Wacom Mobile studio was discontinued and Windows 10 support dropping. Alternatives?

[Soom]

Hi all!
I am one of those happy traveling animators, who love to carry their 5kg of Wacom Mobile Studio 16" around and barely fit into airplanes max hand luggage weight limits
However - the MBP16 I bought in 2018 is showing fatigue and Windows 10 is going to drop support soon. There will come a time soon when I will have to search for a new travel setup. To my sadness Wacom have discontinued production of computer-tablets completely. The only other one on the market is Huion Kamvas Studio 16.
My question to you animators - what do you use these days to animate on the go? Are there any other feasible all-in-one drawing computers on the market that work well with TVPaint? Previously I used to have a MacBook Pro and a Cintiq separately, but I don't like to carry too much separate equipment with all the web of separate cables, this is why I switched to Mobile Studio at the time...

Thanks

[cgmodeler]

IT might look like too much but I find this setup doable as long as you have a usb C to usb c with display for your huion tablet
- a fanless pc stick (usb c powered) (like this) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BL3K8KR5?th=1
- a powerbank
- your usb c tablet

[ematecki]

A Lenovo Yoga 2-in-1 ?
Like this one (but browse their site to find the one best suited for you, different screen sizes, different CPUs, different prices !)
https://www.lenovo.com/fr/fr/p/laptops/ ... en101y0047

I have an old one (from like 2018 or 2019) and it worked really well with TVPaint.

[NathanOtano]

I am so happy with this one : https://www.asus.com/fr/laptops/for-cre ... led-w7604/
I see new ones also : https://www.asus.com/fr/laptops/for-home/proart/
There is some setup to have regarding finding the right stylus for you and managing your right clicks because drivers are always weird, but the drawing lines are really precise and the pc is so powerful with a wonderful screen
I have the studiobook 16" OLED and really happy, even if the screen has no real stand behind i can draw on it it's really sturdy. The new ones seem also really handy, the PZ13 is a rebranded rogue version for artists and the original gamer version was also really handy and precise

[ematecki]

The Yoga 2-in-1 can do this :

lenovo.jpg (85.4 KiB) Viewed 36567 times

Years of training :)

Sure in this position you sacrifice the use of the keyboard.

[Soom]

IT might look like too much but I find this setup doable as long as you have a usb C to usb c with display for your huion tablet
- a fanless pc stick (usb c powered) (like this) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BL3K8KR5?th=1
- a powerbank
- your usb c tablet

So is this like a tiny computer? Is it enough for TVPaint? The issue is that I also need ToonBoom applications to work, and possibly Adobe Animate. Would it be strong enough?

[Soom]

The Yoga 2-in-1 can do this :

lenovo.jpg

Years of training

Sure in this position you sacrifice the use of the keyboard.

I am so happy with this one : https://www.asus.com/fr/laptops/for-cre ... led-w7604/
I see new ones also : https://www.asus.com/fr/laptops/for-home/proart/
There is some setup to have regarding finding the right stylus for you and managing your right clicks because drivers are always weird, but the drawing lines are really precise and the pc is so powerful with a wonderful screen
I have the studiobook 16" OLED and really happy, even if the screen has no real stand behind i can draw on it it's really sturdy. The new ones seem also really handy, the PZ13 is a rebranded rogue version for artists and the original gamer version was also really handy and precise

My main issue with other brands of computers like Lenovo, Surface Pro, etc. is that they always lack stylus and shortcuts functionality. The right-click is problematic (I remember trying it on Surface Pro and something wasn't working, can't remember the details), tilt and angle functions usually do not work, on-screen controls often don't exist, etc. And the fact that the keyboard must be folded backwards for drawing means I will have to carry around an extra keyboard. The question is then why not choose Huion Studio then? What is your specific experiences on Lenovo or Asus with TVPaint and other animation software?

[NathanOtano]

Yep right clic is problematic indeed and you can't count on stylus shortcut except from switch from eraser to brush
I use shortcuts on my keyboard instead which is fine to me, that way I have a more free grip on the stylus

Precision depends on the brand and the stylus but i find it quiet precise in the end
I don't use on screen controls since my keyboard is attached, underneath the screen which is a nice position to me.
I don't use the keyboard backward, i just draw on the screen in the regular laptop position : keyboard in front and vertical/tilted screen. Mine I can't fold it backward anyways

I use it both for drawing and regular work (word to compositing). I needed a really powerful computer that i can use in the train/plain, with a keyboard (i never use on screen shortcuts there is not enough). It fits on a train table while i can't put a cintiq and a keyboard on a train table because the cintiq stand takes too much space while the screen is vertical and keyboard in front

I don't see any device doing both correctly anyways. Another option is to use a regular cintiq with a computer that stays in my bag for exemple, and a bluetooth keyboard or any shortcut remonte like a joycon. But still i need to bring computer+cintiq and it's not handy

[Soom]

Yep right clic is problematic indeed and you can't count on stylus shortcut except from switch from eraser to brush
I use shortcuts on my keyboard instead which is fine to me, that way I have a more free grip on the stylus

Precision depends on the brand and the stylus but i find it quiet precise in the end
I don't use on screen controls since my keyboard is attached, underneath the screen which is a nice position to me.
I don't use the keyboard backward, i just draw on the screen in the regular laptop position : keyboard in front and vertical/tilted screen. Mine I can't fold it backward anyways

I use it both for drawing and regular work (word to compositing). I needed a really powerful computer that i can use in the train/plain, with a keyboard (i never use on screen shortcuts there is not enough). It fits on a train table while i can't put a cintiq and a keyboard on a train table because the cintiq stand takes too much space while the screen is vertical and keyboard in front

I don't see any device doing both correctly anyways. Another option is to use a regular cintiq with a computer that stays in my bag for exemple, and a bluetooth keyboard or any shortcut remonte like a joycon. But still i need to bring computer+cintiq and it's not handy

I can't imagine myself drawing with the keyboard stuck right in front of me - my keyboards always stay on the side. I usually don't work on planes, however I do work on the go and it's true that often there is limited space on a table. That's the reason I went for Wacom Mobile Studio Pro and abandoned my older MBP + Cintiq setup.
The device that supposedly does it all is Huion Kamvas Studio 16, but so far I didn't get any feedback about it on this forum, so I am not sure...

[cgmodeler]

IT might look like too much but I find this setup doable as long as you have a usb C to usb c with display for your huion tablet
- a fanless pc stick (usb c powered) (like this) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BL3K8KR5?th=1
- a powerbank
- your usb c tablet

So is this like a tiny computer? Is it enough for TVPaint? The issue is that I also need ToonBoom applications to work, and possibly Adobe Animate. Would it be strong enough?

I'm not sure about toonboom as it is resource hungry, adobe animate is flash basically so it will run. Tvpaint too.

That said, after reading this thread I thought about getting my daughter a pc tablet and got a dell latitude 5290 2 in 1 to try out and once you get a hold of the right pen (they're active wacom pens) it works remarkably well, i7 16gb ram, ssd and under 250USD, FULLHD display, plenty of spare parts available and detachable keyboard. I wouldn't go with a surface since nobody wants to fix them, too cumbersome.

And btw if you get the i7 instead of the i5, you get thunderbolt on the USB C ports, they can power a secondary display, I use some xreal glasses with it and works great!

[Soom]

That said, after reading this thread I thought about getting my daughter a pc tablet and got a dell latitude 5290 2 in 1 to try out and once you get a hold of the right pen (they're active wacom pens) it works remarkably well, i7 16gb ram, ssd and under 250USD, FULLHD display, plenty of spare parts available and detachable keyboard. I wouldn't go with a surface since nobody wants to fix them, too cumbersome.

And btw if you get the i7 instead of the i5, you get thunderbolt on the USB C ports, they can power a secondary display, I use some xreal glasses with it and works great!

Isn't it only 13"? Do they have a 16" version?

[cgmodeler]

That said, after reading this thread I thought about getting my daughter a pc tablet and got a dell latitude 5290 2 in 1 to try out and once you get a hold of the right pen (they're active wacom pens) it works remarkably well, i7 16gb ram, ssd and under 250USD, FULLHD display, plenty of spare parts available and detachable keyboard. I wouldn't go with a surface since nobody wants to fix them, too cumbersome.

And btw if you get the i7 instead of the i5, you get thunderbolt on the USB C ports, they can power a secondary display, I use some xreal glasses with it and works great!

Isn't it only 13"? Do they have a 16" version?

The latest 2 in 1 that supports active pen is the 15'' one "Inspiron 7506 2-in-1" but it doesn't have a detachable keyboard, just flip so I cannot attest to its performance.

This is how tvp looks on the 13''

[Soom]

13 is to small for me - I used to have the Wacom Cintiq companion 13" and switched to Mobile Studio 16" and was much happier.
I still wander how other computers compare to Huion Kamvas tablet pen computer

[cgmodeler]

13 is to small for me - I used to have the Wacom Cintiq companion 13" and switched to Mobile Studio 16" and was much happier.
I still wander how other computers compare to Huion Kamvas tablet pen computer

Yeah I once had a cintiq 13'' and it was a pain to use with zbrush. But maybe since i've been using this one for tvpaint only feels very good as i just use the canvas area. Perhaps you should try the kamvas, i'd be ok with a square display as the ipad pro, the bad part is the ios, impossible to use in production so it feels more like an isolated gadget for a solo artist than something to integrate within the pipeline.

[Soom]

Yeah I once had a cintiq 13'' and it was a pain to use with zbrush. But maybe since i've been using this one for tvpaint only feels very good as i just use the canvas area. Perhaps you should try the kamvas, i'd be ok with a square display as the ipad pro, the bad part is the ios, impossible to use in production so it feels more like an isolated gadget for a solo artist than something to integrate within the pipeline.

I have the iPad Pro - it's Ok for preparation works on the go like sketching out stuff, thumbnailing storyboards, developing ideas, etc., but then I still have to transfer everything to a proper computer and continue working on normal industry software. So iPad for me is a complementary tool, but definitely not the main work tool.