Wacom / Pen tablets / What to know?

[raddicks]

Hey, I'm someone who is suffered years of using my laptop touchpad, even though I do like the touchpad (survives coffee stains remarkably and my sweaty fingers) it is becoming increasingly obvious if I want to get anywhere I need to get a mouse or a WACOM pen woot!

I'm currently dabbling in Swift 3D, 3DS max, Photoshop, Flash MX etc albeit with a crappy medium and it does mean it can be time consuming for myself. I am naturally a hand artist and I don't think the war of technology is ever going to show my real ability if I am constantly fighting against the pad.

I know there is some other threads with Wacom tablets - but some of these tablets are discontinued and I am uncertain aswell. possible features I may like...

+ Transparent flap (pen-to-paper write over) this may be optional
+ Preferably not uber expensive, I am a student after all
+ I use 3D programs, I am not sure of the compatibility of stylus pens or whether I need to buy a seperate specific pen etc but this is optional

Will anyone be able to help me out? I live in the UK, where electronics are horrendously overpriced. Thank you, I can't help but be a perfectionist and I want the best for my buck but who doesn't?

[Becky]

Not an expert opinion(so if I'm completely wrong ignore me:)), but the Wacom Volito 2 is £40 (it may have gone down) from Amazon.co.uk and does just fine.  I'm not sure there's really any compatibility options with the stylus....seems to do everything I want and works fine as a mouse.  No transparent flap though. 

[ildu]

Well, most tablets have a transparent flap, but it's more of a shield than a flap.

Graphire4 A6 costs about 100 bucks and A5 about 180 bucks. This is probably the best deal. Volito2 A6 will be about 50 bucks, but if you're more than an amateur artist, you'll need something a bit higher-end. On the other hand Intuos3 A5 costs 250+ and you really don't need the improvement from Graphire4, unless you really require extra buttons on the tablet.

Tablets use basic drivers that let them act as mice. It's up to the programs themselves to feature more specific support. In Photoshop the support is superb. In 3D programs I'd venture it's not as good since the user interface is exponentially more complicated. I haven't tried my tablet with 3DSMax yet, and I don't think I will in the future. The mouse is enough for that purpose.

As for the mouse, if you don't have one, most self-respecting tablets come with a tablet mouse in the package.

So, you're best deal would be to get a Graphire4 A6 or a Graphire4 A5 depending on your requirements. If, on the other hand, you want to be extra stingy and don't mind upgrading soon, you could get the Volito2. On the contrary, if you want to splurge some money away, get the Intuos3 tablet.

[CaptainBinky]

I can heartily recommend the Wacom Intuos2 (I have an A4 square version), but they come in many sizes depending on cost or taste.

Regarding 3D packages, you'll not want to use the pen when using these. You don't need a specific stylus - it will function in the 3D package, it's just not nice. Like the eraser on the reverse of the pen. You can use this in Word if you want to, to erase text, but I wouldn't recommend it!

So, er. Yeah. Wouldn't go for anything smaller than A5 if I were you.

CaptainBinky

P.S. The flappy bit is actually rather useful for tracing.
P.P.S Don't bother getting the airbrush pen. It's rubbish. The standard one you get with the Intuos is just fine.

[raddicks]

 
Wacom Intuos3 A5 Tablet Pen and Mouse USB Mac/Win by Wacom (Electronics)

Buy new:  £233.39   Usually dispatched within 24 hours 
Used & new from £233.39



 
Wacom Intuos3 A6 Tablet Pen and Mouse USB Mac/Win by Wacom (Electronics)

Buy new:  £154.82   Usually dispatched within 24 hours 



I really have no idea  is it REALLY worth the £70+, does A6 mean sloppier work?

[Nine Toes]

Right now, I'm bidding on a Graphire 3 4x5 on E-Bay, just to get me started (I'm completely new to tablets).  Somebody told me that I shouldn't get a Graphire 4, but get a 3 instead, but they didn't say why...

I think I saw an auction where can get yourself an Intuos 3 6x8 for about $150 (so far), if you're at all interested.  If it was not a problem of cost, I'd definitely go for the Intuos 6x8, but that's just me.  (again, I know nothing about tablets)

[CaptainBinky]

I really have no idea  is it REALLY worth the £70+, does A6 mean sloppier work?

Well it all comes down to personal taste really. A6 is a bit on the small size for doing any sort of detail. I find A5 to be about the smallest you can go.

Consider using Photoshop. Since the tablet maps directly to the screen, if you've got an image open in Photoshop, it's probably open in a window - it's quite rare that you're only working on one file. So you've got less than the size of the screen to work in, which means the workable area of your tablet is less than A6, which is pretty damn small. You'd have to permanently work really zoomed in to get a decent mapping ratio between pixels and your tablet. So bigger == better (up to the point that the tablet becomes annoyingly big).

You'd probably find that if you bought an A6 tablet, you'd love it... but after not very long you'd be wishing it was bigger. So then you'd have to shell out for another one. In my opionion. I have met the odd guy who's been quite comfortable with a tiny tablet, but I find these people to be rare.

[MashPotato]

I use my pen for everything, to the point that it feels weird to use a regular mouse ^_^.  Whether or not you should get a graphire or intuos I think would depend on how much "painting" you're planning on doing.  I'm not 100% certain on this, but I think the major difference between them is that the intuos has tilt sensitivity and a higher pressure sensitivity... good if you're painting, but not important if you're mostly just clicking around.

As for size, I have been using a 4x5 Wacom ET-0405-U, and it has served me well for the past 6 years or so (and remember, I use my pen as a mouse, too ^_^).  That being said, having had this tablet for years (and the nib being worn down), I plan on upgrading to a slightly larger size and newer model soon.  My point is that if you're just starting out, you probably won't need the fanciest/most expensive model... it would be nice, but you can most likely get by without it if you need to be careful with your budget.

[ildu]

For the love of God, don't waste £150 on an intuos A6. Get a graphire4 A5 for the same price or a graphire3 second-hand for even less. The size difference is so eternally more important than whether you have a graphire or an intuos. You said you're a student. You might as well get the best bang for the buck.

[CaptainBinky]

I had an A4 square UltraPad before I got the A4 square Intuos2. At the time, the UltraPad was about £350, but that was about 7 or 8 years ago. I bet you can pick one up second hand dirt-cheap.

The UltraPad has half the resolution and sensitivity of the Intuos2, but frankly, It was perfectly fine - I only upgraded because 1) it was getting a little worn 2) I figured it wouldn't hurt to have more resolution and sensitivity, and 3) the Intuos2 is purple, and not nasty beige

So like ildu says, get the biggest you can - rather get a bigger older model than a newer smaller model.

er... that's actually not quite what he says. I've paraphrased and adapted...

[LimpingFish]

The original Volito had a transparent flap, and is a fairly good tablet. As for size, if you're a professional graphic designer then probably a larger tablet would benefit. But for a hobbyist the Volito, any model, is fine. And cheap  .

[raddicks]

I dived into the rabbit hole and ordered myelf a Intuos3 A5 Wacom tablet pen/mouse USB. I guess you could say I could of got cheaper, but maybe, I think, it's about time I bought something for once in my life. I'm so use to relying torrents and my motivational factors for using the programs I download isn't too strong (because I know it's 'free' and there is no incentive to make up my moneys worth). What I did with 3DS and Photoshop and what else is perhaps free money in itself.

So maybe this would kick off a hobby in digital art...

I look forward to using it in 2-3 days time from now :-)

[Neil Dnuma]

Since the tablet maps directly to the screen, if you've got an image open in Photoshop, it's probably open in a window - it's quite rare that you're only working on one file. So you've got less than the size of the screen to work in, which means the workable area of your tablet is less than A6, which is pretty damn small.

You can prevent this directly-to-screen behaviour by switching to "mouse mode" in the tablet control panel.

I use my pen for everything, to the point that it feels weird to use a regular mouse

Same here!

@raddicks: I think you've made a very good investment.

[CaptainBinky]

You can prevent this directly-to-screen behaviour by switching to "mouse mode" in the tablet control panel.

For sure. Except this attribute is kinda the best thing about having a graphics tablet.

[raddicks]

So I got my tablet in the post today 

Lets just say I was very impressed, the thing I was impressed with the most was the bubble wrap, which was massive and when popped sounded like gun shots.

the second most impressive thing about it is that it is actually brilliant! I can't wait to layer over cityscapes and form my own cartoony stylised depictions. I did a very quick minute sketch of the comparison of accuracy between the touchpad and the pen



the pen drawings took little to no effort, with the laptop i found myself at least deleting a sketch at least twice before I was satisfied. I felt it was more exciting using the pen, I can go to any detail I imagine, seeing as I didn't care about making it pretty in this quick comparison it is a very limited scope of what the pen can do. the pen tablet also has its own touch pads and scroll/zoom feature which is an added bonus. I've used the laptop mouse for maybe 4 years and I still struggle with art because of it, that comparison was done withen the first 2 minutes of installation and I can't quite wait to do more 

[CaptainBinky]

yay!

Cool stuff, raddicks!

[raddicks]

yay!

Cool stuff, raddicks!

a quick improv that took 15 minutes, I want to create a noir adventure game (expect even better graphics hopefully in the future). Thanks to anyone who advised me on what to buy.

[Domino]

Nice work raddicks. I feel bad because i have a small Wacom tablet, but the poor thing is just collecting dust. But it was great when i was using it. Maybe i should dust it off and start using it again.

Shawn