Could someone with lots of art experience suggest a good program for a poor teen newbie? mskb12@juno.com

The right tools for the right job, son !

***So what is it that you wanna do ?***

Otherwise the "expert" tip is to try them all until you find the one that fits you best. But never forget that every program is best at something. Having a "favorite" program is a dangerous trap if you want to be a complete artist

youpla :-P

I haven''t tried many programs but paintshop pro. It took me a day or two to figure out how to use it, but from then on, it was a good program.

Shrapnel Games

PSP is great. GIMP is also pretty good, and it has lots of features, but it also has a pretty clunky interface.

Martee
Magnum Games

well ... if you jsut want a dumb list of programs :
Deluxe Paint, GFX 2 , Paint Shop Pro, Photoshop, Painter, Fireworks, Illustrator, Freehand, etc

The problem is to choose the right tool for the right job.

Photoshop is SHIT when you want to do palette manipulation and sprites for a game. But it kicks ass for doing photo retouching.

Painter is the best around if you want to create from scratch, and make your drawings look natural (hand made).

Fireworks is class to do raster/vector images, that is to do bitmaps with the advantages of using vectors... you gonna have to see it for yourself. The perfect use being web graphics.

Illustrator is the reference for vector graphics. If you don''t see why you would use this, then probably you don''t need it yet.

do you also want 3D programs ?

Photoshop all the way. First of all, its easier to use + it offers so much flexibility. it also features tools that you would have to go to illustrator to get. The interface is really nice and the tools are just laid out in a fassion that any idiot could use it. as for 3d. depends on the application, milkshape is good at doing low poly models but max compleatly owns. actully i found that importing ms3d files into max was quite nice but what are you gonna do. Photoshop comes with the most recomendations but psp and gimp are free. youll have to make this call.

If your looking for affordable and effective, you only need two programs PSP and Rhino3d

Granted, both programs are by FAR not the best programs around, but they are effective. Also, if your in school you can probably buy both programs for under $400. (if thats too much, get a job and be patient ;p)

Rhino is excellent because its probably the easiest effective 3d program to use - and if you have a clunker PC, its also probably the most likely to run on your computer. Its rendering times are really fast too. Granted, animation isn''t automated. But, it has a grid lock function that makes it possible.

Paint shop pro is good because it has LAYERS. Screw everything else it has, if you have layers you can make cool looking stuff. Also, if your a beginner, its texturing and gradietn features are great. Also, Pain shop pro comes with animation shop so you wont'' have to worry about that either!

Both programs have demos, so I''d try them out. In fact, Paint shop pro can be a gift that keeps on giving if you don''t mind turning back your clock ;p But, like I said, if your a student you can get it pretty cheap and it saves all the fuss. I think its $150 for students if I remember correctly.. its been a while!

i agree with ahw. photoshop is crap for game development. i always thought that i''d never need another 2d paint program after photoshop, but i''ve had palette nightmares with that thing. Paint Shop Pro is the best all around for 2d paint. cuz also pointed out by Kandolo, it has animation shop which can integrates well with Paint Shop Pro, (though i kinda feel it annoying flipping between programs, but PS doesn''t even have animation.)