Still on the fence about
homebrew? This demonstration of what is possible with the homebrew drawing program
Colors! will boot you off the fence and send you shopping for an
R4. All you need to create gorgeous watercolor-looking portraits like this one is homebrew capability, the
Colors! program, and to
be Joe Quinones. Which, unfortunately, you aren't. Unless you are, in which case you've already seen these.
In addition to this portrait, he painted a lovely Princess Leia portrait that we think would be quite an achievement even if it
hadn't been made with a DS. It proves that
Star Wars fan works don't necessarily have to be embarrassing for everyone involved or watching.
[Thanks, Jason!]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-28-2007 @ 8:00PM
ZeroNumber said...
I've heard that the R4 has some pretty weak-sauce homebrew capabilities, but I ordered one anyway. Another, homebrew-friendly chip would be the M3 or something.
Reply
11-28-2007 @ 8:59PM
RupeeClock said...
On the contrary, recent developments have made homebrew work a lot better on the R4.
The only thing is that it has to be newer homebrew, because old homebrew was designed with things like the Max Media Launched in mind, things like Fat Access are greatly hindered.
Thank god for DLDI patching!
As for Colors, it's a good program but I greatly prefer Phidias, if you ask me, you can make much better things with it because it works with pixels and has a variety to choose from.
Does colors have brush presets or smuding? No it does not!
http://www.sivullinen.fi/nds/projects.php?subaction=showfull&id=1173373766&archive=&start_from=&ucat=2&
11-28-2007 @ 9:10PM
Pie Pants said...
The R4's actually got better homebrew capability than most flashcarts on the market these days. Auto DLDI patching means you can just throw the program on your SD card and away you go.
I haven't found anything that won't run on it yet.
11-28-2007 @ 8:30PM
Brello said...
I'll stick with the PC for all my freeware needs.
Reply
11-28-2007 @ 8:48PM
MrTyzik said...
The R4 and M3 DS Simply are identical cards. I have an M3 and love it though. However, there is the M3 DS Real out now which supports MicroSD HC. I might have to pick that up soon.
Reply
11-28-2007 @ 8:48PM
neuralien said...
@1 The R4 and the M3 are essentially the same thing, hardware-wise. The only big difference is that they use different software drivers.
Reply
11-29-2007 @ 12:50AM
jakfoood said...
No, the only thing different is that they use different stickers.
11-28-2007 @ 9:11PM
Fank said...
If that's Leia, then I'm Luke Starkiller.
Reply
11-28-2007 @ 11:10PM
Alisha Karabinus said...
*koff*
"In addition to this portrait..."
So, uh... the one here, which would be this portrait, is not Leia.
;)
11-28-2007 @ 9:20PM
iofthestorm said...
That's nothing, check out the official gallery:
http://colors.brombra.net/
R4DS is compatible with all moderately recent homebrew, anything new is definitely going to run on it and only stuff that like requires a RAM expansion or something will likely have trouble. Out of the slot-1 homebrew carts, it's probably the most cost effective cart.
Reply
11-28-2007 @ 9:22PM
ArmiMaan said...
I've been hesitant to get into homebrew because I can't find a retailer that I implicitly trust to order a device from. But, yesterday I noticed that Futureshop (a fairly big retailer here in Canada) has Datel's Games 'n' Music available online. Anyone know anything about the Games 'n' Music, how reliable it is and how well it works with Colors?
Reply
11-29-2007 @ 1:15AM
Chase said...
I second this inquiry.
11-29-2007 @ 5:40AM
RAmen said...
Avoid the Games 'N Music like the plague. A lot of people of had problems with microSD compatibility and with the SD slot breaking.
Amazon has the R4:
http://www.amazon.com/R4/dp/B000Y3U91I/
11-29-2007 @ 7:07PM
Chase said...
Thanks, RAmen. ^_^
11-29-2007 @ 2:47AM
Kaizoku Risu said...
I've had Colors! for a while now and it is amazing especially for free software! This is definitely a must have for any one into homebrew. :D
Reply
11-29-2007 @ 4:17PM
Mark A. Hill said...
Wow, this Colors homebrew is awesome. It's super easy, too. Everyone should check it out. I wish I was a better artist so I could use it to its full potential.
threevue.com
Reply
11-29-2007 @ 7:02PM
Zebulon Pike said...
This is the reason I got my R4, for when I don't feel like carrying a real sketchbook around. Even my friends who don't draw have gone off and downloaded a copy. It's like having a tiny portable Wacom tablet, and when the drawing gets frustrating it also plays games!
The best feature is the playback - it's amazing to look at how some of the best artists painted these pictures, and humbling to look at how many mistakes you made in your own before getting to the final product ;)
For me it's preferable to Phidias because of the challenges of no layers, no smudging or presets. I can do all that in Photoshop - drawing in a more limited program makes you think more about basic art techniques, like how to blend your colours without just reaching for the smudge tool, and how to create the illusion of texture without grabbing a brush.
Reply
12-13-2007 @ 5:19AM
Kam said...
I've started using this, and I've gotta say, I'm REALLY impressed so far. It takes a lot of getting used to, but I think I'm finally getting the hang of it.
Reply