Graphics tablet and clothing design

Who here has experience using a graphics tablet for design/skinning purposes in SL? Is it beneficial to you? Does the tablet make it easier for you or is it more of a hassle? What tablet do you prefer and use (specs)?

Please share your opinion and provide some insight. Thanks!

Love it. Can't believe I didn't have one before. I never thought it would make much difference. Someone convinced me otherwise and they were right. Much more natural for me, better feel. Wacom Intuos3. If you can go try one out somewhere, I would suggest it.

I DO!! I DO!!!

It's a big help for the Carpal Tunnel stuff! And if you're used to drawing by hand, it's just as natural.

I don't have or need the fancy "Wacom" that everyone swears by (tho they are nice!). I spent a whole $50-$80 or so on a lil' 4X6 USB one by AceCAD. It works, it has the pressure sensitivity on the tip & the tip and buttons on the barrel can be assigned any function.

Linky

I'm a lil' disappointed I didnt get it when it came with the mouse, but I dont care cuz I have a better mouse. It's cheaper now too!!

Drawing with a mouse feels like drawing with a christmas ham, now that I've got a tablet. Get one, any one, just get one.
Not only does it feel like a real pen, but you have control over pressure, the computer can tell how hard or lightly you're pressing on the stylus. That makes for much more naturalistic and realistic looking stuff.
They're pretty much standard equipment these days amongst graphics geeks.

Absolutely!


It's just like drawing with a pen (no repetative movement injuries either).

Wacom is the best (Imho). I use an Intuos2 (6x9). I tend to draw with wrist movement and arm movement mostly. 12x12 or larger is too big for me.

I have a cheap graphics pad from Adesso. While it's certainly a vast improvement over my laptop touchpad, it's not like someone managed to hook a pad of paper and a pencil up to my computer. Simply opening up a blank document and drawing a picture -- and having it be decent -- is really out of the question, and the amount of pressure required to use it makes it less comfortable than my touchpad. While I'm sure all graphics pads aren't as easy as pencil and paper, I don't know if they're all as bad as the one I've got.

Still, it's been a great help when it comes to making clothing.

Just to counteract the positive feedback, I've been drawing on the computer with a mouse for a good long time. As a result I rarely use my tablet because it takes a while to 'get back into it' when I can control the mouse well enough to do what I need. Features such as pressure sensitivity are useful little bells and whistles, but out of habit I control opacity and stroke width using layers and reworking strokes, for example - so I'd say it depends on your working method as much as anything. It can be tricky to get used to a tablet. Like Miriel says it's not as simple as drawing on your screen - not looking at your 'pencil' can take practice to get accustomed to. Tablets can be excellent if they suit you, but they're not a quick fix, either.

I have a Wacom Intuos too. It has proven absolutely beneficial to me for "natural media" creation. I created two texture packs with it which I've compiled and you can get free, just IM me inworld... hehe. Also, it helps me annotate screenshots for bug reports and feature suggestions--no kidding!

It's often said a mouse is like a brick when drawing. I currently have the springy tip (forget what the technical name is) nib in my stylus, and it has a nice, bouncy feel to it. Really expressive, the levels of control make it worth it.

I couldn't live without my tablet. It's probably the most essential piece of equipment I have for my computer art.

It takes a day or two to get used to using one for the first time, but after that, you'll never go back. Really, as soon as you draw a line for the first time and watch how the width changes as you naturally maneuver the pen in your hand, you're sold.

Just so you know what to expect, the transition in using a tablet for the first time comes from the fact that you're used to relative postion with a mouse, but with a tablet, it position is absolute. The first few times you draw on the tablet, you'll find yourself wanting to pick up the pen and start each stroke from the middle, like you would with a mouse, especially when drawing long lines. That doesn't work with the pen though. Drawing on the tablet is just like drawing on actual paper. Wherever you place the pen is precisely where you'll be drawing. In other words, every spot on the tablet corresponds to an exact spot on the screen. Once you get used to that (more normal) cursor behavior, you're all set. At first, it might be a little frustrating to ammend your old mouse-driven drawing habits, but make the commitment to use the tablet regularly for 3 or 4 days or so, no matter what your first impression is, and you'll be using it comfortably and naturally in no time.

Another potential issue in getting used to it is some people report in the beginning that they have trouble drawing on the tablet while looking at the screen. They feel the urge to look at the tablet instead. Why this is, I don't know since I've never experienced that problem myself. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me why anyone would look anywhere other than the screen ever, but somehow they do. No one every has to look at the mouse to move it around the screen; no one every has to look at a joystick or a game controller; many people don't even have to look at their keyboard, so I can't imagine why someone would have to look at their tablet, but some people feel like they do in the beginning. There is definitely a small but real percentage of people who experience this in the beginning, so I figured it was worth mentioning.

Like I said though, all this getting used to it stuff only lasts a couple days or less. After that, you'll be a tablet-aholic, and you'll never want to draw with a mouse again. It's so great to have your brush behave like a real brush. The harder you press, the wider your line. You can go from hair-thin lines to wide sweeping areas of color instantly, without having to stop and change brushes.

Beyond brush size though, you can also control other things dynamically as well, like opacity, scatter, shape, etc. Just about every aspect of every tool in Photoshop can be controlled by pen pressure. It's pretty amazing what you can do, actually. (And outside of just Photoshop, lots of other applications can be set to respond to pen pressure in all sorts of ways.)

As for brand, Wacom is the ONLY way to go. They have 2 lines, Graphire and Intuos. Graphire is their starter line, and for the money, it's really not bad. You get good pressure sensativity and great performance at a very low cost. If you want more features though, go for an intuos. Intuos gives you twice the pressure sensativity of graphire, higher resolution, tilt and angle sensativity in addition to just pressure, and a whole host of pen tip options. It also can be used with other slylus tools besides just a pen (there's an airbrush stylus, for example). If you're looking to invest a few hundred dollars and get proffessional grade tool, Intuos is it. Both lines are in their third release at the moment, by the way, meaning new ones are labled Graphire3 and Intuos3.

Oh, and if you really want to spend some bucks, they have a third line called Cintique, which as a tablet and flat panel monitor in one. I've never had the opportunity to use one, but I have seen one used, and it's pretty freakin' amazing to watch. I'm not sure it's entirely practical as a main monitor, but as a drawing tool, it's awesome. If I had the money I'd get one for sure. They cost about $100 per diagonal inch though (19-inch version is like $1900), which puts it a bit out of range for me right now.

Hope this info was helpful for you, MadamG. Now, go to the store and pick one up. You won't regret it.

I wish that were the problem I was having -- that I could get used to, and learn to work around. My issue is that I just can't draw a smooth line with the thing. The overall shape of what I'm drawing may be fine, but the line itself is jagged and wobbly.

I knew I had forgotten something in my earler post. This is a common issue.

Don't fret, Miriel. If you're havig this problem, it's likely because you're tablet is small in relation to the area of the screen you're drawing on. Therefore, ever little movement you make corresponds to a large movement onscreen. The tablet also is much more sensative to exact movement than the mouse. Mouse drivers are designed to interpolate smooth curves during movement. For general use that's great, but for the artist who wants his or her hand movements mimicked exactly, it can be a real problem. Since tabets are an artist's tool, not a general use tool, they are designed to capture your exact hand movement as precisely as possible, which can take some getting used to.

You've got three things you can do to improve this. The first is simply to get used to moving your hand the right way, which I promise will come with time. As I said, the tablet is designed purposely to capture your exact hand movement, so your counter response will be to develop a steadier hand. Just as a surgeon has to learn to realx his or her hand control, and perform deliberate strokes every time, the tablet-toting digital artist learns over time what does and doesn't work. Just keep drawing. Your body will learn what it needs to do.

The second is to work at higher maginification in Photoshop. The higher the maginification, the less pixels your shaky hand can affect at a time, and the smoother the line you get. I change magnification constantly during my workflow, to the point where I really don't even think about it; I just do it. It's helpful to open a second window for your image, and keep the second one at normal zoom so you can always see the image as a whole. In your "work window", you can then zoom in and out freely to get the exact lines you want.

The third option is to set your tablet to affect less of the screen. If you've got a Wacom, open up the tablet program, and assign the tablet to something less than full screen. Then, make sure when you're using it that your image is always in that area. A good place to start, is to move the tablet area off of things like toolbars, menus, and borders. You really don't need to use the pen for those things. Switch back to the mouse when you need to push buttons.

If none of that works for you (which it will if you give it some time), your only option from there is to get a bigger tablet, something closer to the size of your screen. It shouldn't have to come to that though.

I have a Wacom Volito 2 CTF-420, which cost around 40Eur and I wouldn't want to be without. I don't design clothes, but it is a great help even for simpler graphic tasks like making signs and textures. Didn't have a hard time getting used to it either, and now using it feels very natural.

I use a tablet and a mouse. The mouse is good for absolute postioning, and I use it a lot when I'm writing; but if I want to draw anything at all, then I pull out the tablet. This is true, whether I'm working in Photoshop, Illustrator, Painter, or LightWave. Once you've drawn with a decent tablet (read Wacom) there is no going back.

And yes, I do mean Wacom. I've tried other tablets. I bought a cheap one once, because the store was out of the Wacoms, and I thought, "How much difference can there really be?" I found out.

For one thing, the other tablet required batteries in the pen. When the batteries started to go, so did the accuracy of the drawing.

I also found it almost impossible to "click" with it. I had to really jab the pen into the tablet, and even then, it usually clicked in the wrong place.

For another, I'm not sure why, but the lines that I drew were never smooth. (Miriel, that was an Adesso tablet, and it's quite possible that's your problem, right there.) Even if I put a ruler down on the tablet, the line would bounce around somehow as I drew it.

It did not, as Miriel said, feel as if someone had attached a pencil and pad to my computer.

But the Wacom does. You can even put an actual piece of paper on top of it, to get the tactile feeling of drawing on paper exactly right, if you are so inclined. It doesn't affect the drawing. You can also slip a drawing under the plastic cover, and just trace it, if you want to look at the pen not the monitor. (Although I'm sure that you'll find yourself looking at the monitor soon enough, and when you do, you won't look back.)

If I hadn't had experience with a Wacom before the other one, I would have thought that tablets were a waste of time and money. I could do better with a mouse.

So yes, get one, but only if it's a Wacom. (If they are too pricey for you, look for one on e-bay. Wacom keeps improving, and people upgrade, but an old Wacom is still worlds better than the top of the line for any other brand, in my experience.)

I'm currently using a 6x8 Wacom Intuos 2, and I love it.

*quietly points to own post above* I knooooow I keep saying it but they don't always suit everyone. If you can access one to try a few times that'd be a great idea. As Chosen says it takes a bit of getting used to but I don't expect there's many who won't eventually get it. And also I agree with Robin that a good make is important else you'll be constantly frustrated.

It just concerns me a bit how the general attitude seems to be that a graphics tablet will solve all your graphics problems, which ain't the case. I don't know what pricing is like these days (probably a lot beter than I'm imagining) but it just seems like a bit of an investment *just* to make clothing for SL*. I spend about 80% of my computer use doing graphics for other things and hardly touch the tablet unless I'm in the mood, so I don't consider it a necessary purchase to improve yer skills, if that's what you hope to get from it.

The pressure settings are pretty shiny, though.

*Then again, you could end up with a stonking clothes business and retire happily on the profit Obligatory disclaimer about personal opinions etc etc.

Does anyone have any experience with the lower end Wacom graphire tablet? Or perhaps this is just an older model?

I know the Intuos is the one that real designers would use, but how is the graphire for someone like me who would like the option but would rather not spend that much $$? It retails for under $100 if you get the 4x5 one.

The problem I've had with tablets is a: the price and b: I can't actually install them due to my dead CD-ROM drive. It's a great shame, because at the moment I'm dependant on paper to draw with, and it just isn't as smooth.

I agree with Erin that a tablet won't improve your art skills. If you can't draw on paper, then you won't be able to draw with a tablet, either.

However, if you can you should probably at least try one out at the computer store, or use a friend's a few times, and make up your own mind. But I'm guessing that you'll find that, for drawing, it will make your life a whole lot easier. (I've had friends try out my tablet any number of times. I'm sure your friends would let you try theirs, too. )

Kijara, I'm sorry about your CD drive, and I can't do anything about the price (except to recommend e-bay again,) but you can download the drivers from the web, and install them without using a CD. I usually don't even open the CD pack, any more, because the latest drivers are always on the Wacom site. (In fact, thanks for reminding me. I just grabbed the latest one.)

OK, this is nice. All your advice really helped too. Very much appreciated!!!! I think I will be writing all my forum responses on my tablet hee hee!

I have a wacom tablet and i couldn't live without it. Best investment i've ever made.

It might be the tablet you have, I believe the one you have has less pressure and can make jagged lines. The old intuos' had the same problem. Drawing slower should help. It can also have to do with how often the software "places" the mouse. If there's a new driver for your tablet, I'd download it.

The good news is that wobbly should get better with time.

I use a wacom bluetooth so I can easily port my tablet out to a coffeehouse and draw on my laptop..if it's nice I take it outside and draw with it in my lap. It comes with a mouse..all wireless.

The drawing space is just large enough to be comfortable and small enough to be portable. It also has the same features that Robin listed. Tracing ability under the plastic clear lift off surface.

Less wires, similar features as the other Wacom tablets, tablet takes the place of the old mouse and mousepad, so saves on space.

It may not be a top of the line Wacom, but it gives me enough expressiveness to strokes to make me happy when making textures.

Chosen, Robin, She Glass, thanks. I'll be trying those suggestions, and considering getting a Wacom if they don't work. MadamG's quick little example is so far above what I can do with mine, even after three months of owning it, that it's jawdropping.

(I've also had the clicking problem, though I can draw a straight line with a ruler, surprisingly enough.)

You might try Wacom's Graphire. They generaly run for under $100 (I got mine used off a student for $40, so do check out used ones too). And the drivers are downloadable from Wacom's website, you shouldn't need a CD.

It lacks a few features of a higher end tablet like the Intuos, but I highly recomend it anyway.