Which Photoshop would be ideal for Parallax Mapping?

[Rayhaku808]

I'm dangerously spending even more money on a hobby in which my skill level is to that of an amateur. But I already bought VX and Ace and I'm familiar with the basics. My friend wrote an outline of a fantastic and fresh story that I don't believe I can do justice. So I'm giving it my all to make it look good and for that, I'm dedicated to learning the ways of parallax mapping.

That was my oh-so-interesting backstory and why I've come to ask this question;

Which version of Adobe Photoshop would be best suited for parallax mapping?

and

Which version of Adobe Photoshop can aid me in parallax mapping while provide other uses in RPG Maker graphics?

Btw I do have GIMP, but it just doesn't seem to compare to Photoshop's potential and ease of use with the results that I've been seeing from others. I would really appreciate it if some explanations were like this:

Pros:

• F
  
• A
  
• R
  
• T
  

Cons:

• B
  
• U
  
• T
  
• T
  

It'd be easier for me to comprehend a list rather than enormous summaries, loads of paragraphs and walls of text.

Photoshop isn't cheap and I'd hate to loosely throw my money around for the sake of trial and error.

Thanks in advance for taking the time to read this and maybe share some input about your experiences and suggestions.

I also apologize for bad grammar.

 

[Celianna]

All parallaxing is, is moving tiles where ever you want them on an image. You can do this with GIMP, you don't need Photoshop for this.

 

[Levi]

Just use GIMP.

It has Grid Configuration, Snap-to-Grid, Rectangle Select, Copy, Paste, Layers.

That is all you need. It won't be better, or any "easier", to use Photoshop.

GIMP is comparable, in my opinion, to Photoshop. Just depends what you're using it for. For parallaxing, there is no tangible difference between GIMP and PS.

 

[Des]

Any version of photoshop is fine. Like the above posters said, all you're doing is moving around objects on layers. There's no need to make use of photoshop's more advanced features. And even the features that you could possibly use (such as color-shifting and stuff like that) are available in pretty much every edition.

 

[Link]

As an artist I can say gimp =\= photoshop nor will it ever come close to its power. With that said, however, something as simple as this for a small project is best suited on free software because of the fact you most likely (not saying you wont) will not make much profit if any. If you really want to use a photoshop program, just go with photoshop elements 10. It'll get the job done.

 

[RyanA]

Yep, exactly what the other guys said, GIMP is pretty cool for about any editing, just about as good as Photoshop and easier to use (I think) best of all...TIS FREEEEEEEEEE!!!!! :3

 

[Levi]

Yep, exactly what the other guys said, GIMP is pretty cool for about any editing, just about as good as Photoshop and easier to use (I think) best of all...TIS FREEEEEEEEEE!!!!! :3

And it's Open Source! That, in principle and practice, makes GIMP a better choice than PS for me. There'll always be a divide. Some people think GIMP is ****, and others swear by it. To each their own. In my opinion, all that matters is whether or not it can fulfill the need for the Job at hand. Whether it's recolors, or high quality graphics... GIMP seems to get er' done.

 

[Peltron]

I have CS4 and GIMP, and they both work perfectly fine for parallel mapping. I think everyone thinks GIMP doesn't compare to PS simply because its free, so it must not work right or something. To be honest, I prefer GIMP. Its easier and friendly to new users, it functions faster, its interface is easy to read and understand, and more. GIMP has incredible potential, you just gotta learn how to use it (and that's not hard, so yay!).

So I say you are just fine with GIMP.

 

[Rayhaku808]

I guess imma be savin' some moneyz then. (relief) Thanks, and solved.

 

[Link]

I have CS4 and GIMP, and they both work perfectly fine for parallel mapping. I think everyone thinks GIMP doesn't compare to PS simply because its free, so it must not work right or something. To be honest, I prefer GIMP. Its easier and friendly to new users, it functions faster, its interface is easy to read and understand, and more. GIMP has incredible potential, you just gotta learn how to use it (and that's not hard, so yay!).

So I say you are just fine with GIMP.

From personal experience I know about 65% of the time GIMP didn't work right for me. I used it clear through highschool when I didn't have the money for a Photoshop product and hated every moment of using it.

Edit: And yes, I do believe because it's free is why it didn't perform well. Open source just isn't my cup of tea, though.

 

[Rayhaku808]

Most tutorials I see use Photoshop and when those tutorials do cover GIMP, it's pretty vague. Photoshop also seems to have much less steps than GIMP does.

http://www.rpgmakervx.net/index.php?showtopic=52756

^ Is an example of that which I've tried numerous times already.

http://www.rpgmakervx.net/index.php?showtopic=36589

^ Looks so simple, if only I could figure out how to do that on GIMP though.

 

[mlogan]

Just quickly looking at the pictures on that last tutorial, I didn't see a thing there that can't be done in Gimp. I personally think, if you're used to using PS, then Gimp will seem difficult. I found the opposite to be true. I am very used to Gimp and when I had a chance to beta test the latest PS, I hardly used it. For my needs of editing for Ace, there was just too much stuff and I didn't have the patience to sort through it all.

My recommendation would be to try Gimp out. It's free after all, what do you have to lose? Give it a chance, get used to it, start getting the hang of parralaxing. Then, if you're still really into it, and still have a desire for PS, then get it.

 

[xShaddy]

PS is for advanced image editing and better effects, didnt use gimp but PS is pretty much expenive so for something as simple as Parallax mapping it is easier to get GIMP wich is free and small~

Of course PS might seems more nice and cozy to work with, but it costs same amount of money~ While GIMP is free, altough not so beatiful and stuff(never used it so idk much about it) IF you check PS tutorials on sites like PSDTuts+ or something like that u can see power of Photoshop, but if you plan on just doing parallax mapping, GIMP is just fine~ And if you ever want to do much more than what your already doing, PS is always there.

 

[Link]

PS is for advanced image editing and better effects, didnt use gimp but PS is pretty much expenive so for something as simple as Parallax mapping it is easier to get GIMP wich is free and small~

Of course PS might seems more nice and cozy to work with, but it costs same amount of money~ While GIMP is free, altough not so beatiful and stuff(never used it so idk much about it) IF you check PS tutorials on sites like PSDTuts+ or something like that u can see power of Photoshop, but if you plan on just doing parallax mapping, GIMP is just fine~ And if you ever want to do much more than what your already doing, PS is always there.

I think we all know PS costs the same amount as PS >.> Now if you were trying to say PS Elements costs the same as PS, that's very largely wrong. It's about 1/10th the price, in the 60-80 dollar range.

Also you said the same thing like twice in a row >.>

 

[prexus]

Neither Photoshop nor Gimp are designed for Pre-Rendered Mapping. Both are designed for Photo and Image editing and do a pretty equal job at it. Gimp has a slightly steeper learning curve because Photoshop is considered the industry standard, so there are significantly more tutorials, guides, and articles written about it. Any image editing software with Layers will do a perfectly fine job of Pre-Rendered Mapping and create an excellent finished product. Personally, I have used Photoshop because I am most familiar with it and have no problem doing Tile/Pixel/Sprite based work in it.

I have also been known to use Tiled to create Pre-Rendered Maps for vxAce, which doesn't quite do everything you can do in Gimp/Photoshop, but can produce some fantastic results all the same. The advantage to Tiled is that it is free, and it still uses a Grid based tiling system. You have the option to cut the tiles down to 16x16, or 8x8, and divide the tiles from the tilesets in the same way. It also has unlimited layers, the ability to hide and show layers at a whim (excellent for dividing the surface layers and the higher priority layers) as well as some other features.

 

[Tsukihime]

How about graphics gale or paint.NET?

If you just need to put stuff on your map and move stuff with layer support around then those should be enough.

Gale is sort of a standard in a lot of japanese games I believe (the company natively uses gale resources for its own game engines)

Paint.NET is easy enough to use compared to PS or GIMP which require you to actually figure out how to use the tool.

 

[Celianna]

@Prexus: we can do without the passive aggressive jabs at the term parallax mapping.

GIMP will be do whatever you want to do when it simply comes to mapping. If you're not planning on really creating anything yourself, and simply want to move things around, GIMP is just fine. Photoshop simply has more bells and whistles - things you'll never use.

 

[RyanA]

GIMP will be do whatever

Exactly, and most parralex mapping is just copy and pasting the tiles from one screen into the other and moving them around anyway, don't really need any fancy program for that.

 

[amerk]

I agree that GIMP does not include as much tutorials as Photoshop. While you can more or less teach yourself how to use GIMP once you've learned Photoshop, seeing as GIMP is a free alternative you'd think the RM world would be all over this. Maybe somebody can start a tutorial series on GIMP.

 

[Rayhaku808]

I agree that GIMP does not include as much tutorials as Photoshop. While you can more or less teach yourself how to use GIMP once you've learned Photoshop, seeing as GIMP is a free alternative you'd think the RM world would be all over this. Maybe somebody can start a tutorial series on GIMP.

^This please. The only other thing I've ever used GIMP for is to make glow effects for Lightsabers.