Graphics Tablets

Laguna

Hey there guys, any recommendations on a decent graphics tablet? Roughly 4" by 6"? I was hoping to integrate some of my own work into a flash movie i'm creating y'see :mad:

Creamy Goodness

wacom's are the best but as technology goes the best ain't the cheapest...

my mate got one from www.savastore.co.uk he got the intuos 2 A5/A6 size i'm not sure, but i know he loves it and swears by it

Laguna

Thanks for the link Son, I can't find any brand in shops bar "Trust" stuff, and hell i but their mice and **** but i don't trust "Trust" enough on a graphics tablet

Kalikat

Go for a Wacom, definitely. Get a Graphire until you're absolutely sure that you like using them (some people don't!).

The Graphire is the lowest end Wacom - it doesn't have as much pressure sensitivity as the Intuos, but unless you're willing to fork out a ton of cash then it's your only option! And a pretty good option at that: mine's still going strong after a few years of battering.

Can't suggest anywhere to get it, as I got it in London. It was about £60-80 back then, but I've no idea what you'd pay over here.

regeneration

I have the Intous2 (A4 size) and bought it direct from the Wacom store - so I probably paid through the nose for it. Aside from that, it came promptly (delivering to the sticks was no problem it seemed), and it's a quality tablet for sure. They throw in a relatively nice amount of extras too.
However, if you are buying - first be sure you can position it and you have space to put it somewhere infront of the PC - the A4 size is in fact A3 size when you take into account the borders around the "drawing area", so I had to do a fair amount of reorganisation to fit it. If you only have limited space, then get a smaller size.

Ebonyks

I know this waking up the dead, but i need to know something.

To regeneration (or anyone): How long does the shipping take when ordering direct from the wacom site? The shipping is free, but would the thing get here by christmas?

ErinGoBrath

Don't buy of the wacom site mate, there overpriced

I bought the Intuos 3 A5 size of www.computeruniverse.net for about 330 inc delivery

My god wait till you get it. Design will never be the same again, it's such a luxury!

RicardoSmith

Over the years I can draw pretty well with a mouse. So I've never been convinced by the value of these tablets. Nice idea but in practise....

regeneration

Well in this instance I always use the phrase my golfing dad used - "even with a bad swing you'll eventually get used to it"
So with tablets, if you are a designer of any great degree, it's a straight choice of struggling with a mouse to get more natural/fluid lines and eventually getting used to it, or invset in a tablet and a smaller amount of time getting used to it's "the same but different" environment (in that it's used like a pen, but has subtle differences, turning the "paper" around doesn't let you draw upside down )

RicardoSmith

regeneration wrote:

Well in this instance I always use the phrase my golfing dad used - "even with a bad swing you'll eventually get used to it"
So with tablets, if you are a designer of any great degree,....

....a bad workman blames his tools.... meaningless phrases tbh ...

The only place I can see value in it is if you are using a pressure sensitive technique or software application. Otherwise, you can't feel resistance of the paper, canvas, you can't do lots of things that you would in a different medium. Its a different medium period. Its a choice of tool for personal preference, not a indicator of ability, or a constraint on creativity.

In my last creative office there were about 40 or 50 designers and only 4 had tablets. The guys with the tablets used 3D modeling and annimation packages eveyone else paint packages and 2D software. Most designers who get used to a mouse can't be bothered to use a tablet.

If you like them great. But if you want to use one to trace artwork into flash there are better ways of doing it that redrawing it with a tablet, you won't even get the same "feel" with a tablet if that is what you wish to achieve.

Obvously there are alternative opinions, but thats my 2 cent.

Capt'n Midnight

There some €39.99 ones in Aldi on the Belgard Road

KilOit

Capt'n Midnight wrote:

There some €39.99 ones in Aldi on the Belgard Road

you probably have to turn it upside down to rub it out id say


trust me dont buy TRUST
my pen ****ed up after a few weeks
it lost its sensitivity, not much use to me now

bought mine at maplin

mirage

I use my Wacom Intuos 2 A4 for photo retouching in Photoshop and all I can say is I wouldn't go back to using a mouse if you paid me. The extra control you get from using the stylus is extraordinary.

Wacom have just launch the enhanced Intuos 3 range all reviews v positive.
Wacom are not cheap but it will pay for itself in the long run purely on the time it will save you.

I bought mine online from the states, got nailed for the duty but still worked out cheaper than buing it locally.

RicardoSmith

RicardoSmith wrote:

....The only place I can see value in it is if you are using a pressure sensitive technique or software application....

There you go then...Photoshop...

Also you'd be doing airbrushing which is a pressure sensitive technique