So I guess this is where we start to say Goodbye to Adobe products and embrace free alternatives…

First and foremost… I’m no longer a professional Graphic artist / Illustrator and I’ve basically reverted to this almost layman state when it comes to computers, software and other stuff related.

Now let’s go back to the topic at hand… Adobe Products…

I read from various internet news and articles that Adobe is now abandoning the old model where you pay outright for the product and instead force users to subscribe and pay monthly to use their products. Of course being a layman, the first reaction to this news was panic… as I read further… it is slowly becoming clear that the reason behind this extortion is motivated purely by greed. True, they have their justifications and sweet promises of always updated and a plethora of features that are only available to their subscription model.

So where am I going with this?… Honestly, I don’t know… I’m still having trouble comprehending as to why would Adobe do this to the people?… Piracy? What are you talking about!?… I purchased your product and still use them especially Adobe Photoshop 7… it’s outdated but it still works and I still have the original box with me when I purchased it years ago and the most recent one I purchased CS4 which is a total crap because some fucktard whom I wanted to hang, shot and burn his/her corpse in the Dreamweaver department decided to remove the layout mode and tell people to “DEAL WITH IT”… Yes, I pirated your products “TWICE”… First one is Adobe Photoshop 5 so I can learn how to use your product more thoroughly which eventually lead me to purchase Adobe Photoshop 7 legally and Adobe CS3 because it still have layout mode because you won’t allow me to downgrade my purchase and you removed the single biggest reason why I purchased CS product and that is the Layout Mode in Dreamweaver because I went to Saturday Web Making School and that is what they taught me there.

I’ll be straight… I don’t feel like paying Adobe anymore especially after I saw that only subscription based ones will receive full updates while those who opt for a full licence will only get the basic of updates and bug fixes… at least that’s how I understand it… oh and let’s not forget… they said there will be no CS7 so beyond this… everyone will now be forced pay rent regularly to Adobe to use their products. No thank you… As you can see, I’m the type of user who sticks with his purchased program and use it to it’s fullest and squeeze every single productivity out of it… I mean… it’s 2013 and I’m still using Adobe Photoshop 7 in my latest works…

Of course, I’m just a nobody to them… and I doubt Adobe guys will reverse this anytime soon so I better be prepared for the future. You see… my hobby is making OELVN’s (aka EVN or English Visual Novels) and an image processing tool is a must so I’ll be making contingency plans just in case Adobe went nuts and go full greed mode to satisfy it’s investors.

First thing I’ll do is to ensure that my originals are in a safe place inside a vault in my office. Next I’ll prepare 2 high end unit that is using Windows XP and install my legal copies of Adobe Products in there along with every programs and tools I use so when the time comes that I am no longer be able to use the new Adobe products in my current primary machine without being raped in the ass or if Windows beyond 8 becomes unusable and degraded into just another Smartphone OS I’ll still be able to continue to do what I love at my current pace.

Another thing I’ll do is to get used to using alternatives such as GIMP, SAI or Corel Products… It may take a while but at least I won’t get caught with my underwear down when Adobe finally decides to screw and extort everyone. I already started shifting from MS Office to Open Office and hopefully I one day get comfortable enough with them.

I sure wish someday Corel or some other company would make Adobe irrelevant just as how Adobe made Quark irrelevant back then. I know that my rant might be a bit irrational sometimes and I am very well aware that it is their product and they are free to chose what they do with it and they are a business and are out to get your money but you see Adobe is “THE” industry standard and any changes they make can and will have impact on everyone. As I have said before… I am a layman in all of this and probably missed a thing or two and this might be the reason why I am ranting right now but my point is… I am very loyal to the product I use and I’d rather pay in one lump sum and be able to use it anytime I wanted without worrying about monthly subscriptions and stuff like that. They say the subscription is cheaper then guess what… I’m still using Adobe Photoshop 7 with perpetual license and I’m very good at it and it’s definitely cheaper in the long run than me having to pay Adobe every month.

“POOF” (Disappears)

Decided to subject one of my latest BG’s for DSE (Date Simulator Engine – The Game) project in Ren’py in 3D map. My plan is to take advantage of Ren’py 6.14’s ability to read and play webm format and create small, compact and dynamic BG’s for my OELVN project… if only I can get the text editor in 6.14 to work that is…

As the title says… I decided to subject one of my latest BG’s for DSE (Date Simulator Engine – The Game) project in Ren’py in 3D map. My plan is to take advantage of Ren’py 6.14’s ability to read and play webm format and create small, compact and dynamic BG’s for my OELVN project… if only I can get the text editor in 6.14 to work that is… oh well… still much room for improvement. At least this 3D map thingy gives me the option to have “pseudo 3D” effects in my BG’s… which is kinda nice looking…

And now we try the previously accidentally awesomely discovered ADVANCED OPTIONS into an existing scene in Sketchup and see how well it does… HOLY SHEET! IT IS LOOKING AWESOME! So what happens to the previous BG’s?… Well…

Here is the new and improved BG!!! It is deliciously beautiful!

Barely a week old and BG’s I recently made are already rendered obsolete by an accidental discovery a few days ago (see this post) enabling me to produce way better BG’s than these with just a single press of the render button.

This is the previous BG… it is also good looking but not as delicious as the latest one

Anyway, Uncle Mugen has come a long way in developing a standardized method which can be applied to anyone even those with only basic knowledge of computers to produce beautiful BG’s for OELVN use (AKA Visual Novels)

AGH!!!! I just found out how to eliminate nearly 50% of the post process I do in my BG’s by simply toggling two buttons or sliders or whatever these things are…

As the title says… I just found out how to eliminate nearly 50% of the post process I do in my BG’s by simply toggling two buttons or sliders or whatever these things are in my renderer. Seriously… I’ve been using this renderer for like more than a year now and this is the first time I actually fiddled a few of the settings that are beyond the usual ones. Of course, being under the label “ADVANCE OPTIONS” kinda scare me into opening it… I’m Uncle Mugen… I’m dumb and stupid when it comes to computers and stuff and you expect me to click advance options?… OK, but don’t blame me when something breaks now everyone stand back… this might get dangerous… Let’s see… Hmm… I wonder what these sliders do… now hit Render…

HOLY SHIT! IT LOOKS BEAUTIFUL!!! IT IS LOOKING VERY GOOD!!! WHY DIDN’T I FOUND THIS OUT SOONER!!!… I no longer have to color correct the BG’s I made!!! THIS IS GREAT NEWS!!! Now I have more excuse to be lazy!!!… I’M SO HAPPY I’M NOW TIGHTLY EMBRACING MY CHAIR… FROM BEHIND!!!

So what will be the implication of this?… A LOT! It means I now have to once again revise my workflow which is wrapped around the objective of creating BG’s with minimal effort in three hours or less for OELVN use (Visual Novels)… I really can’t write much about this since I’m still in shock after finding out what those sliders do…

I’m so gonna lose sleep tonight…