Painter vs. Photoshop

[jiggles]

I just got a great deal on the 6x11 intuios3 with airbrush etc. and i am a CS2 pro, but I am reading a lot about natural painting and corel's name keeps coming up. I have not used corel since the days when IBM was considering buying the company...but my question is this: Why AND and not VS., specifically? Is there anything I can't learn to do in CS2 that can be done in painter? If so, I am game for trying. I loaded the Essentials2 that came with the tablet and was not impressed. I see there is an Essentials3 out there and tried to find out more but the Corel website is just a mess. Hmmm..any more thoughts on this? I want to get the most out of the tablet and start to learn how to paint digitally for anime, so not real keen on going outside of Adobe Suite (preservation of layers/import/export and all of that). Thanks for your input!

[WayDen]

I'm not sure if I agree with what some people are saying about not being able to create digital paintings within Photoshop. I'm a 3D animator, and I frequent sites like CG Talk quite a bit. Almost all of the 2D paintings there are done in Photoshop, and they are fantastic and beautiful.

Here are two of my (many) favorites that I've checked out while browsing the forums there (I didn't do these, they were done by others). Both were painted completely within Photoshop - one is a photorealistic painting of a cat, the other is a cartoony version of a dog. And no, the cat painting isn't a photo!!

Cat: http://img301.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cathb2.jpg

Dog: http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/6344/dogly6.jpg

And here's a link to the 2D forums if you want to see more of their work.

http://forums.cgsociety.org/forumdisplay.php?f=137

Now, I haven't used Painter before, and I'm sure you can create some really great work within that program. But the people at CGTalk have more than proven to me that Photoshop can hold it's own in the realm of digital painting.

[jiggles]

thanks for that. I guess I should just start with some tutorials in CS2 then for natural painting, and if i run into a snap, give corel a whirl. i want to animate my 2d cartoon that's in newsprint for a short anime, and i already know photoshop very well after 2 years of cartooning there. now that i have a tablet i am looking forward to an easier life...
jigs

[byRo]

Originally Posted by WayDen

I'm not sure if I agree with what some people are saying about not being able to create digital paintings within Photoshop. I'm a 3D animator, and I frequent sites like CG Talk quite a bit. Almost all of the 2D paintings there are done in Photoshop, and they are fantastic and beautiful.

Let's try and clear things up a bit here.
You should use Corel Painter when you want to mimmick real-world painting techniques. You can make beautiful oil paintings, watercolours, charcoal sketches - but it seems that this is not what you want here.

You don't want a "painting", you want a digital image that looks real.
In this respect Painter does not offer any advantage (except, maybe in the most experienced hands), while Photoshop has more and better tools for you to use. Plus, you (and nearly all of us) have much more experience in PS.

So, in resume. If you want to do a Painting use Painter, for everything else use PS.

Rô

[jiggles]

Originally Posted by byRo

Let's try and clear things up a bit here.
You should use Corel Painter when you want to mimmick real-world painting techniques. You can make beautiful oil paintings, watercolours, charcoal sketches - but it seems that this is not what you want here.

You don't want a "painting", you want a digital image that looks real.
In this respect Painter does not offer any advantage (except, maybe in the most experienced hands), while Photoshop has more and better tools for you to use. Plus, you (and nearly all of us) have much more experience in PS.

So, in resume. If you want to do a Painting use Painter, for everything else use PS.

Rô

thanks ro for that, but perhaps it's a hair splitting thing here. I want to, amoungst other freehand art forms, sketch out the anime in storyboards and animate that into full color cartoon, maybe even go from 2d to 3d to live video, don't know yet. but i do know that i want to airbrush and charcoal sketch, and i have the Intuios art pen on order and want to use those effects as well. so i guess my question is, which software best exploits the capabilities of the tablet and pens to do freehand art?

your descrioption of going from one to the other sounds like a nightmare to me, but i have not used a corel product since v1 of Draw. If Painter supports Photoshop layers (or I guess layered tiff) then your idea might work for me. If it does not, then I can't use that workflow.

with that said, as I have not used a tablet in 6 years, i am going to have to learn one tool or the other in regards to painting, I am just weighting the options before i dive in. thanks so much!!!
jigs

[Swampy]

Here's my 2 cents...

I have Painter, but I've never had any fine art training. I'm not familiar with the various art media (okay, I know chalk, pen & ink etc., but as for oils, etc. I haven't a clue as to how to apply, blend or manipulate them). The whole "camel hair", impasto stuff is foreign to me.

I can achieve some things in Painter using various clone tools, but as for pure stroking with brushes, I'm all thumbs and usually end up with a smeary mess. Perhaps if I had more time to dedicate to learning Painter, I could accomplish more with better results.

I pull up Painter about once every 3 or 4 months and try, try again, but have yet to master any one technique. I envy those who have a background in art and have a better understanding of how the various media "works"

[akvis]

Originally Posted by byRo

If you want to do a Painting use Painter, for everything else use PS.

Rô

right words, fair words