Drawing Pad thingy

[Chicky]

heya,

i jus wondering wether its worth buying one of those drawing pad (dunno what they're called).

Im reasonably skilled at drawing with a mouse, but im thinking it might be worth getting a drawing pad jus to speed up my game making.

anyway, how much are they abouts and how od they handle?

thanx

-a chicken

[Darth Mandarb]

Wacom's Tablet Wizard will ask you some questions to find out which one you should get.  Wacoms are the best bet in my opinion.

They are the best I've ever worked with/on.

])]V[

[Pessi]

I have definitely not regretted getting one. I have Wacom Graphire 2. Costs about 100$, I think.

How useful it is for you depends on your style and workflow. If you like painting freehand, as if you were really painting - it's definitely what you should get. If you're more of a pixel-pusher and like using line tools and paint-buckets, it may not be for you. Then again, I, for example, changed the way I work when I got the tablet.

It takes some time to get used to it however. The first couple of times I used the tablet I was kind of disappointed. I really couldn't make any straight lines or anything I would want to see in a game. However, it got better really soon. Especially after finding the smoothing tool in PS.

I personally think it's worth it. You could spend the money in much useless things. OK, that doesn't sound that good.

[Chicky]

hmm $200, i was hoping i could pick one up for about £50 lol

ahh well cheers anyway darth

-a chicken

[Archangel (aka SoupDragon)]

You could find one for £50, but it would lack a lot of cool features that you'd probably want to upgrade to get anyway.

[jaz]

Hi, chicken

I have Graphire 2 and I´m quite satisfied with it so far.
If you feel put off by it´s small size, let me assure you that it should be enough for you unless you are going for Autocad designs or stuff. You´ll get used to it quickly. Personally I don´t think you should need more as you have only worked with mouse so far. It has almost the same features as higher end tablets, such as Intuos have, only it´s smaller. But think: how much space do you use while drawing with mouse? As for price, I think if you do some search you can get a good deal. I got mine for $ 49.99 at Circuit City (USA) - it was a sale though but I guess you could get a decent tablet for around fifty quid. Maybe check out Wacom Volito. But I would STRONGLY recommend you to get Wacom and nothing else . It will save you a lot of troubles and frustration.

jaz

[scotch]

I just got my wacom working after 5 months without it, it's better than I remembered.  Nothing beats the way the pen moves on the surface of a wacom tablet, it's much better than the Aiptek tablet I've been using which is double the size.

I have the smallest Graphire 2 by the way.

[powerhouse]

I bought a Cintiq 15X.

It's much better than my old tablet!  Plus I got the boss to pay for it.

[Minimi]

I also have a wacom, but I personally like better to draw on paper and then scan it in. With a drawing tablet you have lesser grip, and i like to have some grip to the pencil

[Pessi]

I agree, sketching is much more fun and easier with pencil and paper. However, graphics tablet isn't trying to rival those tools. I think it's more meant for coloring work (and of course CAD and whatever). It's a lot easier to color an image and practice painting with a graphics tablet than oil paints or the kind.

I don't even want to think how much canvas I would've wasted practicing, had I used real paints. Anyway, that's just my opinion. Real paints are of course the number one choice when making 'real' art. You know what I mean.

[Igor]

Real paints are of course the number one choice when making 'real' art. You know what I mean.

Couldn't agree more. I certainly wouldn't want some printed image hanging on my wall. I want the real thing

That's not to say tablet is a bad thing- hell no! When it comes to printed media, book illustrations and other "commercial" art, it's a *must* and, honestly, a real blessing
About drawing with tablet- agree here too. I was always using tablet for coloring only (the results depends too much on "luck" or numerous redrawings of the same lines/shapes).

[Chicky]

well seing as i havnt even got a scanner yet :p then i think i'd better get one first.

thanx guys

- a chicken