2000 AD GOES DIGITAL!

[HiEx]

Hmm.....not into digital downloads of books or comics. Far prefer tradtitional paper. The 3 main places I usually read my prog are in bed, on the bus to work and on the loo. A digital download is sod all use there.

Sorry, but lugging my desktop PC into the bathroom when I want to read the prog while doing a big job is not an option.

Neither do I think carrying my desktop PC on the bus with me to read a digital prog on the way to work a good idea. Ditto in bed.

I have no interest in reading the prog on the tiny screen of my mobile either!

Probably not good from a business standpoint either, as free pirate downloads will no doubt be available within a day or two of release.

Hi Ex (back after a lengthy lurk)

[Hoagy]

vid-slugs... hurr!

[Mardroid]

Sorry, but lugging my desktop PC into the bathroom when I want to read the prog while doing a big job is not an option.


Heh. Carry one load while dropping another.

I've got a laptop, but I wouldn't want to do that either.

[Floyd-the-k]

having tried both cbr and pdf, I second marbles' comment.  
  Do subscribers get this for free, as the way with a number of other digital versions of print publications?
  I don't think it'll mean the end of actual progs. Remember when we were all expecting the paperless office?

[jabish]

I've just downloaded the first part of the Ten Seconders - the quicktime movie version of it, just to see how it looks on me swanky new Ipod touch and I have to say that this is definitely the best way to look at comics on a portable device. It works brilliantly. only hope they'll take the time to do this with other strips. Its a lot of effort but worth it to be able to read comics like this on the go. V. Exciting.

I still like the smell of paper mind you :-)

[Steve Green]

It's a tricky balance - how much do you do in the transition from page to digital?

I think you could take it a bit further than the clickwheel Ten Seconders, split the background or characters into levels, so you get some shift on camera moves for example, maybe animate smoke/background effects.

It also means you could pull focus from foreground to background.

It would be easier if the artist is involved in the beginning for this, and could supply the various bits of art separately.

The question is, do you then animate, say backgrounds scrolling behind a vehicle - if you animate too much, then it might as well be a cartoon and changes from what it was originally.

And the big question is, can you justify the time and money on it?

- Steve

[Bico]

There are already digital copies of 2000ad doing the rounds in scanned batches of comics you can get off torrent sites (just do a search for 'DCP', and you'll see what I mean) - doing them as a direct download rather than a torrent batch (that can be upwards of a gigabyte of data) would be a better proposition for those not willing/able to pay for a copy on the day/week of release.
I've had to resort to downloading a digital copy after the distribution of the books got oddly spotty a few weeks ago.  Tracked down proper copies in the end, but this service would have been a lot handier at the time.

[numanti]

There is no need to animate or add music.  Just make the progs available to download as is, and I will buy them.

It won't make any difference to pirate copies being available - it's not as if you can't already download the latest prog about 1 day after it has officially been released anyway - if anything, it'll make the pirates wonder why they are bothering to scan the issues.  I'd rather buy the progs legally but I do want them digitally as well, and am prepared to pay to download 2000AD legally, just as I am prepared to pay for music on iTunes even though I am fully aware of how to get the same songs for free.  (unless its metallica, in which case I'd rather download it for free just to irritate them)

[Peter Wolf]

 It cant be a bad thing really a digital comic if a subscription fee is charged for it or a pay per view arrangement.Obviously its not going to cost as much as the comic but how can reaching a world wide audience be a bad thing?

 Its more profitable than a paper prog in some ways as well.I am not interested in anything that is pirated be it dvds, cds,or comics and i dont like the idea of ripping of the artist and anyway anything pirated or imitation is an inferior product.

 Also a digital archive that you pay for is a good idea as well.The only problem with that is some of the old school B+W art that i like doesnt always translate that well onto a computer screen unless a very high bit rate is used as so much detail is lost in the pixilation even on a screen like the screen i have here.


 Progress is inevitable but i think its a good idea as an add on but never to replace a paper comic.

 

[Keef Monkey]

I'll not be reading them and don't know enough about the business side of things to know whether it'll be good for my favourite comic or not. Here's hoping it's a positive.