michelel72 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
michelel72) wrote2010-06-15 01:01 pm
michelel72) wrote2010-06-15 01:01 pm
To branch out artistically, or ... not?
So, I'm a writer. I get how that works; I hope that I'm steadily improving and learning, but I'm not worried about the basics. I'm also a lazy bastard; writing doesn't feel much like work to me, even when I'm cursing and laboring through difficult passages, but I really don't have the tenacity for anything that requires dedicated time, or a complex sequence before real results can be seen.
So of course I keep getting ideas that don't work as straight text.
The first is along fanart lines. My drawing skills are Stick Figures 101, and as much as I would love to be able to sketch, the little time I put into trying to learn was enough for me to realize that's never happening. So if I have an idea for something that's a cross between a PostSecret and a collage, or if I want to create graphics to go with a story series I'm developing ... what do I do? Would I pick up Photoshop? (If so, what version?) Would other software be better? Would any software help me find the images I'd need, or would have to be one of those folks who trolls through Google Images and "borrows" them? Would I be able to produce decent-looking stuff reasonably quickly, or would I need to spend weeks or months learning and practicing first? (Because I'm one of the more annoying kinds of perfectionist: I'd rather not do it at all if I can't make it look good.) Or should I just see if I can find someone who knows what they're doing and provide my rough layout ideas?
The second is vidding. [Insert hysterical laughter here.] I've randomly started having ideas for fanvids to go along with various songs, and for one I have a very, very rough storyboard. Is there something easy out there to use; is it good? I'm talking something with moving video and cuts timed to the music, by the way, not just music and stills (which I've also seen). I have video-capture software (InterVideo WinDVD) that I've barely poked at; is that useful, or would the Windows ... thing ... be better, or ...? (I'm on WinXP SP something-or-other.) How finicky or time-involved would it be? Because I can work through plot or dialogue problems as I drive or walk to the caf, but software tweaking ... not so much.
For either of those, are there any primers out there? "Fanvids/Fanart for the Lazy Beginner"? Some sort of dos-and-donts or general advice post would be simply fantastic.
What say you, flist?
So of course I keep getting ideas that don't work as straight text.
The first is along fanart lines. My drawing skills are Stick Figures 101, and as much as I would love to be able to sketch, the little time I put into trying to learn was enough for me to realize that's never happening. So if I have an idea for something that's a cross between a PostSecret and a collage, or if I want to create graphics to go with a story series I'm developing ... what do I do? Would I pick up Photoshop? (If so, what version?) Would other software be better? Would any software help me find the images I'd need, or would have to be one of those folks who trolls through Google Images and "borrows" them? Would I be able to produce decent-looking stuff reasonably quickly, or would I need to spend weeks or months learning and practicing first? (Because I'm one of the more annoying kinds of perfectionist: I'd rather not do it at all if I can't make it look good.) Or should I just see if I can find someone who knows what they're doing and provide my rough layout ideas?
The second is vidding. [Insert hysterical laughter here.] I've randomly started having ideas for fanvids to go along with various songs, and for one I have a very, very rough storyboard. Is there something easy out there to use; is it good? I'm talking something with moving video and cuts timed to the music, by the way, not just music and stills (which I've also seen). I have video-capture software (InterVideo WinDVD) that I've barely poked at; is that useful, or would the Windows ... thing ... be better, or ...? (I'm on WinXP SP something-or-other.) How finicky or time-involved would it be? Because I can work through plot or dialogue problems as I drive or walk to the caf, but software tweaking ... not so much.
For either of those, are there any primers out there? "Fanvids/Fanart for the Lazy Beginner"? Some sort of dos-and-donts or general advice post would be simply fantastic.
What say you, flist?
no subject
Whatever you decide to do (or might even eventually decide to write off as an experiment/tangent that wasn't quite it) I will be very interested to see or read a post about it. :)