Ok, so you want to become a digital artist? Great. What will you need, you might ask yourself? Well, depending on what you’re focusing on, it may be different, but lets say you want to create: music, graphics, photo and video.
First) Starting out, you will need a computer. To be fair, you can do a lot with a low grade computer, yet it will eventually frustrate you with slow rendering times, memory issues and a general feeling of it being slow. I would therefore recommend investing in a computer with a good CPU and the possibility to upgrade the RAM. When it comes to graphics cards, I’d say it is not so important, unless you are doing heavy 3D work. Most graphics cards are good enough for doing basic things these days.
Second) You will need some sort of external sound card. Usually USB. This will allow you to connect microphones and musical instruments to your computer. A simple one will do.
You will also need a pair of speakers. Studio monitors preferably but a regular set of 2.1 computer speakers will do.
Third) A DAW of some sort. You can get free ones these days, or you can buy cheap ones, as FL studio or similar. With FL studio you also get the ZGameVideoEditer, which is a great tool for making videos. (I am not affiliated with FL studio in this blog post.)
I would also recommend installing a Linux distribution on your computer (dual boot or on a second machine if you have that available). With Linux there are many interesting projects you can try out, where you can get many features for free.
This includes learning a bit about programming and such but that is given, if you truly want to become a good digital artist.
I will go into depth more on the software in a coming blog entry. Why I mention this here is because often when you buy hardware, you will get trial editions of DAWs and those can be a good start.
Fourth) An analog synthesizer of some sort. Synths are great for making sound, and if you want to produce music or create effects for games and movies, a synthesizer is invaluable. You will also learn how sound synthesis works.
Now, an analog synthesizer can be expensive so look at the digital alternatives. You can though get cheap keyboards second hand which are a good way of learning how to record audio into your DAW of choice.
Fifth) A video card and the possibility to record video from external sources. If you do decide to get a video card for your computer, look for device where you can get signals from external sources, such as VCRs, DVDs, TVs and more. Just be aware how copyright laws work in your location in case you want to use material that is copyrighted.
Sixth) Any peripheral you find necessary. Experimenting with keyboards and mouses may be helpful working with photo editing and similar, where you have the option to create certain hotkeys and similar. Think creatively, you can connect almost anything to your computer: drawing tablets, scanners, printers, webcams and more.
So to summarize:
- A decent computer
- A sound card and some speakers
- A DAW
- A synthesizer/A keyboard
- A video card with inputs for external sources
- Any interesting peripheral
