Windows Help & Advice - UK (2019-12)

skeletallyanimatinga collectionof

ELWPDSV6\QÀJ JLYHV \RX WKH

necessarytools.It’sadeptenough

toproducesomeprofessional

results– althoughthequalityof

yourworkis downtoyou...

Alternately:OpenToonz

MEDIA

togetheroftheDebian

Linux distribution,

noted media center app

Kodi, and some custom

tweaks to make its

interface as usable and

simple as possible, OSMC

is a great distro for that

livingroomPC– orwhen

you want to let someone

watch some films on

your PC without actually

giving them full access

to your files.

Alternately:

LibreELEC

Forsecuritytesting

KALI LINUX

http://kali.org

How tough are your

computers? How bad-guy-

proof is your network?

Find out with Kali Linux,

which carries a huge

packageoftoolstohelp

thewhitehathackerfind

vulnerabilitiesinsystems.

You’llneedtomakesure

youusethetoolsproperly

toavoida worrying

knockonthedoor,but

there’snonebetterfor

testingsecurity.

Alternately:BackBox

FORCREATIVITY
UBUNTUSTUDIO
http://ubuntustudio.org
Whetheryou’reproducing
videooraudio,Ubuntu
Studiois burstingwith
tools.Itseffectivenesswill,
givenLinux’susual
awkwardness, depend on
the precise hardware you
have installed, but it’s free.
Worth trying before
investing in expensive pro
production packages.
© UBUNTUSTUDIO.ORG Alternately: AV Linux

Justbecause

youcanmake

vectorimages

inInkscape

doesn’tmean

youshould.

6

WRITING

FOCUSWRITER

http://gottcode.org/focuswriter

A beautiful,serenebackground

image.Theclickety-clackofa

typewriteraccompanyingyour

keystrokes.You,yourwords,and

nouglydistractions.If there’s

somethingyouneedtogetwritten,

youshouldforgetbigclumsy

RIÀFH DSSV .HHS LW VLPSOH

Alternately:Typora

7

GAMECREATION

GODOT

http://godotengine.org

Whilethereareplentyofgame

engineoptionsoutthere,they’re

oftenprettydemandingwhenit

comestoeventualroyalties;Godot

is completelyfreeandrapidly

maturing,withVulkansupporton

theway,anda hugeswatheof

documentationtogetyoustarted.

Alternately:AmazonLumberyard

8

3DMODELING

BLENDER

http://blender.org

Blenderrecentlyditcheditsgame

engineportionin ordertofocuson

thefeaturesit reallyexcelsat:every

stepofthe3Dpipeline.So,whether

you’recreating,sculpting,

rendering,oranimating,there’sa

toolheretohelp– and 17 yearsof

maturitytobackthemup.

Alternately:3DCrafter

9

DTP

SCRIBUS

http://scribus.net

Thereis nosensein tryingto

layoutcomplexdocumentsin

MicrosoftWord,givenits

propensitytoteara holein

space-timewheneveryouslightly

resizea textbox.Scribusis a much

moresensibleoptionfordesktop

publishing,witha powerfultext

engineandstrongimageoptions.

Alternately:Lucidpress

10

ANIMATION

SYNFIG

http://V\QÀJRUJ

Whetheryour2Danimationneeds

consistoftweeningvectorsor

©
INKSCAPE.ORG

11

MOVIES

VLC

http://videolan.org

Otherappsperiodicallyviefor

thecrown,butwe’veneverfound

anotherfreeplayercompatible

withsomanycodecsandready

tocopewithsomanypotential

renderingglitches.Digunderthe

surface,andVLCcandoa whole

lotmore– it’sgreatforlatching

ontostreamingservices,too.

Alternately:MPC-HC

12

AUDIO

MUSICBEE

http://getmusicbee.com

Yes,iTunesis free.Yes,youcanuse

iTunesif youlike.Butif youcare

aboutyoursystemresourcesand

wanttoorganiseyourentiremusic

libraryawayfromApple’ssticky

grasp,MusicBeeis a great(and

skinnable)choice.

Alternately:Winamp

Fancy a virtual audio rack? Ubuntu Studio can provide just that.

Windows 10

Essential free apps

December 2019 | |^15