wacom Cintiq 21UX Do many professionals actually use them or are they a big gimick

[ab4185]

i gues the title of this thread says it all im looking at getting a Cintiq 21UXconsidering ive been able to save up a bit of money.

do any profesionals out there actually use them or is it (as i said) un necesary and pointless?

cheers

[Dile_]

I know tooooooons of artist who have one :)

here on CA i know for example that m@ use one :)

edit* the cintiq is a great tool.. I've only tried it, but hopefully getting one very soon.. Anyways, if your on a slow computer ( I wasn't ) people say they notice
a slight lagg between cursor and pen... They also use to complain about having their hands in the way ( which is silly to complain over IMHO. ) but I didn't noticed that trouble either. The only trouble i had while testing, is that the thing was very hot ( I wasn't the first one who tested, so it might have been on for a while : ) ) anyways... The cintiq won't make u a better artist, so its pointless to think its a master tool, and that you will improve by getting it only.. So if you have that picture, yeah then it might be pointless for ya.. but otherwise , to me, it seems really great... Just remember that its a tablet inside an monitor, and no magic tool : )


( Theres a few threads on Sijun that you might wanna check out.. they discuss the Cintiq pretty often.. hehe )


edit2** heres the thread..

http://forums.sijun.com/viewtopic.php?t=41584

M@ just posted in it hehe.

[JL.Alfaro]

Well I wouldnt consider myself a "professional" but if you get paid for what you do are you a professional? hmm

I got one man, its the best purchase I have made so far. Theres nothing compared to drawing right on screen. Theres a few "productivity" testimonials on wacom.com but theyre just trying to sell it. Its a bad ass tool. Its a bad ass toy. It does improve on your speed in digi media. It does not improve your art. Once you get the hang of it and the shortcuts it provides, you will be flying through a painting. specially the detailing.

Its fun, it gets hot but not that it bothers me, there is no lag in cursor if you have a good computer (I dont have any lag), the resolution is awesome, customizable, you can flip it and turn it as you please (fully tilt able), it feels more natural than a regular tablet, specially with your brushes.

I say if you got the $$ get it, if its something you can do without or you cant afford it then dont get it. I had to choose from getting a plasma for the livingroom or a cintiq, I rarely watch tv now.

-JL

[Aly Fell]

I use one at work, and love it! Can't recommend Cintiqs highly enough. Dile's right though, it won't make you a better artist, but I do find it speeds up your workflow. Less drawing and redrawing of linework. I tend to work late on my own stuff at work, just so I can use it... although I shall soon have one at home! Woohoo! Shop around if you're going to get one. We Brits are kind of worse off with buying over here, as for some reason the price is astronomical compared to the US, almost twice as much! If Wacom could explain this price differential I'd love to know why...

[ab4185]

thanks heaps guys i in no way assume it will improve my art simply by owning it and using it. i was looking at it for the main fact that it would allow me to do more work with less hassel then i have doing it with my intuous 3

[Gilles]

A couple of months back I had the chance to work on a Cintiq, I wasn't convinced. Although it's a great device, my personal oppinion is that I prefer intuos 3. Let me explain...
I'm left handed and since I can remember my hand was blocking my view. Eventhough I eventually evolved my technique in a way I would build up my drawings from right to left it still bothers me... well, you can see the reason. why I didn't like the Cintiq that much. Also, the screen is a couple of milimeters thick which will make it look like, eventhough you are pressing down, you still don't touch the "image".
Then again, I might not have had enough time to really get the hang of it and those new Cintiqs do look very sweet. I know that Jim Lee, Moebius and the guys at Naughty Dog use them.

[moopuff]

A couple of months back I had the chance to work on a Cintiq, I wasn't convinced. Although it's a great device, my personal oppinion is that I prefer intuos 3. Let me explain...
I'm left handed and since I can remember my hand was blocking my view. Eventhough I eventually evolved my technique in a way I would build up my drawings from right to left it still bothers me... well, you can see the reason. why I didn't like the Cintiq that much. Also, the screen is a couple of milimeters thick which will make it look like, eventhough you are pressing down, you still don't touch the "image".
Then again, I might not have had enough time to really get the hang of it and those new Cintiqs do look very sweet. I know that Jim Lee, Moebius and the guys at Naughty Dog use them.

How do you sketch in a sketchbook? Do you complain about your hand blocking things then?

And I really think that the distance between you and the image are greater while using an intuos3 than a cintiq.

[Dile_]

Hey moopuff, he was just saying what he thought about it. Many people suggest that they think their hands are in the way... It might just be something naturall ? You are used to see the whole screen and suddenly your hands are all over it ? .. Not sure.

Anyways.. Calm down :) Gilles was contributing to the thread :)

[Gilles]

How do you sketch in a sketchbook? Do you complain about your hand blocking things then?

And I really think that the distance between you and the image are greater while using an intuos3 than a cintiq.

Thanks Dile, it's was just a friendly advice.
As for what Moopuff said... Sure, I don't complain that my hand is blocking my drawing while working in my sketchbook. But on a screen there are more things going on, the part I love about tablets is that you have clear view of your monitor. Anyway, it might not be the strongest argument against the Cintiq (if it ever needs one).
You clearly didn't get what I was saying about the distance of the pen to the image. Because you are working on a screen, close to the image, you expect it to be the same as real-life painting. The thickness of the screen just keeps you from that "real" experience, IMO. You might wanna see for yourself what I mean when you get hold of a Cintiq.
Of course, if I had the money I would consider getting one and see if it grows on me.

Cheers.

[pencilkiller]

I've been working on mine over 9 months, and I love it. I think it really worth for me, especially it helps to make my job done faster. For example, I used to spend at least 2 hours to screen toning one page. Now I can save half of the time, depends on how complex the page is, I can finish toning one page around 30-45mins.

And for drawing, it does feels like drawing on paper. I can draw more detail and accurate with it. I can zoom in and make thinner stroke than with the monitor and tablet combo. It also help my eyes relax more than working on a 90 degree montior. Once you get used to the Cintiq, you don't want go back to the tablet. The only comments about the cintiq, I would say is the heat. It's really nice and warm in the winter, but if it is hot in the summer, like over 90 degree, then it will be burning hot!! I will compare the heat it with a light box, it's about the same level.

Before I bought my cintiq, I did a lot of research online. And some people say they experience lagging on the brush stroke. I personally didn't have this problem, but I do have a fast computer. I don't feel the different of brush stroke speed between my Intous2 and Cintiq.

I heard a lot people saying the thick screen layer make it feels like not drawing on the image. The trick is looking at the cursor but not the pen tip.

Hope it helps. :teeth:

[duddlebug]

I've been working on a Cintiq for a couple of years now and i LOVE it!

I used one at my old concept job at Eurocom (alongside Poshspice and Matt Dixon) and then when i went freelance i realised that i couldn't live without it, so i bought one for my home studio.

As some folk have already said, it won't make you a better artist, but it can open up new working practices and there's no doubt it has speeded up my process. I used to sketch on paper, scan, tidy the scan up (yawn!!) and then apply colour in PS and Painter. Now i do everything on the Cintiq. And that saves time. It also lets me play around with my drawings to a much greater extent than when i used to draw on multiple sheets of layout paper, which i think has helped my style develop further.

I work full-time as an illustrator/concept artist so over (almost) two years working for myself it's paid me back the £2000 i spent, and then some. And i get to spend some evenings relaxing with my wife, a glass of wine and a good movie, whereas without the Cintiq i'd be sweating over my tablet trying to hit a deadline until 2am and sleeping in the spare room....

If you live in the USA, it's so much cheaper to buy than for us brits, so if you've got the spare cash burning a hole in your pocket and you think you'd use it enough to justify the expense, go out and get one!!

[Necrisque]

They're so expensive.. to buy one here, add 25% on top of the American price. Ouch! :( I'm glad I saw this thread, though, I'll consider buying one in a few years when I'm done with education then. :D

[Joeslucher]

I just got one about a month ago and love it but I'll tell you some of the drawbacks. I wasn't able to get a dual monitor setup to work very well. I have a new graphics card so that shouldn't have been a problem but every couple of days the settings for which screen was where or which had the start menu bar would change. Caused a lot of wasted time while I tried to use a dual monitor set up. Another drawback is the pressure sensitivity doesn't seem to be as good as it is on the Intuos3. I believe somebody on here may have already pointed out that you have to calibrate so that the cursor appear under the pen tip from your point of view. It seems that no matter what I do, it's pretty off towards the edges of the monitor which some might complain about. But the monitor is so big, it hasn't been a problem at all to me. Despite the nitpicks it's an amazing piece of equipment. I recommend it.

[ab4185]

thanks guys seems preety obviouse that ill be investing in one after all this great input.

it seems that after chatting on other forums the only difference in opinion is that those who dont have one or havent even used one have been insisting its a waste of money lol which i find hilariouse because how can you justify a statement like that having never used one.

on the other hand all those who do have one have given preety much glowing testimony.

thanks heaps to you all