Hello,
because I heard that a tablet is highly recommended for flame I bought an Intuos Pro S and tried several settings. No so amazed with it… probably I have to get used with it over a longer period…
By the way, what are your favorite settings for the Intuos Pro ( I am still on macOS Catalina)?
In many tuts a cross-hair is showed. Is this a Flame preference?
Thank you!
i switch off all the Touch functions and the buttons on the side of the tablet - they’re just annoying how they trigger menus to pop up all the time. Leave my pressure and click speed at default, and never ever use the buttons on the pen. I know others do use those buttons, but i find the act of pressing the button knocks the tip of the stylus off the thing i’m trying to click on!
The cross hair cursor is activated in Flame as standard but if you want the nasty little arrow icon, in Flame /Preferences/Input Devices - select use Mouse Cursors.
The choice is up to you, but i find the cross hair is more accurate when working on fine details.
I used a Wacom for an hour after starting to get wrist pains, 15yrs ago. Was hooked, bought one immediately and have rarely touched a mouse since…always felt like i was drawing with a “Soap on Rope”. One thing i have found - 15yrs of pen/tablet use and i cannot write legibly at all. Those motor skills have been forgotten.
Arrh that explains my bad hand writing!
Mine was crap to start with but now its even unreadable by me!
I like the Wacom a lot.
One decision you have to make is whether it’s in addition to your mouse and you only use it draw shapes, or if it is a replacement for your mouse? A lot of people use the combo and then find that it’s easier to stay on the mouse or keyboard rather than switch, also because you leave your Wacom to the side then where it’s hard to reach, because you need to keep the mouse or trackball near. So it becomes under utilized. If you do use it a s mouse replacement, then the issue becomes how you type and what do with the pen. You get used to typing with the pen between your fingers for short things like filenames, but will put it down for longer typing like emails.
I’ve tried hybrid (tablet & mouse) and never find it satisfying. So on my VFX system, I no longer have a mouse. I use the pen for everything, driving Flame, Nuke, Resolve, and OS/email, etc. Takes a bit getting used to, but you can fly through things very fast once you’re there. Absolute positioning for the win. On my editing system I have a Kensington trackball. I spend about 50/50 of my time on these systems. That prevents the repetitive motion that kills your arms.
The buttons on the tablet are useful for modifiers if you keep the tablet centered in front of you for extended painting sessions. But short of that, if it’s to the side because you keep your keyboard in the center spot, those buttons are not as ergonomic for modifiers. You can still put a few shortcuts on it. For example Undo is helpful, so you don’t need two fingers on the keyboard, you can just reach with one finger while holding the pen. Think about a few frequent two finger shortcuts and program them. There’s also a way to zoom in for precision if you need that with a small tablet.
Buttons on the pen divide people a lot. I keep the right click on the bottom and the middle click on the top, but other people switch them around. Depends a bit on the software you use, and whether you need middle click/drag. Experiment. One thing that gets tricky is double click - you can double tap but the pen has to stay in position (see below on precision). Some people put double click on one of the buttons, but then you lose access to middle click.
You should also look at the mapping if you have two monitors, as many do. You can map it just to the left monitor if you just use it for shape drawing, but probably want it mapped full if you use instead of mouse. If you have large high-res 27" monitors and two of them, the Pro S will be challenge, because the resolution of the tablet vs. the 5000px across both screens makes it impossible to be precise. For a long time I had the Pro M, but a year ago upgraded to the Pro L and like that a lot. Of course it takes up a lot of desk real estate, but if that serves as your mouse it’s ok.
You can also experiment with the touch function. I’ve found it to be good, and used it for quite some time. Especially on a Mac it will work the same way as an Apple touch pad with all the gestures, which is cool. That can help with some things when you don’t need the pen, but don’t want to use a mouse.
Tablet all the way. I don’t have a mouse either. When I first started using the tablet it was very awkward. One thing I did was use it for everything. Web browsing, Photoshop, NLE of choice and after about a week it starts to feel normal.
I disable all buttons on the side. I do use the pen buttons. I’ll post a picture of my settings.
@allklier, it’s funny you mention typing with the pen. I completely forgot how weird that was at first. I used to drop the pen while I typed but after practice I hold it between my thumb and index finger when I type. As I’m doing now typing this message.
I’m lefty on the tablet and righty on the mouse, so I keep both in hand and look like Kamaji in the boiler room.
I also turn off the buttons on the pad, but leave the buttons active on the pen. The wheel on the mouse is damn useful and doubles as a center click for 3D…
When I retire, I’m taking up the hurdygurdy.
Tablet centre, keyboard directly behind it.
Typing short…pen between fingers, any longer often between teeth!
I map the buttons and wheel to Spotify and Soundcloud controls, so can skip tracks, adjust volume etc from the tablet.
I think the bad handwriting is due to the lack of friction on the tablet/stylus. My handwriting is decent on paper, on the tablet 5 years old…
I’ve always used a tablet, with the keyboard off to the left. I’ve never understood people using a keyboard above the tablet, it’s so bad for your shoulders.
suppose it depends on how tall you are! I’m tall and have long enough arms that its no problems for my shoulders. I don’t enjoy the weird sensation of drawing off to the right whilst reaching left for the keyboard.
Each to their own.
Started using Wacom with DP Max in the ‘90s and never looked back. Keyboard top center. Buttons off. One monitor. Type with pen in hand. No mouse. Be aware to replace nibs. I didn’t and created a groove in the table.
My tablet is directly in front of the monitor, not off to the side, but I’ve seen many Nuke guys who do that, feels weird to me.
