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Geek Culture / Drawing Tablets...

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Agent Dink
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Posted: 23rd Aug 2006 07:13
I'm looking in to getting one, and I was wondering. Aside from Wacom, whats a decent brand to buy?

Wacom is a bit out of my price range for the size I want. I don't want something only 4 inches wide. I'd like at least an 8x6. I'm trying to stay under $150 if possible, but if the price is right, I'll go over.

I want something decent, that will give me good results and make me want a better/bigger one if I decide I like the whole stylus idea. I've looked around but its hard to find reviews on the other tablets I have found. Here is a link to one that seemed decent for the pricerange and quite comparable to the similar Wacom one.

http://www.geniuseshop.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=28

Any guidance is appreciated. Thanks in advance!

I'm working on a high res photorealistic texture pack. High res as in 7 megapixels, e-mail me with suggestions.

Zappo
Valued Member
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Posted: 23rd Aug 2006 13:22
I don't know about the newer ones, but I used to use a Genius graphics tablet (called a 'Genitab' back then - much to our amusement) in my Amiga days. It was very good indeed. Good solid build quality and a good resolution for its day.
I bought an Airtek Hyper Pen (serial version) many years ago for my PC which had an A5 size working area and was very cheap, about 25ukp if I remember correctly. The only thing that let it down was the very cheap and nasty pen. It just felt flimsy and also required an AAA battery making it top heavy. It did work fine for a couple of years until I misplaced the pen.
A few months ago I bought an Airtek A4 sized one (USB). Exactly the same pen sadly, but that too was only about 25ukp from a local Aldi store. I don't use it constantly but its great to have when I want to do lots of freehand artwork. If anything, the A4 size is a little big as I have to do large hand movements to get from one side of the screen to the other.

I guess my best advice is to check out the pen/stylus/puck first if you can. Most of the expensive ones don't require batteries as the pad does a cycle of charging the pen, then receiving the RF oscillation info. Wacom certainly are the best that I have used, but they come with a price to match - which I wasn't willing to pay.
Frozen Flame
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Posted: 23rd Aug 2006 16:02
i have this one. its good for what i want.
http://www.wacom.com/graphire/4x5.cfm
French gui
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Joined: 11th May 2004
Location: France
Posted: 23rd Aug 2006 18:30
Before I get a Wacom one, I had a Genius graphic tablet . I worked pretty well but after a month or two the pen didn't work anymore, and side button popped out. Also it had battery inside the pen, not Wacom's.
Drew Cameron
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Location: Scotland
Posted: 23rd Aug 2006 21:05
Wacom is fairly good though: the ever talented "Jenny Allen" used one to create the logo for Drewsgames.com (http://www.drewsgames.com) She swears by it.

Steve J
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Location: Vancouver, Washington
Posted: 23rd Aug 2006 22:47 Edited at: 23rd Aug 2006 22:48
Great artist that person, great artist=)

I personally skipped passed a wacom or such, and got a tablet pc. Great for art.

http://www.milkpaton.com/
http://phoenixophelia.com
SteveJ, less, and less Controversial!
Oddmind
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Location: Atlanta, Georgia
Posted: 23rd Aug 2006 23:56 Edited at: 23rd Aug 2006 23:57
I don't know what I would still be doing without my WACOM. Me and Jonny had picture chats, and it was great to see things happenning real time. nothing beats watching someone work.

I would suggest saving up a few bucks to get a wacom brand, just because its battery free and is by far better in quality. Even the smaller ones make up in quality and versatility what it lacks in active area.

Heres a couple snapshots i took of what jonny whipped up in less than 3 minutes.

just using a 2 pixel brush on black. Look at all of the pressure sensitive strokes that flow so easily with the pen.



formerly KrazyJimmy

Prayers for rain...

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Megaton Cat
21
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Joined: 24th Aug 2003
Location: Toronto, Canada
Posted: 24th Aug 2006 07:02
Sodding talented bastard. I will call a hit on him soon enough...
Drew G
User Banned
Posted: 24th Aug 2006 07:10 Edited at: 24th Aug 2006 07:11
Wow Oddmind. Those are some pretty impressive sketches of human you have there. Nice work.
Steve J
18
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Location: Vancouver, Washington
Posted: 24th Aug 2006 07:15
..Drew G, before you try and feel proud of yourself for trying to act nice, those aren't his.

http://www.milkpaton.com/
http://phoenixophelia.com
SteveJ, less, and less Controversial!
Drew G
User Banned
Posted: 24th Aug 2006 07:16
Oops, wow, Johnny did a nice job then. My mistake.
Megaton Cat
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Location: Toronto, Canada
Posted: 24th Aug 2006 16:47
Talk about completly not reading the post...
Van B
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Location: Sunnyvale
Posted: 24th Aug 2006 17:09
Try, if at all possible to get a good make, like a Wacum.

I mean you can walk into ASDA's these days and get a mouse and tablet set for like £30, that's a a4 tablet.

But the quality just won't be there, a tablet should be a serious investment if you want serious results from it - you'd only be glad you bought it if it's a good make, disregard Genius stuff and all it's variants. Personally I'd take an A5 Wacum over an A4 cheapo tablet. I have a cheap tablet right now, and I usually just opt for the mouse instead because the tablet is so fidly, like forget about changing a brush size, it's far too jittery for that sort of action.

''Stick that in your text and scroll it!.''
Megaton Cat
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Posted: 24th Aug 2006 17:36 Edited at: 24th Aug 2006 17:36
I got an Adesso 12x9 and I'd say it works very well for something just over $300. (Though my skill with it is still as bad as ever)


flibX0r
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Location: Western Australia
Posted: 24th Aug 2006 18:35
All you people with tablets, you might be interested that I'm working on integrating WinTab with the Dark Game SDK for a game I thought up. Think photoshop crossed with lemmings

My avatar now brought to you by the Facepunch Studios Gold Member fads
French gui
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Posted: 24th Aug 2006 19:45
Talking about that, what are you guys thinking about tablet PC?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tablet_PC
Steve J
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Location: Vancouver, Washington
Posted: 24th Aug 2006 22:01
I have a tablet pc, it rocks. I enjoy making art on it, surfing the web on it, and playing turn based games on it. Well worth going to a big training meeting.

http://www.milkpaton.com/
http://phoenixophelia.com
SteveJ, less, and less Controversial!
Agent Dink
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Posted: 25th Aug 2006 00:54
Hey guys, thanks for all your help! I tried out my cousins Intuos2 today. I can tell you I loved it. I am going to go try one out my brothers friend happens to be getting rid of. It is also a Wacom.

So long as the condition is good I think I'm gonna buy it. He's only asking $60, so its a great deal even if its 4x5.

I'm working on a high res photorealistic texture pack. High res as in 7 megapixels, e-mail me with suggestions.

Agent Dink
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Posted: 26th Aug 2006 01:05
Well, I just bought a Wacom Graphire 4 from my brother's friend (mentioned above). It works great, and gives awesome results. If I knew anyone else interested in a tablet, I'd recommend this one to them. The one I got is 4x5, but even with the small size its wonderful! I totally love it.

I'm working on a high res photorealistic texture pack. High res as in 7 megapixels, e-mail me with suggestions.

indi
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Posted: 26th Aug 2006 11:52 Edited at: 26th Aug 2006 11:58
I find also blu tac -ing a piece of paper on top of the tablet area allows for better friction between the stylus and the board. Its soooooooooooooooo much better trying to draw with the friction.

otherwise its a slippery slope into something sloppy

French gui
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Posted: 26th Aug 2006 13:44
I've tried, but for some reason, the drawing speed is very very loww...
indi
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Posted: 26th Aug 2006 13:57
your tablets settings usually has a speed and sensitivity guage.

Agent Dink
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Posted: 26th Aug 2006 20:47
Hmm, I like the paper idea. The guy I bought the tablet off of hasn't gotten the software for me just yet. He didn't know I was coming to see him the day I bought it and didn't have it with him, so I will check out those sensitivity settings and all that when I get that software.

I'm working on a high res photorealistic texture pack. High res as in 7 megapixels, e-mail me with suggestions.

French gui
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Posted: 26th Aug 2006 23:53
Quote: "your tablets settings usually has a speed and sensitivity guage."


Yeah, but (with the paper) and speed and sensitivity set to max, it's slow and sometime I loose control. My tablet is a Wacom volito. I guess it's because it's a cheaper one...
geecee3
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Location: edinburgh.scotland.
Posted: 28th Aug 2006 05:20
that tablet megaton has is actually a generic tablet, i have one too only mine is made by Trust around £60 - £90 in the UK nowadays. its dire, it needs a baterry in the pen, and he's obviously not showing you the mouse as it's absolute rubbish and also needs a battery, the sensitivity curve is not in the same league as wacom tablets. and many of those tablets have rodents with no scroll wheel (which is useless) and the pen has no eraser, the wacom does. my only gripe with the wacom tablet is the scroll wheel isnt teribly robust and you could be replacing the rodent after about a year, the wacom pens are of the highest quality with each pen having a unique ID code, this means that if you have several pens, you can assign different tools to each of the pens via the tooltips software. ( i use a grapphire tablet not the trust one, i should sel it on.)
the only other make of tablet I would consider is a cherry, their 'digitizers' are awesome and their tablets are just as good. wacom tablets also come with corel / metacreations / procreate painter. worth more than the price of the tablet alone.

smart artists would go for wacom.

Ohd Chinese Ploverb say : Wise Eskimo, not eat yerrow snow.
Megaton Cat
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Posted: 28th Aug 2006 05:31
Works for simple sketching, I don't do any serious art with it.

geecee3
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Posted: 28th Aug 2006 05:38
yeah, they work pretty well for non intensive drawing tasks, it was when i tried it with Zbrush 2 for pressure sensitive sculpting the tablet showed its failings. for general use its not bad. and as a dinner tray it's perfect.

Ohd Chinese Ploverb say : Wise Eskimo, not eat yerrow snow.
Agent Dink
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Posted: 11th Sep 2006 00:10 Edited at: 11th Sep 2006 00:11
The only reason I am sort of disapointed with my tablet is that when I draw on paper, I like to tilt my drawing about 45 degrees. I draw more comfortably on that angle. But I was thinking.. Perhaps an LCD monitor with the ability to to tilt at the same angle as my tablet would fix this... Whenever I find the money to get one maybe I will give it a try. Does anyone else do that?

I'm working on a high res photorealistic texture pack. High res as in 7 megapixels, e-mail me with suggestions.

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