ZBrushCentral

Do you use a tablet?

ZBrush Usage Questions
#21

meh. battery exchange is NOT a big deal with me. i’ve had wireless keyboards and the hassle of swapping is few and far between. change a battery, big whup.

the real issue is performance and if you can get the same degrees of sensitivity and it works and it’s HUNDREDS of dollars cheaper, hey, i’ll put up with a batter change any day.

besides, it’s a frickin’ tablet. this isn’t rocket surgery people. it either works or it doesn’t. technologically, it’s just a hair more impressive than the wheel. and wacom has ridden a looooooooong looooooooooong way on its laurels.

it’s about time that it give way in terms of marketshare to competition so that it is just another player among many manufacturers… like mice manufacturers.

i wait for the day that a tablet is as generic as a mouse and people stop “swearing by” wacom.

jin

#22

its not just the swapping/replacing but also the balancing of the pen.

#23

Happy wacom user here. If you can’t afford a graphire then give the janky off brands a try and see how you like them. Just whatever you do, don’t use a mouse.

#24

Btw, I just got my graphire4 tablet yesterday and its pretty sweet. Im having a fun time fooling around in photoshop so far. Havent tried it with Zbrush yet though. It feels a little weird at first, but its definately so much better than a mouse for drawing or detail work because of pressure sensitivity.

#25

thanks guys.

I think I will find graphire in my city.

BTW- how much a graphire costs in US?

#26

From personal experience I’d say a tablet is a must have item for 3d of any type, but especially for digital sculpting. As someone who’s had Carpal Tunnle Syndrome and ended up unable to do anything on a computer for 6 months, I’d say be most careful of using a mouse for long periods of time. As a matter of fact I still wear a brace on each wrist and probably alwys will, but I did have a mega case of it.

All those small slow movements in 3d wether it be in zbrush or in a poly app are realy bad news over time. Especially so if you do long sessions like I used to. Think of it less an investment in your art, and more an investment in your health. Sorry if I come across as ‘preachy’ but CTS is vastly overlooked in 3d and last thing we want is a plethoa of cases.

So any tablet (even a cheapo one) is better than none. Although there is a world of diference between a cheap one and a good wacom. I use a A5 Intuous 3 which is perfect for the style and way I work.If you can get a chance to try difference sizes out as some people prefer larger A4 tablets while others find A5 etc better.

Wayne…

#27

Thanks wayne.

I was not totally away from computer, though with zbrush yes because of only 512 mb ram in my laptop.

Do you think we newage geeks can survive without computers even for a day ? lols :smiley:

I understand what you are saying because I am facing the same problem as you mentioned, actually I was never able to make great detailed models probably because I used mouse always. never gave me smooth results.

Thats why I thought tablet is a must now. but I have no experience with it at all.

So it will take me some time to catch up with it, I just dont want to waste another 6 months learning zbrush 3 and how to use tablet. :wink: :wink:

any how my mouse sucks.

#28

If you know how to use a pencil or pen… you already know how to use a tablet :stuck_out_tongue:

Though you gotta be careful… the learning curve on the pen with its 2 buttons can be difficult :wink:

#29

Here is a link to a refurbished Graphire4 for $50. That’s where i got mine from. Great deal, it also comes bundled with some cool free software that you probably dont need lol.

#30

It’s not very expensive in India either. Wacom have wisely priced them very reasonably. Look here:

http://www.in.wacom-asia.com/price/price.php

The Graphire4 A5 (CTE640) is probably the most cost effective one. For 8-9k you get a tablet that is large enough to be practical and yet small enough to fit easily on your desk. Works very well with zb.

And yes if you can use a pen or pencl, then you are already half way there. The biggest hurdle you face is that it takes a bit of practice to get used to looking at the screen while you draw on the tablet. But it becomes second nature soon enough.

#31

It wasn’t easy…in fact it drove me nuts being ofline that long…:stuck_out_tongue:

But honestly using a tablet is as easy as falling off a log. Soon as you pick it up your good to go. Sometimes if you change from a cheapo one to a wacom there is a differenence in feel, but wont take long to get used to. As I say ANY tablet is better than none.

Wayne…

#32

Been using a tablet for eleven years now- and I’m not going back to using a mouse a lone. I do use a mouse for XSI, LW and certain other tasks…but for most of my other needs the little wacom I have suites my needs perfectly. Tablets take a to get use to- it took me about two months to get fully use to it and really start taking advantage of all its power. It’s kind of “analog” in that way!

It’s awesome to use in flash, PS, Illustrator, Painter (mandatory to have a tablet for painter) BTW.

#33

I’m wondering if anyone has actually used both the Genius PenSketch and the Wacom Intuos and could compare the two. I’m seriously considering buying a nice tablet, but I can’t decide between the two. I know a lot of people seem to prefer Wacom, but I’m wondering how many have tried using the Genius PenSketch as well.

#34

I use a Wacom Intuos with my workstation and the genius with my laptop. Besides for the fact that the laptop is far underpowered the genius is not even coming close to the Wacom. The PenSketch sometimes skips clicks or even worse does a double click when it´s supposed to do a single click. ZSphering is literally impossible just as is Retopo (I use the Trackpad for that) Pressure sensitivity is a whole different world with the Wacom.

But for me the biggest difference is the feel i get when using a Wacom. You really forget after a while that you are rubbing against a piece of plastic :wink: Do yourself a favour and get yourself a Wacom. It´s really worth the money, plus it will live a lot longer.

#35

Alright :smiley: Step 2 then, what size would you reccomend? I was thinking about 6x11 but I don’t know how well that would translate. Do you think a 6x8 would be better or am I wasting my time even thinking around that size range?

#36

I would recomend making a “mockup” of the correct sizes… some of those pads are seriously pretty damn big.

It would also depend on your style if you use broad strokes or short ones and how far you actually want to have to move your hand.

Portibility is also an issue if are running on a laptop… I have the 4.6 for its portability when I am wanting to zbrush away from home.