Before I get to the main part of this blog, people keep asking me what F-D-M-idget means.

F-D-M-idget is short for Fidget, Didget and Midget

To put the full name in the comic post titles makes site links and header titles very long, so I shorten it to F-D-M-idget in most cases.

So, back to the main story…

While I was on holiday in Spain, I got to relax loads and spend nearly 2 weeks with my family uninterrupted.
In addition, I got the chance to get used to my Surface Pro 2, and some new art programs.

As I said before, I have been trying out various applications to use with my Surface Pro 2, to help me make my comics.
I also wanted something that would be appropriate to use with my home PC while using my Intuos 3 A4 tablet.

After much trial and error, I have finally managed to come to a decision which one will be the application I use from now on.

And the winner is:
Manga Studio 5 EX.

Actually I got the download version from Smith and Micro, which is branded as Clip Studio EX. Here is their website.

This software is made for comics… literally! And I’m blown away by just how well it does the job!

Features like panel borders, lettering, inking tools, rulers, reference models, vector lines, pattern brushes and many more functions make this the perfect tool for the job.

Also the interface is VERY adaptive. I found myself making the whole of last week’s and this week’s strip in Manga Studio 5 EX without having to leave the application once.

It’s also pretty easy to use MS5 without having to use keyboard short-cuts.
The layout of the interface is such that I can get away with just using the pen if I want to. That was nice as I could sit comfortably on the sofa and just draw on the tablet without the need to have the keyboard plugged in. Sort of like having a magical sketchbook. 🙂

As a result of finding my feet with this application, the comic has again improved in quality. The whole layout and style has tightened up even more and now I’m far closer to how I envisioned this comic looking when I first started out.
Even though I am very pleased with the improvements this has made to the comic, I am still learning how to use MS5, and can see many features that will make it even better as time goes on!

Fidget, Didget and Midget was started to teach me how to make a comic rather than offer any kind of commercial benefit. And so it’s understandable that the style has changed rapidly as it’s more of a research and development project.
Certainly when I make my next comic series I’ll get the style nailed sooner and so hopefully there won’t be the rapid change you saw here. But that’s a way down the road yet, F-D-M-idget has a way to go yet. 🙂

Other news

I have been slightly hampered by bugs on the website recently that I have had to try and resolve.
One major problem was the auto posting to Facebook and Google+.
For some reason the image appearing on the posted items was incorrect occasionally. It was very frustrating as I had to constantly delete the post on FB and G+ and re-create them.
However I think I have solved that now… I hope… so with a bit of luck I won’t have to worry about that issue any more.

And of course the site still looks pretty bland and there is still no shop.
So I have some work to do.

However I feel really positive right now.
We have Digger & Snuff going strong and a ton of stuff on the horizon. So…. Onwards!

Mark