So Moi is tablet-friendly, right?

So I figure that many of you will have graphics tablets...

I'm looking to buy one for my business, and am currently looking at a Wacom Intuos4 Large.

Would this also function well with Moi?

Do you have any advice or opinions about tablets that may be useful to me, or other users in my position?

(I was considering buying a Cintiq, but apparently they suffer from accuracy problems at the edge of the tablet)

Thank you!

Hi NightCabbage, yes MoI is tablet-friendly - basically the UI is set up so that you can run things by simple left clicks on stuff.

Some things that work easily with a mouse like right-click, or holding down modifier keys, can be more awkward with tablets.

But what is the reason you want to get a tablet?

Working with a tablet is a pretty different feeling than working with the mouse. If you have spent a long long time working only with the mouse on the computer, then it would not be very surprising to me if you had a hard time with the tablet just because it is different.

If you have spent a long time working with regular type drawing with a pencil and paper though, then it is more likely that a tablet will feel more natural for you.

- Michael

Well, 2 reasons...

2d art - mainly this for now. My wife and I are needing to start doing some drawing and art that will require a tablet.

3d art - and this is more of a fun hobby for me :) Plus I'll use it for my game design later.

I'm not really a good hand drawer... so I'm worried that the disconnection between where I'm drawing and where I'm looking will be a problem... that's why I'm heavily considering getting the Cintiq 12WX - because I can then look at what I'm drawing.

Hi NightCabbage,

Before buying the 12WX do a physical test on the pen response time,in
comparison of the Wacom Intuos4.
The Wacom Intuos4 is OLED ready (Organic LED).

Hi NightCabbage,

I come from the 2D world (originally trained as a technical illustrator back in the pre-computer days). Like yourself 3D is a hobby.

I have used a tablet since the late 80's and hardly ever use a mouse these days. I am much quicker with the tablet than the mouse and it helps to keep my RSI at bay.

As you are already used to a mouse I think you should be able to adapt quite easily to the tablet. I have never really had any problems myself. Do you currently draw with the mouse? If so then the disconnection is the same. But the input is miles better. I loaned my old Intuos 1 to my son who is a programmer. He has now requested that he gets one at work. Once you are used to it, it is just so much easier and faster. I have mine set to relative mode so that it acts like a mouse and use it for everything. The only time I use a mouse is for applications that require me to have a 3 button mouse. Of course MoI is not like that ;-)

As far as tablet size goes, any particular reason for the large version. You don't always need a large size. I had an A3 Intuos at work and it was far too big. I now have an A4 version for home and and A5 at work. The A4 equates to the new Intuos 4 large as far as I can see.

A lot of it depends on your style of drawing. If you make wide sweeping movements then you need a larger tablet. If you draw more with the wrist then a smaller one may work. There are many artists using the smaller A5 or A5 wide with no problems. Takes up a lot less desk space too.

Also bear in mind the size of the 12WX. You will not see much on the small screen. It only has 1280x800 pixel resolution. For 2D drawing in Photoshop or Painter I found I needed at least 1600x1200 or it felt like painting through a letter box ;-)

For that you need to get the 21in version - but that is pretty expensive.

I highly recommend the the Intuos range. Cheaper tablets just don't cut it and also don't have all the features.

I hope this helps you make your decision.

Hi Nightcabbage,

I use a Wacom Bamboo Fun tablet and love it.

It also came with some very cool software with .ai that interfaces that works well with MoI.

I purcgased the larger version tablet.

Michael T.

Hi NightCabbage, also make sure to check out ArtRage (http://www.artrage.com) for 2D painting/drawing type stuff.

- Michael

Michael,

Good suggestion Michael.
ArtRage V2 will be delivered with the BAMBOO FUN.

- Ralf

Ok, so I'm going to post this in here so I don't spam out the forum too much.

I need a 3d modelling program to make models of space ships for an upcoming game of mine (2d pre-rendered graphics).
I'm currently juggling 3 jobs - my normal programming job (full-time), part-time web design (after work and on the weekends), and game design in any other free time I can manage to find.

So far I'm really liking the way Moi does things. It's kind of how I've always wanted to make models. So I'm very tempted to buy it - but only if it's at the level where I can actually use it to create nice loking space ships :)

Now I saw PaQ's little fighter ship, and that looked pretty cool. So providing that I can make things like that, or more complex, without many issues, then it's sounding pretty attractive.

After I make the model, I'll export it as a mesh and render it elsewhere, until Moi has its own renderer :)

So I guess my question is "should I buy Moi and take the time to learn it well - or should I stick to another modelling package?"

In your honest opinions, with experience of the product and 3d modelling in general - can I make really nice space ships with Moi? :)

Thanks guys!

See PaQ Space ships ;)
http://users.skynet.be/fc508872/WIP.html Scroll and click for zoom
And explore his Gallery

You could browse the MoI Gallery and see if there is anything you "Cant Make" with MoI.

Ah, that looks good :)

I was pretty sure that the answer would be a "yes" from everyone...

But I just wanted to make sure that there wasn't something I was missing... some weird problem that you guys might know about that might prevent me from using the models on a game, etc.

But if there aren't any problems... then it sounds great :)

Ok tablet users, help me decide between the Intuos4 Medium and Large models...

I've never used a tablet before, so there'll be a bit of a learning curve...

We will be using it mainly for 2d drawings and shading, etc. but I'll also be using it for Moi :)
General computer use will still be done with the mouse.

Is a Medium too small and restrictive to draw with?

I have a 24" 1920x1200 monitor (Dell 2407WFP with an 8-bit S-IPS panel).

Thanks!

If you want to draw a "monster head " or something very organic like that, then a polymodeler will be much more appropriate.

Nah, the stuff I'm going to be creating is all technology based - space ships, robots, buildings, etc.

And when I do some creatures, they won't need to be super detailed - just the basic shapes, etc.

Moai are your Men!

Hi,

New stuff... might be interesting with moi!

http://www.converttotouch.com/index.html

A+

-TBahn

Looks interesting... I wonder how accurate it would be...

>>Ok tablet users, help me decide between the Intuos4 Medium and Large models...

Hi NightCabbage

As I said before, a lot of it depends on your style of drawing. If you make wide sweeping movements then you need a larger tablet. If you draw more with the wrist then a smaller one may work.

When I was deciding I went to the Wacom site and found out the size of the active area and the size of the tablet. I then cut some paper up to get an idea of the areas involved. Unfortunately they don't seem to show the active area for the Intuos 4 (mine is an Intuos 3).

I use twin 1600x1200 21" monitors (HP LP2065). With my A4 (A4 being the active area) I can drag all the way across both monitors without falling off the tablet when using it in mouse mode.

You are not really going to know until you try one. But I believe both sizes should be suitable for your size of monitor. The final choice may come down to how much space you have on your desk and the cost

Also bear in mind how far away the keyboard will be. Do you like to keep your free hand on the keys ready for shortcuts (I do), if so then you will need to take that into account when choosing the size.

hope this helps

I've used the Intuos 3 A5 a lot for photoshop work a few years back - and loved it. Never thought i needed a bigger one.
If you use it in absolute mode for both drawing and navigating, I think a bigger one will be a disadvantage. Lower left corner for the start menu, then upper left for your menus, ... You have to make pretty large gestures. I think with an A4 you'll get back to your mouse for navigating because of that. And switching all the time is not really ideal.
You can also use the tablet in relative mode, but i didn't like that personally. You have to drag the pen, which is slower. Absolute mode takes a while to get used to, but once you get the hang, you can really get up to speed.

Just my two cents. Best would be to test it of course, but the problem is that you won't like absolute mode at first because it really feels awkward. And you'll drag things instead of double clicking ... BTW, make sure you get one with a double button on the pen, so you can assign one button to double clicking, that's a lot more convenient.