The Deviant Art Otaku Spot Issue 17
_{Digital Anime Artists Tools}

Part one of 2 of the anime artists tools! In this issue we will be focusing on the digital side of the anime artist tools and tell you some of the pros and cons of each of the most widely used software, the physical tools people use as well as prices

Welcome =KatSushimi247 to the DAOS Team!
Before we kick off this new issue of DAOS, I want to welcome =KatSushimi247 to the team! In the last issue I asked if anyone wanted to take part in the DAOS project and =KatSushimi247 noted me right away and offered her services as a Manga reviewer! So, go welcome your new manga reviewer =KatSushimi247!


Reviews of the issue
Blood+ Vol 1
1 Volume available from Dark Horse


Plot Summery
Saya Otonashi is a typical high school girl living with her adoptive family in Okinawa Japan with the exception that she has amnesia and can not remember her life past the previous year. Life seems to be going fine for the young Saya as she continues to adjust to her adoptive family consisting of her father, George Miyagusuku, older brother Kai, and younger brother Riku and life in high school as an amnesiac but if that were not enough a mysterious stranger and an even more mysterious monster attack brings the walls of normalcy crashing down on Saya and exposes her violent nightmares to be her true past and her true path.
She is destined to become a warrior again to fight against Chiropterans—shape-shifting monsters that feast on human blood—and Saya is the only true weapon to defeat them. A stranger hunts her while she discovers herself, balances her delicate connection to humanity, and accepts her destiny.

Pros of the Manga
The characters. If you love them from the anime and the previous Blood series you will love them even more. The range given to the characters is noticed from page one, they are relatable, convincing, and incredible—even the villains have their own complexities. They seem to jump off the page to tell their story.
The pacing is also something to take into account because this is a fast read. Getting to the last page I sat dumbfounded and had to reread it to truly admire this manga, you do not realize that you are reading it that quickly that is how this manga reads, it captures your attention and keeps you compelled to the very end where you scream because you’re left with a cliff hanger and you want to write and beg for just a few more pages!!!

Cons of the Manga
It shifts around suddenly from time to time, I think in order to keep pace with the fast reading and the huge amount of information to unload, but it is relatively easy to follow once you realize it’s bouncing around.
I do not know if I consider this a con of the manga or just found it odd but in the beginning it was more about Saya trying to fit in with high school then it shifts to this “End of the World” feel and back to high school. I can understand that for Saya’s character development it helped to add the high school interactions in there but it made me wonder if the manga was going to go that way—it doesn’t! Whew!

Viva la Manga!
My absolute love is the artistic license to change the storyline and characters a bit. I really wanted to read this manga but I had dread going into it seeing as I had just started watching the Anime, I did not want to be reading the same thing I was watching—kind of like when I read the first few volumes of FMA and watched the Anime—I was so bummed, but after reading the first few pages—which are entirely different I was so excited to see that the manga would be different from the Anime and I feel the characters are so much more well-rounded. Plus the introduction of Charles a young villain who is a joy to read b/c he provokes but in a sly way and makes me wonder his connection to Saya and their history, he definitely knows her & is the one-armed man!!! I also love the interaction between Saya and Kai they seemed more like siblings (or kissing cousins b/c there is def tension between the two—I wonder if the Brady Bunch had this issue?) They hug, he head butts her, they have the relationship that you can see they depend on each other—she him for strength and him her for responsibility. And Riku!!! I love this little guy! He is cute in the Anime (I’ve only seen the first one!) but in this he is flat out adorable and very girly! Hagi is yet to develop sadly, but I have high hopes for him.

Overall, I am definitely going to continue collecting this series—I’m hooked and can’t stop reading it! I think I’m also going to watch the Anime and compare it to the Manga for fun and notes. I like seeing the differences between the two because both are good and stand well on their own but also compliment each other—a balance that is hard to find.

Reviewed By: =KatSushimi247

Venus vs. Virus - Vol. 3
3 Volumes available from ADV files


Plot Summery
Venus Versus Virus revolves around the life of a young girl named Sumire Takahana who has had the power to see ghosts since she was a small child, though no one believes her. One night while running to her dorm building to make curfew, a broach flies out of no where and she pricks her finger on it and sees a demon. Suddenly, another girl clad in gothic lolita clothing arrives bearing a huge gun and kills the demon. Once the ordeal is overwith, the girl gives Sumire a flier for a local clothing store, Venus Vanguard. When Sumire comes to the store, the girl, whose name is Lucia Nabashi, she explains to her that because she pricked her finger on Lucia's broach, Sumire now has the power to see demons as well as ghosts. Additionally, Lucia now wants Sumire to help her rid the world of these demons called Virus that threaten to consume all of humanity.

Pros to the Anime
The art and animation of the series is borderline flawless! The action scenes are very well portrayed and the characters develop at a good pace. Being the final DVD in the series they really did a great job of building up the suspense. The characters through out this entire series are easy to interact (so to speak) with. Sumire in all of her innocence makes you just feel for her and Lucia, though appears to be dark and secretive, is a lot of fun to follow (and has a killer outfit!).

Cons to the Anime
The ending. I can't stress this enough. The ending will cause you pain. Anime fan or not, an ending like this should not be authorized to be seen by the public. Thats about the only con to this series and its a doozy! This series wraps NOTHING up and the things they do try to wrap up it is so convoluted in their execution that you can't even believe it.

Damaged Thoughts
Well, this anime series had me hooked the second I started watching it. The characters were portrayed wonderfully (I like Gothic Lolita) and the series had a really neat concept for a plot/storyline. This anime let me down... and not easily, it let me down hard. The ending caused me so much frustration and anger that I had to start another anime as soon as I finished it to wipe my hands clean of it. It made me so mad that IF they make another season, I probably will not watch it.

Reviewed By: ^Damaged927

Issue Seventeen - Digital Anime Artists Tools!
In the DAOS issue #11, =MissRedRose went over some anime artists tools. But due to length restrictions, she could not go as in-depth as she had wanted. So this will be a 2 part series of anime artists tools! On deviant art we have to sides of the Manga and Anime gallery. We have the Traditional side of the house and the Digital side of the house. In this issue we will be coving the digital side of things from things like the hardware involved, the price to various pieces of software and some of the pros and cons to these things.

What is digital art?
Seems like a simple enough question, but have you ever actually thought about it? In short, it is art created using a computer via various pieces of software. This can be done in many ways, be it via a tablet or a mouse, if the computer is the primary tool in the creation of the piece, it is digital. Personally, I can't draw straight digitally, I have to sketch on paper with the old school pencil, scan it in, and line art and color on the computer. So, even though it started off as a pencil sketch it quickly became a digital piece when I started my process. I will assume that you have a mouse, keyboard, monitor and computer because if you didn't, you most likely would not be making digital art.

The Tools!
This section will be covering the physical tools that a digital anime artist may use, not the software (that comes later).

Mouse
I am not going to go to heavy in depth on this, but you can easily create digital art with a mouse! It just takes more practice than it would with a tablet cause it doesn't feel natural to draw/paint with like a pen does.

Tablets
One of the most common items used is a tablet. A tablet is a pad that is attached to your computer (most likely through USB) that you can draw/write on the surface area with a pen pointing device. The pen resembles and regular everyday pen (with buttons) and weighs about the same (unless it has batteries). On of the biggest brands (and the one we will be covering) is Wacom. Wacom offers a variety of different tablets and is hailed to be the best that your money can buy. One of the best features I have found with my wacoms has been the lack of a battery in the pen. That keeps it light and natural feeling. Here are some tablets offered by Wacom:

Graphire
Features: 512 levels of pressure sensitivity, Graphire Mouse, scroll wheel, express keys and graphire pen
Price Range: $99.99 - $249.99 (Amazon.com)

Intuos
Features: 1,204 levels of pressure sensitivity, tilt control Intuos 5 button Mouse, touch strip, express keys and intuos grip pen
Price Range: $175.00 - $489.99 (Amazon.com)

Bamboo
Features: 512 levels of pressure sensitivity, touch ring, express keys, wacom battery free pen and natural pen on paper feel
Price Range: $69.99 - $199.99 (Amazon.com)

There are of course other brands of tablets out there, but in my opinion (as some one who has used more than on brand of tablet) if you are going to get a tablet, spend the extra buck and get the good stuff! And it you are moneybags McGee and don't mind spending a bit (ok a lot) more, you may want to check out the Wacom Cintiq. *drools*

Scanner
Though this is not necessary, it is a really great tool to have! And if you can't just draw digitally and need to sketch on paper first its an absolute must! Scanners go for cheap to expensive. It all depends on what you are willing to spend and what you need it for. Personally, I spend about $110 on mine, but it has a printer too.

Some software required!
Now that we have covered the basic tools needed its time for the nitty gritty of the article; Software! Honestly, a computer needs Hardware and Software to work, if it doesn't have both parts it is essentially a gigantic (and expensive) paper weight. To create digital art you need some or many piece(s) of software. For this article, we will be covering some of the most commonly used pieces of software, what they are about and their price.

Microsoft Paint - There will be no knocking of MS paint on my watch! MS Paint can do a lot of stuff if you know what you are doing and it is a great starting point. Sure, it doesn't have flashy layers and filters and can only work with pixels, but you can do a lot with it! Some spectacular pieces have been made with this FREE windows product!
Price: Comes with windows
Mac OS: No

The Gimp - This product is often used as a photoshop replacement due to the similarities in the products and the price: Free! It uses layers just like photoshop and comes with an assortment of brushes and filters
Price: Free
Mac OS: Yes

Oekaki applets - I personally have never used Oekaki applets, but I have seen some amazing pieces made with these online java applets. Some of the more popular boards are http://www.oekakibbs.com/, Paint BBS and Shi-Painter by http://shichan.jp/.
Price: Unsure
Mac OS: Unsure

Adobe Photoshop - Most likely the most common tool used for digital art pieces. Adobe photoshop has been reigning supreme for years now because of the power it offers. Some of the many useful features that Photoshop offers are: Layered Photoshop Documents, A multitude of various brushes + the ability to make your own, pressure sensitivity as well as a slew of tools that you may never know exist. One of the major drawbacks of photoshop is the price, it is a really expensive piece of software so the learning artist most likely can not afford this or be willing to put forth the money required until they are more comfortable with the software. Right now the latest version of Photoshop is CS3.
Price: $600+ USD
Mac OS: Yes

Adobe Photoshop Elements - Same company, same name, smaller price. This is a great piece of software for the new artist and doesn't damage the wallet as much. It doesn't have all the features of CS3 (like the pen tool or flash filters). This tool is basically a stripped down version of full photoshop and is a great beginning tool.
Price: $70-$120 USD
Mac OS: Yes

openCanvas - For the price, you are not going to go wrong with this beautiful piece of software. It uses a unique style of blending that makes it sort of a Coral Painter/Adobe Photoshop hybrid. Just like photoshop it uses layers and has an array of filters. In the features department though, Photoshop still whips oC.
Price: ~$80 USD
Mac OS: No

PaintTool SAI - I have not used this software at all but I have heard amazing reviews about it! It is a raster painting tool that is lightweight (meaning its doesn't chow down on ram) and inexpensive. Work can also be done on separate layers like Photoshop and Open canvas but it has no printing capabilities. But it can export to PSD or BMP files.
Price: ~$50 USD
Mac OS: Unsure

Manga Studio - This is my love! *huggles it* This tool is my favorite of all. This tool allows you to use both raster and vector layers and has many tools for paneling. My personal favorite is the correction tool that makes up for my oh-so-shaky hand with my tablet (I have it set to 5 with the pen tool). It also has an army of tones that you can use (if you spend the extra cash and get EX) and has a bunch of easy to use word balloons. The downfall of this? The army of windows and stuff it throws at you when you open it! You can close these, but when you first start with this it will be VERY overwhelming. It also supports color, but it is rather complicated to do so and the tones are tricky to use. Though, It can export to PSD layer files as well for easy coloring.
Price: $39.99 USD (debut) $299.99 USD (EX)
Mac OS: Yes

Adobe Illustrator - This is another piece of software I am not too familiar with but I have seen some amazing things done with it. The lines that illustrator creates are so smooth and since they are vector lines they can be scaled with out distortion. It also uses layers. From my limited experience with this piece of software I can tell you it is not for beginners.
Price: $500.00+ USD
Mac OS: Yes

Adobe Flash - You wouldn't think of this as a tool for drawing, but it is quite powerful for it! It uses vector based lines as well so they can be scaled as well as uses layers. The nice thing about flash is not only can you color with it, if you feel so inclined you can try animating as well! Sadly, like so many of adobe's products, their asking price is your soul.
Price: $600.00+ USD
Mac OS: Yes

Thats all I got for you this article!
Well, thats about all I got for you! I know I didn't get all of the tools (I mean, come on, there are TONS! I could write a book length article if I got to all of them) but this will get you a little bit familiar with the most commonly used tools out there. I hope you found this informative!

See you next issue!


Anime in Focus: Rozen Maiden

Plot Summary: Due to a deep trauma at school Sakurada Jun has refused to return. He spends his time in his room, surfing the web and ordering anything that takes his fancy, only to return the items just before payment is due. One day, he finds a web site that tells him to put his order in a drawer of his desk. He does so thinking it to be a joke, only to find that the letter disappears and a strange package arrives soon afterwards. It contains an exquisite doll, that, when wound, comes to life. She treats him as a servant of little worth, but over time helps him come to grips with his fears and in the life-or-death fights that soon follow her arrival.




Previous DAOS Articles
Issue 1 | Issue 2 | Issue 3 | Issue 4 | Issue 5 | Issue 6 | Issue 7 | Issue 8 | Issue 9 | Issue 9+3/4 | Issue 10 | Issue 11 | Issue 12 | Issue 13 | Issue 14 | Issue 15 | Issue 16