I’m often asked what tools I use to produce my work, so I created this page to reveal the answer in a way I can keep up-to-date.
Raster image editor, background painting, vector fx, sketching, thumbnailing, raster illustration. There are simpler tools, I’ve tried many of them (Pixelmator, Affinity Photo/Designer, GIMP, Procreate) but nothing beats Photoshop in these areas. In the toolkit since 2002.
For comic inking and colouring. A really wonderful tool for illustrative work. Perpetual license. In the toolkit since 2022.
Storyboarding and animatics. This software is a great place to 'be'. I love how it enables me to flow from storyboarding to animatic, scripts in tow, and hand-over to Harmony in one continuous, smooth workflow. Perpetual license. In the toolkit since 2021 (previously, Adobe Photoshop & Bridge since 2002).
2D animation. This tool does things its own way, and I love the unique environment it provides. Organised, the deformations/rigging is fantastic, makes both cutout and paperless a dream. Perpetual license. In the toolkit since 2021 (previously, Adobe Animate/Flash since 2002).
2D animation compositing, promo reel vfx, video production, final animation composition, audio editing. In the toolkit since 2021 (previously: Adobe Premiere Pro, After Effects, Final Cut Pro since 2007, iMovie since 2005)
Video compression. In the toolkit since 2009.
I use VIM for general writing and web development. Used since 2014; it’s light, timeless, and endlessly powerful. Currently using the drop-in replacement Neovim variation. I also use VSCode whenever there's a particular function I need that's faster to perform in a GUI vs a TUI. (Previously: ST2, Espresso, DW since 2004, Frontpage since 2000, Notepad and MS Write since 1997). Bonus: I have MacVim installed too for when I need to pop into an editor straight from Finder.
While VIM has fountain plugins, and fountain-focused apps like Slugline are great, Final Draft is the industry standard, and its beat board tools really work well in my workflow. Used since 2023 (Previously: Slugline since 2021, iA Writer since 2010, TextEdit since 2005, Notepad since 2000)
My game development engine of choice. I love the node system, and since I hop between game and toon all the time, jumping from Harmony’s node system to Godot’s node system feels like less of a mental shift. (Previously: Phaser, Vanilla JS, ActionScript3, GMS since 2001 back when it was with Overmars)
My terminal of choice. Having .config/ configuration alongside nvim/zellij/etc. is a really tidy way to manage the terminal, and make everything in the terminal experience match (eg lazygit and neovim having the same colour scheme). Used since 2023 (previously: iTerm2 since 2014, Terminal.app since 2005)
Where all of my production code lives. In the toolkit since 2010.
Simple sites use this in combination with a GitHub Workflow to auto-deploy daily. This keeps media flowing on schedules, fast load times, and minimal moving parts. I can keep things simple, I can host this anywhere, and I have Ruby (and Liquid) at my disposal when I need simple templating. In the toolkit since 2011.
I wish SSG site hosting had always been this easy and fast. Commit to a repo master branch and Netlify takes care of the rest. In the toolkit since 2019. DigitalOcean’s droplets are great for things that can’t be static, and require a virtual machine to take care of. Since 2020
I’ve used Apple Mail with Gmail for work since 2005 (and Apple's email offering through Dotmac/MobileMe/iCloud eras for personal use) and love its familiarity and simplicity. I've tried other email clients over the years (exploring their promises of speed gains or productivity benefits) but I find that 'simple and familiar' vastly outpaces 'fancy and fresh' in this area.
My teams try to avoid meetings as much as possible. But when they're required, we use Zoom if call recording is required, and FaceTime since platform-agnostic web access became available. In the toolkit since 2017 (previously: Skype since 2005, AIM since 2002)
Bookkeeping and accounting. It’s great for those things, and easy to share with our accountants. In the toolkit since 2012 (previously iBank since 2007, Envelopes since 2005).
I've tried almost every CRM out there, and didn't take to them. I wanted simple data schemas, reminders, a log of activities, categorisation, and sovreignty of data. That's it. So I made my own, which runs on a simple sqlite3 database with a simple ruby-based view/edit interface.
The Studio is my main machine. The MBP is for on-the-go. Used Macs since 2005 since they give me a great development environment (like Ubuntu or OpenBSD) but they run Toon Boom, Celsys and Adobe products (unlike Ubuntu or OpenBSD). I use macOS mostly like I did 20 years ago, preferring file systems and terminals over new-fangled Stage Manager type stuff.
I love Wacom tablets. I’ve used loads of them over the years, for drawing and also as a mouse replacement since ~2008. I use a few tablets depending on whether I’m doing line work, painting, animating or I’m "on the go". My primary machine has both the Cintiq and Intuos Pro hooked up together, so I can draft linework upright then rest my arm while painting.