Wacom Tablets

RattleheadRattlehead Member Posts: 485
edited November -1 in Art, Graphics, Music and Sound
Hi all,

It seems that there are quite a few artist folk in the room around here and I'd like to hear what the general thought around using a tablet for drawing is.

I used to draw a ton before coding took over my life and I was thinking about getting into it again and start doing my own art for my games to keep costs down.

Does anyone here use a tablet and if so, what would be worth getting. I was looking at the Wacom Bamboo Fun but wasn't sure if it would meet my needs.

TIA,

- R. -

Comments

  • KamazarKamazar Member Posts: 287
    I use to have one before my little brother broke it. It's useful, not gonna lie, cuz a mouse just doesn't give you the same control over art as a pen does, but drawing on it and staring at the screen just felt awkward to me. I'd much rather just draw it by hand and scan my art, but if you don't have or can't afford a scanner, this is a better alternative. Works great for coloring. A small bamboo fun would be fine if you're just starting out.
  • nulonulo Member Posts: 315
    i have been using a intuos 3 for the last 2 years now. and i cant recommend this enough if you intend on doing any kind of drawing on your mac.
    i use it with photoshop and with my 3d softwares. a great substitute for the mouse.
    just don't recommend it for gamesalad, cause they don't quite work together.
  • firemaplegamesfiremaplegames Member Posts: 3,211
    I have the Wacom 21inch Cintiq monitor. It's really amazing! You actually draw directly on the screen. It's the closest you can come to actually drawing/painting on paper.

    Using a Cintiq with a program like ZBrush or Maya is incredible. It really feels like you are sculpting with clay, and then painting directly on it. It is really surreal!

    Plus the Cintiq also doubles as a 21inch monitor.
    They also make a 12inch version of the Cintiq that is much more portable.

    I realize that it is expensive, and if you are just starting out, it's probably not worth it to you. But if you can find one, definitely check it out. It's a pretty revolutionary experience.

    The other models of Wacom tablets also offer the same beautiful pressure sensitive pens, but they have the same "disconnect" that using a mouse does. The mouse/pen moves in one location and the image is drawn in a different location.

    However, all of the Wacom products are fun and I totally recommend them. The pressure sensitivity is really awesome. I believe they can all handle 1024 levels of pressure, which is amazing. It can handle the finest hairlines to the thickest strokes.

    I recommend using the pens especially with Photoshop, Painter, Illustrator, and ZBrush.
  • a.grajirenaa.grajirena Member Posts: 21
    i've also had a intuos 3 for about 2 years and also highly recommend a tablet for anyone interested in drawing and the computer. i have the 9" x 12" which sometimes feels too big for my laptop, but i'm used to it now and can't imagine life without it... except for the day i can afford a cintiq.
  • rebumprebump Member Posts: 1,058
    Wacom Graphire4 A6 (CTE-440) but the "disconnect" as some have mentioned makes it just a bit better than a mouse. Would really love to mess around with a Wacom Cintiq or would like to see the touchscreen PCs become more responsive/accurate/etc.
  • chrisalchrisal Member Posts: 74
    I have just got an iPad and down loaded "sketch it". I am going to play around with it for the next few days and maybe get a stylus. I persume there must be some way to get my images to a png format.
  • RattleheadRattlehead Member Posts: 485
    Wow! Thanks for all the great comments and feedback. I'm going to head into town this afternoon and see what I can track down. It sounds like that despite the odd little hiccup to get used to they are definitely a valuable wrench to have in the toolbox.
  • AfterBurnettAfterBurnett Member Posts: 3,474
    Stay away from the low end Wacoms (and any other cheapy)... they are toys and very unresponsive. I've had the Graphire and Intuos tablets and the Intuos outperforms the Graphire BY FAR. With the cheaper tablets you have all kinds of problems like the cursor just jumping around as it's nowhere near as accurate... not what you want in pixel-perfect game art designing. I highly recommend getting an Intuous. Not too expensive these days and they are brilliant to use, even the smallest one (which I have) is incredible... just takes a bit of time getting used to looking at the screen while drawing... doesn't take long ;)
  • QuinnZoneStudiosQuinnZoneStudios Member Posts: 452
    I have an ancient intros 12x16 (or something like that), the old yellow ones. Had it since the '90's and it still works great! I use it for everything and never use a mouse. After that first week of getting used to it, you never go back.
    It's so much better for reducing the risk of RSI too. All my animation has been done using one too. I had Pixar and ILM and the game companies install them for me and never had RSI again! Well worth the investment!
  • RattleheadRattlehead Member Posts: 485
    Thanks guys. I did end up going with a Wacom Bamboo Touch and Fun for about $200 to see how I like it and so far it has been great. Depending on how much I end up using it I will probably follow the other suggestions and upgrade to a higher end Intuos.

    @MikeQuinn: I am starting to get used to using it as a mouse replacement as I suffered with RSI for about 4 years until I finally got physio to correct it. I didn't realize it was so powerful a device!
  • QuinnZoneStudiosQuinnZoneStudios Member Posts: 452
    I'm glad to hear you found a solution. You'll be amazed at whist you can actually do, even with the smaller tablets. If you can stick with it, it will become second natre.

    Whenever the I.T. Guys would come to my machine to install or fix something they'd be confused and scratching their heads as I used to put the mouse away lol! I had a Contour Shuttle Pro for hot keys and frame / timeline shuttling so I rarely even needed the keyboard! They'd be trying to use that like a mouse, ha ha!!!

    Ahhhh good times..... Well I guess you had to be there..... ;)
  • RiffelRiffel Member Posts: 1,272
    currently use a wacom Intuos, it is big and tough.
    I usually drawing tablets, perhaps through the experience of 15 years.

    www.marcosriffel.com

  • Rob2Rob2 Member Posts: 2,402
    @poly... your comments pushed me from the wireless pen to the intuos4 I ordered today, bills in the post :) thanks for helping make a choice.
  • Rob2Rob2 Member Posts: 2,402
    Just a little update...these people http://www.ilgs.co.uk are fantastic to deal with (honestly incredibly good) and if you are in education either as teacher or student then the prices for the medium and large intuos4 have got to be the best in the UK.

    http://www.ilgs.co.uk/pcp/Specials.html
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