AuthorTopic: Suitable Trinkets for the World-traveling Pixel Artist  (Read 18104 times)

Offline surt

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Re: Suitable Trinkets for the World-traveling Pixel Artist

Reply #20 on: February 14, 2014, 09:44:18 pm
Good point. I've basically never bothered with customising the pressure curve.

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Re: Suitable Trinkets for the World-traveling Pixel Artist

Reply #21 on: February 16, 2014, 02:17:40 am
So did you get that toy yet Vagrant? I'm a little concerned about that screen.
Here's why: I have had two tablets now and the first one was a bamboo (just your basic low cost drawing tool) and now I have an Intuos Medium size (it's great!).
The problem is the stylus scratches the surface up. My bamboo is almost completely worn through and I didn't even use it but to make 3 large pieces. The only reason my new Intous is in great shape is cause I learned to protect the surface with a sheet of paper while I work. I tape a sheet of paper down from a magazine or such and each sheet lasts about a week til it's scractched up or full of abberations then I replace it.
With that screen I fear avoiding that issue could be a problem especially since the abberations will be right on your working image. You may want buy some transparencies to save the product's life span.

Offline Atnas

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Re: Suitable Trinkets for the World-traveling Pixel Artist

Reply #22 on: February 16, 2014, 02:42:11 am
Since I have the Companion I can answer that question.

The screen has an anti glare coating adhered to it from wacom. It introduces fine grain into the display, only really visible at high brightness whites, but it is there. Looks like a 5% noise filter. As a result of this the surface of the screen is scratch resistant from plastic nibs and it has a paper texture.

Ironically you are told not to use felt nibs because the felt has a clingy surface and can grab a hold of hard dirt and CAN scratch the screen. But plastic nibs will wear down, not the screen.

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Re: Suitable Trinkets for the World-traveling Pixel Artist

Reply #23 on: February 16, 2014, 02:58:21 am
Thanks Atnas.. sounds like it must be durable. I may press harder than most also. I used no paper with my Intuos Medium once for like an hour and the thing definitely doesn't look brand new anymore due to that one short session :/.

Offline Atnas

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Re: Suitable Trinkets for the World-traveling Pixel Artist

Reply #24 on: February 16, 2014, 03:07:12 am
My intuos 3 from 2006 is beat up, yeah. I had a yiynova msp19, (cintiq competitor), and it had a plain glass surface. You don't have to worry about scratches on glass from a plastic nib. If anything the antiglare coating is more prone to scratching than the screen itself.

The Companion is very durable, since Vagrant will be travelling with it I guess we'll see just HOW durable ahha. Mine just travels between bed and desk and coffee shop.

Offline surt

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Re: Suitable Trinkets for the World-traveling Pixel Artist

Reply #25 on: February 26, 2014, 10:41:31 am
Got my Asus VivoTab Note 8.
I'm really liking the form factor, can comfortably hold it one-handed in portrait for some notepad-like sketching action.
Installing Linux won't be easy due to 32-bit EFI but it's being worked on.
In windows currently the Wintab driver is broken so you can only really use stuff that uses the builtin microsoft tablet PC api (so no Krita or MyPaint, Clip Studio Paint seems to be the best painting option at the moment).
Once these software issues are fixed it should be really sweet.

Offline Vagrant

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Re: Suitable Trinkets for the World-traveling Pixel Artist

Reply #26 on: March 02, 2014, 01:12:56 am
It's here.

I got it working, and customized it thoroughly after some initial Windows 8 frustrations.

This Cintiq just blows my mind. Already I can feel my pixelling speeds increase dramatically. Screen is of the perfect size, weight is alright, and the cintiq programmable buttons incredibly helpful. Damn, where do I begin.
(First time I see a Cintiq, coming from a crappy Bamboo.)

I should get a review coming after I get more time and work done on it. And pictures.

Offline Argyle

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Re: Suitable Trinkets for the World-traveling Pixel Artist

Reply #27 on: March 02, 2014, 10:33:11 am
Reading all this is making me jealous! I've been a nut about TabletPCs for a few years now. First started out with a Motion Computing M1400 that I used for a good 2 years that was found on eBay for $200, then upgraded to a Fujitsu Lifebook T731. The Lifebook was a great step up, since it's a convertible (can be used as a functional laptop with keyboard and trackpad, or swivel the screen backwards and fold it closed to be used more like a slate tablet) with multitouch and Wacom penabled screen. That one ran me $800 refurbished, but with a solid intel i5 processor and plenty of RAM it let me use basically anything I'd need to work with. Problem with it is that the screen is finally showing some wear from carving into it for almost 2 years, the touch functionality is limited since there are some deadspots that have progressively developed, and it has recently started becoming less and less accurate with the pen calibration no matter how much I recalibrate it - still very usable, but the cursor being only slightly offcenter under the pen tip in certain screen quadrants is enough to make you grit your teeth until you stop paying attention to it.

It has also always had a strange problem where it will entirely lock up unexpectedly (screen, pointer, keyboard, everything just stops responding entirely as if it all got entranced by hypnotoad and the only fix is to hold the power button until it shuts off then reboot it) and it happens anywhere from maybe 1-2 times a day while sometimes going almost a week without the freeze. Being that the warranty was nonexistent, I've just had to live with it and know that if I wasn't saving every 5 minutes then any work I'm doing could be wasted without warning. Not a bad thing to be insane about needing to save methodically, but still a misfortunate problem with an otherwise solid work computer. Battery is pretty huge if I powersave smartly while away from an outlet, sometimes getting 6 and 1/2 hours or more of life while in constant use with ProMotion and Photoshop.

But those Cintiqs are gorgeous and sound like a dream. Too pricey for my current situation and lack of an immediate reason to need it, but I can definitely see myself eventually selfishly blowing money on one if a more reasonably comparable, but more affordable, alternative doesn't present itself before that time comes.

I would definitely have to spring for some docking keyboard option though, as I find it too much of a boon to have it available when I can comfortably prop up with it.

Another accessory that I have found a real boon to have, which I rotate use with my TabletPC and my Desktop PC, depending on where I'm anchored, is a gaming keypad called the Razer Nostromo.



It's marketed for use as a gaming peripheral, but it works with any software. You can set all 15 keys (23 if you include each D-pad direction, scroll direction, and the side button) to be a different keystroke or recorded key combination/macro, or up to 66 different assignments if you make use of the toggled setting switch, and it's application specific so you can have the setup of all those key assignments be something different for every program you use and it will swap profiles to match whatever the active program is on the fly.

Might be hard to make use of it if you're not set up on a desk-ish area though.

Offline Doppleganger

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Re: Suitable Trinkets for the World-traveling Pixel Artist

Reply #28 on: March 03, 2014, 12:32:37 am
Don't have too much to add personally, but a friend and old coworker of mine recently reviewed the cintiq companion she purchased. It touches on some of the optional features, and how portable it really is.

Offline Mr. Fahrenheit

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Re: Suitable Trinkets for the World-traveling Pixel Artist

Reply #29 on: March 03, 2014, 01:28:15 am
I've been thinking recently about maybe doing the Appalachian trail after highschool or college, and thought it'd be cool to keep a drawing journal or whatever. It seems the only way one would be able to do pixel art is a lot of graph paper though  :P.