Graphics tablets

Graphics tablets

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Caydr
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Graphics tablets

Post by Caydr »

Does anyone here have experience with graphics tablets? There's a project I'm working on that will have a visual component, it would be made much easier and higher quality if it could be made with a tablet, I think.

Any recommendations? I saw this one and apparently it's top-of-the-line and agreed to be the best thing since... sliced bread... and generally excellent.

There's one small problem with that particular model though...

So I wonder if you guys have experience drawing on one that doesn't have a built-in screen? Those are significantly cheaper... only about $300 or so for a super-quality one. My only worry is, how do you figure out where you're pointing on the screen in relation to the position on the tablet? I suppose if movement is strictly relativistic and you only draw when the pen is "active" or something... bah I know nothing... So anyone have experience, any experience they could share?

No, this is not for drawing textures, although it would almost certainly be used for that as well at some point.
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SinbadEV
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Re: Graphics tablets

Post by SinbadEV »

You can make any LCD display into a light pen based tablet interface with a WiiMote, a mounting bracket, a blue tooth interface and a 30 cent IR emitting led... I would suggest you at least look into it's practicality before getting a real graphics tablet.

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~johnny/projects/wii/
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Comp1337
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Re: Graphics tablets

Post by Comp1337 »

CAydr wrote:movement is strictly relativistic
your muscles are toned from all that fapping if you can reach relativistic speeds mate

also, the wii thing has kinda bad resolution :/

EDIT: oh yeah, and movement on a tablet is relative to the tablet. That is, a corner of the tablet always points to a corner of the screen. (On the ones ive used

Correct me if i dont make sense its three AM and ive drunk some champagne
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HeavyLancer
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Re: Graphics tablets

Post by HeavyLancer »

I have a Wacom Graphire 3 tablet. It's small and old, but it does the job. It takes a little while to get used to using the stylus and not looking at the tablet, but once you've got past that non-screen tablets are great for art. It's like learning to use a mouse, but it may take a little longer.
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SwiftSpear
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Re: Graphics tablets

Post by SwiftSpear »

Wacom intuos tablets are the best, preferably one as close in size and shape to your current monitor as possible. The cintiq line is amazing... but realistically... it's not an advantage to have your hand blocking your view, and you get used to drawing and seeing input on a different surface pretty fast using a tablet enough (unless it's tiny, which just makes things awkward)

It's not really worth the 4 times the cost for a cintiq system that doesn't functionally do things any better than an intuos.

Wacoms are superior if for no other reason because they have an eraser function on the back of their pens.
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SinbadEV
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Re: Graphics tablets

Post by SinbadEV »

Caydr wrote:I suppose if movement is strictly relativistic and you only draw when the pen is "active" or something...
Yeah, the pen typically has a button or the nub is pressure sensitive to tell when drawing is happening, and the position on the tablet is mapped absolutely to the position on the screen (unless otherwise specified).

RE: Comp1337:
Yeah, the resolution of the sensor is 1024x768 at 100Mhz, compared to the bottom of the line wakom is crap... you can get an $80 wakom.
Bamboo - Tech. Specs.
Tablet Size 7.88" W x 7.36" D x 0.3" H
Active Area 5.8" W x 3.7" D (21 square inches)
Pressure Sensitivity 512 Levels
Resolution 2,540 lines per inch
ExpressKeys 4
Finger Sensitive Input Touch Ring
Color Options Black Only
Warranty 1 Year
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KDR_11k
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Re: Graphics tablets

Post by KDR_11k »

You know what they say about tablets: Wacom or GTFO.
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Michilus_nimbus
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Re: Graphics tablets

Post by Michilus_nimbus »

I'm not into drawing etc, but I used to have a Graphire 2 until it broke down from falling down the stairs. I absolutely loved it. Even the mouse that came with it rocked.
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kiki
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Re: Graphics tablets

Post by kiki »

falling down the stairs.... hmmm.... he loved it?
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Comp1337
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Re: Graphics tablets

Post by Comp1337 »

lbctech wrote:falling down the stairs.... hmmm.... he loved it?
wow you are funny
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Zenka
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Re: Graphics tablets

Post by Zenka »

SwiftSpear wrote:Wacom intuos tablets are the best, preferably one as close in size and shape to your current monitor as possible. The cintiq line is amazing... but realistically... it's not an advantage to have your hand blocking your view, and you get used to drawing and seeing input on a different surface pretty fast using a tablet enough (unless it's tiny, which just makes things awkward)

It's not really worth the 4 times the cost for a cintiq system that doesn't functionally do things any better than an intuos.

Wacoms are superior if for no other reason because they have an eraser function on the back of their pens.
I have a wacom intuos A4. love it. indeed a bit of an atrist get used to it very quick. When you place your pen at the upper-right cornor of the tablet, your mouse on screen goes to the upper-right cornor. If you want to start drawing on a computer, I highly recommend a tablet. It won't, however, make you magically draw better ;)
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Caydr
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Re: Graphics tablets

Post by Caydr »

Image
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Pxtl
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Re: Graphics tablets

Post by Pxtl »

Dammit, I need to see if I can do that on my Bamboo (Wacom's dirt-cheap consumer-grade tablet).
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Peet
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Re: Graphics tablets

Post by Peet »

One word. PNG.
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SwiftSpear
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Re: Graphics tablets

Post by SwiftSpear »

Caydr writes like a 50 year old man going through mid life crisis :P

Glad you're liking the tablet though, although I personally feel that 4x6 is still pretty small. If you're going to draw on that surface without blowing up the workspace you're using these tiny crossections of the current screen, but if the workspace is sized to the screen with a tablet that small you have to draw ant letters or else it's like HUGE on the screen. It's disorienting for me to move my pen 1 centimeter and see a 1 inch long line drawn. Plus, I'm not a surgeon, I can't really make images with any good quality at that low a resolution of finger work.

Probably going to be knocking off a few hundred dollars from my PC build to pick up a good, reasonably large sized, intuos 3 tablet. I found a sweet $400 9x12 one at costco.
Archangel of Death
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Re: Graphics tablets

Post by Archangel of Death »

Pxtl wrote:...my Bamboo (Wacom's dirt-cheap consumer-grade tablet).
Be careful not to drop that stylus! I have two siblings who have dropped their's now, and the pen side instantly stopped working. Though the eraser side still works. Only took one drop to do it.
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AF
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Re: Graphics tablets

Post by AF »

Every few weeks the cycle begins, a torrent of caydr posts followed the nextw eek by a huge number of new threads from caydr, a few days fo posts, followed by a month of utter silence, then the cycle begins again.

Only now we have hand drawn pictures to look forward to!
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rattle
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Re: Graphics tablets

Post by rattle »

Draw us a penis, someone sounds like he wants some. :P
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AF
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Re: Graphics tablets

Post by AF »

Rattle?!?!?! I didnt know you liked sausages?!?!?!?!?
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Caydr
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Re: Graphics tablets

Post by Caydr »

I really only post on the weekends, I'm exhausted after work during weekdays.

I know what you mean about the size being odd, Swiftspear, but I think I'll get used to it. I hate moving my hands around too much when I draw, and because of the type of work I do (high high high precision) my hands have gotten pretty steady. If it becomes a problem I can always just zoom in anyway, I think.

I have a secret plan actually. If I don't think this one is big enough, I'll give it to one of my art-heavy sisters, they'll love it.
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