Has anyone tried Clip Studio Paint?
Ron Knights
Posts: 2,339
in The Commons
I've been looking at their site. This looks like a potentially great app.
I'm just a bit concerned I might feel overwhelmed.
I believe this was once called Manga Studio. I might have bought it and got totally lost.
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Drawfee, a drawing channel I watch, frequently use CSP, and at least one of their members permanently switched over from Photoshop. I haven't used it myself, but it looks very powerful, and seems to have a pretty usable 3D component, which Photoshop distinctly lacks.
When paired with a drawing tablet or drawing board, this is an excellent drawing tool; it's inexpensive and a one-time purchase rather than a subscription.
Thanks for the replies.
I've been looking at the Wacom Intuos tablet.
Back around 1999 I had a huge Summagraphics Summa sketch tablet. (12"x12" I believe).
I never used it.
I looked closer at CSS. It has features that can help you draw your figures.
I haven't used the 3D aspect, but as a 2D application I found it pretty good. It has its quirks, but for the most part (in the features I have used) the UI is discoverable (learn by doing rather than having to check a manual). They do a lot of tutorials and guides, though not necessarily in English primarily.
I have Clip Paint Pro ver 4.03. I purchased it a few years ago. But gave up on it when I purchased Rebelle 3 which I love. Currently using Rebelle 7. I stopped exploring the potential of Clip Paint Pro and put ArtRage on the shelf once I got my hands on Rebelle. It is my understanding Clip Paint is more aimed at the cartoon/manga/comic book crowd and Rebelle for paintings & illustrations.
I think Clip Paint Pro is an awesome app and a lot of professioners prefer it over Photoshop.
Cheers
Kenmo
Ron Knights,
CSP is primarily for creating 2D art. As others point out, it's known for the creation of comics (manga or manhuwa) and still images but also for animation. As an animation software, I can't say how CSP stacks up against other industry tools, but it certainly shines when it comes to its asset store. There's just tons of brushes, templates and image assets to meet a 2D artist's needs -- in most cases, affordably priced.
Recent version of CSP started adding 3D functionalities. Starting with rag doll figures that an illustrator can pose and use as reference, CSP can now import OBJ (and FBX, I think) and process the accompanying UV and textures. The pose functionality now includes shape keys; a growing number of 3D figures have adjustable facial expressions. It goes without saying: Daz3D is lightyears ahead of CSP in this regard. In general though, the idea is to import 3D assets into CSP. The other way going out to external content creation tools isn't there yet at all.
When I was still tinkering, my toolchain included CSP. I'd start with Daz3D, export assets to Blender (via Diffeomorphic) to customize the texture; then I'd render a 2D scene and open the image file in CSP for final editing. Below are some of the images I've made this way (apologies for the slight distortions).
Cheers!
Thanks, everyone for the responses & insights.
csaa, Great images!
I have used it to edit textures. It is lightweight enough that it doesn't that forever to open like photoshop, plus its brush engine is wayy better.
I would not use the 3D, because Daz does that job WAY better.
One reason I'm considering CSP is that I want the ability to share Line Art images.
I like to share my images with my fellow seniors.
I started out printing my creations. But then I ran out of toner on my Xerox Laser Color printer. I have it for 4 years and never used it before this year.
I plan to buy more color laser cartridges next year.
In the meantime, I've been showing people my art on my iPad.
Many of my senior friends just can't handle using the iPad.
I thought of using CSP because I could use line art, rather than detailed color images.
But I'm concerned about using a graphics tablet.
I sit at my recliner desk. I actually have my trackball perched on the arm of my recliner.
I don't think I can perch a graphics tablet on the chair arm. I don't think I want to hunch over the rolling desk to use a graphics tablet.
But at least I have a pretty good idea about the software, etc. Thanks again for your replies.
I have a Wacom tablet and stylus. It took me a month or two to get used to it. But once I got used to it, I would never go back to using a mouse only.
A Wacom tablet does tie up a bit of desk room though...
If you have an iPad why not look at soemthing like Procreate, and an Apple Pencil if your budget will run that far (I'm not sure what they cost).
Most painting applications will let you do line art.
My iPad Air id 10 years old. It doesn't run much except Mahjong Solitaire and the Photos app.
Ron Knights,
I've tried a handful of graphics tablet over the years. I find them much easier on the wrist, forearm and the shoulder than any mouse -- including trackball and the ergonomic ones. Holding a pen is more natural. In comparision, extended mouse usage locks my arm muscles and joints, leading to carpal tunnel aches.
I don't know how wide your recliner arm is but there are smaller graphics tablets on the market. The one I have now is an XP-PEN G430S. Its USB cable attached and measures 6.5x4.25 inches. The responsiveness is good, though the resolution might be subpar compared to other, bigger pen tablets. But given your space constraints, a small graphic tablet just might work. I'm sure Huion and other manufacturers sell these too.
As to line art, yes CSP does it quiet well. They developers at Celsys keep improving this feature over the years. See the brief lines and tones demo video. It shows CSP (the latest EX version) converting 3D and photo images into line art.
Furthermore, I'll refer you to mmitchell_houston, the one fellow I know who uses Daz and CSP regularly to create comics. He should have good experience with CSP's line art features, enough to give a solid opinion. See some of his work that her shares at the 3D Comic Book Tips and Pictures Daz forum.
Cheers!
csaa, thanks again for your input.
My computer sits on a shelving unit, a couple feet from the rolling computer desk.
I currently have long cables connecting the monitor and web camera. That works pretty well sine the cables are connected to the left of the rolling desk.
It wouldn't work to have a USB attached graphics tablet. I'd probably break the cord in short order/
My bluetooth trackball sits periously perched on the chair arm. It falls off several times a day.
I think I'll hold off on CSS for a month or so. My feeble mind has a hard time focussing on too many things.
A middle ground without spending any money yet would be Krita, which is free and open source.
I love Clip Studio and it's a very capable program, but I did not find the 3d features useful or practical for a variety of reasons. For me it works better to render 3d stuff in Daz (or just set up a scene in Daz and screenshot it) and paste into Clip Studio for pose/background reference etc.
I've decided to try something different. I bought the V3D Filatoon Converter, Manager and Tools.
Hey i got it "on sale," thanks to ne of the DAZ Specials.
I might not get to it right away. I also got a bunch of other stuff, including Scene Optimizer.
And I will be getting ready to start my acrylic painting again. My Portrait Class starts on Jan 6.