Drawing on Screen

kori · Post by **kori** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 9:32 pm

I was watching an animation video where the artist was using TVPaint, and he was line drawing right on the monitor screen. How is this done? Have any of you tired it? How do you like it compared to drawing on paper and scanning into the computer.

Thanks
Kori

b15fliptop · Post by **b15fliptop** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 9:47 pm

http://www.wacom.com/cintiq/index.php

Pretty cool, but a bit expensive. Still, if you do a LOT of drawing, I'm sure it would be worth it.

slowtiger · Post by **slowtiger** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 9:57 pm

I use TVPaint. It's a great program: bitmap based, frame by frame, emulation of natural media. And it's fast. Drawing on the Cintiq needs some time to get used to, and I'd still prefer on paper, but not having to scan is such a big timesaver.

rylleman · Post by **rylleman** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 10:56 pm

I just bought a tablet PC where you draw on-screen and after a little time to get used to I'd say my whole animation workflow has sped up. Despite the quite small screen, 13,3" compared to my main work station at 23".
It's a much more direct way to work that via a normal wacom-tablet.

kori · Post by **kori** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 12:22 am

There is a cheaper PC tablet called Motion Tablet. Has anyone tired it for amination? I was thinking this would be a cheaper alternative to the Cintiq.

madrobot · Post by **madrobot** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 1:15 am

I'm having a look at the Motion Tablet online,
doesn't look like it has Wacom tech in the screen,
which would be an issue.

If it did, it could be a low-cost option.
But without it there's only so much I could use it for.

http://www.motioncomputing.com/

Hmm, apparently Motion Computing LE1700 has wacom
Tablet Digitiser. Small screen but might be able to pick one up cheap.

Magnatude · Post by **Magnatude** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 9:29 pm

I have a Cintiq 12w, I use it all the time.
Funny though, I was using a wacom Graphire/computer for years and did not touch paper during that time.
Getting back to hooking my brain/eye/hand back was an amusing experience, about as amusing as training yourself to use a tablet in the first place.

Anyways I can see why it may take some time to get the rhythm back into your skills.

The other problem is getting the best feel with software with your Cintiq. A lot of my frustration was trying to get software to emulate inking pen-strokes properly (tapered ends specifically). I tend to do my best work using Corel X3's Artistic Media pen.

PCTablets have the pen riding on a thicker surface so there is a little bit of disassociation with the drawing surface, the Cintiq is a major improvement as its as close to the surface as you can possibly get.

There is a little jitter on the edges of the Cintiq but I haven't seen it bad enough to effect my drawing.

Mikdog · Post by **Mikdog** » Thu Jun 04, 2009 12:59 am

Also have a Cintiq 12wx. Pretty good. I think my Wacom Intuos 3 was fine, my only gripe with the Cintiq is all the wires and stuff it has. Intuos only had a USB wire which was great. Otherwise, great to be able to draw on the screen I guess. Just makes things a little faster really. Drawing in Photoshop isn't ideal, Corel Painter is very smooth, Photoshop is pretty jittery if you ask me. Not sure what other programs are good with the Cintiq.

slowtiger · Post by **slowtiger** » Thu Jun 04, 2009 10:37 am

I find TVPaint much more responsive to the tablet than Photoshop.

Jeffrey · Post by **Jeffrey** » Thu Jun 04, 2009 11:29 am

*post deleted by user

slowtiger · Post by **slowtiger** » Thu Jun 04, 2009 12:42 pm

It surely isn't the tablet's fault, as long as your OS is set up correctly and you have the latest driver from Wacom installed. The resolution is incredible.

But a program can read or use the input from a tablet quite differently. The more often it takes a sample, the smoother the resulting line will appear. Photoshop seems to take not as much samples as TVPaint, so curves appear as edgy sometimes: made of several straight parts. Also Photoshop slows down with bigger brushes a lot, something I haven't experienced to this extent in TVPaint.

Jeffrey · Post by **Jeffrey** » Thu Jun 04, 2009 3:18 pm

*post deleted by user

slowtiger · Post by **slowtiger** » Thu Jun 04, 2009 3:45 pm

Jeffrey · Post by **Jeffrey** » Thu Jun 04, 2009 4:35 pm

*post deleted by user

Magnatude · Post by **Magnatude** » Fri Jun 05, 2009 5:29 pm

Jeffrey wrote: Another question:
Some people talk about the Cintiq being jittery.
Mikdog said: Photoshop is pretty jittery

What do you guys mean with jittery exactly and how can Photoshop be more jittery than TVpaint for example?

The Outer edges of the LCD display on the Cintiq tend to make the cursor wobble slightly. I didn't really notice it on the patch before the 611-3 drivers.
As Cintiq is the same as having another monitor attached to your computer this would be more driver issue than software specific.
The slight wobble/jitter (and I mean very slight on mine) occurs on the 1/4" edge of the screen. I've heard of more severe jitter from older reviews. My Cintiq was manufactured Nov 2008.

Personally I don't find it a problem, but at least I could tell people that this jitter is an occurrence.
I'm always drawing within the middle of the Cintiq so the jitter never really effected me.
BTW I'm really fast at creating characters with AS pro with the Cintiq, waaay faster than using a regular wacom pen. I created several completed "political heads" in one evening: Emanuel, Bernanke, Geithner, Michelle Obama, and Paulson. Helped that I created a Head layering template to use over again.

You can also use the Cintiq exactly like a Wacom pad too and draw on your existing monitor, as you can set one of your Cintiq buttons to swap the pen-activity on your screens.

My pickiness with software had mainly to do with the stroke "ends". I like the India-ink/Brush comic book style of inking and I found that Corel Draw and AS do a very nice job for my style preference (out of the box). I believe photoshop will likely do the same with a bit of custom tweaking.

I did try Manga Studio, but you know, I really hate reloading my Wacom drivers just to get MS to cooperate. I think if you put together an app thats supposed to work properly with tablet users, you shouldnt have to do this (and I did it all the time with the Demo). Sorry for the gripe.

I do most of my artwork Illustrations today in 3D and I used to work in a regional studio here in BC in the early 80's when we still did cel animation for commercials. I only recently decided to get back to my roots and bought AS pro 5.6 last year as I was familiar with Flash and wanted to work in an application that could tween.

The Cintiq works well with creating textures as well as direct painting on models (Carrara 6 pro/Hexagon) and postwork is a total breeze.