Mouse vs. tablet

[Dysterkvist]

Hello,

I am currently saving up for this puppy - the Wacom Cintiq 27QHD which will be available to me close to the end of the year.



It is close to $3400 CAD, however if you have the ability to try it out and purchase it, go for it!

I tried a 24HD at a classmates house once, and I really thought it was way too large. It is actually possible to go in that direction as well, I would really suggest everyone who's thinking about getting one of these, try it first.

They are very expensive and the 24HD was also very heavy with the table mounting thing, close to like 30kg I think.

[darcycardinal]

I tried a 24HD at a classmates house once, and I really thought it was way too large. It is actually possible to go in that direction as well, I would really suggest everyone who's thinking about getting one of these, try it first.

They are very expensive and the 24HD was also very heavy with the table mounting thing, close to like 30kg I think.

Yes, i believe for most people, the 13HD is adequate and more than enough to do cartography/mapping. And YES, the 22 and 27 are very expensive, especially the touch versions. I decided to not get the touch, and just settle for the pen version only, because when i am working with a ruler and need full control, i dont want to make an accident. I will be purchasing this tablet for both mapping and illustrations (manga and concept art) so it will have a few uses. I was going to also go for an ergotron extendable/adjustable arm that can be manipulated into different positions depending on what the tablet is being used for.

-darcycardinal

[Greg]

Hello,

I am currently saving up for this puppy - the Wacom Cintiq 27QHD which will be available to me close to the end of the year.



It is close to $3400 CAD, however if you have the ability to try it out and purchase it, go for it!

A great piece of kit for sure. One thing I'd definitely consider though is getting the adjustable stand that goes along with it. It's not cheap, but allows for far more control in terms of working angle and height.

[Buchanan]

Apple quality is pretty damn good (compare to others).

[Cartography Dragon]

I've been looking at getting a tablet and I'm leaning towards this one: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/wacom-in...?skuId=4359301

It has 1024 pressure levels, is decently sized at 8.25x6.7 in., and has 4 ExpressKeys. It also costs only 80$!

What do you guys think?

[Steel_Wind]

I bought it last week (at Best Buy, as it happens). I have found it difficult to use for most tasks in Photoshop, but for pressure sensitive shading/shadows and scattering leaves across a map, it was very useful for that.

I am not unhappy I purchased it, but "a tool for every task".

[Cartography Dragon]

I bought it last week (at Best Buy, as it happens). I have found it difficult to use for most tasks in Photoshop, but for pressure sensitive shading/shadows and scattering leaves across a map, it was very useful for that.

I am not unhappy I purchased it, but "a tool for every task".

Was it unsuited for drawing lines, like say, mountains? I'm currently using a mouse, and I've heard that any tablet is superior to a mouse. It may not be the greatest for image editing, but I'm planning to use it nearly exclusively for digital art, mostly maps.

[Steel_Wind]

Was it unsuited for drawing lines, like say, mountains? I'm currently using a mouse, and I've heard that any tablet is superior to a mouse. It may not be the greatest for image editing, but I'm planning to use it nearly exclusively for digital art, mostly maps.

Well, for your purposes it may be great. In the rest of my Photoshop work, I was not trying to draw with it, but place precise nodes with a pen, manipulate nodes, transforms, choose and apply texture and drop shadows, and moving objects around a battlemap.

All of those tasks require technical precision and for that, a mouse is preferable.

When it came time for doing a drawing task, namely, shading and using a scattered tip brush to build up random detritus - the pen and tablet worked admirably.

I do not mean to dissuade you from buying it. It sounds like you want to engage in more "art" than I do. I am not interested in doing artistic topographical maps; my interest lies in creating new battlemaps for use in a VTT where technical art demands of the underlying surroundings tend to be more precise and exacting. Even still it was useful for aspects of "gussying up" those technical elements.

Your planned maps seem different than my own needs, so you will likely find even more uses for it.

If hardcore drawing was my purpose, I might prefer to have bought the more expensive medium size model. That would be my only caveat to you.

[Cartography Dragon]

Well, for your purposes it may be great. In the rest of my Photoshop work, I was not trying to draw with it, but place precise nodes with a brush, manipulate nodes, transforms, choose and apply texture and drop shadows, and moving objects around a battlemap.

All of those tasks require technical precision and for that, a mouse is preferable.

When it came time for doing a drawing task, namely, shading and using a scattered tip brush to build up random detritus - the pen and tablet worked admirably.

I do not mean to dissuade you from buying it. It sounds like you want to engage in more "art" than I do. I am not interested in doing artistic topographical maps; my interest lies in creating new battlemaps for use in a VTT where technical art demands of the underlying surroundings tend to be more precise and exacting. Even still it was useful for aspects of "gussying up" those technical elements.

Your planned maps seem different than my own needs, so you will likely find even more uses for it.

If hardcore drawing was my purpose, I might prefer to have bought the more expensive medium size model. That would be my only caveat to you.

Thanks for the clarification. I did think about getting the medium, but sadly it's a bit out of my price range, as I'm a high school student who's only source of income is a summer job

[Midgardsormr]

Well, for your purposes it may be great. In the rest of my Photoshop work, I was not trying to draw with it, but place precise nodes with a brush, manipulate nodes, transforms, choose and apply texture and drop shadows, and moving objects around a battlemap.

All of those tasks require technical precision and for that, a mouse is preferable.

I find I much prefer my tablet over a mouse even for that kind of work. I'm a visual effects compositor, and I frequently need to place nodes on a spline with sub-pixel accuracy.

Here's a screenshot of what I'm doing right now, using my Intuos tablet as my primary input device:



I have become so accustomed to the tablet that the idea of placing those points with a mouse is abhorrent. So it's a matter of taste, I think. The only time I reach for my mouse these days is when I want to do something on my second monitor.