Tablets.

[Raziaar]

Well... I rummaged through my closet and I found the box for my brothers olllllld Aiptek Hyper Pen 8000 tabet.

I have tried using this thing in the past... but it felt incredibly clunky to use. I spent some time however in the past hour or so trying to get used to the feel of it... navigating around in absolute (pen) mode... and actually in no time at all, I'm moving around the screen and clicking on things with precision. The only issues I have is when I try to go to the edge of the screen, like with a scrollbar... because when I go beyond the resolution of my tablet square, it sort of stops responding, and this it can be finicky around the edges of the screen.

Do you guys have any tips for these things? I know we have quite a lot of artists on these forums who use them... and I was wondering if you could offer general advice and stuff. Obviously I'm no artist. I don't have any artistic capability whatsoever pretty much when it comes to actually applying what is in my mind onto a medium... so basically I'm just going to use this to screw around, not attempt any real works of art... since I don't have the talent.

And keep in mind... this thing is old. Very old. It doesn't have a lot of features I can use... it's just some cheap plastic thing but actually seems to work fairly well all things considering.

Played around a tiny bit in photoshop with the smudge tool, and it was kind of fun. I could never achieve the look of something like this using the mouse... not in a million years. And it's so fast too, just screwing around which makes it a lot of fun.

Keep in mind this isn't art... just something I was screwing around with using the pen and smudge tool... just wanted to demonstrate how much fun it was

And actually, I was doing this while wearing a pair of relatively bulky gloves. LOL(the OCD finger popping problem. I am using my brothers pair of relatively comfortable gloves and seeing how long I can consistently use them in order to stop the super destructive habit)

I think for the duration I wear these gloves, I might just keep using this thing as a mouse. Since after just a brief period of time I have fairly high precision with it... much more comfortable than using the mouse(except the clunky edges as previously mentioned) while wearing the gloves.


EDIT: Damn, smudge is a lot of fun with a tablet! Took me like one minute... and to my unsophisticated talentless eye it actually looks pretty cool.

I don't know what the **** it is, but it looks cool for like one quick minute of screwing around with a little tool through the ease of this ancient tablet.

 

[Krynn72]

Mess around with the paintbrush tool in photoshop so you can get a feel of the pressure sensitivity. Try making a bunch of lines with various widths on the canvas, and then try to get the same line width again so you can just naturally know how much pressure to apply to get a width you want. This is helpful for line work (obviously) erasing, coloring etc.

Its a lot like a pencil, so the use is pretty much the same. Really, the only difference between the tablet and the mouse is pressure sensitivity (and more expensive tablets have tilt features, but not your unfortunately). The reason why a tablet is a lot more effective for most people is that its a much more familiar and intuitive device, not that it has better features than a mouse. So there arnt many tips on using one.

I will say however, to stop and take a break once in awhile because I know, for me at least, my hand starts to cramp after awhile of using it.

 

[StardogChampion]

Do you have the drivers for it installed? If they are it shouldn't cut off before the end of the screen. It sounds like you're using it as a mouse right now.

 

[Crushenator 500]

I don't know about the clunky edge problem, but as long as you're having fun that's all that matters. Like you said, if you can't draw masterpieces with a pencil then you wont be able to with a tablet either (not without a lot lot lot of practice anyway)

Using a pen is actually a lot better for you than using a mouse apparently (don't remember where I read it, but the arm muscles are more relaxed or something)

I will say however, to stop and take a break once in awhile because I know, for me at least, my hand starts to cramp after awhile of using it.

I dunno why you're getting cramps, maybe stop holding the pen so hard/pressing down so hard with it?

 

[Vegeta897]

Do you have the drivers for it installed? If they are it shouldn't cut off before the end of the screen. It sounds like you're using it as a mouse right now.

He says he's using absolute mode, which afaik means it's behaving as it should, not like a mouse. (absolute position meaning a certain position on the tablet is always the same position on the screen, as opposed to relative mode like a mouse)

I'm sure the tablet is just old and finnicky.

 

[Krynn72]

I dunno why you're getting cramps, maybe stop holding the pen so hard/pressing down so hard with it?

I dont really press hard. Just light strokes. It might have something to do with me using it for 4 hours straight, but who knows

 

[Kadayi]

Have a hunt around and see if you can find some software drivers for it, you might find if the manufacturers gone to the wall, some kind 3rd party has written some drivers for it. Certainly for anything creative in 2D or 3D a tablet is the way to go, faster, more control, more flexible & comfortable for extended use. I can't even tolerate using a mouse for most things these days, save gaming. If you've the money and inclination you can't really go wrong with something like an A5 widscreen Wacom intuos 3. When I first bought a tablet I opted for an A4, but it's rare you'll need that much real estate tbh.

 

[Raziaar]

I actually have the drivers installed for this thing that I got from the manufacturers website.

Not sure if there's any options or anything to fix the out of bounds lack of communication.. but it is annoying.

Thanks guys... oh and Kadayi, for 3D I prefer a mouse. Most programs require a series of keyboard presses to rotate around the model and stuff... and I do well with a mouse.

 

[Jintor]

Really? I'm shitloads better with a tablet than pen + pencil. :/

 

[MJ12]

I tried these things a few times, sooooo frustrating, I find it amazing that some people can use them so well. I really wish I knew how.

 

[Raziaar]

I tried these things a few times, sooooo frustrating, I find it amazing that some people can use them so well. I really wish I knew how.

I heard from a friend that a good way to practice is to go into a paint program that you use... turn on the grids and use the grid chunks(the larger square chunks, not each tiny chunk) as a guide to practice drawing circles in. Draw a circle in one, x it out. Draw a circle in another, X it out. draw a circle in another, x it out... and once you get down in a great many rows you'll actually be good at precisely targeting your pointer and manipulating the pointer into shapes.

I actually tried that, and it works pretty well!

 

[MJ12]

hmm, interesting, I might try that. How expensive are the tablets anyways?

 

[Raziaar]

Mine is older than the dinosaurs...


But I was looking and some of the good newest ones cost anywhere from like 250-500 dollars? I looked at newegg and wacom's site.

 

[Jintor]

My Wacom Graphire... 4 series? Cost like $90. Less, mayhaps.

 

[Naph]

I got mine for 60.
It was marked down several times since the store was in a remote area.

 

[Eejit]

I've seen uk sites with tablets from 20-40 GBP. Obviously not going to be top of the range but I think they'll get the job done.

 

[knut]

Aye, I got my Wacom Bamboo for 40/50/60 or something from Amazon. Maybe less, not sure now. Get's the job done just fine.

 

[Krynn72]

Thanks guys... oh and Kadayi, for 3D I prefer a mouse. Most programs require a series of keyboard presses to rotate around the model and stuff... and I do well with a mouse.

I know a lot of people who use tablets for 3D apps too. Although they have Wacom tablets which have buttons on the pens, and the new intuos series has buttons on the tablet too so it makes it easier. But for 3D sculpting programs like Zbrush or mudbox, there is no alternative in my opinion, its gotta be a tablet. Using a mouse in zbrush makes me cry.

 

[Raziaar]

I know a lot of people who use tablets for 3D apps too. Although they have Wacom tablets which have buttons on the pens, and the new intuos series has buttons on the tablet too so it makes it easier. But for 3D sculpting programs like Zbrush or mudbox, there is no alternative in my opinion, its gotta be a tablet. Using a mouse in zbrush makes me cry.

Perhaps. I haven't tried it with a tablet in a program like zbrush.

But I mean mostly for moving around vertices and polygons on lower polygon models(that are converted into denser sub-divided surfaces), not necessarily sculpting a mesh.

 

[-Psy-]

I love drawing with my tablet.

 

[Naph]

I love drawing with my tablet.

Best. Post. Ever.