Anyone use a Wacom Intuos Paper?

[anniespewak]

Trying to get some feedback from our users!

Does anyone use a Wacom Intuos Paper(or any Wacom) to animate with Moho? If so, could you tell me why you use it, how/if it helps you with Moho/animating, and if you'd be willing to demonstrate it? Please let me know what tablet you're using, too! What features would you recommend using with Moho and a Wacom?

Thank you!

[exile]

I'm sorry nobody answered, because I'm curious about the ability to draw on paper and have it digitalized. If you look at the reviews by Jazza and Alan Becker on YouTube, they suggest this could be a complete solution for digital drawing and painting.

The main reason nobody answered might be that freehand drawing in AS/Moho is not the strength of the program in spite of recent improvements. By the time you've reduced points and adjusted line thickness, you can get as good a result with the old method of creating a shape, adding points and pulling them into place. This can be done with a $5 mouse.

[Gaucho]

Trying to get some feedback from our users!

Does anyone use a Wacom Intuos Paper(or any Wacom) to animate with Moho? If so, could you tell me why you use it, how/if it helps you with Moho/animating, and if you'd be willing to demonstrate it? Please let me know what tablet you're using, too! What features would you recommend using with Moho and a Wacom?

Thank you!

Hello Anniespewak,
I am using Wacom Intuos3 9X12 USB Tablet with the pen in a freehand manner to draw and adjusting shapes when necessary.
I set the mapping area to a small proportional rectangle (less than 1/4 of the tablet) so I don't 'travel' all over the tablet, plus keeping my hand close to the keyboard for shortcuts.
I haven't explore yet all the features of Moho and its potential, however, I am a very happy camper with Moho and the tablet!
Here are some of my sketch drawings and animations.









Cheers!

[exile]

I don't mind being proven wrong with these delightful drawings and animations. I've seen the alligator before, didn't realize it was done with the freehand tool. Thanks for sharing your work.

[anniespewak]

Thank you everyone!

[chucky]

This piece was entirely done freehand in Moho 12 on a Wacom (cintiq).
I didn't use the mouse/ drag and click method for any of the actual drawing.
Of course some of the actions I modified with that method ( how else?)

I found that if you set the freehand up correctly that even these very graphic characters could be made, with very few points.
I think I was lucky though as beziers don't always play nice with smart actions or animation.
The background monster and splash was freehand Frame by Frame.


This is an older FBF freehand Piece in V11.

[Greenlaw]

Personally, I always thought Wacom's combo of digital and analog paper was kind of gimmicky. I mean since you're drawing digitally anyway, you can always print out a hard copy when you're done--no need to draw it on paper at the same time. I understand Intuos Paper can be used as a mobile sketch recording device but if you really need that capability, I think you're better off with a Surface, iPad, or some other tablet computer. Or just carry a sketchbook with you and scan or photograph your drawings when you get home.

As for digital tablets in general (without the paper aspect,) yes, they're very useful, even in Moho.

It's true that Moho's Freehand and Blob tools are flawed, but they're still more usable with a stylus and tablet, and I do occasionally use the tools with a stylus. As a matter of fact, just last week at work, I used Moho's freehand with a stylus to draw a FBF segment to smoothly transition to rigged animation. In more general usage, I find the tools are good with a stylus for quickly blocking out complicated animations in Moho (using FBF,) or drawing non-deforming elements. (For deforming elements, I prefer click and drag method which, IMO, is also easier with a stylus over a mouse.)

But even when I'm not drawing directly in Moho using Freehand/Blob, navigating in Moho with a stylus is more efficient than with a mouse. When working in Moho, sometimes you need to literally move back an forth completely across the screen (for example, when using Copy Layer/Paste Layer,) which is terrible with a mouse. With a stylus, this is just an annoyance.

And using a stylus, whether for drawing or navigating, is definitely easier on your wrist if you want to avoid RSI problems.

A stylus and tablet can be even more useful in other drawing and paint programs that you can use with Moho, and highly recommended. And, FWIW, I'm confident Moho's drawing tools will continue to improve and make better use of digital tablets in the future.

[exile]

I don't think it's the paper copy of the digital drawing that makes these tablets attractive to users, it's the experience of drawing on real paper. Most of us are somewhat better on real paper than a screen. I don't own an Intuos Pro Paper or an iskn Slate 2, so I can only go by what they promise - a one to one digital version of a paper drawing, at least in the case of the iskn with an SVG export option. Combine those advantages with the cost factor and I can understand the interest in the paper line. The question is whether they really deliver in practice.

[Greenlaw]

I don't think it's the paper copy of the digital drawing that makes these tablets attractive to users, it's the experience of drawing on real paper. Most of us are somewhat better on real paper than a screen.

Yeah, I can understand that; I draw a lot on real paper too. I'm still not convinced Intuos Paper would be practical for me, but I guess it depends on the individual's workflow and what the digitally recorded copy is intended for.

For me, if I really need to vectorize an 'analog' paper drawing, I'll scan my drawing and vectorize it in a program like Illustrator--the workflow is pretty straight forward and the quality will probably be comparable Paper's recorded vectors. But when I need clean and properly constructed vectors in a drawing (i.e, for color separation or animation,) I think it's better to draw the art directly in a vector drawing program, and the 'drawing on actual paper' experience isn't going to lend itself to that. (i.e., no ability to zoom in/out, no panning, no undo/redo, etc.)

But that's just my opinion. As mentioned, it depends on how the digital recorded copy will be used. If the intention is to create SVG vector elements for puppet rigging in Moho, I don't think the Paper recorded shapes are going to be optimal for bones deformation, and the imported SVG drawings will probably require a lot of editing or re-drawing in Moho. If that's the case, it's probably better to scan or photograph a bitmap of your paper sketches for reference and construct the vectors properly over the scanned images (using a regular tablet or a mouse.) But if you're not concerned about how the shapes deform with bones and flexi-binding (i.e., you're only using layer and point binding,) the shapes drawn using the Intuos Paper system should work fine.

[synthsin75]

The Intuos Paper is probably a good middle ground between a plain tablet and a display tablet. The paper lets you see what you're drawing under your pen, just like display tablets do, but with a much cheaper tablet.