Tools

This sections provides a direct link to the official website or source of the tool, a brief description, links to documentation, install instructions, and any tips or notes useful to getting started.

It exists partially as a quick reference, and also to help prevent downloading legitimate tools from illegitimate mirrors.

Learn how to validate and verify data integrity for more.

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2D

Adobe / Creative Cloud

• https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud.html
• Summary: Adobe's software and service suite
• Install instructions: https://helpx.adobe.com/download-install/kb/creative-cloud-desktop-app-download.html

Obtain the latest signed binary directly from Adobe programmatically:

# Latest macOS / Apple M1
curl -LfO 'https://ccmdl.adobe.com/AdobeProducts/KCCC/CCD/5_7_1/macarm64/ACCCx5_7_1_1.dmg'

# Latest Windows 10/11 x64
$ProgressPreference = "SilentlyContinue"
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://ccmdl.adobe.com/AdobeProducts/KCCC/CCD/5_7_1/win64/ACCCx5_7_1_1.zip" -OutFile "C:\Windows\Temp\ACCC_latest.zip"
Expand-Archive -Path "C:\Windows\Temp\ACCC_latest.zip" -DestinationPath "C:\Your\Destination\Path"
& 'C:\Your\Destination\Path\Set-up.exe'

Photoshop

• https://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop.html
• Summary: 2D graphics editor
• Install instructions: https://helpx.adobe.com/support/photoshop.html
• Documentation: https://helpx.adobe.com/support/photoshop.html

Illustrator

• https://www.adobe.com/products/illustrator.html
• Summary: vector gaphics editor
• Install Instructions: https://helpx.adobe.com/support/illustrator.html
• Documentation: https://helpx.adobe.com/support/illustrator.html

GIMP

• https://www.gimp.org/
• Summary: 2D graphics editor
• Install Instructions: https://www.gimp.org/downloads/

• Documentation: https://www.gimp.org/docs/

• Resynthesizer (texture, style transfer)

• Install Instructions: https://github.com/bootchk/resynthesizer/wiki/Install-Resynthesizer
• Documentation: https://github.com/bootchk/resynthesizer/wiki/Quick-user's-guide-to-the-Resynthesizer-plugins-for-GIMP

Krita

• https://krita.org/
• Summary: 2D painting program
• Download: https://krita.org/en/download/krita-desktop/
• Install Instructions: https://docs.krita.org/en/user_manual/getting_started/installation.html
• Documentation: https://docs.krita.org/en/

Inkscape

• https://inkscape.org/
• Summary: vector graphics editor
• Install Instructions: https://inkscape-manuals.readthedocs.io/en/latest/installing-on-windows.html
• Install Instructions: https://inkscape-manuals.readthedocs.io/en/latest/installing-on-mac.html
• Install Instructions: https://inkscape-manuals.readthedocs.io/en/latest/installing-on-linux.html
• Documentation: https://inkscape.org/learn/
• Documentation: https://inkscape-manuals.readthedocs.io/en/latest/index.html

Topaz Studio

• https://topazlabs.com/studio/
• Summary: automate painting & artistic style matching with machine learning

Topaz Gigapixel

• https://topazlabs.com/gigapixel-ai
• Summary: upscales images accurately using machine learning

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3D

Blender

• https://www.blender.org/
• Summary: complete 3D modeling, animation, and 3D drawing suite
• Install Instructions: https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/getting_started/installing/index.html
• Documentation: https://www.blender.org/support/

Marmoset Toolbag

• https://marmoset.co/
• Summary: real-time rendering, texturing, and baking tools

Substance 3D Painter

• https://www.adobe.com/products/substance3d-painter.html

Houdini

• https://www.sidefx.com/products/houdini/
• Summary: procedural visual effects creation

Daz 3D

• https://www.daz3d.com/
• Summary: software + storefront offering rigged 3D character, prop, environment assets, export to various formats

Marvelous Designer

• https://marvelousdesigner.com/
• Summary: realistic cloth and clothing creation, make complex and reusable 3D clothing
• Summary: https://marvelousdesigner.com/product/overview

Maya

• https://www.autodesk.com/products/maya/overview

Fusion 360

• https://www.autodesk.com/products/fusion-360/overview
• Summary: cloud-based, CAD product design software (good for hard surface modeling)

Zbrush

• https://store.pixologic.com/
• Summary: complete 3D sculpting solution

Keyshot

• https://www.keyshot.com/
• Summary: GPU / CPU rendering and animation

OctaneRender

• https://home.otoy.com/render/octane-render/
• Summary: NVIDIA CUDA-enabled GPU rendering software

Character Creator

• https://www.reallusion.com/character-creator/
• Summary: clearinghouse for 3D character design, creation, animation, and export
• Install Instructions: https://kb.reallusion.com/General/50021/How-can-I-redownload-the-program-if-I-lost-the-installer
• License: one-time, perpetual license

iClone (Animation)

• https://www.reallusion.com/iclone/
• Summary: real-time 3D animation, exports to various formats
• Install Instructions: https://kb.reallusion.com/General/50021/How-can-I-redownload-the-program-if-I-lost-the-installer
• License: one-time, perpetual license

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Game Engines

Unreal Engine

• https://www.unrealengine.com/

Unity Engine

• https://unity.com/

Godot Engine

• https://godotengine.org/
• License: MIT

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Assets

photobash.co

• https://www.photobash.co/
• Summary: library of paid photo and 3D kit assets (royalty free)

location textures

• https://locationtextures.com/
• Summary: library of paid photo assets and HDR's (royalty free)

poliigon

• https://www.poliigon.com/
• Summary: 3D assets, shaders, materials, (subscription or per asset fee)

turbosquid

• https://www.turbosquid.com/
• Summary: stock 3D models (revenue based license)

Arstation

• https://www.artstation.com/marketplace/game-dev
• Summary: has marketplace where creators sell assets and tutorials for all programs and formats

Gumroad

• https://gumroad.com/
• Summary: marketplace where creators sell assets and tutorials for all programs and formats

JRO Tools

• https://www.artstation.com/jronn/store
• https://gumroad.com/environmentdesign
• Summary: various kitbash + photobash assets and tutorials

Quick Texture

• https://jamajurabaev.gumroad.com/l/CRbkx
• Summary: Blender add-on for automating and streamlining texture workflows

Quick Assembly

• https://jamajurabaev.gumroad.com/l/bnmmq
• Summary: Blender add-on for automating working with geometry nodes + instances

Gaëlle Seguillon

• https://www.artstation.com/gaelleseguillon/store
• https://gaelleseguillon.gumroad.com/
• Summary: Matte painting texture packs

pexels

• https://www.pexels.com/
• License: https://www.pexels.com/license
• Summary: library of free to use imagery by artists, released under the permissive pexels license

unsplash

• https://unsplash.com/
• License: https://unsplash.com/license
• Summary: library of free to use imagery by artists, released under the permissive unsplash license
• https://github.com/unsplash

pixabay

• https://pixabay.com/
• License: https://pixabay.com/service/terms/
• Summary: library of free to use imagery by artists, released under the permissive pixabay license

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Video

Adobe / Creative Cloud

Premiere

• https://www.adobe.com/products/premiere.html
• Install Instructions: https://helpx.adobe.com/support/premiere-pro.html
• Documentation: https://helpx.adobe.com/support/premiere-pro.html

Blender

• https://www.blender.org/
• Summary: complete 3D modeling, animation, and 3D drawing suite
• Install Instructions: https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/getting_started/installing/index.html
• Documentation: https://www.blender.org/support/

DaVinci Resolve

• https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve/
• Summary: full video and audio editing + post production suite

EbSynth

• https://ebsynth.com/
• https://ebsynth.com/faq.html
• Summary: image synthesis (style, texture, content) for video

OBS Studio

• https://obsproject.com/
• https://github.com/obsproject/obs-studio
• License: GPL-2.0
• Summary: streaming, broadcasting, and recording software (video + audio + screen)

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AI

Midjourney

• Public Beta: https://discord.gg/midjourney
• https://twitter.com/midjourney
• https://github.com/midjourney/docs
• https://midjourney.gitbook.io/docs
• https://www.midjourney.com/app/
• Summary: text to image automation via Discord bot, commercial subscription plans available
• Licensing for Commercial Use

DALL-E 2

• https://openai.com/dall-e-2/
• Summary: text to image automation
• Licensing for Commercial Use

synthesia

• https://www.synthesia.io
• Summary: ai video generation

Nvida AI Research

• https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/research/ai-playground/
• Summary: demos of automation in image generation

Stable Diffusion

• https://stability.ai/
• https://twitter.com/stabilityai
• https://stability.ai/blog/stable-diffusion-public-release
• DreamStudio, a paid web application using Stable Diffusion - Images created in DreamStudio fall under the CC0 1.0 (Public Domain)
• Summary: text to image automation

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Credential Management

Protect all of your credentials with a strong passphrase, and MFA

1Password

• https://1password.com/

Bitwarden

• https://bitwarden.com/

KeePassXC

• https://keepassxc.org/

• iOS: StrongBox

  • https://strongboxsafe.com/
  • https://apps.apple.com/us/app/strongbox-keepass-pwsafe/id897283731

• Android: Keepass2Android

  • https://github.com/PhilippC/keepass2android
  • https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=keepass2android.keepass2android

LastPass

• https://www.lastpass.com/

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Note Taking

OneNote

• https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/onenote/digital-note-taking-app
• Summary: Full featured note taking, tags, sharing, rich text, cross platform

StandardNotes

• https://standardnotes.com/
• Summary: End to end encrypted notes, cross platform

Figma

• https://www.figma.com/
• Summary: Complete design process & collaboration toolkit

CherryTree

• https://www.giuspen.com/cherrytree/
• https://github.com/giuspen/cherrytree
• Summary: Hierarchical note taking application, rich text, syntax highlighting

Joplin

• https://github.com/laurent22/joplin
• Summary: Markdown-rendered note taking, hierarchical, tags, cross-platform sync options

Obsidian

• https://obsidian.md/
• Summary: Hierarchical note taking in Markdown, has various graph views to connect notes

Greenshot

• https://github.com/greenshot/greenshot
• https://getgreenshot.org/downloads/
• Summary: Robust screenshot tool for Windows (and macOS)

Flameshot

• https://github.com/flameshot-org/flameshot
• Summary: Robust screenshot tool for Linux

Snipping Tool

• https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/use-snipping-tool-to-capture-screenshots-00246869-1843-655f-f220-97299b865f6b
• Summary: Built-in to Windows (will be removed)

GNOME Screenshot

• https://download.gnome.org/sources/gnome-screenshot/
• Summary: Built-in to many Linux distributions running GNOME

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File Transfer Protocols

Common file transfer web applications. Links point to the business or paid version of each service.

Google Drive

• https://workspace.google.com/intl/en/products/drive/

Dropbox

• https://www.dropbox.com/pro

Box

• https://www.box.com/pricing/individual

OneDrive / Sharepoint

• https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/onedrive/onedrive-for-business
• https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/sharepoint/collaboration
• NOTE: Microsoft Teams uses Sharepoint as it's backend fileshare service.

Tresorit

• https://tresorit.com/individuals
• Free option: https://send.tresorit.com/

Wiredrive

• https://www.wiredrive.com/

Egnyte

• https://www.egnyte.com/

Simian

• https://www.gosimian.com/

WeTransfer

• https://wetransfer.com/pricing

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Code Repositories

• CycleGAN (automate style matching)

  • https://github.com/junyanz/CycleGAN

• stylegan (automate face generation)

  • https://github.com/NVlabs/stylegan

• stylegan2-ada (refactoring of stylegan)

  • https://github.com/NVlabs/stylegan2-ada

• stable-diffusion

  • https://github.com/CompVis/stable-diffusion

• Teradici Deployment Scripts

  • https://github.com/teradici/cloud_deployment_scripts

• SPADE (automate image creation)

  • https://github.com/NVlabs/SPADE

• DALL-E (VAE-only component of DALL-E)

  • https://github.com/openai/DALL-E

• ebsynth (image synthesizer)

  • https://github.com/jamriska/ebsynth
  • Example usage of ebsynth for animation (Joel Haver): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tq_KOmXyVDo

• GDQuest (tutorials, art, Godot Engine)

  • https://github.com/GDquest

• unsplash (dataset repo)

  • https://github.com/unsplash

• hypVR-Ray (hyperbolic VR using raymarching)

  • https://github.com/mtwoodard/hypVR-Ray

• Adobe Photoshop Scripting Guide

  • https://github.com/Adobe-CEP/CEP-Resources/tree/master/Documentation/Product%20specific%20Documentation/Photoshop%20Scripting