Wacom and Blender

Hi All,

I was thinking about getting a tablet for working in Blender… Any thoughts worth spending a couple hundred US for it?

I am on the hunt for a mouse and thought to maybe ‘bag’ a Intuos 4 with a mouse in one shot. Any suggestions? 4 over 5

My rig is in my signature line.

Money is scarce for this starving artist BTW.
Regards
NC

A wacom is a must in my opinion. Some versions come with a mouse as well (uses same tech as the pen).

If you are low on funds, I would recommend looking for a used Wacom Intuos 3. 4 is not bad either but once you start looking for models past that point, its important to keep in mind that the low end tablets have been renamed to intuos and the old professional tablets were renamed to intuos pro. So all the older intuos models 4 and below, are the current professional versions.

At the end of the day though, any model will be a good improvement, even those under $100 intuos touch tablets. For a stand alone mouse, the Logitech Proteus core g502 is a great mouse for precision, it runs for around $75 on amazon. If high dpi isnt the biggest requirement, then a $30 Logitech M570 Wireless trackball mouse is great for general 3d work (see: http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-910-001799-M570-Wireless-Trackball/dp/B0043T7FXE/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1415573468&sr=8-10&keywords=logitech+mouse)

I’ve used a Wacom tablet pretty much forever in my work as a photographer and now graphic artist. I love them and am now using it with Blender but don’t find a big advantage over a mouse. It’s certainly more comfortable to use but there is a long learning curve to using it naturally. If money is tight grab a smaller Graphire tablet to start and see how you like it. Don’t get a tablet just for Blender, get one for all your other graphics work.

Thanks for details on that appreciate it. I bought a Bamboo years back (when I first started to mess with Toonboom) Scrapped the both of them, well at least got to return the tablet.
My stuff is After Effects, P.S touch ups and creating, Some AI (again the pen tool is used there) Bezier handles seem to work fine with a mouse. Blender of course. I spend every day almost in blender. But that is all primitives and curves, thus far. Maybe with a tablet sculpting would be a welcomed output…?

Thinking along the lines of Print and so forth. Webwork, video, are all 72dpi print is 350dpi…average. I can buy a dell mouse (the one that is going on the fritz over for about 2.00 US shipped. They have 1000dpi. Would that not be more then enough?
Or am I missing something?

Thanks for the help and suggestions, I’ve had my eye on the Intuos for a while but wonder if it will just collect dust over here…

Hi! I had the occasion of using an intuous pro for some months, unfortunately my user experience with blender on windows was terrible, it could be due to the gestures that windows uses, but for me it was IMPOSSIBLE to even navigate in the viewport, but the sculpting and texture painting capabilities are awesome, but if i wanted to rotate or move the view a little bit i had to use the mouse, and it’s pretty frustrating.
if this is not a problem for you then it’s a matter of your needs, the only main difference between the two is that the 5 has multi touch gestures, so if you can resolve this problem you can go with the 5 to have a better experience, otherwise the 4 is practically the same.

So far the best fitting in hand and the more reliable mouse i’ve ever had is (it’s been here more than 5yrs now i guess and i doubt they still supply them) …
ta-daa… MS Intelimouse. It was dirt cheap back then - beige one here.
It is surprising how well wheel coder still works, no wire breakages or clicks missing due to broken micro switches. No worn-out pads.

Imho any which says 1000dpi is fine since these dpi are ones on the mouse pad and what you deal with are zoomed in on the screen. For over-the-screen movement this is smooth enough on 1920x1080 where it says it is 101x101 dpi.
Can’t say about 4k new generation screens, maybe it’s too low grade then.

If you have Bamboo and it’s gathering dust now… Clean it up and see if it works. If it does - get that pro stuff. I have Bamboo (old Fun’nTouch) and it’s mostly used for some drawing now and then. Can’t get used to modeling with it.

i just bought another Dell mouse 2.25 US shipped! Two bucks…LOL new in the wrapper. IT is a 1000DPi.

No the Bamboo went back, it is ToonBoom or boon I got shafted on. So you too do not use a pad. The thing I could see it being used for would be sculpting (maybe) or ??? (I could see drawing, but what draws that does not have a bezier?) Or erasing in p.s on tight edges… I dunno know…

It’s a shame they did this type of marketing; i got mine before this happened.

Any pad / pen&pressure sensitivity is just about tons above the mouse in any drawing or sculpting activity.
So i do use it when i feel urge to draw something :smiley: or do some sculpt in Blender and while that’s another story pen is 100 times better than mouse.
I could imagine it’s better on tracing/adjusting bezier curves too; haven’t tried that for some reason (scratches head).

ahh how soon I forgot about tracing to make details of faces and things like that… I will keep my eye open. Eppo, since you use one. Is a small surface usable? Or do I need a Md to large? I ask because I would think a small (cheaper) would work if I were to Zoom in as I do anyways…thoughts? Do you use the whole surface when sculpting or tracing? I would not think it matters to have edges not being worked on ‘off screen.’

Tablet is great for sculpting and texture painting. For most of the other stuff, I still prefer the mouse. (Other people may like it different, but I’m too used to the puck for drag/grab operations - particularly with extended move enabled.)

When you eventually do get a tablet, don’t forget to install the drivers (the OS generic ones aren’t quite up to par). Then you set Blender as one of the programs with custom properties under the tablet settings and map the stylus rocker to middle mouse button and the F key. That way you can navigate and adjust the size/strength when texure painting by only having to use the Shift/CTRL/ALT keys with your free hand. It’s almost like Sculptris or Z-brush when setup that way. Also don’t forget to enable the tablet area proportions. (If not turned on, can cause problems if monitor aspect ratio is different or if you use dual monitors.)

All in all, I’d say a tablet is definitely worth it. Some years ago I got an Intuos 2 USB 9x12 for $100 used. Wacoms still seem to hold their value on eBay, but if you look you can still get some good deals.

Don’t get a tablet just for Blender, get one for all your other graphics work.

Very true. If using PhotoShop, GIMP, Corel Painter, Krita, Paint Tool SAI… A tablet is a must. Just also happens to be handy in Blender for a few things.

Paul thanks for the ideas on map and so forth… Is a small surface usable? Or do I need a Md to large? I ask because I would think a small (cheaper) would work if I were to Zoom in as I do anyways…thoughts? Do you use the whole surface when sculpting or tracing? I would not think it matters to have edges not being worked on 'off screen.

Tablet’s surface is adjusted to the screen size if i recall; you work on one part or whole image and this is likely zoomed in/out. If tablet’s surface is big you win in precision but it depends if you like to work “wide”, like moving hand freely while say painting on A3 size. I feel no stress on that Bamboo and it has reach for all the tools plus drawing strokes i put. I can only imagine that using big surface could be quite a gymnastics for a hand. Add some more wear for the pen tip…
After all this - i feel good on that Bamboo ;). However real digital image under that pen… that would be something, likely.

Personally, I prefer the small size to med/large, because on the small I can cover the entire screen just by pivoting my wrist. On the bigger ones I have to pick up my hand all the time which drives me crazy. If you are more used to drawing on paper and moving from your elbow/shoulder, you might prefer the freedom of movement the bigger ones give.

If you sculpt and paint, then the tablet and pen is a must. I use Blender mainly for painting in the 2d UV Image Editor, as well as texture painting in the 3d view. Antony’s paint rework has made it easier for people to get a handle on texture painting in Blender faster, and I miss it when I don’t have access to my tablet.

thats true - a pen is a must to tablet for blender

Thanks for the input on this. appreciated. I am the type who draws with his wrist and hops up a bit and continues with his wrist. Not a mural drawer needing shoulder or elbow. I will have to revisit the Bamboo or a dealeo on a med intuos… I am starting to get to the paint part of blender and want to learn of the sculpting. Only so much one can get out of primitives. Plus I am a sculptor of clay so that is almost a natural path for me.
Thanks again for the input

Be sure to visit the Dyntopo thread then :wink:

Here somewhere I suppose??

I have a Bamboo Create and like it a lot, it has a fairly large surface area (6.5 X 5 inches I think). I do still switch between the tablet and the mouse depending on what I’m doing, but having a tablet for painting and sculpting is a must.

Thanks Craig, I have to get me a pen if it makes it that fast to work with…