I am thinking to buy a tablet pc to use for animation, is there anybody who can advice on the subject, I am currently using Mirage, but the point is are the tablets good for drawing,any particular ones, what about Toshiba Tecra M4- Laptop/Tablet ? I am using Wacom at home, but lately I started to work and I was thinking I could use one when I travel from and to work.
Any suggestions?
About tablet PC need advice...
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shokunin76
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I am very new to TVpaint and I only do very basic tests with it however with this limited amount of experience I can say that TV paint on Tablet PC is ideal. Why would anyone use a regular computer anymore?
I personally use a 3 years old HP 4200 with 1gb ram and a 3 years old Toshiba M200 which I got for less than £500 and they are perfect for TV paint. Regarding Photoshop and painter you would need to try them as they are really CPU intensive and some people would prefer more recent processors.
Olive
I personally use a 3 years old HP 4200 with 1gb ram and a 3 years old Toshiba M200 which I got for less than £500 and they are perfect for TV paint. Regarding Photoshop and painter you would need to try them as they are really CPU intensive and some people would prefer more recent processors.
Olive
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ramblindawg
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A couple months ago I bought a refurbished HP tc4200 with a 2gb processor and 2Gb of ram for a little over $1000. It's a convertable tablet, which means there's a keyboard available if you flip the screen over. I've been using TVPaint Pro on it full-time every day since I bought it, and it works great!
The only problem I've ever had is that it TVPaint sometimes crashes ONLY when I'm creating a new custom panel...the list that comes up starts flickering and the program won't respond. It's probably something wrong with the video driver (as if I know what I'm talking about). Thats not a big deal because now I just make it a point to build my custom panels on my Mac and then import them into my Tablet.
The tc4200 is a bit heavier than the motion computing tablets, but it's also about half the price. I also started using a nice Cross Pen Penabled tablet stylus instead of the small stylus provided. It's really nice to be able to come home and work on the couch while my wife is watching TV...sure beats staying late at work! Anyway, my friend who recommended the tc4200 to me has been using his for about two years and he also recommends it very highly. Good luck and have fun shopping! --Sherm
The only problem I've ever had is that it TVPaint sometimes crashes ONLY when I'm creating a new custom panel...the list that comes up starts flickering and the program won't respond. It's probably something wrong with the video driver (as if I know what I'm talking about). Thats not a big deal because now I just make it a point to build my custom panels on my Mac and then import them into my Tablet.
The tc4200 is a bit heavier than the motion computing tablets, but it's also about half the price. I also started using a nice Cross Pen Penabled tablet stylus instead of the small stylus provided. It's really nice to be able to come home and work on the couch while my wife is watching TV...sure beats staying late at work! Anyway, my friend who recommended the tc4200 to me has been using his for about two years and he also recommends it very highly. Good luck and have fun shopping! --Sherm
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AxelMertes
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Dell will announce a new line of notebooks sometime soon that will have displays that work as panels, too.
Depending on the schedule I'd recommend to wait until then and see what this new lineup has to offer.
My point was always that current convertibles have rather low resolution and poor displays. I compare to a Wacom Cintiq 1600x1200 now, and I find that already "small"
Cheers,
Axel
Depending on the schedule I'd recommend to wait until then and see what this new lineup has to offer.
My point was always that current convertibles have rather low resolution and poor displays. I compare to a Wacom Cintiq 1600x1200 now, and I find that already "small"
Cheers,
Axel
Regards,
Axel Mertes
Axel Mertes
I have a Acer travelmate c213 and love it to bits. I now do ALL my roughs on it using TVP. It just feels really weird to go back my Wacom nowadays.
I do have a couple of warnings though. 1st up is that Taplet PC screens lag behind your standard LCD in terms of viewing angle, brightness and colour fidelity. This has a lot to do with the market they are aimed at which is the business one. Apparently it didn't occur to Microsoft and the hardware manufacturers that any one might actually want to draw on them.
Second up there is an issue with drawing thin lines. In most apps this means you get wobbly lines. The only App I found that doesn't do this is alias sketchbook pro - which is not being developed any more.
TVP has this problem too but the developers are aware of it and are going to do something about it. To be honest though it isn't a big problem in TVP and can often be avoided by changing the zoom levels and using a thicker brush.
TVP is pretty Ideal for a TPC as it is so customizable.
Cartoon Monkey has posted his TPC toolbar in the contents sharing part of the forum. Well worth checking out if you do have a tablet.
That being said, if money wasn't an issue I'd go for a Wacom cintiq.
I do have a couple of warnings though. 1st up is that Taplet PC screens lag behind your standard LCD in terms of viewing angle, brightness and colour fidelity. This has a lot to do with the market they are aimed at which is the business one. Apparently it didn't occur to Microsoft and the hardware manufacturers that any one might actually want to draw on them.
Second up there is an issue with drawing thin lines. In most apps this means you get wobbly lines. The only App I found that doesn't do this is alias sketchbook pro - which is not being developed any more.
TVP has this problem too but the developers are aware of it and are going to do something about it. To be honest though it isn't a big problem in TVP and can often be avoided by changing the zoom levels and using a thicker brush.
TVP is pretty Ideal for a TPC as it is so customizable.
Cartoon Monkey has posted his TPC toolbar in the contents sharing part of the forum. Well worth checking out if you do have a tablet.
That being said, if money wasn't an issue I'd go for a Wacom cintiq.
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ramblindawg
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Just so you don't get scared away from all tablets...the HP tc4200 and 4400 have a 170 degree viewing angle, which is pretty much the same as the Cintiq. I've also never experienced any wobbly lines on the HP 4200. It may vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. As far as the tc4200 is concerned, you just need to make sure that you turn on the "tablet - subpixel" option in the TVPaint preferences panel to make your lines nice and smooth. This option only shows up on my tablet...it does not even appear on my Mac desktop version.
Also keep in mind that not all tablets are pressure-sensitive...you need to make sure they are "Wacom Penabled." The best way to ensure this is to find someone who can confirm that they are already successfully using TVPaint on their machine.
I have owned a Cintiq for two years, but since I got the tablet, I use the tablet about 90% of the time. I mean, the Cintiq is great, but it weighs 35 pounds and is not portable in any practical way. Sure, the tablet's screen is way smaller, but with the right custom panels, you can make the most of your screen space and make all the custom panel appear and disappear at your whim. I took Chad Essley's TabletPC toolbar and customized it for my own needs, and now I'm happy as a clam.
Also keep in mind that not all tablets are pressure-sensitive...you need to make sure they are "Wacom Penabled." The best way to ensure this is to find someone who can confirm that they are already successfully using TVPaint on their machine.
I have owned a Cintiq for two years, but since I got the tablet, I use the tablet about 90% of the time. I mean, the Cintiq is great, but it weighs 35 pounds and is not portable in any practical way. Sure, the tablet's screen is way smaller, but with the right custom panels, you can make the most of your screen space and make all the custom panel appear and disappear at your whim. I took Chad Essley's TabletPC toolbar and customized it for my own needs, and now I'm happy as a clam.