Inkling

[natty dread]

I just saw this and thought it looks pretty interesting.

http://www.wacom.eu/index2.asp?lang=en&pid=9226&gm=4

Anyone got any experience with using one? It seems pretty damn convenient...

Basically it's a system where you draw on paper, and the device records your pen movements so the drawing gets simultaneously digitized, either in vector or bitmap form...


- oh, and that's not all... apparently it also has batteries and internal memory, so you can take it on a picnic, sketch a picture of your GF and later upload the picture on your home computer... with layers and everything.

[cairnswk]

very nice except for the price tag

[natty dread]

very nice except for the price tag

My thoughts exactly!

Here, let me join you...

[MrBenn]

I was expecting to see this:

[firsal901]

This would be perfect, if not for the price

[Victor Sullivan]

I was expecting to see this:

-Sully

[natty dread]

Ok Mrbenn and sullivan, take it to off topics, and stop derailing threads please.

[gimil]

The inkling sound fucking cool. You can also 'at the click of a button' save layers, while you are drawing. So when you import you drawn image you have the basic layer system set up. Look at the price it may be someone that I look to get for Christmas!

[thenobodies80]

Don't do it gimil, at least for now.

It costs too much (without considering that I bet that wacom will sell the extra ink cartridges at a high price), it's a biro, that usually means shitty result when it comes to draw, and finally it doesn't work properly for now (probably due interferences); look the results in this review, they're not the same of what was drawn and she has a great hand --> http://www.digitalartsonline.co.uk/revi ... id=3302201
Yeah, it's a nice idea, but there's still a long long road to go before they can convince me to buy it.
For now i think it's the same of that stupid pen they created for the ipad, expensive and useless, at least to draw.

[natty dread]

Hm.. well that's sort of disappointing, but then again it's new technology so I expect the glitches to be worked out in the next iteration...

I think Wacom also had an ink stylus which you could use on an intuos tablet by placing a paper on the tablet and then drawing on it... for now that would probably be the better solution.

On another note I wonder if they're ever going to combine a tablet with an e-paper display? That'd be seriously like the coolest thing ever.

[The Bison King]

I know right! My boss showed this to me a few weeks back. It's a really cool idea. I'm not sure why everyone's complaining about the price. It's really not that bad. Granted that doesn't mean I'm going to go out and buy one right away. It'll be cheaper in a year, and it'll probably work better too.

[DiM]

inkling is a great tool on one condition... be talented at drawing

a long time ago i really wanted a tablet. i was 100% sure my map quality would skyrocket and like magic i'd produce all kinds of masterpieces. i borrowed one and soon enough disappointment kicked me in the nards. take a look at CCMogul map the little icons were hand drawn on such a tablet. that's how poor my drawing skills are. at the age of 5 my drawing skills stopped developing

the same thing applies to the inkling, in fact this tool depends on your drawing skills even more than a tablet since you'll use it when away from a computer. with a tablet you do some stuff with the photoshop tools and other stuff by freehand.

there are moments when i still feel the need for a tablet. like for example in Knights and Warlocks or Island of Doom the ocean/land relief, the vegetation, the roads, some of the rivers, are all hand drawn and at some point they drove me crazy cause i had to be zoomed in a lot to get precision and the mouse doesn't allow for a natural stroking move.

but generally speaking a map like Classic can be very easily done without ever feeling the need of a tablet/inkling.

so before purchasing something like this one must ask himself 2 questions:
1. will i really need to use it?
2. if i do use it will i prove to be talented enough to get some nice results?

[koontz1973]

1. will i really need to use it?

Never, but I never say no to a present, especially when it is a gadget. Christmas.

2. if i do use it will i prove to be talented enough to get some nice results?

I cannot draw for the life of me. I try, but my people come out like monkeys and a tree looks like a sunflower.

[DiM]

1. will i really need to use it?

Never, but I never say no to a present, especially when it is a gadget. Christmas.

2. if i do use it will i prove to be talented enough to get some nice results?

I cannot draw for the life of me. I try, but my people come out like monkeys and a tree looks like a sunflower.

my 3 year old girl is starting to surpass my talent at freehand drawing.

[koontz1973]

my 3 year old girl is starting to surpass my talent at freehand drawing.

All 3 of mine surpassed me years ago (6,4,2)
Just do not tell them that or I will never hear the end of it.

[Victor Sullivan]

Ok Mrbenn and sullivan, take it to off topics, and stop derailing threads please.

It's all in good fun, natty. I don't think there was any malicious intent on either of our parts to rob you of discussion on the topic.

At any rate, I'll do as you ask

I think it's cool! I like drawing (and I like to think I'm at least okay at it) - could be a nice way for a not-so-tech-savvy old man to get into graphics and stuff a little easier.

-Sully

[TaCktiX]

Yeah, I bought a tablet (Intuos3) on the same expectation, and got rudely disappointed. I HAVE used it for territory lines and a few cases where I wanted a hand-touch on the map, but generally speaking my ability to draw freehand anything organic still sucks. Now if you want me to craft cool-looking spaceships...

[Victor Sullivan]

Yeah, I bought a tablet (Intuos3) on the same expectation, and got rudely disappointed. I HAVE used it for territory lines and a few cases where I wanted a hand-touch on the map, but generally speaking my ability to draw freehand anything organic still sucks. Now if you want me to craft cool-looking spaceships...

Show us, show us!!

-Sully

[natty dread]

Tacktix, DiM, drawing is not something you either are good at or suck at. It's a skill like any other, one you learn with practice. Yeah, you may have some natural ability towards it, but still it's like 90% practice, 10% talent.

Another thing, with a tablet, unless you can afford one of those heavy-duty, professional style Cintiqs (you know, tablets with LCD screen which I'll never be able to afford )* then you have to get used to looking at the monitor while your hand is drawing on the tablet. It's not the same as drawing on paper, it takes a lot of getting used to, and at first it's like you have to learn the whole hand-eye coordination thing all over again so naturally you feel crappy at it.

As for mapmaking... personally, I bought one of the cheaper wacom tablets about a year ago, and it has been hugely useful for me. For example, the baseball players on the baseball map, I could never have drawn those with a mouse. Territory borders, land borders, rivers, etc. everything is much easier to draw than it was with a mouse.

And as for the Inkling... it's usefulness for mapmaking probably wouldn't be that great. I see it more as a sketching tool, something that you can use anywhere, and then get the sketches uploaded to a computer and finish them with other tools. So it would probably be more suited for other, less technical art projects. Although now that I think about it, I guess I could see a few situations where it could be useful for mapmaking...

*) oh and if that is the case, please tell me your address so I can come over and murder you in a jealous rage

[The Bison King]

Here's my #1 question. Can I erase?

[natty dread]

Here's my #1 question. Can I erase?

On the Inkling? No. But then, it's really meant for sketching, and you can't really erase when you sketch on a regular ink pen either.

[natty dread]

Here's an drawing I doodled this morning with my tablet, using only the paintbrush & smudge tools...



(the line work is a bit shoddy, I did this pretty fast...)

[The Bison King]

Here's an drawing I doodled this morning with my tablet, using only the paintbrush & smudge tools...



(the line work is a bit shoddy, I did this pretty fast...)

Weird very weird.... Here's one I did playing around with the wacom the other day in photoshop:

[natty dread]

Nice... which tablet did you get?

Here's another sketch I did today.

[AndyDufresne]

You know, I like the style of this drawing. It kind of reminds me like something that would be used for a 'Castle Defense' map. It'd be interesting to see a map that had visual elements with which you've experimented (with or without the cat. ))


--Andy