Official Off-Topic Thread 2014

[Charlieton]

If you're looking for "what people actually wear", I guess looking through major clothing brand catalogues is a good place to start. People are going to wear the clothes these provide, and the brands are going to try and supply the kind of clothes people wear. Perfect feedback-loop, no? https://www.hm.com/us/ http://www.jcpenney.com/ http://www.jc.se/ (common swedish store - perhaps some regional differences to be found?)

Honestly, though, I'm at a complete loss for this kind of knowledge, too. I'd also like the kind of fashion reference that you're looking for. Maybe there's a fitting category on Pinterest? (I only have a vague idea of how that site works...)

Here's a wonderful site to get lost in: http://www.humansofnewyork.com/

[Tourist]

Looking at clothing catalogs is a great idea.  That should be enough to get a snapshot of current clothing styles.  It's still going to take some work to map the catalogues to the target markets and any relevant cultural things, but it's a starting point.  Thanks for the suggestion!

Tourist

[PixelPiledriver]

Anybody playing the Battlefield 4 beta on PC?
Friend me if you want to do a few games.
I play mostly assault class so I'll try to revive you if you die.

[Cyangmou]

looks somewhat interesting:

http://spritelamp.com/

[Argyle]

Anyone sitting on a spare Hearthstone beta key? Looking to be able to play with my wife but they stopped sending keys out I guess.

[yaomon17]

Anyone sitting on a spare Hearthstone beta key? Looking to be able to play with my wife but they stopped sending keys out I guess.

I'm in like 40 giveaways and have 2 opted in emails, if I ever get 2 keys (or God forbid, even 1) I will give it to you.

[Ryumaru]

Does anybody have any experience doing pixel art with a cintiq? I've done both pixel art and illustration on my intuos, but thinking of making the upgrade this Christmas.

[PixelPiledriver]

Does anybody have any experience doing pixel art with a cintiq? I've done both pixel art and illustration on my intuos, but thinking of making the upgrade this Christmas.

In the past I used a 21UX but I gave it to my girlfriend.
Honestly I felt like it was a bit overly large to work with sometimes, blocking the keyboard, being too high up, too far back etc.
But at the time i was using the monitor stand that it comes with.
Using something like this greatly improves it.
You can position it better, closer, push it away when your done, use it standing up etc.
But if you decide to get the Large Cintiq and an arm make sure it can hold the correct amount of weight.
The 21UX is extremely heavy.

Now I use a 12SW with this arm.
I think I like it better but it has one major draw back.
The max resolution is 1280x800.
This can really squeeze the interface on some programs.
Here's a printScreen from the cintiq:



But it's not so bad that its unusable.
When I work on tall images I usually change the screen orientation to Portrait.
Also they may have improved the resolution in newer models, if there is one, not sure.

I still use the mouse a lot more, I'd say I do about 75% of the time.
But I also only spend about an hour a day drawing so I'm sure you'd get a lot more use out of it.

[Ryumaru]

PixelPiledriver: This is really helpful, thank you!

I'm thinking of getting this model, which has a higher resolution ( 1920x1080)
https://store.wacom.com/us/en/product/DTK1300?

This one is also smaller so I hope that using keyboard shortcuts will still feel natural. When the monitor is on the computer it makes sense to be interacting with the keyboard, but with a cintiq i'm not quite sure how it will all feel. If I do get it I would be sure to make full use of the tablets input buttons as well.

Do you feel that the cintiq can still allow for pixel perfect precision? I haven't used a mouse to pixel in at least 4 years I think. I've been fine with my intuos, so I would assume it would be ok on the cintiq as well. There is always zoom I guess!

[PixelPiledriver]

I'm thinking of getting this model, which has a higher resolution ( 1920x1080)

Yah that looks cool. 
Glad they upped the resolution.

This one is also smaller so I hope that using keyboard shortcuts will still feel natural. When the monitor is on the computer it makes sense to be interacting with the keyboard, but with a cintiq i'm not quite sure how it will all feel.

You can place it pretty close to you and put the keyboard on a sliding tray underneath the desk.
Or get an arm making it very easy to access the keyboard with it floating above.
But an arm is some extra cost you may not want to pay.
I'd suggest trying it without and see if it works for you.
If not I highly recommend it as it will make your life much easier.

If I do get it I would be sure to make full use of the tablets input buttons as well.

I never use these, as I don't like holding the device.
And I really need a keyboard to get anything done.
I am getting old so I need to sit up straight and have it float near my face without obstructing anything on my desk or my back will start to hurt. 
But some people are perfectly happy clutching the cintiq and using the tablet buttons.
You may find that this fits your style of drawing.

Do you feel that the cintiq can still allow for pixel perfect precision?

The cursor on my older Cintiq used to wiggle a little bit.
Not sure if it was the pen or the monitor.
And sometimes it would not wiggle at all.
But with my new one I've never found this to be a problem.
Some people say that they have grown too attached to a tablet and that using a cintiq is different because their hand get's in the way of drawing.
While it didn't bother me that much this prompted me to try calibrating the pen off center.
My cursor appears about 1 1/2 inches to the top left of my actual pen point.
It seems odd at first but I've grown to prefer it over direct pen placement.

Also I had to change some settings in my registry to get it working correctly with Windows 8.
The pen delay and some other stuff.
It wasn't too complicated but not something I would have figured out on my own.
If you need those links I can try to go dig them up.