#i bought csp for windows on sale back when i was drawing on pc only but could never get the pen pressure to get correct and the software to

[bernardisgross]

i use csp on my tablet all the time but tbh i'm kinda pissed that i pay yearly what i paid for the windows version on pc that i almost never open bc i can't get it to work smoothly (and my computer isn't the problem)... like.. i know about the updates and ok, do that if you've concluded that it's the best for you, but i wish there was a one time puchase option if you don't care about all the updates bc, tbh i probably use 10% of csp's potential mdrr...

but i definitely can't do everything i need to do with just procreate so :I

anyways.. it's been the same thing forever, i've never been able to find ONE software that has it all, and i just have to use 3 (and another one i don't pay for 🙄)

[i was gonna say that in the tags but !!!! try csp for free before you buy it !!!!!!!!!!!!! just asking around isn't enough... see if your pc can run it, and if you can get the pens to work smoothly first !!!]

[cloudscratchercomic]

The Ballad of Page 43

It started around late December when I got word the Cloudscratcher site had been hacked. Specifically, it was redirecting anyone who accessed the site through Google to some Chinese viagra store. So I call my provider, get the site cleaned of malware (which takes a few hours), and get myself some website security. Costs me over $200, but it's necessary, so I do it. Around the same time I finally get myself a Cintiq, which I've wanted since I started this comic in the first place. It's just  a Cintiq 16, mind you, but it's a great drawing tablet all the same. After procuring the necessary HDMI-to-USB adapter, it's time to get started! And wouldn't you know it, around the same time I get a copy of Clip Studio Paint! So, I decide to take a week off from the comic to practice using the Cintiq and learning CSP...

Turns out none of my drivers work.

CSP isn't registering my pen pressure, even when Photoshop can do it just fine. I look up some online guides and troubleshooting sites, nothing. Nada. Zip. So I spend the next couple days uninstalling and reinstalling my drivers for everything I can; CSP, the Cintiq, the HDMI adapter, even Photoshop. Somehow I finally get the right order of installations to get it working. Since I don't have the time to make some cool picture as practice, I spend the remaining days coloring over some old illustrations I did, getting the hang of CSP's interface and how its tools work. Okay, now we're ready to get started on the next page! I do the page in pencil, but this time I don't ink it; I'll be doing that digitally this time!...

Then we get another problem...

Inexplicably, after running for some time, a bizarre glitch would cause the mouse cursor to lock into a grey shadow of a mouse cursor icon (either the arrow, pointing finer, or up-and-down arrows). Once it would do this, that grey shadow was there permanently, even if I switched to a brush in Photoshop or CS Paint, the grey shadow would still hove over it, getting in the way. The only thing that made it go back to normal was a full reset of my computer. Great... I take screencaps and videos of the issue, and contact Wacom. After days of dealing with their tech support, they got nothin'. They say it's not the Cintiq's fault, it has to be the drivers. Always the drivers. But I knew the drivers were fixed this time. Lord knows I spent DAYS fixing it. Then I figured it out; it was the crappy Chinese HDMI adapter I was using. Alright then, I'll just buy a new one! It costs more than I'd like, but what the heck!

Okay, done! Now to work on this page and deal with this annoying problem until the new update gets here!

Then one night, as I'm unwinding with some Starsector and YouTube before bed, the sound suddenly stutters before I get the Windows 10 frowny face screen, and everything turns to black. Nothing responds. I turn my computer off, turn it back on... No response...

The motherboard is dead.

So I take my computer in to Geek Squad. It'll take them DAYS to diagnose the problem. Wonderful. Eventually they get back to me and tell me the motherboard is fried, possibly the CPU as well. After dealing with Geek Squad (and Best Buy's horrific telephone service) I get the info I need on the motherboard to buy a new one compatible with my computer. Costs me almost $300 on top of the $100+ I'm paying Geek Squad for all this. So they get the new motherboard and, oh joy, it'll take another couple days to replace it. So, more days go by and finally they get back to me.It didn't work, the CPU is fried. Gonna have to buy a whole new computer.

So I do. Can't get a cheap one considering everything I use this computer for, and the last one was over $800 and I still burned the thing out. So I'm in a bind; I need a new computer NOW. I go to Best Buy, get my money back for the motherboard, and see what they have. Find a better computer for the same price range as the last one. Perfect. Go to the counter to buy it, THEY DON'T HAVE IT. They have it on display for you to buy, just not that day. Awesome business model. So I find out what they do have available that day in the scope of PCs I need. The cheapest one available is over a grand. And that's the sale price. Luckily I'm frugal, and I have an emergency fund for disasters like this (or if something happens to me or my car). So, luckily, I can afford it, but it's way more than I wanted to spend. Now I just need to get my data from the last computer transferred to the new one... Which takes another day...

So finally, FINALLY, I get my new computer home... And the HDMI adapter I bought is the wrong type. Now I have to buy an entirely new one. There's another week of no comic, great. In the meantime, I get everything installed and running on the new PC. Then the adapter gets here, and I brace for another round of a driver circus. Luckily, everything installs smoothly and works like a charm! And just as I thought, no cursor shenanigans with the new adapter! Thanks, StarTech!

So, that's it! That's the adventure that brought us here! That's why you haven't seen an update for a month or so! Thanks for your patience, and let's hope this kind of crap never happens again.