Tools

What good is making programmer art without tools, right? Right. First, learn your tools as best you can, and don't be afraid to experiment. If you're worried you'll ruin some art or a sound, make a backup copy first. Sound tools allow you to record, edit, and add effects to sound waves. Some inexpensive sound tools include Pro Tools FREE, Cool Edit, GoldWave, GLAME, GSMP, and LAoE for Java. Graphics tools allow you to create and edit textures and sprites. Some inexpensive graphics tools include Photoshop Elements (www.adobe.com), Paint Shop Pro (www.jasc.com), and the GIMP (www.gimp.org). 3D tools allow you to create and render 3D graphics. Some free 3D tools include Blender and POV-Ray. Blender is a polygon modeler, while POV-Ray is a ray-tracing renderer. Although ray-tracing doesn't really help you, POV-Ray has some interesting texture-generation capabilities that you can take advantage of. If you have the money, some professional 3D tools include 3ds max and Maya.