Comic collaboration using Manga Studio and SVN?

AtokNiiro 2014-10-16 23:42:51 UTC #1

(I posted this on my tumblr, but thought that maybe it was more likely that someone here has tried this)

As far as I can tell from messing around with some test story files in Manga Studio, the files are saved sort of like this:

top level: a folder for each page + a story file which tells MS which folders contain pages and what order they’re in
page folder: a folder containing layer files + a page file which holds information about the layer files, like with the story file
layer folder: numbered files with several different extensions, possibly for all the different layer types and metadata about the layers

The main result I’m interested in here is that the file organisation allows you to edit a page without the story file or layer structure changing, which if my assumptions hold true makes Manga Studio excellent for collaboration using subversion revision control.

Has anyone done this before or know someone who has, and might be able to share their experiences with it?
NB: I have Manga Studio EX 4, I don't know if MS5 does it differently

PotooGryphon 2014-10-17 00:46:28 UTC #2

You mean have a group of artist working in the same Manga Studio story file at the same time?

Yes, that's possible. That's how my husband and I work on Oops. The Manga studio file is saved in a dropbox folder and we access it on two different computers and work on different pages within the same story file at the same time. Each save automatically updates over dropbox and we can access the newly saved file in real time without exiting out of the file and reopening it. Just make sure you don't work on the same page at the same time, that can cause issues.

Or do you mean working on Manga Studio 4 files in Studio 5?

That's possible too, however Studio 5's file/folder organization is different from 4 but still possible to collaborate in in the same matter. We've made the switch to Studio 5 and still work together in the same story file over dropbox.

Hope that helps

AtokNiiro 2014-10-17 05:16:32 UTC #3

Sweeeet (yea this was essentially what I wanted to confirm)
My reason for wanting to use subversion rather than Dropbox/Google Drive is better control over syncing, so you're less prone to file conflicts and also are sure that the remote files are actually updated (GDrive sync has failed me before).