it make it look like a piece of cake. There are no batch export options for Garageband, and for UTAU, batch exporting is a very crucial feature.

Q. For our next question in bank creation, what are your recommendations for beginners in terms of recording and hardware?

Chev: I feel the same way! I feel really lucky that I got into UTAU when its at its most accessible for MacOS users, especially since I upgraded to a Mac Silicon device and lost access to Windows Bootcamp. For beginners I would recommend familiarizing using RecStar! I would suggest using the iOS or Android version of it especially if the user is recording in their bedroom space. I found that using a phone helps manage the space better when I stuff myself into a closet to record ( classic UTAU experience ). I think users should prioritize their comfort first when they record for a first time - Just relax, drink enough water before and during recording, and record something that's within comfortable talking or singing range. I would recommend recording a Japanese CV just to learn the ropes of UTAU recording! For hardware, I recommend podcast mics for a very budget friendly option! I use a Maono AU-PM360TR Condenser Mic to record all my voicebanks. I found that the usual recommended mics for UTAU ( namely the Blue Yeti ) can be way out of budget for a lot of people, especially in Southeast Asia (where I come from). I think a budget podcast mic is very much usable and can stand up against other more expensive microphones! I would also suggest having a pop filter to tame all those little nasty plosives. ( I DIY-ed mine with a sock and hangers! ) If users have access to a recording studio (perhaps a bookable mini studio from their college/university) I would also highly recommend using those resources as they usually have better equipment that's free to use.

Its really unfortunate the loss of features with every update. In my previous interview we discussed alternatives to Windows Bootcamp for MacOS Silicon devices! I would record on Recstar using my iPad… I will take note of this for myself! For beginner configuration, I made a complete tutorial series for getting started with your first JP CV-VV voicebank. That will be linked here.

Voicebank Configuration Series. . .

https://keitaiware.com/post/763148617255092224/macos-utau-voicebank-configuration-series

What my tutorials did not have were thorough hardware recommendations. I do not own a studio mic and record my voicebanks on a pair of Apple auxiliary earbuds. So these were very good recommendations! Outside of the UTAU scene, I have heard many topics on the Blue Yeti being difficult for beginners to use as well. I had asked my friend who is fascinated with audio engineering about mics before, and has recommended XLR mics. So I did mention those, but you would need an external audio interface to route them to your computer, which means, you cannot use them with Recstar. So the mic recommendation you gave is very appreciated! DIY pop filter sounds like a nice way to save money! Socks and a wire coat hanger would do very nicely, anything to absorb the sound before the mic. I do believe I mentioned renting a recording space too! If you live near a rentable recording space I highly recommend that as well.

Q. For our next question, how did you discover C+V and go about making your C+V English tutorial?

Chev: Earbuds!! I wasn't aware of the Blue Yeti's difficulty especially with the external audio interface. Glad I avoided buying that for my first mic… The way I discovered C+V is honestly somewhat funny - I actually discovered it in an oto commission list! At that time I was planning my second voicebank, Veria, and I looked around to see who I could commission for her oto. My frequent oto-er and current collaborator for my C+V English projects, Biggity Boy, had C+V English listed as one of the available formats he could oto. I tried to find any sort of info on the format but all I could find was an entry in the UTAU wiki that basically said "This is a joke format." with no reclist or anything. So I was like 'well that's kind of interesting.' The problem with English UTAU voicebanks to me was always the immense workload that comes with creating it, and I took a wild guess and expected C+V English to be the easiest way to record and English voicebank. I asked Biggity for the reclist and oto, and it all started from there! It's hard to imagine that all of my work wouldn't happen if I didn't take a look at Biggity's commissions list. Veria's beta tests were seen by a lot more people than I expected, and I held a poll asking if people wanted a tutorial for creating C+V English voicebanks. The poll ended with an overwhelming positive response, so I sought out to create the tutorial! An extensive tutorial was very much needed apart from the usual UTAU recording and otoing tutorial since prior to Cadlaxa's involvement with the dedicated phonemizer, C+V English relied on the EN ARPA phonemizer, and users needed to jump through extra optimization to use the voicebanks. 3 Months and tons of contributors and beta testers later, the tutorial has since been regularly updated with user feedback, and a refined tutorial via the upcoming website is being worked on! None of this could've happened without the hard work of contributors.

I remember looking into C+V after discovering your work, I do believe the wiki said that at the time of me reading it as well! Since your work on C+V English, I believe the reputation of the configuration has evolved completely since Veria's release. The Shelter cover (Link), showcasing Veria's voice left a long lasting impression on me! When it comes to resources in the UTAU community, they always catch my eye. This is souly because at the time when I started 7 years ago, there were no resources for MacOS and it lead to me frequenting the UTAforum. I started getting back into UTAU, with two other friends about two years ago? But one of those friends was a Mac user as well, and he was struggling to find resources. That's what lead up to me launching this blog! Your tutorials were very well put together, as I have not dabbled into video format, but aside from being insightful it was very fun to watch! Its absolutely brilliant. This being said, I hope more people are inspired to share what the create and know by seeing creatives like yourself!

Chev: I'm very aware of your work!! The Keitaiware blog is such a vital resource for MacOS users, especially for UTAU-Synth users! Just yesterday I sent an entry from your blog to someone trying to troubleshoot a problem with UTAU-Synth since I wasn't well versed at all with it. Truly it is my go-to resource when I need to troubleshoot the software. And thank you!! The video is more of a way to get more eyes on the written tutorial than anything, but I'm glad people enjoyed my editing :D

Q. To finish up this interview, do you have any future plans with your vocal synth work?

Chev: I have a lot in my cards at the moment with vocal synth work, but I'm currently finishing up work on a voicebank I recorded a year ago when I got an illness that made my voice drop into a Tenor male range!! Here's a preview of his work in progress artwork and voice.

I'm also heavily involved with IDN100%, a group that specializes in Indonesian UTAU synthesis, and we are working hard for our 2025 release!!

How exciting!! The project is looking super professional so far, I am rooting for the team to meet their deadlines!! I haven't seen many UTAUs with a knight motif, the armor is very well drawn! If you don't mind sharing some details, what is his name?

Chev: I'm thinking of sticking with Nisegane Julian, (偽金 ジュリアン ) - Nisegane being fake or fools gold, since I'm planning on this character to like flaunting and be full of himself while being a coward. I'm so glad you heard of IDN100%, thank you for your support!

Nisegane Julian is such a clever name.. fools gold to reflect his vain personality, I love that! I can't wait to see your current projects come to fruition Chev, these are very exciting! That concludes our interview for today, if you would like to see more of Chevrefee's work, C+V English tutorials, and are interested in the IDN100% project. All materials will be linked below. Thank you for sharing your time with the KEITAIWARE project today!

Bsky: https://bsky.app/profile/chevrefee.bsky.social Chevrefee’s Resources: https://chevrefee.wordpress.com/ C+V English Tutorial: https://youtube.com/watch?v=jeDmqo0wwkU&ab_channel=chevrefee IDN 100%: https://twitter.com/UTAU_IDN100

[mamul774]

Rush Animation meme

This was made as a practice for Toonsquid and AfterEffects

Since it is difficult to master the AfterEffects, the steps of Tween and frame-by-frame animation will be done with ToonSquid. It's easier to use and less work(I love this app sm)

The ears and hair were drawn using the path tool, and I use control point keyframes to tweening like mesh deformationIt's not a very practical method...I'm looking forward to the new update of ToonSquid

Since I got the opportunity to use Adobe products thanks to college. it would be a shame not to use this software, so I should practice more😔

original:https://youtu.be/ofmUt3Tu0Rw?si=MtHSfrgQMcCaA7CE

https://youtu.be/ofmUt3Tu0Rw?si=MtHSfrgQMcCaA7CE

Track: Wubbaduck - Rush [NCS Release] Music provided by NoCopyrightSounds. Watch more NCS on YouTube: https://NCS. Ink.to/You... Free Download /Stream: https://ncs. io/RushFreeDL

[adarkrainbow]

Lost media quest: H&G Epic Tales (part 3)

Last time I ended my post while exploring the defunct epictales.com website. There was one page of this website (preserved in the Wayback Machine) that I did not add in this post: the About page.

The About page not only describes the Epic Tales line, but also lists the full staff that worked on this project. Here is what the website contains:

EPIC TALES™ is a developer and publisher of interactive storybooks for the iOS platform. EPIC TALES presents its own unique interactive adaptation of the imaginative and magical stories found in fairytales, folklore and world mythology.

All of our tales are narrated by our central storyteller, a most likeable dwarf named Silvertongue who used his magic to let our books and stories come to life. Each storybook offers stunning hand-drawn animations, a revamped storyline, original music scores, and spellbinding interactive environments that are sure to draw readers deep into the story.

EPIC TALES allows you to not only enjoy magical worlds and enchanting tales, but to experience them more closely than ever before.

We, the people at EPIC TALES, are always inspired by stories that fuel our ideas and imagination. We are storytellers, animators, and composers that gladly indulge ourselves in folklore, mythology, and the many tales and stories that have captured our imagination for generations. The result is a talented team of people driven to create original storybooks that are filled with whimsical characters, spellbinding environments, and interactive surprises. By combining creativity with technology, and talent with expertise, we hope to constantly produce exciting tales that bring every page to life. EPIC TALES is a joint venture between Cloud Castle Interactive and Anikey studios.

EPIC TALES Paul Hanraets, Founder of EPIC TALES and producer

Albert ‘t Hooft, Partner and creative director

Paco Vink, Partner and lead artist, animator

TEAM MEMBERS Lou Attia, Narrator and voice actor

Martin van Spanje, Software engineer

Joost van den Broek, Music composer

Arjen Schut, Sound designer

Sjan Weijers, Background clean-up artist

David Muchtar, Animator

Jelle Brunt, Animator

Ruben Zaalberg, Animator

The website also briefly offers descriptions/curriculum of the staff members:

Paul Hanraets Paul Hanraets has been a creative entrepreneur since 2002 when he co-founded Red Road Media, a media agency specialized in video games. Successful projects undertaken by Red Road include: Benelux largest annual game event Gamexpo, the tv show GAME FACTS broadcasted by TMF/MTV and the freely distributed game magazine Games Guide. In 2008 Paul founded Cloud Castle Interactive and was involved in the development of smaller game projects which further awakened his passion for the creative industry. As an immediate result Paul founded EPIC TALES, a developer of interactive storybooks for IOS and GAMBITIOUS an equity based crowdfunding platform dedicated to the games industry.

Albert ‘t Hooft & Paco Vink Albert 't Hooft and Paco Vink both studied traditional animation at the Willem de Kooning Art Academy in Rotterdam before they founded Anikey Studios in 2007. Anikey is an award winning animation studio which specialises in hand drawn 2D digital animation. Anikey creates independent and commissioned animations for television, films and games which have an emphasis on story, characters and fun. Anikey's first two independent films 'Paul & the Dragon' and 'Little Quentin' won several awards at international film festivals. In addition on working on the new EPIC TALES titles, Anikey is developing the first hand drawn animated feature film in the Netherlands since 30 years.

Lou Attia Working with the likes of Disney and Sesame Street, Lou Attia has been a professional voice-over artist for over 15 years. After studying professional vocals in London, England, Lou landed a radio host position at 104.2 Nile FM in Cairo, Egypt where he became Creative Director and then Program Director of the station. Throughout his seven years on the air, during which his morning show went on to be the No.1 listened to radio show in a city of 16 million, Lou continued to do voice-overs for numerous commercials, shows and features. In 2010 Lou moved to Toronto, Canada where he is currently a full time voice-over artist, writer and TV show host.

Martin van Spanje Currently co-owner of LayerGloss Digital Publishing, Martin used to program and design on 8-bit Sinclair machines in the eighties. Then came Macs, digital audio, ten years of IT-projects and finally, iOS. Nowadays he lives his life surrounded by Objective-C code, and he sometimes thinks cornflakes look a bit like people. Oh, and he doesn't do Twitter.

Joost van den Broek Joost van den Broek is a producer, composer, arranger and keyboardplayer based in Tilburg, The Netherlands. Starting out as a keyboardplayer for several metalbands like After Forever touring all over the world, he finished his conservatory with honour in musicproduction, keyboards and classical arrangement. Since then he been working as a freelancer in his own studio on several productions, compositions and arrangements, for acts/events like: Ellen ten Damme, Symphonica in Rosso, Wende Snijders, Games in Concert, Ben Saunders, Qlimax. Epic moviescores and/or/in combination with (pop/alternative)rock is what defines his style the most.

Arjen Schut Arjen Schut is a sound designer based in Hilversum, The Netherlands. As a freelancer Arjen has worked on numerous projects, both on location and in his own studio. Arjen is involved in sound effect creation for all sorts of media, but has a strong focus on interactive and animation projects. International blockbuster Killzone 3 being one of the larger projects.

I have taken upon myself to contact some of these artists, just in case they were open about talking or sharing information about the animation they worked onto. Is it a bad idea, or a good one? I don't know but that's the most straightforward direction one can take. I will warn you if I ever receive any response, positive or negative.

I forgot to link before the official page, on the Anikey Animation website, for their work on Hansel and Gretel - Epic Tales. Not only does it contain large, high-quality screenshots of the artwork, but their "Production" page also has one concept art for the storybook. They also list the credits of the app as such:

Title: Epic Tales - Hansel & Gretel

Release: 2012

Directed by: Albert 't Hooft & Paco Vink

Animation by: Jelle Brunt, David Muchtar & Ruben Zaalberg

Backgrounds by: Paco Vink & Sjan Weijers

Music by: Joost van den Broek

Sounddesign by: Arjen van der Schut

Producer(s): Paul Hanraets for Cloud Castle Interactive

AppAdvice still has a page dedicated to the application. There is also a review by the MacTrast website that is quite interesting because, while today the pictures contained within it are "dead files", in the Wayback Machine you can fetch them back, and they are pretty rare screenshots of the game! Here's an additional Dutch article I forgot to add earlier. Again, not much to add since they all basically just announce the game's release and rephrase the storybook's commercial description.

I also don't think I have added this to my previous posts, but Cartoon Brew also had a page for the app's launching, which contained this text:

The Hague, the Netherlands — April 24, 2012 — Hansel and Gretel – Epic Tales animated storybook is the first in a series of tales as told by Silvertongue, the likeable dwarf and storyteller, and is now available on the Appstore for IPad and IPhone.

Hansel and Gretel – Epic Tales animated storybook offers a world filled with whimsical characters ranging from pesky gnomes to witty dwarfs; from brave children to wicked stepmothers and cunning witches.

“But we are not just another fairytale App,” says Paul Hanraets, founder and producer. “What sets Epic Tales apart from other storybooks are the incredible production values. Each of Epic Tales storybooks are digitally hand-drawn by our award winning animators, and offer stunning 2d animations, professional voice acting, original music scores and ambient sounds by game industry veterans. These elements combined offer spellbinding interactive environments that are sure to draw readers even deeper into the story.”

“Of course, our alternating witty and wacky humour and the high quality of our animations are amongst the things that separates Hansel and Gretel from other storybooks,” says creative director Albert ‘t Hooft.”However, what ultimately distinguishes Epic Tales is the implementation of our central storyteller, Silvertongue the dwarf.” Using the magic of pesky gnomes, Silvertongue brings the stories to life and narrates them.”Silvertongue used to be quite the adventurer, travelling the world in search of the most intriguing tales and stories, and now looks after your storybook collection in his humble bookstore. He is a truly gifted storyteller who can take an audience from a gasp of fright to a roar of laughter in just the twist of a phrase.”

Epic Tales is a series of high quality, interactive fairytales that allows you to not only enjoy enchanting tales, but to experience their magical worlds more closely than ever before. Children will love the sense of wonder and discovery,while adults will certainly appreciate the clever and wacky humor.

A final piece to add to the dossier so far is Muchtar Productions' page for Hansel and Gretel - Epic Tales. Muchtar Production is the WordPress website of David Muchtar, a 2D animator and illustrator who worked on the Epic Tales animation as a (I quote) "Rough and Clean-up animator". He notably put within his portfolio an important number of concept art for the game's character designs. But, as with last time, I will keep it for the NEXT post!

Or... an almost final piece. I wanted to keep this for a much later post, but I ultimately decided to share it here. I vaguely described before one unofficial source for content about "Hansel and Gretel - Epic Tales". And that is an online review, a Youtube video, by a Youtuber named "Crazy Mike" specializing in app reviews. Here is the video, and the reason why this video is important (beyond it being the last remaining video review - unless I manage to get back the one from the defunct website) is because so far it is the only visual recording we have of the app outside of the trailers. Not only that, but at one point Crazy Mike opens the list of chapters within the app - which gives us a full glimpse of the story's main episodes, with thumbnails of each "tableau". Mind you, it is tiny details at the bottom of the screen so we can't get much of it... But with all the additional material I gathered, it will be a key element in my reconstruction of what the storybook looked like and was about.

[pivziksixdude]

A short animation I just put together. Link's Fuse ability is great!

Unfortunately the quality is a bit rubbish because I was not able to use my video editing software, so I had to use my iOS screen recorder to record the animation, and iMovie for iOS for the sound editing.

FREESOUND CREDITS: https://freesound.org/people/CeebFrack/sounds/132593/ (sped up by 2x) https://freesound.org/people/RunnerPack/sounds/87043/ https://freesound.org/people/EminYILDIRIM/sounds/551080/

Made with Aseprite v1.3.5. Permission is not required to use, but credit is greatly appreciated. Thank you!

[harshtechseo]

Top 10+ Free Forum Posting Sites List for 2024

In the digital age, where connections are made with a click and conversations span continents, online forums remain a cornerstone of the internet community.

These virtual gathering places serve as hubs of discussion, information exchange, and camaraderie for individuals with shared interests. Whether you're seeking advice, sharing knowledge, or simply engaging in lively debates, forums offer a platform where voices can be heard and connections can be forged. In this ever-evolving landscape, here are ten free forum posting sites that stand out as beacons of community in 2024.

1. Proko

Website: Proko

Artists and art enthusiasts converge on Proko's forum, where discussions range from technique tips to critique sessions, fostering a supportive community of creatives.

2. Rocket Software

Website: Rocket Software

With a focus on technology and software development, Rocket Software's forum provides a platform for professionals to share insights, troubleshoot issues, and collaborate on projects.

3. Roomstyler

Website: Roomstyler

Interior design aficionados gather on Roomstyler's forum to exchange ideas, showcase their designs, and seek inspiration for their next home decor project.

4. Ads of the World

Website: Ads of the World

Marketers, advertisers, and creative minds converge on Ads of the World's forum to dissect the latest ad campaigns, share industry insights, and brainstorm ideas for future projects.

5. RoutineHub

Website: RoutineHub

Developers and enthusiasts of iOS shortcuts gather on RoutineHub's forum to share their creations, troubleshoot issues, and collaborate on new shortcut ideas to streamline daily tasks.

6. Reddcoin Wiki

Website: Reddcoin Wiki

Crypto enthusiasts and supporters of Reddcoin engage in discussions on the Reddcoin Wiki forum, sharing news, updates, and insights into the world of digital currencies and blockchain technology.

7. Plaza Pública CDMX

Website: Plaza Pública CDMX

Citizens of Mexico City gather on Plaza Pública CDMX's forum to discuss local issues, share resources, and organize community events, fostering civic engagement and participation.

8. Kitsu

Website: Kitsu

Anime and manga fans unite on Kitsu's forum to discuss their favorite series, recommend new titles, and connect with like-minded individuals who share their passion for Japanese pop culture.

9. Glitch

Website: Glitch

Developers and creators converge on Glitch's forum to share coding tips, troubleshoot issues, and collaborate on projects using Glitch's collaborative coding platform.

10. Product Hunt

Website: Product Hunt

Entrepreneurs, innovators, and tech enthusiasts gather on Product Hunt's forum to discover and discuss the latest products, apps, and startups making waves in the digital world.

In a world where digital connections often feel fleeting and ephemeral, online forums offer a sense of community and belonging that transcends geographical boundaries. Whether you're a seasoned professional seeking to expand your network or a hobbyist looking to connect with others who share your passions, these free forum posting sites provide a platform where voices can be heard, ideas can be exchanged, and meaningful connections can be forged. So dive in, join the conversation, and become a part of the vibrant online communities that define the internet landscape in 2024.

[virtualtreepeach-blog]

Kids Story Creator (PLR) “Top Trending Animated Video Creator”

Kids’ Story Creator is not a standalone software, plugin, app, or WordPress theme. It’s a ready-to-use animated stories templates, and can edit it using Canva, a free drag-and-drop video editor app.

The best part is that you don’t need any special software to use Canva. The website is available as an app for Android and Apple devices, as well as an app for Windows and iOS computers, making it easier than ever to make your templates into something that.

Read Full Review Here>>>

[santhosheswaran]

Flutter

Flutter is an open-source UI software development kit (SDK) created by Google. It allows developers to build natively compiled applications for mobile, web, and desktop from a single codebase. With Flutter, you can create visually rich and highly performant apps that work on Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, Linux, and the web.

Here are the key features of Flutter:

Single Codebase for Multiple Platforms: You can write one codebase in Dart (Flutter’s programming language) and deploy it to different platforms like Android, iOS, web, and desktop.

Fast Development: Flutter offers a feature called "hot reload," which lets developers see changes instantly without needing to restart the app, speeding up the development process.

Rich UI Components: Flutter comes with a wide range of pre-built widgets that make it easy to create beautiful and responsive user interfaces. These widgets are customizable, and you can also create your own.

High Performance: Since Flutter apps are compiled to native code, they tend to have high performance, with smoother animations and faster startup times.

Dart Language: Flutter uses Dart, a language developed by Google, known for being easy to learn and offering a balance between performance and productivity.

Growing Ecosystem: There’s a large community around Flutter, which means lots of packages and plugins are available for adding functionality like accessing device hardware, network requests, animations, and more.

Flutter is popular among developers for its versatility and efficiency, especially for projects targeting multiple platforms.

Contact for more information : Sam Jose - 824-816-2712