Sunday, May 07, 2006
So you think you're funny do ya?
I have always loved cartoon strips and comics... I have even taken cartooning classes to try and gain enough drawing and art skills to create my own. If you have a lot of humorous ideas but lack the drawing skills to make those cartoons come to fruition then worry no longer. The Cool Pick Of The Day is the website Strip Generator. What a GREAT IDEA!!!! It is a flash based site that allows you to create comic strips and for others to comment on them.
Anyway, the concept is simple and the implementation is straightforward. If you want to see all the comics that people have put up, then click on the Gallery button. Choose the comic from the lower left pane and view the comics. If you want to create your own strip, Go to the site, click Create. Type in a name to display as the author and then add a Title for the strip. Then click next button. Once the workspace is loaded you are presented with 3 panels. The upper left pane is the Name and Title, the upper right panel has 3 tabs: 1 with characters (84 I think), one with objects (96 I think) and one with balloons (4). The lower 2 panels are where the comic strip is created. You can add up to 3 more windows for a total of 5 windows by using the add window and remove window buttons at the upper right position above the comic windows. You can also adjust each window size by dragging the right side line of the window.
You add cartoon objects by dragging them from the upper right characters/objects/bubbles panel to the cartoon window you wish to place it in. You can replicate a selected object (represented in red) of 1 window to the next by clicking the >> or << buttons at the top of each window. This places the object in the next window exactly in the same place as was in the other window. You can also clear the window with the clear button. The interface allows you to also flip selected objects by hitting the mirror button.
You can select a variety of objects to include in your strip and you can add text bubbles. You can have 22 characters and 22 bubbles and 44 objects per window.
The only interface drawbacks that I saw was That the characters HAVE to be at the bottom of the windows. It would be nice to allow them to be anywhere. This could give some sense of "perspective".
I think it would be nice if they had a ranking system so the high rated comics are at the top of the list. I will make that suggestion to them. Also, additional controls like free rotation would be cool (I know one of the creators has done that in another project... why not this one?). I will also give that suggestion to them.
Overall I think this site is GREAT!!!! Good work!
Anyway, the concept is simple and the implementation is straightforward. If you want to see all the comics that people have put up, then click on the Gallery button. Choose the comic from the lower left pane and view the comics. If you want to create your own strip, Go to the site, click Create. Type in a name to display as the author and then add a Title for the strip. Then click next button. Once the workspace is loaded you are presented with 3 panels. The upper left pane is the Name and Title, the upper right panel has 3 tabs: 1 with characters (84 I think), one with objects (96 I think) and one with balloons (4). The lower 2 panels are where the comic strip is created. You can add up to 3 more windows for a total of 5 windows by using the add window and remove window buttons at the upper right position above the comic windows. You can also adjust each window size by dragging the right side line of the window.
You add cartoon objects by dragging them from the upper right characters/objects/bubbles panel to the cartoon window you wish to place it in. You can replicate a selected object (represented in red) of 1 window to the next by clicking the >> or << buttons at the top of each window. This places the object in the next window exactly in the same place as was in the other window. You can also clear the window with the clear button. The interface allows you to also flip selected objects by hitting the mirror button.
You can select a variety of objects to include in your strip and you can add text bubbles. You can have 22 characters and 22 bubbles and 44 objects per window.
The only interface drawbacks that I saw was That the characters HAVE to be at the bottom of the windows. It would be nice to allow them to be anywhere. This could give some sense of "perspective".
I think it would be nice if they had a ranking system so the high rated comics are at the top of the list. I will make that suggestion to them. Also, additional controls like free rotation would be cool (I know one of the creators has done that in another project... why not this one?). I will also give that suggestion to them.
Overall I think this site is GREAT!!!! Good work!
# posted by TheGuardian : 6:17 PM
