Does anyone reccomend using a Tablet?

Live the Dream · Post by **Live the Dream** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 6:28 am

I'm finding it difficult to draw in Anime Studio- and think using some kind of Tablet might help me quite a bit...

Does anyone else use a Tablet?

Are they easy to use?

Can you use them in Anime Studio?

slowtiger · Post by **slowtiger** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 7:34 am

Definitely.

jahnocli · Post by **jahnocli** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 8:06 am

You've got to have one.

funksmaname · Post by **funksmaname** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 8:54 am

I have a tablet (Cintiq no less), but i find it easier to use the mouse in AS!

mkelley · Post by **mkelley** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 9:09 am

I'm with him -- I have a tablet but I much prefer "drawing" in AS by taking a basic shape and adding vertices to it.

Freehand drawing is the pits for a number of reasons, not the least is the vast amount of vertices you'll end up with (no matter what your settings it won't be as efficient as moving a point and adjusting the curve on your own). If you lived near me I'd give you my tablet to try, because the odds are that within a week you'd give it up.

Live the Dream · Post by **Live the Dream** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 9:14 am

Wow- a varied reaction...

mkelley thanks for the offer but I live in Plymouth- UK!

I'm intrigued as- I'm finding it difficult transferring my drawings into AS- I feel that its really time consuming and hard to get them to look in my sketch pad...

I've been drawing them on paper- scanning them and then drawing over them in AS- kind of like tracing- but still its taking quite awhile.

What Kind of Tablet would people recommend? I've seen some relatively cheap ones on ebay for £25

Post by **Víctor Paredes** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 9:22 am

My life changed when i bought a tablet. I really recommend you to use one, even when you won't be drawing with freehand, it's all faster and better with tablet (anyway, don't put your mouse in the trash, just let it close to the tablet, so you can switch between each one).
now I have a ibm tablet pc, and it's even better

.

Live the Dream · Post by **Live the Dream** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 9:44 am

Cool!

Loosk like I may have to add a Tablet to my Christmas List!

dueyftw · Post by **dueyftw** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 12:00 pm

I have a very large Tablet and find it faster to draw with the mouse one point at a time. Learn the keyboard shorts cuts. For me they save more time than anything else.

Dale

synthsin75 · Post by **synthsin75** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 1:57 pm

I'd have to side with the mouse people as well. Personally I use my tablet almost solely for raster work. While I'm tracing my stuff into AS, I prefer the control of adding points one at a time.

funksmaname · Post by **funksmaname** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 2:14 pm

yeah the tablet is essential for raster work, but in AS, once you get hang of the tools, i think its much more efficient to use the mouse. using a pen to add/move points can be fun, but its a little 'slippery' in feel... i find the mouse much more precise for AS.

PARKER · Post by **PARKER** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 4:19 pm

Definetely!!
I cant work in anime studio without my tablet.
BUY IT!!

chucky · Post by **chucky** » Fri Nov 21, 2008 7:55 pm

I use a tablet and a tablet pc, never owned a computer without one, otherwise I couldn't draw, it's great for drawing.
HOWEVER , anime works terribly with it and I always go back to mouse solely for ASPRO ,(unless I use the pen tool- which could work a lot better) I should really customise for ASPRO with both the wacom and tablet pc the default set-up is way to twitchy and frankly a pain.
I totally agree with synthsin and funk

mkelley · Post by **mkelley** » Sat Nov 22, 2008 4:49 am

Just to try and clarify the divergent opinions you're getting here, I truly believe the difference is whether, right now, you use the freehand tool or not.

A tablet (and I have a *very* nice one) is great for bitmap art where vector points aren't an issue. With vector, and more particularly, with AS, the fewer points you have to make your shape the better. The better it will deform, the better it will animate.

No matter how you set the freehand tool it's almost impossible to get it to draw efficiently -- your best bet is to use it to draw and then use a script to reduce points but even then you'll never get the precision you can achieve by adding points.

However, even those here who use the freehand tool (and like it) should at least TRY using the "skulpt" method of drawing. I first read about this in an AS tutorial (still online at SM) and it immediately made perfect sense to me and I've never looked back. Whether you are tracing or creating original art, this method is so organic and natural that it may open your eyes to a completely different way of drawing.

You can, of course, use a tablet as essentially a mouse pointer, but that kind of defeats the whole point of one. I used to do this (which is why I bought the nice tablet) with Illustrator, but one day I was traveling and didn't want to bring the huge tablet with me and lo and behold found out the mouse was FAR more efficient (like with the pen tools). However, I do think a tablet PC or the Wacom Cintiq *might* be an exception to this rule. I've never used one, but it seems like pointing directly to the screen should be easier. Before I spent the $$$ I'd sure want to try it out, though (and by try I mean at least a week).

Which brings me to one last thought -- if you're not sure and can't borrow a tablet to try, just buy something dirt cheap and then you'll know. Even the $79 Wacom Bamboo is a very nice tablet nowadays, and if after using it for a few months you think that's the way to go you can always get a larger tablet with more features and give this one to a friend or relative.

slowtiger · Post by **slowtiger** » Sat Nov 22, 2008 5:54 am

I use the tablet in AS very often. But I have a Cintiq 21" ... which makes a huge difference.

When I still had a Wacom A5 tablet I used it only for bitmap work, and not for drawing but colouring and stuff. I never used it for vector stuff like Freehand because I couldn't grab points as precisely as with the mose because of the "slippery" tablet surface.

Now the Cintiq's surface isn't any different, but the bigger size makes a big difference! Plus over the years the resolution of tablets has been increased dramatically.

My drawing style in AS is quite loosely, with the freehand tool first, then erasing a part of the points by hand. This is fast work with a tablet. And I don't have to be perfect: there's no rule about the ideal number of points on a shape. As long as it's enough it doesn't hurt to have some more.