By Anna Jackson,Transmedia NZ

I discovered recently that a Transit post on free resources for creative types has been one of our most read. I'm not entirely surprised... a lot of us are working on budgets ranging from zero to small and who doesn't like free stuff? So here's an update for 2014. 

Most of these tools have nothing everything to do with transmedia... because if you're working on a transmedia project, that probably means you're working with a team, you need to make decisions, share ideas and get stuff done.

Collaboration

Loomio

Loomio is just a prototype at the moment, but it has generated a huge amount of interest internationally because it addresses one of the most important but often challenging aspects of collaboration; making decisions within a group. Designed to work on any device, Loomio is open-source, free and NZ-made. If you think that sounds amazing, you can support their crowdfunding campaign to help Loomio realise its full potential.

Wipster

You do in fact have to pay for this one, but you can try it out for free and a starter account is a very reasonable $9 per month. Plus, like Loomio, Wipster is a great example of kiwi ingenuity. For anybody doing work with video that involves collaborating with people who are not sitting beside you, the concept of Wipster is genius: you upload your work-in-progress video, share it with the people you're working with or for, and they comment directly on the video. No more noting down the timecode and trying to describe what's happening and then losing track of comments and changes in an endless chain of emails.

Creation

Pixlr

Photoshop is great, but not that cheap, particularly if you don't use it all the time. A very good online alternative that provides all the same basic functions is Pixlr. Pixlr Express and Pixlr O-Matic are also very handy for super quick editing and effects and are available as mobile apps, which is very useful for customising images for social media on the fly.

Organisation / Productivity

I mentioned Workflowy in my original post; it's a basic but very effective list-making organisational tool. I still use it, but some of my lists have spawned so many generations of other lists that there can be a daunting level of detail. For this reason I've reverted to writing the things that really have to be done each day on a pad that sits on my desk. Not an iPad... actual paper. It's far better for doodling on, and it's rewarding to tear off the list and throw it away when tasks are complete. Urgent reminder notes are pinned to a corkboard that sits just behind my computer screen so I can't escape them.

Pomodoro

Not the sauce, though eating well is an aid to productivity. Pomodoro is a time management technique that basically involves breaking that to-do list of yours into manageable 25 minute chunks of time. The actual Pomodoro Technique is quite detailed, but I apply it very loosely with the help of a mobile app that tells me when 25 minutes is up and gives me a five minute break. I should use it more often, because when I do I get a lot more done, and it encourages me to focus on one task at a time. 

I find this technique even more effective when combined with Freedom, an app that will block your access to the Internet for however long you want/need. Ironically, Freedom will cost you $10. I'm a little ashamed to confess that I have had to pay for an app because I lack the willpower to not get sidetracked by kittens and whatever else is on the Internet, but I'm telling you it's worth it.

Presentation

Haiku Deck

I'm still a great fan of Prezi (when used carefully so as not to induce motion sickness) but an amazing looking and important presentation should probably be custom designed in Illustrator and then made into a PDF. This takes both time and skill. If you have neither of those things, Haiku Deck is for you. It is not highly customisable or complex, but even the most design-blind among us can whip up a fancy-looking presentation in a flash in a browser or on an iPad. It has very good features for representing information and creating graphs (very handy for pitching or reporting to investors, funders or sponsors). 

One key point I'd like to make is that even if 'the best things in life are free', nobody likes a freeloader. Some of the tools I've listed above are fairly new start-ups or operate on open-source or commons-based/gift economy models that depend on good old-fashioned/newfangled notions of sharing and support. So, if you find a tool that works for you, be a giver, not just a taker.

Speaking of which, I'd love to hear about your tools, tricks and tips for making and doing.