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Author Topic: How Necessary is a Drawing Tablet?  (Read 2349 times)

magikarcher

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How Necessary is a Drawing Tablet?
« on: November 05, 2009, 02:06:32 am »

I am really into art, especially on the computer, but I am having a hard time with freehand drawing on the computer. I don't know if it is my technique, or what, but I was wondering if drawing tablets make doing art on the computer easier. I purchased a cheap $30 one, and maybe it is because it was cheap, but it didn't work out very well for me. So my question is: Do I need to purchase a good drawing tablet to be able to create art like what would be on conceptart.org?
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Duke 2.0

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Re: How Necessary is a Drawing Tablet?
« Reply #1 on: November 05, 2009, 02:18:11 am »

 You got a tablet for $30? How the hell is that possible?

 I would suggest you go for the Bamboo series of Wacom tablets. People will suggest others, but note if you really are not into digital art yet such tablets will be rather expensive for your needs. I got mine for $80, but they might come cheaper nowadays. It isn't terribly large, but it works for doodles.
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magikarcher

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Re: How Necessary is a Drawing Tablet?
« Reply #2 on: November 05, 2009, 02:45:52 am »

Thats great, but that doesn't answer how necessary it is, I don't want to drop 80 dollars on a tablet unless I have too.
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Grax

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Re: How Necessary is a Drawing Tablet?
« Reply #3 on: November 05, 2009, 03:44:04 am »

Thats great, but that doesn't answer how necessary it is, I don't want to drop 80 dollars on a tablet unless I have too.
Нou should try to find a NORMAL (not cheap noname) tablet and try it yourself, if you want to know the necessity of the tablet.

If you use a cheap one that doesn't support angle recognition and have cheap&crappy pressure sensors that give you broken or nonconsistent lines - you'll gob in anger and get a belief that the tablets are shit.

As for me i've got an A4 Wacom Intuos 2 A4, it is five years old but it works much more better than the newest Genius or Trust or something china-made noname crap like that.

Sorry for acerbity in words but that's my opinion on the art.
You have to use best equipment to get the best results.
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Grax

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Re: How Necessary is a Drawing Tablet?
« Reply #4 on: November 05, 2009, 03:45:02 am »

Don't you have a "try&buy" option with you local seller?
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magikarcher

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Re: How Necessary is a Drawing Tablet?
« Reply #5 on: November 05, 2009, 04:42:04 am »

Not when you order from the interwebz.
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Dasleah

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Re: How Necessary is a Drawing Tablet?
« Reply #6 on: November 05, 2009, 04:45:13 am »

Try this fun experiment at home. Pick up a pencil. Try to draw something with it. Pretty simple, right? Nice, flexible. Precise. That's your tablet.

Now try doing the same with a block of soap. That's your mouse.

Not to say there aren't some supremely talented soap artists out there in the world, but the learning curve isn't worth it unless you're trying to make a point.
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magikarcher

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Re: How Necessary is a Drawing Tablet?
« Reply #7 on: November 05, 2009, 04:51:21 am »

Dasleah, pencil and paper (and soap  ???) work fine, but not for use with GIMP or Photoshop.

Edit: Unrelated: Dasleah, you having any trouble connecting to the IRC? I cannot connect to Newnet, but I can connect to other servers.
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Grax

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Re: How Necessary is a Drawing Tablet?
« Reply #8 on: November 05, 2009, 04:52:10 am »

Not when you order from the interwebz.
Why order something from outta there? Or you live in antarctic?  ;D
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Neruz

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Re: How Necessary is a Drawing Tablet?
« Reply #9 on: November 05, 2009, 04:52:56 am »

If you're serious about digital art a tablet is irreplacable. They're also a godsend.

There are some people who can do some amazing stuff with mices, but even the best mice artist will agree that Tablets are far easier to learn.


Tablets also allow you to use some interesting and unique styles that you really can't pull off with any other media, styles which i personally happen to quite like, so there's that extra bonus for me.



Basically, if you're serious about doing digital arts, get a tablet. If you're really serious and want to turn it into a job, get a good tablet.


Also; as an addendum, a Tablet isn't actually the same as using a pencil; they're similar, but the techniques and feedback are subtly different enough to have a noticable impact.

magikarcher

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Re: How Necessary is a Drawing Tablet?
« Reply #10 on: November 05, 2009, 05:03:06 am »

I was looking at getting this one http://www.wacom.com/cintiq/cintiq-21ux.php  ;D LOL just kidding.

Would this be a good one? http://www.wacom.com/bamboo/bamboo_craft.php

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Neruz

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Re: How Necessary is a Drawing Tablet?
« Reply #11 on: November 05, 2009, 05:12:08 am »

The Bamboo series is pretty good for hobbyists; they're relatively cheap by tablet standards and decent quality, so long as you're not looking to do high-def texturing\modelling and\or make full use of programs that want more advanced tablets (there's a drawing program that is designed specifically for tablets to replicate physical media like oil paints and stuff on the computer, but i can't remember the damn name!) you'll do fine with a Bamboo.

It'll certainly revolutionise freehand drawing for you.

magikarcher

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Re: How Necessary is a Drawing Tablet?
« Reply #12 on: November 05, 2009, 05:22:06 am »

Awesome! How does it rate in the pressure sensitivity area, and stuff like that? The other one I bought was really bad and only had like 3 different pressures.
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Rose

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Re: How Necessary is a Drawing Tablet?
« Reply #13 on: November 05, 2009, 05:32:56 am »

if it's anything like the graphire4, which it better be, since it's newer and from the same company, then it's great.
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Neruz

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Re: How Necessary is a Drawing Tablet?
« Reply #14 on: November 05, 2009, 05:56:33 am »

Awesome! How does it rate in the pressure sensitivity area, and stuff like that? The other one I bought was really bad and only had like 3 different pressures.

Bamboos vary; it'll say somewhere on it how many levels of pressure it has and how many 'points' on the board it registers.
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