Manga Studio or Comic Works?

[Gypsy]

I have seen many items about these two programs, saying they are both great. I am wondering which one you guys recommend? I am an artist, just getting into thinking of doing this to share my love of story writing and amine both together, and I'm totally lost with this.
I have a graphic pen, but it's not wacom, so does this matter as well? It's a 'pensuite' graphic pen that my pc guru found online and added to my list of goodies...LOL

Please, hope you can help me out here, and thank you for your time
;)
Gypsy

[Parz]

Manga Studio has a more pleasant looking interface, and is more user friendly. Also, it doesn't really matter what type of tablet you have, chances are it'll work. I never liked the 'look' of comic works, and Manga Studio was developed in Japan by Celsys, the guys behind the Japan's most widely used anime software, Retas! Pro.

[Gypsy]

Thanks much for your help!;)

I've seen Manga Studio, Manga Studio 3.0 Debut.....which version is the best one for me to get? Yeah, sorry about being a pest here! The Debut one says it'll do it all. I'm not sure what to start with. I did check out a tute for it...very brief one...http://comics.ign.com/articles/725/725708p1.html neat, huh?

thanks again, and in advance
Gypsy

[Parz]

Well, if you wanna save your money, go with Debut. Manga Studio EX has a few more extra features(mostely filters and effects stuff), which aren't incredibly necessary, but you do get LOADS more tones, which is helpfull.

Personally, I'd go with EX (which is the one I own), if only to have the full range of features, but it's not like it's going to change your skills as a manga-ka. So, if you need to save money, Debut isn't a bad choice.

[Gypsy]

Thank you so much! You are so helpful! It's always good to learn from one with more experience, more time in the craft!
I had heard that Photoshop takes up lots of room on your pc, that one of the other programs would probably work faster and better for this craft; so your information is welcome. Right now I can go with the EX, so I might as well do it to it, eh?
Thanks again Parz,
Gypsy

[Parz]

Photoshop doesn't really take up a lot of space, but it's not really good for creating manga, because that's not what it was made for, but it is really good for colouring.

EDIT: Oh, you're welcome, by the way!

[Gypsy]

So Studio will work just as well as EX? I may need to save some money, after all....
thanks again,
gypsy

[Uiko]

So does anyone know for sure if you can try the trial again when its up? For sure on Manga Studio?

[Gypsy]

I tried to get the free trial of manga studio, but then it brought me to a 'cart.' no download started. this on their site...still looking....checked out comic works free trial and thought it was cool...need to go find the other one now to try...

[vegabros]

It will bring you to a cart, but notice how in the cart it says "Manga Studio 3 Demo for Windows". So go ahead and just click the "next" button and register and you will be on your way! :D

This program is great and I hope you get to try it!

- Leo

[Gypsy]

thanks much! I'm on my way!! I just know I'll love this!!! Isn't this fun??? That is, the part about getting to make new content, new creations!!! Soooo cool Thanks for all the help you guys! Much appreciate it all!!!
Gypsy

[Kaisanti]

I brought the full version after trying the demo. Its fabulas, I am so totally in love with the pen tool. XD Ive yet to figure out how to colour, about to go look up the tut listed. (Thanks for that btw)

Im also an avid Photoshop fan, all my art to date has been done on it, but its deffinatly not a comic/mange creation programme, its an art programme. Its not hard to run, my old crappy PC managed it ok. I really recomend the full Manga studio programme. (I only got it last week!) :heart:

(PS. Banner made in photoshop <3 )

[ragtag]

I have Managa Studio Debut on OS X and ComicWorks on WinXP, so maybe I should add something here.

Both are excellent, but there are a few things you should consider.
MS is available on OS X (though not Universal Binary yet) and Windows, while CW is Windows only. MS is available as a download or package, CW you need to get in the mail (takes longer, may cost extra in taxes etc.). I also get the feeling that the development of CW (at least the english version) is a bit dead. There hasn't been an update of either their website or of CW for ages, while MS is still in full development. Of course, there is nothing preventing you from using the current version of CW for years to come.

CW is faster, it boots in about the same time as Notepad (no time at all), and the brush feel is excellent and fast...no jaggies, even with Stoke revision (Correction in MS) turned off. Rotation and moving the paper around is great too. CW also seems to use less memory. This is where I feel CW is a bit better than MS, but MS has a lot of features that outweight this.

MS has panel rulers. When working with comics on paper, I hate measuring up panels, and with MS's panel rulers it becomes very easy. Only nudge I have about it is that if you rasterize them, the edges on the panels get drawn perfectly sharp, a slight bevel would be nice. A work around is to draw the edge yourself. In CW you need to draw the panels by hand using the line or square tool, though these actually bevel the corners. Other rulers I also find better in MS.

Layer grouping and sorting is more advanced in MS. You can create folders, group layers and create Panel Layers (like a seperate file for one panel, with it's own layers). In CW, you just have one list of layers, that can get quite long if you have a complex page.

CW has 24bit color support. It's not the best tool for doing colors, but at least you have the option. In MS, as far as I know, you need to seperate things into different layers and choose a color of that layer. Either way, neither tool is meant for color work, and there are a number of better tools for this if you need them.

The airbrush behaves differently. I like MS's better, as it can be more grainy, while the one in CW is just a pixel airbrush, creating 1 pixel size spray. This I guess comes down to personal preference.

Creating custom templates is much easier in MS, if you want one with print marks and everything in CW, you need to go in and edit a text file with all the measurments.

For ease of use, I think CW wins. Fewer features, less ways to get lost I guess. Though, MS has a more Photoshop like interface, if that's your preference.

I haven't really used tones in either one enough to judge them, so I don't know which one is better there. Both have selection, masking and all. Different blend modes and more.

I'm actually a bit hard pressed to say that one is better than the other. I've been using MS to draw the rough of my current comic, partially because I can run it on my laptop, but haven't decided if I'll continue using it for the final cleanup. I'm leaning towards MS, mainly because of the panel rulers and my laptop though.

Cheers,

Ragnar

[winterxbliss]

WAAAAAA I DONT GET HOW TO USE IT AT ALL!! IM SORRY, IM SUCH A BIG BABY Xd. But okay, im so confused, do you guys draw your manga on the computer or draw it on paper and then scan it and then transfer it to manga studio and than color it?? HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ragtag]

I'm currently, sketching and inking straight into Manga Studio. No scanning. This works fine for me. Many people prefer to do their pencils by hand, and ink on the computer. And somme like to just use the computer for screen tones and lettering. There is no correct way to do it, it's just a personal preference. Download and read the manual, might help get you started. Manga Studio is not that complicated.

[ophy]

I used comicworks for two years and MangaStudio is better than it.
I tried first the Debut version and now I'm using the EX. Take a look to my review for the difference ---> http://www.nelshael.com/no-nelshael/manga-studio-review.php
Material palet, Vector features, path rulers, Filters and WORD BALLONS Options ARE VERY INDISPENSABLE.
Debut is for hobbiest , if you're an artist, get the EX.
:)