Which 3D Formats are used in Manga Studio?

The OBJ file format DOES NOT support anything other than 3D geometry, materials, and textures (actually the texture locators and UV map information and so only one UV map per OBJ). Therefore, no bones, no animation, no lights, cameras, etc. This is the limitation of the OBJ file format.

If you need bones/animation then you need file formats like FBX or DAE. File formats are developed to carry with them specific information. For example the .max format for 3D Studio MAX will carry all the information for a scene made in 3D Studio MAX, including the way the UI is set up (such as if a view port is set to full screen when saved, etc.) and a lot of stuff that NO OTHER software will need or be able to use (since no other software is Max). Obviously, a piece of software like Manga Studio will not need 3DS Max UI info. So, export formats are used instead. Each format was developed for a particular purpose.

So all in all, if you only need a 3D object or simple 3D scene with one UV map, material information and texture locater info, then OBJ works fine. If you need additional information like cameras, animation, etc., then typically you need FBX or DAE, though DAE tends to be used a lot for 3D game development (though FBX gets used as well). Knowing a bit about various file formats will go a long way toward understanding which ones to use for whichever purpose. And it will also keep people from blaming a piece of software when it is not at fault (i.e. wondering why a skeleton did not export when using the OBJ format).

How to install Photoshop CS2 on Ubuntu 12.04

Well now that Adobe have apparently made Photoshop (along with several other Creative  Suite 2 applications) free to download. While we can’t say till when they will keep their activation servers disabled for this, we might as well install it in Ubuntu 12.04 while we can. And yes i know there’s already GIMP, then why Photoshop. My answer to that would be “WHY NOT?”.

Let’s get going! First download Photoshop from the Adobe site (hint: google “adobe photoshop cs2 download“). Also copy the serial number whilst on the download page.

Ok then with the download done, let’s get started. First we need to install all the files needed to support Photoshop in Ubuntu.

You can do that by running this command in the terminal:
winetricks gecko corefonts vcrun6
or just install wine 1.5, this will install all the necessary files/fonts require to run PS smoothly.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-wine/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install wine1.5
sudo apt-get install winetricks

if gecko or vcrun6 somehow doesn’t get installed, here’s what you’ll have to do.
For vcrun6:
sudo add-apt-repository  ppa:ubuntu-wine/ppa
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade
winetricks  mfc42

For gecko:
Depending upon your system config choose either the 32 bit file or the 64 one
32 bit:
wget http://downloads.sourceforge.net/wine/wine_gecko-1.9-x86.msi
64 bit:
wget http://downloads.sourceforge.net/wine/wine_gecko-1.9-x86_64.msi
After it gets done. Run these…
sudo mkdir -p /usr/share/wine/gecko

For 32 bit:
sudo mv wine_gecko-1.9-x86.msi /usr/share/wine/gecko/
For 64 bit:
sudo mv wine_gecko-1.9-x86_64.msi /usr/share/wine/gecko/
And finally…
Right click on the photoshop.exe file you downloaded earlier and select ‘Open with > WINE Windows Program Loader’.

Follow the on-screen prompts as they appear, not forgetting to input your serial-number  when asked.

When everything’s complete, you can launch Photoshop CS2 via the Unity Dash. Enjoy !!!