Digital drawing pads?

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Toadmaster

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My older son is very interested in getting into computer game design including and digital art / animation. He has a birthday coming up and has expressed interest in a digital drawing pad. I know they exist but know very little about them. It appears they have drastically come down in price from a few years ago.

I'm guessing there are some here who are well acquainted with them and could provide a brief breakdown of things to consider.
 
I would also be interested in hearing peoples opinions on digital drawing pads but specifically for a mac and especially for cartography.
 
Basically Wacom is the market leader. You basically have the entry to mid-level Intuos range and the high end Cintiq. The former require the user to retrain your brain to draw on the tablet while you watch the screen, the later comes with a monitor so yu can see where you pen marks are in relation to the page.

I recently tried a Chinese Cintiq copy (Huion) which was well rated and 1/3 of a Cintqi in price. I found it dreadful to use as it only really worked if you kept the pen perpendicular to the screen - who draws that way? - other the the parallax would totally throw me. I send it back and got a Intuos and I am much happier with it.

Did you have any particular questions? I am not an expert or anything.

PS
The Intous I got in the older version sold as Wacom One. Apparently newer ones have even better sensitivity, but the One is a lot cheaper these days and I suspect the pressure sensitivity reaches diminishing returns. There is also talk the new models aren't as sturdy and pen nibs wear out faster. I can't confirm this.

Tablets often come in comes in small (post card) , medium (A5) or large. I find medium is a good size. To big and stretching across the screen all the time to access the paint programs controls, while small is just too tight.

I've stuck to wired as oppsed to USB and pen that don't require charging up or batteries.
 
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thanks I have some questions

is their a specific time to buy a Wacom? like is the next version coming out in 2 months?
how durable is the wacom? can I drop it when standing and will still work?
 
thanks I have some questions

is their a specific time to buy a Wacom? like is the next version coming out in 2 months?
how durable is the wacom? can I drop it when standing and will still work?

I think our posts crossed each other. See my previous post for details.

The Wacom Intous I have seems pretty robust. My previous tablet, a Wacom Bamboo must be 10 years old and it still works fine, even the cable and USB (often the weak point in devices).
 
Basically Wacom is the market leader. You basically have the entry to mid-level Intuos range and the high end Cintiq. The former require the user to retrain your brain to draw on the tablet while you watch the screen, the later comes with a monitor so yu can see where you pen marks are in relation to the page.

Could you explain this a little more? I thought that with these you were basically drawing on a tablet. This makes it sound like that isn't the case.

My son gets frustrated easily, he wants to skip the whole learning how to do it phase :errr: Having to retrain you brain may or may not be an issue, so a little more detail on what you mean would helpful. Willing to pay more if it means he will use it instead of sticking it in a drawer after a week.
 
Random add on question. I have a Bamboo CTH 470 w stylus and also picked up a CTH 690/K without a stylus at a thrift store. I think I paid $5 for the pad but it looks like the stylus is going to cost around $30 shipped. Is it worth it or should I just consider getting a newer pad and stylus?
 
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Could you explain this a little more? I thought that with these you were basically drawing on a tablet. This makes it sound like that isn't the case.

My son gets frustrated easily, he wants to skip the whole learning how to do it phase :errr: Having to retrain you brain may or may not be an issue, so a little more detail on what you mean would helpful. Willing to pay more if it means he will use it instead of sticking it in a drawer after a week.

Let's try this with pictures! Using a classic graphic tablet like the Intuos looks something like this.
8c4bd2f7-c64c-477c-a900-628243087645._CR0,0,300,300_PT0_SX300__.jpg


I Cintiq works like this, you draw directly on the screen.
2fcd7e48-0efd-4d58-802a-05c782c83abf._CR0,0,300,400_PT0_SX300__.jpg



The obvious attraction of the latter is that it much more intuitive. But it is also bulkier, comes with wires, can heat up, is subject to parallax issue and costs a lot more.

Either way if he get's easily frustrated, neither tablet is going to make things easier.
 
Random add on question. I have a Bamboo CTH 470 w stylus and also picked up a CTH 690/K without a stylus at a thrift store. I think I paid $5 for the pad but it looks like the stylus is going to cost around $30 shipped. Is it worth it or should I just consider getting a newer pad and stylus?

Probably yes. I went from a old Bamboo with 1024 levels of pressure to a newer Intuos with 2048 levels of pressure and it very is noticeable.
 
I


Let's try this with pictures! Using a classic graphic tablet like the Intuos looks something like this.
8c4bd2f7-c64c-477c-a900-628243087645._CR0,0,300,300_PT0_SX300__.jpg


I Cintiq works like this, you draw directly on the screen.
2fcd7e48-0efd-4d58-802a-05c782c83abf._CR0,0,300,400_PT0_SX300__.jpg



The obvious attraction of the latter is that it much more intuitive. But it is also bulkier, comes with wires, can heat up, is subject to parallax issue and costs a lot more.

Either way if he get's easily frustrated, neither tablet is going to make things easier.

The second is what I was imagining, but the first is definitely an improvement over drawing with a mouse.

He very much wants to get into computer game design and graphics so he will need to learn to come to grips with not being good starting out, but I can at least try to lessen the learning curve.

He is taking a welding class with me and doing ok. If he can melt metal with a blacked out helmet he should be able to deal with this. I may have to take some of the blame, it has taken me a long time to move past when in doubt scream and shout. :clown:
 
I have an Intuos, and I can't say I found it a difficult effort to "retrain my brain". Even when you are holding the stylus above the page, the tablet still senses the stylus and moves the cursor, letting you know exactly where it is going to land before you make a line. My nephews ranging from 6-12 have had no problem using it either.

Some friends of mine that have used both actually prefer the Intuos to the Cintiq. The Intuos puts out more heat than the Cintiq, so if you want to relax and put the tablet in your lap, the Cintiq can get uncomfortable. Some people find the need to hunch over the Cintiq uncomfortable as well. If you are using an Intuos and traditional monitor, you are looking straight ahead, not down, which is less strain over time.

The heat will also result in you building up a layer of sweat on the screen that you need to wipe off. Of course, you can wear a glove to deal with that. There is also an advantage to having your hand and the image in separate places. You can always see the whole image you are working on without your hand obscuring it.

On top of that, there is monitor size. The Cintiq's come in 13" and 22" models. I currently draw on a 32" monitor, so the screen size on Cintiq would be a step down. Of course, whether this is an issue depends on the monitor size you currently use.

Also, keep in mind that there is a level of distortion with the Cintiq because there is a layer of glass between your stylus and the pixels. It still isn't like a piece of paper and pencil where the mark is always exactly where you want it.

Also, if you go with a Cintiq, remember it is an additional monitor. Make sure the computer had the ability to add another one.

And I will admit that I am dwelling on all the negatives here. I just am putting here so you can consider them.
Probably yes. I went from a old Bamboo with 1024 levels of pressure to a newer Intuos with 2048 levels of pressure and it very is noticeable.
I did the same, and that was huge difference. While I don't consider having a tablet with a built-in monitor to be essential, having 2048 pressure is something you'll definitely want.
 
Even when you are holding the stylus above the page, the tablet still senses the stylus and moves the cursor, letting you know exactly where it is going to land before you make a line.

Is there a button on the stylus to start and stop drawing, like using a mouse? If you can see where the point it before it starts drawing, that seems easier, I was imagining point touches pad, starts drawing, hope you were in the right spot.

I was going off the photo with the pad and laptop and that just seemed awkward to me, but I didn't think about the freedom of movement, or ability to use a small screen (laptop) or plug into a bigger screen. I draw quite a bit using a mouse, so although my immediate reaction was that looks awkward, I guess it really isn't that bad.

Do these use proprietary graphics programs, or are they used with whatever program you like?


Last he has a touch screen laptop that folds into a large tablet configuration, are the stand alone stylus' used with a tablet similar to the pad and stylus or much simpler in features?
 
Is there a button on the stylus to start and stop drawing, like using a mouse? If you can see where the point it before it starts drawing, that seems easier, I was imagining point touches pad, starts drawing, hope you were in the right spot.

The tablet can detect the stylus even when you are holding it close to the tablet but not touching it, so you will see a little crosshairs on the screen at the corresponding point on the monitor. When the crosshairs is in the right place, you touch the stylus to the tablet and start drawing.
I was going off the photo with the pad and laptop and that just seemed awkward to me, but I didn't think about the freedom of movement, or ability to use a small screen (laptop) or plug into a bigger screen. I draw quite a bit using a mouse, so although my immediate reaction was that looks awkward, I guess it really isn't that bad.

It's really just like using a mouse with much more precision. When you are drawing with a mouse, your not drawing on the screen, but the fact that your hand isn't anywhere near the screen isn't confusing at all. You can think of it as when the stylus is just above the tablet, it's like moving a mouse without the button pressed down to draw. You are simply placing the cursor. When the stylus touches the table, it's like pushing the mouse button to have it make a line.

Do these use proprietary graphics programs, or are they used with whatever program you like?

Any respectable graphics program is going to support a Wacom tablet. It is just the industry standard. Wacom threw in some sample programs with my purchase as well. I got Photoshop Essentials (the very stripped down version) along with a few other programs that I don't even recall.

What programs do you use already?
Last he has a touch screen laptop that folds into a large tablet configuration, are the stand alone stylus' used with a tablet similar to the pad and stylus or much simpler in features?
With Wacom, you'll get a stylus with the tablet, and it will have some programmable buttons built into it for common commands, and typically, the back end of the stylus will have an eraser function. If you have a higher end one, it will have rotation sensitivity, so if you are using a flat brush, you can twist the stylus as you draw to get nice effects like with a real paintbrush.
 
Great thanks.

I've got several programs, MS paint (of course), Photoshop essentials, Lightroom, an older version of Corel draw, Corel Photo paint, and some CAD programs.

I'll need to check and see what he has been using.

I was mostly asking because he is showing interest, but I want one now. :smile:
 
I've used Photoshop Essentials a lot at home. I have proper Photoshop at work, but to be honest I find the Essentials version more intuitive. Especially now that everything is moving to subscription mode I am holding on to my copy of Photoshop Essential tight.

I was recently experimenting with a free paint packages. I found Auto Sketchbook and MediBang quite easy to use and they have some fun features for drawing though I've not really tried anything complicated with them yet. Krita is meant to be pretty but I didn't get one with it. Gimp I hate, and I know I am not alone.
 
Great thanks.

I've got several programs, MS paint (of course), Photoshop essentials, Lightroom, an older version of Corel draw, Corel Photo paint, and some CAD programs.

I'll need to check and see what he has been using.

I was mostly asking because he is showing interest, but I want one now. :smile:
Photoshop works, and I use Corel Draw and Corel Painter, and those work fine too.

If you've been drawing with a mouse, you are really going to enjoy the tablet as well. Even a cheap Bamboo tablet is a big step up from a mouse.
 
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