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Animation software Moho has added support for Microsoft's Surface Studio and Surface Dial.

The post Moho Adds Features Directly For Microsoft’s Surface Studio and Surface Dial appeared first on Cartoon Brew.

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Microsoft is edging into Apple and Wacom's territory with its all-in-one touchscreen desktop Surface Studio.

The post Microsoft’s Gorgeous Surface Studio Might Be A Cintiq Killer appeared first on Cartoon Brew.

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An inspiring DIY project for anyone who creates digital art on a tablet.

The post Japanese Artist Builds Custom Cintiq-Embedded Desk appeared first on Cartoon Brew.

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I have know Santi for a while online through our wonderful 12×12 community and I was very fortunate to meet him finally at the fabulous 12×12 5th anniversary party in New York last month. We bonded over literary cocktails, as … Continue reading →

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What's the right drawing tablet for you?

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The tablet wars are heating up, and the winners are artists and animators.

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The tablet wars are heating up, and the winners are artists and animators.

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Will animation artists incorporate the new Apple Pencil stylus into their production workflows?

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Wacom raised some eyebrows yesterday at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas when they announced a new flagship pair of tablets—the Cintiq 27QHD and the Cintiq 27QHD Touch.

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frenden:

With the release of their second generation budget Cintiq alternative, Yiynova gets it right

Yiynova took on Wacom’s tablet display monopoly last year with their release of the DP10 and MSP19. I reviewed those units and they left me wanting.

The Yiynova used Waltop digitizers (digitizers being the bit of hardware that senses stylus position and pressure variance). There was significant jitter in the line quality. Creating straight lines was near impossible especially when making a deliberate, slow effort and the cursor jumped around like a ferret on meth. The display quality and fit and finish were fine, but the underlying tablet tech was a let down. My conclusion? The Waltop digitizer was junk and it let the otherwise competent hardware hanging.

After, I reviewed Monoprice’s graphics tablets. Those use UC Logic digitizers. They’re snappier in OSX than Wacom equivalents with less cursor lag and crisper fidelity in small movements. They sensed light pressure with more accuracy than any Wacom hardware I’ve owned. I was so pleased with the UC Logic based tablets that I purchased a heap of other equipment by them. I sold my Cintiq. I sold my Intuos. Eight months, four tablets and around nine styli later, I became an all UC Logic studio.

I wished that someone could pair the underlying, fantastic UC Logic digitizer tech with a tablet monitor enclosure. I even bought some hardware to try and make my own. But now I don’t have to. Yiynova must have been listening. The MSP19U is a second generation product that jettisons the inferior Waltop digitizers of the first model and replaces them with UC Logic internals.

Does the pairing live up to the sum potential of its disparate parts? Can a relatively unknown $569 tablet monitor compete with a $1999 Wacom Cintiq? Yes, it competes. It even bests the Cintiq in a few key areas. But I’m jumping ahead.

Unboxing, Specs, and the Physical Properties of the Unit

The Yiynova MSP19U is a 19,” 1440x900 tablet monitor with an adjustable, VESA-compatible stand and mounting bracket. It comes with one stylus, one battery, and several additional pen nibs. It has 2048 levels of pressure sensitivity and a 4000lpi digitizer.

The unit is light but not flimsy. Thinner than a Cintiq thanks to its LED backlighting, I find myself occasionally sitting the Yiynova in my lap like a digital art board.

At 19,” 1440x900, and 89.37 PPI, no one will mistake the Yiynova for a retina level display. It’s nearest Wacom neighbor, the 22HD, has a 22,” 1920x1080, and 100.13 PPI, screen. While the Wacom beats the Yiynova in sheer PPI, I always found the color of Cintiqs to be quite muddy thanks in part to an antiglare coating present on the monitors and dim backlighting. I went so far as to remove the glass from my Cintiq to scrape the coating off its back. It helped a little, but was still less than ideal and was not an activity for the faint of heart. Prying, scraping, and modding a $2,499 device to make it useable is a bummer and I went into a lot of detail about the shortcomings of Cintiq tech in my previous review if you want to learn more.

The LED backlighting on the Yiynova makes for a brighter overall display. It’s a little cool out of the box, but was fine once calibrated. If I had to choose between lower PPI or dimmer, muddier colors, I’d pick slightly lower PPI. This particular category is probably a draw.

The glass of the display sits above the LCD by around an 1/8th of an inch and looks to be about the same distance as my previous Cintiq. Until a manufacturer creates a unit with an iPad-like fused LCD and glass display, cursor parallax will be a concern (and is present for both the MSP19U and Cintiqs).

The stand allows for either complete verticality or nearly horizontal viewing angles and is easy to operate. Rotation is not possible, but I find it to be less of a necessity these days. Photoshop, Painter, Manga Studio, and nearly any art app worth it’s salt allow users to rotate the canvas arbitrarily.

There’s a VGA out port on the back of the monitor that will mirror the activity on your tablet to yet another external display. It’s an odd inclusion, but could be handy for making presentations or when teaching a digital art class. I do both from time to time, so it may be of some use.

Software & Hardware Installation

Setup was quick. I tested the unit on maxed 2012, 13” Macbook Air. The Air has a mini display/thunderbolt port, so an adapter was required to pair it with the Yiynova. All in, the MSP19U needs a VGA port, a wall socket, and a USB port to get rolling.

I already had UC Logic drivers installed on my system from my Monoprice tablets, so I only had to plug in the tablet to begin. The bundled driver software is the same version as the downloadable driver on the UC Logic, Panda City, and Yiynova websites, so use whatever is most convenient.

A quick note about drivers. Like with Monoprice tablets, I recommend installing drivers before plugging the tablet in, especially in Windows. Windows will install generic HID (Human Interface Device) drivers otherwise. They’re horrible and you’ll think your tablet is broken. It’s not. You’ll have to uninstall the generic HID driver from device manager, install the proper drivers, and only then plug in your tablet. This mistake accounts for five to ten support emails in my inbox a week.

Some stubborn apps enable tablet specific features (like pressure sensitivity options) only after detecting Wacom drivers present on a system. I install Intuos 3 drivers alongside any alternative tablet hardware to fool these apps into thinking a tablet is present. Painter and Illustrator are the two biggest culprits in my experience in both Win and Mac environments.

Does it work?

I tested the monitor with Photoshop CS6, Painter 12, and Manga Studio 4 and 5 in OSX and Windows. Much like the Monoprice tablets that came before, I found performance even better in OSX than Windows, but fine in both.

There are cursor calibration options in Windows, but no such options in OSX. I didn’t find cursor offset or parallax to be as bad on the Yiynova as on a Cintiq, and never found myself wanting or needing to futz with the cursor offset anyhow.

Cursor lag is similarly less pronounced on the Yiynova than a Cintiq and drawing felt more natural as a result.

A note on Paint Tool SAI. I’ve heard there are some issues running a multiple monitor setup with Paint Tool SAI, specifically, but that’s hard to blame on the Yiynova. SAI has been largely abandonware for some time, and it’s starting to show. I recommend using Clip Paint/Manga Studio 5. It’s a bit like a mashup of SAI, Painter, and Photoshop, and has largely replaced all those other apps in my workflow. My Windows box is a single monitor setup, so I was unable to verify these reports.

The drawing surface is slicker than that of a Cintiq and took a little getting used to. I found that long, deliberate lines could sometimes wobble a bit as my stylus tip slid on the glass, but it was a user limitation, not a failure of the digitizer panel.

Viewing angles on the monitor are worse than a Cintiq, but brightness is better. Viewing angles never veered into unusable territory, but the resolution and viewing angles of the LCD are the single largest area I’d like to see improved in the future.

Bottom line? Is it perfect? No. Are Cintiqs? No.

The Cintiq 22HD costs $1999. It has a slightly laggier feel to drawing, but a higher resolution display and has programmable hotkeys. It’s heavy and cumbersome. At the time of writing, the Yiynova MSP19U costs $569. It has a superior drawing experience in terms of lag and cursor offset to my eye, but a lower quality display and no hotkeys. It’s light and easier to move around a desk or sit in your lap.

Even without the price disparity, I would opt for the MSP19U. Cursor lag was the single biggest complaint I could muster against the Cintiqs and I think the 19U is the winner there. How well it draws trumps how good the image looks for me every time.

But, price matters and we should talk about it. The 19U costs 72% less than the Cintiq 22HD and 77% less than the 24HD. Even if it were marginally worse in all regards – and I find it neither heads and shoulders above or below, simply different – it would still be a steal.

My 19U is now a permanent member of the household. I don’t plan on, or feel the need to, replace it with a Cintiq.

Wacom has genuine competition on both the tablet and tablet monitor fronts. Spread the word. Make them feel some heat. There’s no reason this technology should be so expensive. The underlying hardware has been largely stagnant for a decade with no real innovation.

At $569, and with performance that often meets or exceeds Wacom’s hardware, the MSP19U is more than a viable alternative. It’s the disruptive agent of change the industry needs.

Buy the MSP19U using my Amazon affiliate link if you want to support my efforts to test digital art hardware.

Lastly, I want to thank you all. There have been more than 34,000 reblogs of my Monoprice review on Tumblr alone. UC Logic digitizers are a known quantity in the tablet space now and it’s thanks to you.

Another splendid and thorough graphics tablet review by Ray Frenden. This time it’s the Cintiq alternative, the Yiynova MSP19U.

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Two months ago, I switched to a MacBook Pro. Am I feeling the Mac love yet?

Sorta.

The transition from PC to Mac is not easy. Everything seems backward, nothing is automatic, you must think about everything. So, let me walk you through some of the changes.

Why Change?

I switched to a Mac because, my old PC was eight years old. Ancient. Prehistoric. The processor—which was once young and strong—was antiquated. I was running WindowsXP, like half the computers in the world today, but Microsoft recently announced that with the new Windows 8 operating system coming out this fall, they will no longer support XP.

Worse, I am doing more and more video and my PC kept hanging up. The old processor wasn’t designed to handle 1080HD video. See my YouTube page (youtube.com/DarcyPattison) for some of my recent videos. I’m planning more for this fall.

Once I decided to get a new computer, it was up in the air: Mac or PC.
PCs were cheaper. But I was definitely in the iPhone halo; I love my iPhone and wondered what Macs would be like. I went to our local Apple store and blatantly told the salesman, “I am a PC person; convince me.”
Wow, that salesman was great.

Basically, what I expected is that Macs would handle video and photos in a cleaner way than PC. That’s the main reason I changed.

Making the Switch

One immediate purchase was Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual, Lion version. It is, indeed, the missing manual and should be required reading when making this switch. It explained the difference in keyboards: I still stumble over Mac’s missing “Delete” key (reverse delete), but I’m dealing with it. It explained where files are kept and the structure of the files. It explained and explained until I started to understand and could function again.

Technology Binge

I downloaded programs and generally went on a technology binge: I bought a Wacom pen tablet ( to do videoscribing and play with digital art, a Bose headset for computer work and travel, and a Samson Meteor microphone to do webinars, tape audio for video and for podcasting.

I am using MicrosoftWord for Mac, Aperture photo organization program, Thunderbird for Email, Firefox for browsing, FinalCutPro for video editing, Audacity and GarageBand for audio editing. I am playing with my new pen tablet and may eventually download Corel’s Picture 12 drawing program. Everything works fine, few hang ups, and those

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As someone who lives in a Cintiq household, I know well how highly this is anticipated. Wacom made the official announcement today for their Cintiq 24HD. The first thing one notices is the sexy new counterweighted stand that allows for adjustable height and angling of the screen. Here are some of the key under-the-hood specs:

* 1920 x 1200 HD display
* 178° viewing angle
* 16:10 aspect ratio
* 550:1 contrast ratio
* 2048 levels of pen pressure and 40° of tilt
* Featuring Wacom’s new Tip Sensor
* DVI-I and DisplayPort connectors
* Weight: 63.8 pounds
* Price: $2,499

And here’s a video of a sophisticated and serious artist (clearly not an animator) using the beast:

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Cartoon Brew: Leading the Animation Conversation | Permalink | 4 comments | Post tags: Cintiq, Cintiq 24HD, Wacom

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[Flash 10 is required to watch video.]

Bamboo Stylus — A premium digital pen for the iPad, Bamboo Stylus delivers a high-end look, natural, weighted feel of a real pen, to give you capabilities for drawing, sketching and note taking on an iPad.

I think this is a good thing. (Though I think Wacom could have shown better artwork and used a nicer font.)

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Shari: Your illustrations are so cute and kid friendly. How long have you been doing this professionally?

Rosemarie: Thank you. I have been a freelance professional illustrator for 4 years. I did my first picture book, "Tyler and the Spider" for a self publishing author. It was exciting to have my first paying illustrating assignment. It taught me how to work one on one with an author. And I finally got to utilize all the techniques I had learned in developing a picture book.

Shari: Do you only illustrate children’s books or do you also sell other kinds of art?

Rosemarie: Yes in my spare time, I paint reproductions of Great Masters which have been hung in Art Galleries in several states.

Shari: You are also an author. How long have you been writing? Which came first?

Rosemarie: As a child I would sit for hours painting and drawing so illustrating came first. About two years ago, I began to write for children. My son is a great source of inspiration in my writing .

Shari: What books have you illustrated? Author/illustrated?

Rosemarie: I illustrated a picture book for Living Waters Publishers called, "Where Is God, Grandfather?". I wrote/illustrated an e-book called, "Sometimes I Am" for Synergebooks. It is an e-book picture book which tells of a day in a child’s life and all the ups and downs a child can experience. And I have also illustrated several picture books for self publishing authors

Shari: What are you working on now?

Rosemarie: Right now, I am working on my second book picture book called, "Anything Is Possible". I am in the middle of creating the dummy book. It is a picture book about how you can do anything if only you try.

Shari: I don’t know much about illustrating. Will you tell us how you work? Do you work on the computer or with watercolors, oils, acrylics?

Rosemarie: Sure, I hand draw my sketches first with pencil and then scan it into Photoshop where I make adjustments and begin the coloring process.

Shari: I am always interested in hearing about an artists workspace. Do you have a studio? Will you tell us about it?

Rosemarie: At this point in time, I am working out of a spare room in my home. I am surrounded by bookshelves filled with all types of books from art to children literature . My walls are lined with the framed covers of picture books I have illustrated. I have a computer and wacom tablet sitting on my drafting table which is in front of a french door with a great view of a mountain range.

Shari: What would readers be surprised to learn about you?

Rosemarie: They would be surprised to learn that I am the mom who hangs with the neighborhood kids after school. My son and I met up with his friends who range from ages five to nine . We ride scooters, bikes, have foot races, and just sit around and talk and tell stories. It is great fun.
Shari: Where can readers learn more about you? Website, etc?

Rosemarie: My web site can be viewed at www.rosemariegillen.com I am also a part of the The Visual Storytellers Studio ( VSS ) group for illustrators which is a virtual online gallery consisting of 30+ of the best illustrators in the nation and I am in a professional private blog for writers titled the Yellow Brick Road.

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This is my first Digital Illustration and I am pretty happy with it.
I did it for a Wacom contest, but I was a little too late for submition... I hope you like it.

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The first time I ever sat down at a computer was in my dad’s office, deep inside a secure area of O’Hare Int’l (try that now, kids). It was a green-screen airline reservations terminal which also had (I think) BASIC on it.

My first thought was this is just like Star Wars.

My second thought was how can I make art with this thing?

My sister and I made pictures by typing out patterns of numbers and printing them on the dot matrix. Sorry about using up all that paper, Dad. We thought it was a continuous stream from the basement.

Skip ahead a few years and see me struggle in Microsoft Paint, using a mouse. That was some horrible art. I think I actually hurt some people’s feelings.

These days, I have wised up considerably. My paper-wasting days are over and I no longer arch my wrist in a foppish Oscar Wilde pose while using a little plastic box to make my digital art.

Now I use a tablet and digital pen. Ahhhh, now that’s like it oughta be. In fact, I’ve been using the same tablet for almost ten years. We’re pals.

If you’ve never used one of these little pieces of heaven before, check out the most popular brand (my brand) at the WACOM site.

They aren’t complicated, I promise. It does take a little getting used to, but once you get into the rhythm of the tablet you’ll probably start using it as your mouse for other stuff, too.

For most of my work, I don’t create the drawing in the computer with the tablet and pen. Some digital artists do this and are just incredibly skilled at it. It ain’t my thang, but I do admire it. Typically I start by scanning a completed drawing and trace that. That’s the short version, my process is a little more involved – for now it’ll do.

However, one thing I love to do with the pen is create brush strokes right in the computer. Depending on your application, you can adjust pressure settings on the tablet pen and brush tool to “paint” in the computer. It’s almost like the real thing. It’s less messy, anyway.

I trained as a traditional artist and creating illustration in the computer wasn’t fun when I first tried it out. I hated it.

Now, every piece if artwork I deliver to my clients is digital. Even if it starts out on paper, the final art is electronic. So, when the apocalypse comes, I’ll have to start over. Thankfully I still have those cave drawing skills to fall back on.

If you’re wondering about these tablet thingies but don’t know what (or if) to buy, give me a shout. I’m happy to help you choose the right thing.

Just send me an e-mail and tell me about what kind of art you’re doing and what you’d like to do. I’ll reply with something hopefully witty and at least a little bit helpful.

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MAD Magazine’s Tom Richmond has written up a lengthy review of Wacom’s portable sketchbook-sized tablet screen, the Cintiq 12WX. The consensus: perfect for those who can’t afford the larger model or want to be able to take their work on the road.

Related:
Tom Richmond’s numerous tutorials
Wacom Cintiq 12WX video review
Wacom Cintiq 12WX LCD Sketchbook

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I did it.

I said I didn't see the use -- I already feel 100% natural on the regular Wacom tablet, but watching the demo videos and realizing I could pivot the Cintiq around like an animation board was something I hadn't thought about. I've got a new picture book in the works with old NYC in perspective and I don't use straight edges so I've got to be able to tilt the tablet to draw accurate lines.

Here's how I'm set up, L-shaped desks (actually cheap Ikea dining tables) and my chair with arms removed and set at maximum height. I have a stool under my desk for my feet. I had thought to put the Cintiq straddling both desks (diagonally) and keep the keyboard on the left for typing software shortcuts in Painter/Photoshop -- but decided to go cold turkey and get used to using the Cintiq tabs for the shortcuts I use most often.

My other two concerns in investing in the Cintiq were messing up the screen with my palm (I'm the type to yell "DON'T TOUCH THE SCREEN" if anyone so much as points in the direction of one of my monitors) and secondly, it seems to me that perching bent-necked over a table again is a step backwards in terms of ergonomics. Time will tell. Stay tuned.

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