I'm seriously considering getting a tabletPC for use with TVPaint. However, I'm a little worried about having a USB dongle hanging off of it because it could fall out and get lost or I might bust it off by doing something stupid.
Is there some way TVP could be locked to some unique part of my tabletPC's system-ID -- or maybe I could use a PCMCIA dongle (which doesn't stick out so much)?
TVP and Tablet PC's
TVP and Tablet PC's
(Win7x64, TVP Pro 11 32-bit)
Re: TVP and Tablet PC's
Hello Lemec,lemec wrote:Is there some way TVP could be locked to some unique part of my tabletPC's system-ID -- or maybe I could use a PCMCIA dongle (which doesn't stick out so much)?
This is not the default configuration but we can figure out that using a dongle with a tablet PC can be risky for the hardware (dongle + tablet pc) itself.
So we do have the ability to lock the licence to the hardware for those who are annoyed by the dongle.
For those who are in the same situation, feel free to contact us via email at
support@tvpaint.com
-
malcooning
- Posts: 2114
- Joined: 29 Mar 2006, 12:43
- Location: Tel Aviv
- Contact:
malcooning >> my tablet of choice was a refurbished Motion Computing 1400 with a View Anywhere screen that I purchased on EBay from a local seller for $1300, taxes and shipping included. I recently upgraded it to 1 GB of ram(I highly recommend this), and it is running Windows XP TabletPC 2005.
CALIBRATION AND ACCURACY!! Please read this!
TabletPC's (and WACOM Cintiq displays) all suffer from less-than-accurate calibration. This means that it's VERY hard to get good synchronization between where the on-screen cursor and your physical pen-tip line up. Often, it's a few pixels off, and it's enough to drive you batty. I've lost sleep over this situation so for the time being, I am slowly training myself to keep my eyes on the cursor, not my pen-tip (A hard thing for a die-hard fountain pen user) It also interferes with my tactile sense a bit because with a real fountain pen I can put lines exactly where I want even with my eyes closed.
TILT SENSING (or lack therof!)
TabletPC's and any of the Cintiq 18SX or 15SX models do NOT support tilt sensing either. The new Cintiq 21UX does, however, but it's stylus is not compatible with the tabletPC or any of the older Cintiqs as it relies on Intuos3 technology.
I say these up front because these are my BIGGEST beefs with any tablet-display screen and I don't want to have anyone run off and buy a tabletPC or Cintiq without at least being warned about this...
STYLUS COMPATIBILITY
Now that the bad news is over with, the good news is that I can use a Cintiq 15SX, Cintiq 18SX or the built in stylus with my tablet PC. When it comes to pressure sensing, all three styluses behave the same as they would on my Cintiq.
At home in my studio, I have a Cintiq 18SX and I sometimes work with a tabletPC in one hand with the Cintiq 18SX beside me. It's nice not to have to swap for different styluses to work between the two computers!
CUSTOM NIBS
In addition, all of the accessory tips that you can get for Intuos3 tablets (felt nib, stroke nib) are compatible with the Cintiq styluses and the stylus that comes with the tabletPC. The felt nib is fantastic and really helps things feel like pencil-on-paper on both the cintiq and tabletPC. They wear out quickly though! The stroke nib adds a springy feel to the pen, but I'm not so hot on it because it skids too easily just like the standard plastic nibs
STYLUS DURABILITY
Don't ever drop your stylus! The tip contains a very sensitive strain-gauge -- like a micro-scale. If you drop it, you could knock it outta whack and your pen will behave very screwy. Styluses for active digitizers (such as in the M1400 and Cintiq) can run you as much as $90 a pop! So don't drop 'em! However, I still manage to go through them like sharks teeth so I have a spare one always at the ready because if an important job comes in I can't be crippled with a busted stylus.
PRESSURE SENSITIVITY
Now, if you were to compare the difference between any tablet display technology pressure sensing versus a traditional tablet(without an integrated LCD flatpanel display), you'll find right off that the tablet displays will require MUCH less pressure to "max-out" the pen, whereas on a traditional tablet, you can press like a caveman before the pen "maxes out".
(intuos3 technology boasts something like 1024 pressure levels and CintiqSX/TabletPC technology has only 512, which is irrelevant since TVPaint only goes up to 255 as far as I know from working with the SDK)... but regardless of all that fine print, there is a limit to how hard you can press on your stylus before the brush just won't get any bigger or more opaque (not like in real life where if you keep pushing harder and harder to get a darker and more solid line until your pencil busts or you punch a hole through your paper/canvas)
For tablet displays, WACOM makes the pressure sensitivity much more delicate so neanderthals don't wreck their screen scrawling really freakin' hard. Besides, the felt nibs won't take that sort of abuse and I never push that hard using any traditional media.
CONSTRUCTION
This thing is 12"x9.5"x1" and weighs only 4.1 lbs with a battery in it. In layman's terms, it's a little bit smaller than the sketchbooks I normally tote around but a little bit heavier. This thing is also a SLATE tabletPC -- there's no keyboard, which is what makes it so thin. There's a sexy hardtop cover that snaps over the screen to protect it when it's in transit, and you can snap it onto the back when you want to work. However, working with a slate effectively takes a lot of adapting to, which I will explain later.
There are several physical buttons located beside the screen, some of which can be assigned to various hotkeys. Of special note is a directional pad for up/down/left/right/enter which after some use, is a bit tricky when it comes to hitting Enter. I fear that I may break it with constant use. There is also a bit of a raised edge around the border of the screen that I don't like... I can already see various bits of detritus taking up permanent residence in the gap, and it makes drawing and writing difficult when my hand bumps into it.
The shell of the machine itself is mostly made up of some magnesium alloy and there are some durable plastic end caps on it. The stylus it comes with vanishes into a socket on the machine -- although I would make sure not to get into the habit of stowing it in there with half of the pen sticking out. That's a good way to snap your pen in half.
THE SCREEN
I was absolutely adamant that I was to get a "View Anywhere"(VA) screen. VA display technology(Motion Computing claims it is adapted from the military) helps to help reduce glare to make it easier to read the screen in outdoor conditions or in situations where there is a lot of ambient light coming from the side.
Now. here's the thing. It's ANTI-GLARE, not ANTI-REFLECTION. The screen already cuts down on a fair bit of reflection, but if there's high-noon sunlight streaming over your shoulder or a direct source of light incandescent light bulb, burning torch, cow-mutilating UFOs and the screen is angled to bounce the light into your eyeballs, it will be distracting. However, if light is coming from the side, say you're sitting under a tree outdoors on a sunny day and you're wearing a dark shirt, the screen is quite readable. I've even had direct sunlight coming from sideways and the screen was still pretty readable (although I would be limited to working with just line work. I wouldn't try to paint)
In addition, you can sit off to the side and still read the screen, it has a very wide angle to it, so the ViewAnywhere screen technology is really quite cool technology, especially when I compare it to my old laptop screen.
After a lot of extreme use (This is the third time I've taken this thing ton life drawing) it heats up a fair bit. this will cause your hand to sweat a bit and stick to the monitor. I suggest getting some inexpensive cotton gloves and trimming off the thumb, index and middle fingertips. This will allow your hand to slide a lot more naturally and will help reduce smudging of the screen. The screen cleans easily enough with a micro-fibre lens cloth and some lab grade (denatured) ethanol(booze alcohol). I found that even 99% pure isopropanol (AKA rubbing alcohol) leaves a residue that smudges badly. Lab grade Methanol (wood alcohol) is the absolute best for-cleaning but it is a known carcinogen.
Resolution
However, unlike my laptop, which has 15" screen with a 1600x1200 native resolution, my Cintiq18SX is an 18" screen with only 1280x1024, and the M1400 TabletPC is a 12" screen with only 1024x768.
Now, the physical size of the monitor doesn't bug me, because a standard A4 8.5"x11" piece of paper is 14", measured diagonally. However, at 1024x768, things will get cramped VERY quickly if you don't manage your interface. This means turning off any palettes, toolbars or other display stuff that you're not using while you draw. I will explain more on how I can manage to work this way on a slate when I answer cresshead...
cresshead >> Okay, so how does one get along with a lower resolution and no keyboard? Well...
Since you have to work at a reduced resolution, you have a lot less space (or I should say NO space) to spare. Unused palettes, toolboxes and other windows should be hidden when not in use. Also, since this is a slate tablet pc with no keyboard (you can get USB or Bluetooth keyboards but they defeat the purpose of a slate) you have to resort to alternate means to hide or show various parts of the interface. Windows XP TabletPC edition comes with handwriting recognition built into the OS as well as voice recognition software.
These all work great for writing letters in conversational English but they are cumbersome for dealing with hotkey-driven applications. So, I use a combination of alternative input methods: first of all, the M1400 (and many other tablet PCs) have hardware buttons built into the display. These can be customized to trigger various hotkeys, but Windows by default does not provide much flexibility when it comes to making them context-sensitive for all the different applications you may be running on your slate.
Second, there is a utility (free for noncommercial use) called StrokeIt that allows you to trigger hotkeys via intuitive stylus gestures. This program allows for a lot of flexibility and customization, especially in regards to making it context sensitive to applications you may be using.
Thirdly, there is a utility (donation war) called Autohotkey that is driven by a scripting language and allows for VERY powerful control, but it has a steep learning curve associated with it.
Finally, there is a stylus gesture plugin for TVPaint that I wrote several months ago. Together with an Autohotkey script, I can use the slate's hardware buttons to control the timeline in TVPaint or even perform oldschool-style roll + flip animation without the use of a light-table.
Also, by installing WACOM's Penabled driver, I can use all of the sideswitches and erasing functions on a Cintiq pen! So, when I work, I'm frequently showing/hiding various windows and palettes with stylus gestures, and invoking often-used functions with the slate's hardware buttons. Just yesterday, I wanted to see how well TVPaint fared on a Tablet PC by colouring a bit of lineart. It was quite challenging to adapt to (a rarity for me!) but I was still able to produce a satisfying result in the end. Rather than leaving the Tool Settings window open at all times, I found it much better to create a few toolbar macros for just the tools I needed, and automate other actions as much as possible.
A sticky issue I ran into was that the subpixel tablet mode did not work for any screen orientations than the default one. I do a lot of work in "Portrait" mode, especially when working on comic books, and the default screen orientation results in the slate's buttons being located on the right side of the monitor. This is also very inconvenient for me because I can't make full use of the button-stylus combinations. Turning off subpixel mode fixes this, but there is a noticeable drop in the smoothness of line quality.
TVPaint does not have the most optimal interface for Slate Tablet PCs straight out-of-the-box. However, the level of customization possible allows users with an advanced knowledge of TVPaint to address most of this. I will continue to create tools to aid in using TVPaint (and other graphical software programs) with Slate TabletPCs, and probably pester poor Hervé in the process!
To finish this review off, I have just come back from a life drawing session where we drew a nude model for 1, 5, 10 and 15-minute poses. I started out using ArtRage, but later on during the long 15-minute break, I set up some toolbar macros to do some drawings using the shape tool. I was then able to get rid of most of the clutter except for a skinny toolbar and it worked out great!
Okay, now my hands hurt...
CALIBRATION AND ACCURACY!! Please read this!
TabletPC's (and WACOM Cintiq displays) all suffer from less-than-accurate calibration. This means that it's VERY hard to get good synchronization between where the on-screen cursor and your physical pen-tip line up. Often, it's a few pixels off, and it's enough to drive you batty. I've lost sleep over this situation so for the time being, I am slowly training myself to keep my eyes on the cursor, not my pen-tip (A hard thing for a die-hard fountain pen user) It also interferes with my tactile sense a bit because with a real fountain pen I can put lines exactly where I want even with my eyes closed.
TILT SENSING (or lack therof!)
TabletPC's and any of the Cintiq 18SX or 15SX models do NOT support tilt sensing either. The new Cintiq 21UX does, however, but it's stylus is not compatible with the tabletPC or any of the older Cintiqs as it relies on Intuos3 technology.
I say these up front because these are my BIGGEST beefs with any tablet-display screen and I don't want to have anyone run off and buy a tabletPC or Cintiq without at least being warned about this...
STYLUS COMPATIBILITY
Now that the bad news is over with, the good news is that I can use a Cintiq 15SX, Cintiq 18SX or the built in stylus with my tablet PC. When it comes to pressure sensing, all three styluses behave the same as they would on my Cintiq.
At home in my studio, I have a Cintiq 18SX and I sometimes work with a tabletPC in one hand with the Cintiq 18SX beside me. It's nice not to have to swap for different styluses to work between the two computers!
CUSTOM NIBS
In addition, all of the accessory tips that you can get for Intuos3 tablets (felt nib, stroke nib) are compatible with the Cintiq styluses and the stylus that comes with the tabletPC. The felt nib is fantastic and really helps things feel like pencil-on-paper on both the cintiq and tabletPC. They wear out quickly though! The stroke nib adds a springy feel to the pen, but I'm not so hot on it because it skids too easily just like the standard plastic nibs
STYLUS DURABILITY
Don't ever drop your stylus! The tip contains a very sensitive strain-gauge -- like a micro-scale. If you drop it, you could knock it outta whack and your pen will behave very screwy. Styluses for active digitizers (such as in the M1400 and Cintiq) can run you as much as $90 a pop! So don't drop 'em! However, I still manage to go through them like sharks teeth so I have a spare one always at the ready because if an important job comes in I can't be crippled with a busted stylus.
PRESSURE SENSITIVITY
Now, if you were to compare the difference between any tablet display technology pressure sensing versus a traditional tablet(without an integrated LCD flatpanel display), you'll find right off that the tablet displays will require MUCH less pressure to "max-out" the pen, whereas on a traditional tablet, you can press like a caveman before the pen "maxes out".
(intuos3 technology boasts something like 1024 pressure levels and CintiqSX/TabletPC technology has only 512, which is irrelevant since TVPaint only goes up to 255 as far as I know from working with the SDK)... but regardless of all that fine print, there is a limit to how hard you can press on your stylus before the brush just won't get any bigger or more opaque (not like in real life where if you keep pushing harder and harder to get a darker and more solid line until your pencil busts or you punch a hole through your paper/canvas)
For tablet displays, WACOM makes the pressure sensitivity much more delicate so neanderthals don't wreck their screen scrawling really freakin' hard. Besides, the felt nibs won't take that sort of abuse and I never push that hard using any traditional media.
CONSTRUCTION
This thing is 12"x9.5"x1" and weighs only 4.1 lbs with a battery in it. In layman's terms, it's a little bit smaller than the sketchbooks I normally tote around but a little bit heavier. This thing is also a SLATE tabletPC -- there's no keyboard, which is what makes it so thin. There's a sexy hardtop cover that snaps over the screen to protect it when it's in transit, and you can snap it onto the back when you want to work. However, working with a slate effectively takes a lot of adapting to, which I will explain later.
There are several physical buttons located beside the screen, some of which can be assigned to various hotkeys. Of special note is a directional pad for up/down/left/right/enter which after some use, is a bit tricky when it comes to hitting Enter. I fear that I may break it with constant use. There is also a bit of a raised edge around the border of the screen that I don't like... I can already see various bits of detritus taking up permanent residence in the gap, and it makes drawing and writing difficult when my hand bumps into it.
The shell of the machine itself is mostly made up of some magnesium alloy and there are some durable plastic end caps on it. The stylus it comes with vanishes into a socket on the machine -- although I would make sure not to get into the habit of stowing it in there with half of the pen sticking out. That's a good way to snap your pen in half.
THE SCREEN
I was absolutely adamant that I was to get a "View Anywhere"(VA) screen. VA display technology(Motion Computing claims it is adapted from the military) helps to help reduce glare to make it easier to read the screen in outdoor conditions or in situations where there is a lot of ambient light coming from the side.
Now. here's the thing. It's ANTI-GLARE, not ANTI-REFLECTION. The screen already cuts down on a fair bit of reflection, but if there's high-noon sunlight streaming over your shoulder or a direct source of light incandescent light bulb, burning torch, cow-mutilating UFOs and the screen is angled to bounce the light into your eyeballs, it will be distracting. However, if light is coming from the side, say you're sitting under a tree outdoors on a sunny day and you're wearing a dark shirt, the screen is quite readable. I've even had direct sunlight coming from sideways and the screen was still pretty readable (although I would be limited to working with just line work. I wouldn't try to paint)
In addition, you can sit off to the side and still read the screen, it has a very wide angle to it, so the ViewAnywhere screen technology is really quite cool technology, especially when I compare it to my old laptop screen.
After a lot of extreme use (This is the third time I've taken this thing ton life drawing) it heats up a fair bit. this will cause your hand to sweat a bit and stick to the monitor. I suggest getting some inexpensive cotton gloves and trimming off the thumb, index and middle fingertips. This will allow your hand to slide a lot more naturally and will help reduce smudging of the screen. The screen cleans easily enough with a micro-fibre lens cloth and some lab grade (denatured) ethanol(booze alcohol). I found that even 99% pure isopropanol (AKA rubbing alcohol) leaves a residue that smudges badly. Lab grade Methanol (wood alcohol) is the absolute best for-cleaning but it is a known carcinogen.
Resolution
However, unlike my laptop, which has 15" screen with a 1600x1200 native resolution, my Cintiq18SX is an 18" screen with only 1280x1024, and the M1400 TabletPC is a 12" screen with only 1024x768.
Now, the physical size of the monitor doesn't bug me, because a standard A4 8.5"x11" piece of paper is 14", measured diagonally. However, at 1024x768, things will get cramped VERY quickly if you don't manage your interface. This means turning off any palettes, toolbars or other display stuff that you're not using while you draw. I will explain more on how I can manage to work this way on a slate when I answer cresshead...
cresshead >> Okay, so how does one get along with a lower resolution and no keyboard? Well...
Since you have to work at a reduced resolution, you have a lot less space (or I should say NO space) to spare. Unused palettes, toolboxes and other windows should be hidden when not in use. Also, since this is a slate tablet pc with no keyboard (you can get USB or Bluetooth keyboards but they defeat the purpose of a slate) you have to resort to alternate means to hide or show various parts of the interface. Windows XP TabletPC edition comes with handwriting recognition built into the OS as well as voice recognition software.
These all work great for writing letters in conversational English but they are cumbersome for dealing with hotkey-driven applications. So, I use a combination of alternative input methods: first of all, the M1400 (and many other tablet PCs) have hardware buttons built into the display. These can be customized to trigger various hotkeys, but Windows by default does not provide much flexibility when it comes to making them context-sensitive for all the different applications you may be running on your slate.
Second, there is a utility (free for noncommercial use) called StrokeIt that allows you to trigger hotkeys via intuitive stylus gestures. This program allows for a lot of flexibility and customization, especially in regards to making it context sensitive to applications you may be using.
Thirdly, there is a utility (donation war) called Autohotkey that is driven by a scripting language and allows for VERY powerful control, but it has a steep learning curve associated with it.
Finally, there is a stylus gesture plugin for TVPaint that I wrote several months ago. Together with an Autohotkey script, I can use the slate's hardware buttons to control the timeline in TVPaint or even perform oldschool-style roll + flip animation without the use of a light-table.
Also, by installing WACOM's Penabled driver, I can use all of the sideswitches and erasing functions on a Cintiq pen! So, when I work, I'm frequently showing/hiding various windows and palettes with stylus gestures, and invoking often-used functions with the slate's hardware buttons. Just yesterday, I wanted to see how well TVPaint fared on a Tablet PC by colouring a bit of lineart. It was quite challenging to adapt to (a rarity for me!) but I was still able to produce a satisfying result in the end. Rather than leaving the Tool Settings window open at all times, I found it much better to create a few toolbar macros for just the tools I needed, and automate other actions as much as possible.
A sticky issue I ran into was that the subpixel tablet mode did not work for any screen orientations than the default one. I do a lot of work in "Portrait" mode, especially when working on comic books, and the default screen orientation results in the slate's buttons being located on the right side of the monitor. This is also very inconvenient for me because I can't make full use of the button-stylus combinations. Turning off subpixel mode fixes this, but there is a noticeable drop in the smoothness of line quality.
TVPaint does not have the most optimal interface for Slate Tablet PCs straight out-of-the-box. However, the level of customization possible allows users with an advanced knowledge of TVPaint to address most of this. I will continue to create tools to aid in using TVPaint (and other graphical software programs) with Slate TabletPCs, and probably pester poor Hervé in the process!
To finish this review off, I have just come back from a life drawing session where we drew a nude model for 1, 5, 10 and 15-minute poses. I started out using ArtRage, but later on during the long 15-minute break, I set up some toolbar macros to do some drawings using the shape tool. I was then able to get rid of most of the clutter except for a skinny toolbar and it worked out great!
Okay, now my hands hurt...
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(Win7x64, TVP Pro 11 32-bit)
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malcooning
- Posts: 2114
- Joined: 29 Mar 2006, 12:43
- Location: Tel Aviv
- Contact:
http://www.bongofish.co.uk/Wacom/wacom_pt1.html
gotta admire the guy for getting this thing to go!
and of course youtube has a video of it n use!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZgUZwtd_Rg
gotta admire the guy for getting this thing to go!
and of course youtube has a video of it n use!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZgUZwtd_Rg
Hey guys, glad that information's useful.
I have a few other things to mention:
The accuracy of the tablet is seemingly a little lower than on my Cintiq 18SX. For times when I need extreme precision (like when I'm finishing off a print-res drawing), I take a trip over to my desktop workstation.
A week ago I was experiencing terrible neck cramps. Doctor says my posture sucks -- so, I later found the best place to hold the tablet without your head falling off is to sit down on my bed with my back (and my head) flat against the wall and rest the tablet on a pillow on my lap to boost it to a comfortable height so I don't feel inclined to bow down all the time. You have to think ergonomics, especially when using these things in informal seating arrangements.
This may be a bit late for MrChoy, but I figured I should have a quicklist for things you would want in a tabletPC (besides the obvious price)
1 Gb of RAM -- Windows XP runs so much more smoothly on this (rather than the old 512Mb). There's hardly any disk-swapping, and now my drives can spin themselves down more often, saving battery power. A 512 Mb chip cost me about $80 USD from a supplier on Ebay.
Flush screen border -- My tablet has a slightly raised border edge surrounding the screen. It's annoying. Try to get one where you can slide your hand across the entire flat surface without smacking into any obstructions.
Location of light sensor -- My tablet has a light-sensor that detects how much light is in the room, and adjusts the screen accordingly. Unfortunately, my favorite screen rotation orientation puts that sensor right under my hand, so the sensor thinks it's nighttime and the screen goes dark. It's not a big deal, just a quibble I have.
Hardtop Keyboards -- This tablet PC has a durable plastic protector (called a hardtop) that snaps onto the front of the display so I can put it in my bag without worrying about the screen. There's a version of the hardtop that includes a keyboard, but my experience with laptops says this ain't such a great idea. Years of use of toting my laptop to work and back has shown that there are some lightly sanded scratch-patterns etched into the monitor from bits of grit caught between the keys. Keyboards are repositories for dust and crap, so when you store a keyboard right up against the monitor, the pattern of the keys will eventually be sandblasted into your screen.
Not to worry, I use my desktop workstation for typing, and my tabletPC for doodling.
malcooning >> I didn't have anything that could justify the purchase of my slate -- but the thing was, I was dying to have one so I could take it life drawing and doodle in bed or on the sofa (or in the bathroom). In the end, this tabletPC has made itself useful and I find myself drawing a lot more and improving a lot as a consequence. Of course, much of it is psychological, but I'm glad I can finally close the gap between my sketchbook drawing and drawing on the computer (I do ALL my work digitally), so I no longer feel "odd" when drawing away from my desk.
The Cintiq still gets a lot of use whenever I need to be precise and I wouldn't dream of selling it (except maybe to get a 21UX), but the tabletPC just feels really good for coming up with ideas and experimenting. I can't explain why it doesn't feel right to fart around on a cintiq...
The other thing I found recently is that WindowsXP has this really amazing function called Offline Files. Usually, I couldn't be arsed to work with this, but for my tabletPC it's awesome. See, here's how it works:
* I set up a special directory on my desktop workstation that will contain all the work that I do on the tabletPC, and set it as a shared directory.
* On the tabletPC, I connect to my desktop workstation and add the shared directory as a network drive.
* I activate Offline Files and make that drive available offline.
Now, whenever I work, I open and save files to that network drive. The Offline Files function works to synchronize a cached copy of those files in that network drive/folder to my tabletPC so that whenever I finish working on something, it can back it up to my desktop workstation, and whenever I'm about to leave home, I can synchronize it to keep everything up to date.
This has a couple advantages:
1: Your work is backed up almost constantly -- and it only synchronizes the files that change.
2: It's a pretty transparent way of working. When I need to upres the work and do things on the desktop PC (to make use of the horsepower and the Cintiq) I don't have to worry about where to copy things -- I just hit synchronize and I'm ready to rock. Plus, when I'm done working on the desktop workstation, the files will synchronize back down to the TabletPC so I have a high-res version already that I can show to friends and potential clients.
cresshead >> He got it done for cheap when it comes to parts and materials -- but the labour costs -- that'd put him over the top. Too bad he has no way to deal with calibrating the screen. He does, however get a few advantages over a Cintiq:
Weight -- because it's built into the footprint of a UD1212, it can be held in the lap, unlike my boat-anchor Cintiq 18SX
Screen-buttons -- the 18SX does not have these The 21UX has the Intuos3-style sidebuttons and touchstrips
Tilt Sensitivity -- The 18SX does not have this. the 21UX does.
The stylus he's using is one of the caveman styluses that require you to press really hard. However, Cintiq 18SX styluses would be compatible with his serial UD tablet gudgeons.
I have a few other things to mention:
The accuracy of the tablet is seemingly a little lower than on my Cintiq 18SX. For times when I need extreme precision (like when I'm finishing off a print-res drawing), I take a trip over to my desktop workstation.
A week ago I was experiencing terrible neck cramps. Doctor says my posture sucks -- so, I later found the best place to hold the tablet without your head falling off is to sit down on my bed with my back (and my head) flat against the wall and rest the tablet on a pillow on my lap to boost it to a comfortable height so I don't feel inclined to bow down all the time. You have to think ergonomics, especially when using these things in informal seating arrangements.
This may be a bit late for MrChoy, but I figured I should have a quicklist for things you would want in a tabletPC (besides the obvious price)
1 Gb of RAM -- Windows XP runs so much more smoothly on this (rather than the old 512Mb). There's hardly any disk-swapping, and now my drives can spin themselves down more often, saving battery power. A 512 Mb chip cost me about $80 USD from a supplier on Ebay.
Flush screen border -- My tablet has a slightly raised border edge surrounding the screen. It's annoying. Try to get one where you can slide your hand across the entire flat surface without smacking into any obstructions.
Location of light sensor -- My tablet has a light-sensor that detects how much light is in the room, and adjusts the screen accordingly. Unfortunately, my favorite screen rotation orientation puts that sensor right under my hand, so the sensor thinks it's nighttime and the screen goes dark. It's not a big deal, just a quibble I have.
Hardtop Keyboards -- This tablet PC has a durable plastic protector (called a hardtop) that snaps onto the front of the display so I can put it in my bag without worrying about the screen. There's a version of the hardtop that includes a keyboard, but my experience with laptops says this ain't such a great idea. Years of use of toting my laptop to work and back has shown that there are some lightly sanded scratch-patterns etched into the monitor from bits of grit caught between the keys. Keyboards are repositories for dust and crap, so when you store a keyboard right up against the monitor, the pattern of the keys will eventually be sandblasted into your screen.
Not to worry, I use my desktop workstation for typing, and my tabletPC for doodling.
malcooning >> I didn't have anything that could justify the purchase of my slate -- but the thing was, I was dying to have one so I could take it life drawing and doodle in bed or on the sofa (or in the bathroom). In the end, this tabletPC has made itself useful and I find myself drawing a lot more and improving a lot as a consequence. Of course, much of it is psychological, but I'm glad I can finally close the gap between my sketchbook drawing and drawing on the computer (I do ALL my work digitally), so I no longer feel "odd" when drawing away from my desk.
The Cintiq still gets a lot of use whenever I need to be precise and I wouldn't dream of selling it (except maybe to get a 21UX), but the tabletPC just feels really good for coming up with ideas and experimenting. I can't explain why it doesn't feel right to fart around on a cintiq...
The other thing I found recently is that WindowsXP has this really amazing function called Offline Files. Usually, I couldn't be arsed to work with this, but for my tabletPC it's awesome. See, here's how it works:
* I set up a special directory on my desktop workstation that will contain all the work that I do on the tabletPC, and set it as a shared directory.
* On the tabletPC, I connect to my desktop workstation and add the shared directory as a network drive.
* I activate Offline Files and make that drive available offline.
Now, whenever I work, I open and save files to that network drive. The Offline Files function works to synchronize a cached copy of those files in that network drive/folder to my tabletPC so that whenever I finish working on something, it can back it up to my desktop workstation, and whenever I'm about to leave home, I can synchronize it to keep everything up to date.
This has a couple advantages:
1: Your work is backed up almost constantly -- and it only synchronizes the files that change.
2: It's a pretty transparent way of working. When I need to upres the work and do things on the desktop PC (to make use of the horsepower and the Cintiq) I don't have to worry about where to copy things -- I just hit synchronize and I'm ready to rock. Plus, when I'm done working on the desktop workstation, the files will synchronize back down to the TabletPC so I have a high-res version already that I can show to friends and potential clients.
cresshead >> He got it done for cheap when it comes to parts and materials -- but the labour costs -- that'd put him over the top. Too bad he has no way to deal with calibrating the screen. He does, however get a few advantages over a Cintiq:
Weight -- because it's built into the footprint of a UD1212, it can be held in the lap, unlike my boat-anchor Cintiq 18SX
Screen-buttons -- the 18SX does not have these The 21UX has the Intuos3-style sidebuttons and touchstrips
Tilt Sensitivity -- The 18SX does not have this. the 21UX does.
The stylus he's using is one of the caveman styluses that require you to press really hard. However, Cintiq 18SX styluses would be compatible with his serial UD tablet gudgeons.
(Win7x64, TVP Pro 11 32-bit)
A little late. but I think I'm OK. No light-censor or view anywhere as sadly I couldn't stretch to a Motion machine (And they make it Very hard to find in the UK.) No idea about the tablet edge.
I ordered an Acer c213. It is a tablet with a slide out keyboard. (Google acer c200) to get the idea. A bit like an animation desk!
1 gig standard, core2 duo and packed full of nvidia goodness!
I think my desktop is going to sulk.
I too get the neck cramp thing even without the tablet. Too many long hours! on the PC. Interestingly a lot of illustrators I know have the same problem.
My current fix is to set a pop up alarm telling me to 'Stretch' every hour. (Yahoo widget - Gorgy clock) I guess it would work well if I paid attention to it.
If enough people here get tablets we should look into sharing customisations
I ordered an Acer c213. It is a tablet with a slide out keyboard. (Google acer c200) to get the idea. A bit like an animation desk!
1 gig standard, core2 duo and packed full of nvidia goodness!
I think my desktop is going to sulk.
I too get the neck cramp thing even without the tablet. Too many long hours! on the PC. Interestingly a lot of illustrators I know have the same problem.
My current fix is to set a pop up alarm telling me to 'Stretch' every hour. (Yahoo widget - Gorgy clock) I guess it would work well if I paid attention to it.
If enough people here get tablets we should look into sharing customisations
It looks like a very nice machine. It seems to have a slight border edge, but not too bad -- mine is very pronounced. The fact that the keyboard sits BEHIND the monitor is a very good thing -- since the ones where the monitor sits face-to-face with the keyboard will eventually show a grit-wear pattern. Heh, it WOULD be pretty neat to have a sub-community of mobile animators!
(Win7x64, TVP Pro 11 32-bit)
I've uncovered another bug with the subpixel mode on the Tablet PC. This one is rather serious since it directly affects the feel of the drawing.
Tablet PC's require some amount of calibration to make the cursor on the screen line up with the stylus.
However, the subpixel mode ignores the calibration, and reads the raw wacom data itself. What's worse, the point at which the cursor appears and where paint is laid down won't match up. This is because the cursor position is based off of the calibrated positional data reported from Windows while TVPaint is reading uncalibrated positional data directly from the Wacom driver.
There are a few remedies for the situation:
1. Turn off subpixel mode (It's hard for me to live without it)
2. Find some way to read the calibrated positional data from the tabletPC driver (will take some time + research)
3. include a cursor mode that hides the standard cursor and shows an onscreen one instead. (a bit of a hack, and doesn't allow for calibration)
Tablet PC's require some amount of calibration to make the cursor on the screen line up with the stylus.
However, the subpixel mode ignores the calibration, and reads the raw wacom data itself. What's worse, the point at which the cursor appears and where paint is laid down won't match up. This is because the cursor position is based off of the calibrated positional data reported from Windows while TVPaint is reading uncalibrated positional data directly from the Wacom driver.
There are a few remedies for the situation:
1. Turn off subpixel mode (It's hard for me to live without it)
2. Find some way to read the calibrated positional data from the tabletPC driver (will take some time + research)
3. include a cursor mode that hides the standard cursor and shows an onscreen one instead. (a bit of a hack, and doesn't allow for calibration)
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(Win7x64, TVP Pro 11 32-bit)