Mouse vs. tablet

Or ask Arcana...he had one for his job in FL, so should have plenty of advice....

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Originally Posted by CaptnJack

I have used at home, my mouse for art, mostly cause I was too lazy to get a tablet. At work, since I got asked to join the graphic art department, I have been using a wacom table there. It is a very nice one, [forget the model ] but is about $250. I thought Id get a smaller tablet for at home, and got a bamboo- it has like a 3x5 darw area [where the one at work is at least 5x that size]. I find it much more difficult to use perhaps because of the limited space. but it was under $50. Perhap Ill eventually invest in the larger one, but I find it hard to do for just a hobby.
Ken

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the small ones make great pointing devices. it's been a long time since i drew anything, my wacom didn't change that... :)

afa scuffing goes, since purchasing mine production has stopped on the model, which makes great prices for a spare via wacom's discount dept. or ebay, so it's a fair bet for a few more bucks (eg the <$50) you'll double the life of your current tablet..

Anyone know anything about the newer Intous 5 compared with the Intous 4?

I'm considering getting one of the large ones instead of a Cintiq simply because my hands are pretty rough and I'm worried about tearing up something that costs 2 grand. Since I work around water my hands tend to get dry and chapped. The unit wouldn't be around water obviously.

I might be a tad heavy handed as well since I tend to wear out my pc keys. About half my home keys are bald so I've been thinking about this wear and tear issue.

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Originally Posted by Lukc

Has anyone tried out the new Wacom Inkling? Any experiences with it? I get the feeling it would be fantastic for vectorizing my little mountains and trees for making maps and such :)

http://inkling.wacom.eu/pages/Inkling-en.html

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Late answer. The Inkling sucks, pretty much. Bad tracking and dubious use for the device. It's a pity.

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Originally Posted by jfrazierjr

Difference: Bamboo has 512 levels, Intuos has 1024, so its just more sensitive. Also, Intuos has tilt angle support, but I don't know what that really means... I have done fine for the past 4 years with my Bamboo...

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Tilt means that the tablet senses the angle you hold the pen in, transferring that information to the application, which can choose to make the brush behave accordingly :)

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Originally Posted by Jaxilon

Talking with another artist they mentioned that a portion of their wacom (3 or 4 I don't recall now) is scuffed up where they draw a lot. They were not sure if this can happen on a Cintiq as well. Does anyone know? It would be a shame to have a scuffed up display on your cintiq that you would have to struggle seeing through as you were attempting to sketch.

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Nah, this couldn't possibly be a problem. I've used my Cintiq's for years now and no wear on the screen what so ever.

Another endorsement for Wacom here. I have been using a Wacom Intuos for the past five or so years now, and have not had any trouble with it. Granted, it's not been used very heavily. The tip of the pen still looks fine, though the tablet itself got a little worn during the years on my desk. Keep in mind this is the very first Intuos tablet and I got it second hand, so it's pretty old by now.

Only problem I had was when the driver was somehow malfunctioning or conflicting with another one. Nothing that couldn't be solved though.

I will soon be buying the Bamboo Splash I'll tell you what I think when it gets here =]

RpMiller,

I bought a Genesis tablet for $32.00 to see if I really wanted to invest into this method of working. It was a great buy, and I'm still using the same tablet with the same stylus. I do still use the mouse for certain things, but the tablet is great for those tedious tasks that require a lot of manipulation and close up (detailed) work. Your hand will thank you for getting a tablet.

" The stylus wears out within a years time of use.
If you don't get the right size tablet for your needs it will frustrate you.
They are very expensive.
If you don't have the right calibration software they won't work right."


it does not wear out if you have the correct nibs, and replace them when they need it... also as long as you dont hulk smash on it it will be fine... Ive had a bamboo for over 4 years and use it everyday constantly no problems...

the size of the stylus is not important as the resolution relationship between your screen and your pad... set your pads settings to constrict drawing area to relate to screen size, and have it proportionate it will fix any little brain snags because it will get your hand eye lined up better... if $100 bucks is expensive then yes go get a microsoft mouse.... but in reality if you are looking for a good mouse that has extreemly high DPI or a 3d mouse like im thinking you will need http://blog.grabcad.com/2010/08/best...all-3d-device/

can be just as expensive...

honestly buy a wacom pen and touch or something, and then buy some felt nibs and learn to love your stylus... if it feels weird look up some tutorials on how to set it up correctly and some tricks for using it...