AuthorTopic: Tablets  (Read 13967 times)

Offline Feron

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Tablets

on: February 08, 2007, 12:29:14 am
I'm thinking about buying a tablet, which ones would you recommend and why?  are there many benefits of having a tablet as opposed to paper/scanner?  are tablets hard to use, and do they take long to learn to use properly?

Can i use a tablet with any software, eg. photoshop - or is there special software that comes with it? I also use Mac and would appreciate some info from mac-people if they have had any trouble or any models to recommend.

I have never even touched one - but i think it would be a good way of broadening my artistical horizons, (my desk cant really take much more paper!), whilst also remaining within the digital art sector.   

Thanks
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Offline pkmays

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Re: Tablets

Reply #1 on: February 08, 2007, 12:41:45 am
I'm thinking about buying a tablet, which ones would you recommend and why?  are there many benefits of having a tablet as opposed to paper/scanner?  are tablets hard to use, and do they take long to learn to use properly?

Get a Wacom Graphire 4x5 as starter. Tablet's aren't hard to use, they're just different from a mouse. You'll probably feel extremely awkward using a tablet for the first week or two.

Can i use a tablet with any software, eg. photoshop - or is there special software that comes with it? I also use Mac and would appreciate some info from mac-people if they have had any trouble or any models to recommend.

Well, assuming you do get a Wacom, there's no difference between using it on PC or Mac. I use a Wacom at home on my PC, and Wacoms at school on Macs. The drivers are stable and the configuration utilities are identical. You can use a tablet just as you'd use a mouse, in any program. (I make pixel art on a tablet. Find it's a lot more comfortable.) It can even be mapped to act as a 3 button mouse for use in 3D programs, which is sweet.

I have never even touched one - but i think it would be a good way of broadening my artistical horizons, (my desk cant really take much more paper!), whilst also remaining within the digital art sector.

A tablet will never replace good old pencil and paper. I've been using tablets for 5 years and it's still much more comfortable for me to draw and ink on paper. I find digital painting to be a joy on a tablet, because you can do more in programs like Painter than you can with traditional media.

Offline 9_6

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Re: Tablets

Reply #2 on: February 08, 2007, 12:48:15 am
A wacom tablet is definately recommended.
They are the best.

Using a tablet can massively speed up your drawing speed on a computer which is good for sketching and colouring but it will never be able to fully replace pencil & paper.
At least it didn't do that for me.
It's really nice to have one though, once you get used to it.
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Offline Sherman Gill

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Re: Tablets

Reply #3 on: February 08, 2007, 02:59:09 am
I love my tablet. It's a Hanvon, so it doesn't have some of the fancy features a wacom does, but it works wonders for drawing lineart (Going from an hour to 20 minutes to get some good lines) in pixelart and the pressure sensitivity is great in Photoshop.
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Offline AdamTierney

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Re: Tablets

Reply #4 on: February 08, 2007, 10:53:19 am
I've used Wacom and Aiptek and they're both lovely. If the size suits you, get an entry-level Wacom (more software support and a more solid product). If you need something big and don't have the cash, get an Aiptek.

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Offline Snaily

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Re: Tablets

Reply #5 on: February 08, 2007, 12:42:35 pm
I've found a tablet (or in my case, a tablet PC) does wonders for initial sketching, line work etc. However, for pixel pushing I much prefer a mouse.

Offline leel

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Re: Tablets

Reply #6 on: February 08, 2007, 08:01:40 pm
I agree with snaily, but maybe that's just because mine is pretty new and I haven't gotten used to it enough to have the control I need for pixelart.  But I love it anyway!  I bought a 6x8 Wacom Graphire4 on ebay, and it was way cheaper than a 4x6 at the store.  I don't know about the prices in the UK but, just thought i should mention that ;)

Offline goat

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Re: Tablets

Reply #7 on: February 08, 2007, 08:52:11 pm
I've used a ton of tablets and although I'm not really qualified to give a review of them all, I have to say the graphire4 is very suitable for just about anything you could put it through, probably my favorite non-lcd tablet since the original Intuos :p

Personally I coughed up the extra money for an LCD tablet (well not really, I got a pretty good deal on it :p) and love the heck out of it.  As far as pixels go, I use it a lot more for figures and lines than I do for tiles, textures, or details, but during the course of a piece I tend to flip between mouse and tablet a few times regardless of what I'm working on... being able to draw directly on the screen is simply too badass to pass up.  Plus, extra monitor.

From what I've seen a lot of people don't like lcd tablets, or don't think the extra expense is worth the benefit, but if you can afford it it might be worth a look.

The best advice I can give to someone looking at buying a new tablet is to try some out in a few different sizes to see which size suits you the best.  Most people I know prefer a smaller size because they can make big sweeping curves with minimal movements, but it all depends on how you work.  Mine's a 17" monitor (13.6x10.2 inches, if my math is correct) and sometimes I wish it was a little smaller, but being able to draw on the screen as well as have a full-size secondary monitor more than makes up for that.  The tablets at my school are gigantic, and quite unwieldy imo, especially when you're used to high mouse sensitivity.
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Offline Feron

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Re: Tablets

Reply #8 on: February 08, 2007, 10:52:25 pm
So are Lcd tablets where you can see the screen on tha tablet?  Thats pretty boss - but might hurt my eyes, and get a bit confusing?
My monitor is 20-21 inches big and i have a huge resolution, what would be the best size - id be mainly looking to sketching and "painting" so not really an sweeping curves.

From the feedback from you guys im probably gonna get a Wacom.  Looking at this:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wacom-Graphire4-Classic-Tablet-Pen/dp/B000BD86YS/sr=8-4/qid=1170974782/ref=pd_ka_4/202-2367292-3104616?ie=UTF8&s=electronics

and maybe this one:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wacom-Intuos3-Tablet-Pen-Mouse/dp/B0006ZOY60/sr=8-6/qid=1170974948/ref=pd_ka_6/202-2367292-3104616?ie=UTF8&s=electronics

although £100 difference between the products, is that £100 worth the difference in quality.  Don't mean to sound arrogant - but money isnt really an issue - id rather get a better quality product even if it costs more, but if the £100 difference doesnt make much odds then i'd rather go for the cheaper one. 

What do you guys think?

Offline goat

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Re: Tablets

Reply #9 on: February 09, 2007, 08:10:07 pm
The Intuos3 fixed a couple issues with pen response time that the Intuos2 had; I've tried both the graphire and I3 at various points and although I wasn't comparing them side by side I didn't have a preference.  Really, either one will be a solid choice.  IIRC the Intuos will be a little more accurate (by like, almost 1/4 of a pixel :p), with twice the pressure sensitivity, but you'd have to make some pretty extreme (extremely long and drawn out with varying levels of pressure) strokes to notice a big difference I'd think :p
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