Watercolour Labrador

[Fashmir]

Nice dog Enug. :-) I think one of the biggest reasons this forum is in the doldrums, is that Ambient Design seems to be in a coma. I have been working on a YouTube channel called "Papa's Pixels" which is about exploring various ways to make pictures with various digital devices. I'm just at the beginning of the process and I want to make good, effective business decisions. I have such a great love for ArtRage, but I'm reluctant to put my efforts into something with no future. Ambient is not giving us the encouragement that there is a future for ArtRage. It makes me sad having been here from the beginning and having participated in so many alpha and beta cycles of testing the software through many versions. Looking at it from a pragmatic point of view, looking at the response of the users to the Vitae release on the MS store, the fact that I am back to browsing my artwork with no PTG file thumbnails and ZERO response from Ambient about how to fix that problem. Gha! It's so frustrating. I use Rebelle now as my main toolset, but there are so MANY things about ArtRage that are still stronger. The brush engine and the complexity that can be done with clever setups is amazing! In ArtRage the fact that the brush engine accounts for color and is not just a black and white brush head like Rebelle or Adobe Photoshop, gives us enormous advantages. I would love to teach it to people, but why would I be like a buggy whip maker when faced with the ubiquity of cars and insist on continuing to make buggy whips? I'm still thinking about all of it and I haven't ruled out making ArtRage lessons. If Ambient got some new life and showed some enthusiasm for its own creation and those who love it, I would be delighted.

Sorry to rant in your thread Enug. It really is a lovely dog. :-)

[Enug]

Rant on Fashmir I agree with many of the points you made. I'm a "Johnny come lately" compared to you, but there were lively conversations also back then. Perhaps if you decide to go ahead with ArtRage tutorials it might attract members to the forum. It seems that someone joins to ask a question but sadly we don't hear from them again. I'm at a loss to find an answer to the situation.

[Fashmir]

Enug- One of the reasons new people don't stay is likely the very outdated, even archaic format of the forum. No fast way to appreciate something and move on, no visual feed to catch eyes. People have to click on our best worded titles to posts in order to see what they are spending that moment of their lives on. People have no patience for that any more. Too many other avenues of entertainment and information with far more immediacy. I would love to think that I had the power to change things through time and effort, but if Ambient Design has fallen asleep or grown tired of the slog, I don't see much point. I'm getting really picky about how I use whatever I have left in me. :-)