Japanese readers...?

[telophase]

Can someone here who reads Japanese go to the ComicStudio website and see if there is either a manual or a FAQ about ComicStudio EX 2.0?

I'm beta-testing it, but of course that means I don't have a manual and there's some things which are confusing, most especially the panel creation system. I've got the basics down with the Panel Frame Ruler Cutter, but there's a tool called the Panel Maker which seems to draw purple boxes on the screen and then allows you to do absolutely nothing with them - I can't figure out how to convert them to actual panels.

There's some of the vector tools I haven't figured out yet, either. The Line Lever tool, for one. The Line Fixer does some stuff, but I'm not sure of the proper application for it.

You're supposed to be able to make your own tones too, I think (maybe that's in version3?) but if so, I havne't figured it out and I'd rather like to know. :)

If anyone can help, I can bribe you with ... er, um? Art? Death Note doujinshi? Word fame? Chocolate?

Comments

[fourthage.livejournal.com]

Well, the Q&A section seems concerned with actual software installation and compatibility with tools like tablets. I've haven't seen anything like a manual, but I'm still poking around the community section.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

I poked about Support a bit but didn't see anything like that. What about Downloads? Or is that just things like filters? (And do they have any free tone files?) :D

[fourthage.livejournal.com]

There is a How to section you can navigate though using the left-hand column. My Japanese is really basic though, so I'd have to look at it for a bit to see if any of them are what you need.

As far as I can tell, the download page is for trial versions of their programs. There is a ShadeExporterPlugin, but I have no idea what it's supposed to do.

[fourthage.livejournal.com]

Argh, right-hand column.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

OK, thanks. I'll poke around a bit more and see what I can see. :D

[fourthage.livejournal.com]

Sorry I'm not more helpful. Is your program all in Japanese too or is there an English version?

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Hee. :D It's more-or-less in English, just with no manual. The Help goes to a very quick-and-dirty overview of the biggest parts, with text on the order of "Now, make your panels and go on to the next step!" with an arrow helpfully pointing at the panel tool. So ... yeah.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

oh hey - http://www.celsys.co.jp/community/cshowto/hcoma/index.html is using that panel tool I can't figure out. Can you get the gist of what they're talking about? I can make it pop up panels like that, but I don't know why on earth it would be useful...

[fourthage.livejournal.com]

コマを分ける <---This page?

[telophase.livejournal.com]

I don't have a Japanese character set installed on this computer, so that reads:

?????? <---This page?

to me. :D It's the page with four screen shots on it and the third one has two windows open in the program, with the one on top being a closeup of a catgirl face and the one underneath it having a section that's greyed out.

[fourthage.livejournal.com]

Ack, sorry. Yeah, that's the same page. Give me a minute and I'll see what I can pull from it.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Heehee, thanks. There's some sort of Japanese character set on this, because I can see some pages and posts, but the majority are full of ???. I sued to ahve a lot more installed until my ahrd drive died, and I never got around to updating the character sets when I reinstalled the system.

Thanks. :D

[fourthage.livejournal.com]

I suspect this would be easier if I had the program in front of me and could check whether what I'm saying has any relation to options available.

Section 1: It's talking about using guidelines to establish where you want the panel breaks to be. Basically, click on the ruler (?) and drag to the size you want.

Section 2: Oh boy. Um, I *think* the first bit says you can select parts to apply tone and the pen tool to. Then it has the procedure.
-> Click the scene layer tab of the object palette.
-> Select the tool palette's frame tool.
-> Draw the frame so it matches the name and guideline.

Section 3: To work on a frame, open it from the menu.

Tips: You can have your guidelines "snap" by checking the appropriate box in tool options.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Huh. Well, I'm still mystified. I can't quite see the utility. Oh well, thanks. :D

[fourthage.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I was hoping it would make more sense with if I could see the program, but I guess not. You're welcome, though.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

I can mostly figure out what it's doing, but it seems to be mostly redundant and served just as well by zooming in on that part. I'd assume that the Panel Tool (which I assume is the Frame Tool) would, say, make panels, but it seems mostly to serve as a way to take an existing panel and make it a separate file that you can zoom in on to work on. Hrm.