how do tablets work with c4d

[Per-Anders]

You have to enable the tablet option under the preferences. They work fine, there's quite a lot of users who work with the tablet and C4D.

[steve-o]

thanks, it was cheap enough to take a try with it, i just wanted to make sure it was supported, before i actually went out and got it. thanks again.

[steve-o]

double post....oops

[bobtronic]

I use a tablet with Cinema. It works perfectly fine.

cheers,
Matthias

[ThirdEye]

I use a tablet with Cinema. It works perfectly fine.

cheers,
Matthias

Fine is a bit too much. If you alternatively use a mouse and a pen the fact you have to enable that stupid checkbox makes your blood boil.

[kromekat]

I have worked exclusively with a Wacom and Cinema (with everything in fact) for about 5 years now - I find it's a far more natural method of interaction with far less RSI than with mice.

Adam :)

[bobtronic]

Fine is a bit too much. If you alternatively use a mouse and a pen the fact you have to enable that stupid checkbox makes your blood boil.

Well I use a tablet exclusively, so I never had these problems. Besides that a mouse and a tablet just work different. You can't go over the border of the tablet, with a mouse you just lift it and place it back on your pad. Cinema's mouse mode takes this into account and will not stop the cursor once it reaches the border of the screen.

cheers,
Matthias

[Bill-D]

I use a wacom tablet for 95% of my work in C4d , PS and AE. I retain a mouse with a scroll wheel simply for the fastest way of zooming in and out.
I never need to check or uncheck any boxes in C4d, as it can handle them both being "on", but never used at the same time. Tablets are particularly good for working with Bezier splines.

Hope this helps

Bill D

[ThirdEye]

Besides that a mouse and a tablet just work different. You can't go over the border of the tablet, with a mouse you just lift it and place it back on your pad. Cinema's mouse mode takes this into account and will not stop the cursor once it reaches the border of the screen.

Whatever. All i know is there are apps where i can alternatively use the mouse and the pen without any problems, while in C4D i have to use a checkbox everytime i switch, which makes me use the mouse 100% of the time.

[georgedrakakis]

Whatever. All i know is there are apps where i can alternatively use the mouse and the pen without any problems, while in C4D i have to use a checkbox everytime i switch, which makes me use the mouse 100% of the time.
hi ThirdEye,
i've found this plugin ( i don't know if it works - don't have a tablet)
it seems it's an on-off switcher.
it could save you a few clicks to access preferences.

use tablet plugin (http://homepage2.nifty.com/aquawave/e/cafeteria/etceteras.html)

[ThirdEye]

hi ThirdEye,
i've found this plugin ( i don't know if it works - don't have a tablet)
it seems it's an on-off switcher.
it could save you a few clicks to access preferences.

use tablet plugin (http://homepage2.nifty.com/aquawave/e/cafeteria/etceteras.html)

Uhm, it's a sort of shortcut for enabling/disabling tablets, better than nothing, thanks!

[joeski4d]

I've owned a wacom tablet for almost 10 years, using it only for certain tasks in photoshop when pressure sensitivity was needed for masks and retouching.

But about 1.5 years ago, I decided to try using the wacom exclusively. It took a week or so to get used to it, but I have to say that once I did there was no looking back. I find the tablet to be much faster and more natural to work with. I also notice that I can work much longer without my wrist/hand getting tired compared to using a mouse.

The one thing I missed when I first switched to using the tablet 100% of the time was a scroll wheel. So, i purchased a Griffen Powermate (http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/powermate) and it works great... I have the pen in my right hand and the powermate sits to the left of my keyboard when I need to scroll or zoom.

Hope that helps....

-Joe

[Newstream]

Speaking of tablets, have you seen the new Cintiq 12WX?

http://www.wacom.eu/index2.asp?lang=en&pid=96

I saw a demo on the latest Layers TV (podcast) and it looked like a highly intuitive piece of workflow kit. I wonder if this will enhance working with C4D even for existing tablet users...
What do you think..?

Cheers / Alex

[steve-o]

wow, that looks great......can i borrow the money? hehe....in all seriousness, that tablet looks amazing.

[georgedrakakis]

Uhm, it's a sort of shortcut for enabling/disabling tablets, better than nothing, thanks!
no prob, i bump on it accidentally, while i was looking for the hard-to-find erigger & emorphing manuals.

[ThePriest]

Fine is a bit too much. If you alternatively use a mouse and a pen the fact you have to enable that stupid checkbox makes your blood boil.

Exactly, it's seamless in Maya and Modo. I can't for the life of my think why this was never addressed in Cinema?

[Dtox]

I use a wacom tablet with cinema. Not all the time, because there are just some things that are easier with a mouse.

As was already mentioned, with a tablet you're restricted to the active area. This really comes in handy when doing large selections especially if you have a large display.
When I work with the mouse, if I don't pay close attention to the area and start to drag out a large selection box, I come to a point where I'm running into stuff on the desk(which is mainly due to me having too much clutter).
With a tablet I don't have to worry about that at all.
Also, I have a dual monitor setup and even though I have a 9x12 wacom, it's not enough to allow the tablet area to span both monitors effectively. Especially since one is an Apple 23" cinema display and the other a 19" CRT (CRT's are better for doing color correction).
The latest wacom drivers allow you to set an express key to toggle the active display, which is needed.
Tablets aren't only superior due to the pen and surface, but they also allow you to program the express keys which puts your workflow within inches of your hands instead of fumbling through menus or using keyboard shortcuts for your most common tasks.

Tablets have evolved into the ideal input device all around.
With express keys, handwriting recognition, and gestures it's light years ahead of even the most advanced mouse or trackball.
Do they even make trackballs anymore?
I used to love trackballs in the mid 1990's, before I started doing computer graphics.
Actually, for general use such as web browsing and file and folder operations a trackball would be ideal.

I like that 12WX cintiq though.
Damn, it's sexy isn't it!?
It's almost perfect. Some might find it a little on the small size, but that would be a small percentage of users.
It would be perfect if it's aspect ratio isn't linked to the aspect ratio of your main display.

Only thing about it is that if you use say a 9x12 tablet normally, and upgrade to the 12wx, you have less tablet space.
In many cases it wouldn't be a problem.
I didn't see a price listed(usually means it's more expensive than it should be).
But if it's not terribly costly(like the 21UX is), then this new product brings that specific product line to the general artist or freelance artist effectively.
That's not gonna be the case though unless the price is under $1,000.

[rgwarren]

I just got my 12WX. It's a great. I hated my 21UX. I'm finding that the 12WX isn't as portable as I'd like. There are quite a few cables, a power brick, and a controller box that hooks into the 12WX. I'm still trying to figure a clean way to handle all that with a laptop in a case.

It's easy to use and performs as advertised. As usual it's got the cintiq "jitters" in the lower corners. When I switch to tablet mode and try to hit the START button on my 30" main display in Windows the cursor is hopping all over. When I plug in my Intuos3 9x12 it's nice and stable so I don't think there is an interference issue.

I've never seen a "perfect" Cintiq out of the 4 I've used with regard to accuracy and jitter in the corners. I guess the 12WX is par for the course.

Regardless it's quite a nicely designed product and I can finally draw with the tablet in my lap. That 29 lb 21UX just was too big IMHO.

I was surprised that they didn't go with an LED backlight. Given the size of the panel it shouldn't have been that much extra cost.

[51M0N]

I have tried using tablet with c4d. It felt much more natural and provided more control in certain actions, but there are two things bugging me, that make me use the mouse:

1) When I rotate the viewport, it rotates sooooo slow after I enable the tablet option. I really have to drag the pen 3 times or so in the full tablet to make a 180 turn.

2) When I click, it always moves a bit, so it's difficult to make a detailed action that requires a click. Maybe I'm not used to that sort of thing.

[kraemchen]

1) When I rotate the viewport, it rotates sooooo slow after I enable the tablet option. I really have to drag the pen 3 times or so in the full tablet to make a 180 turn.


In 10.5 this problem is solved. Under preferences you can adjust the scale of movement, rotation and scaling until you feel comfortable.

Markus

[ThirdEye]

Exactly, it's seamless in Maya and Modo. I can't for the life of my think why this was never addressed in Cinema?

Dunno about Modo, but Maya by default will stop the cursor once it reaches the border of the screen when you use a mouse, which is a pain in the ass. That makes things easier for the tablet implementation for sure.

[Matariki]

Dunno about Modo, but Maya by default will stop the cursor once it reaches the border of the screen when you use a mouse, which is a pain in the ass. That makes things easier for the tablet implementation for sure.

This is exactly what I experience using my wacom 9x12 on a mac with c4d 10.1. The move, rotation or zoom of the viewport stops as soon as the cursor reaches the border of the screen. How can you avoid this behaviour? I always go back to the mouse when I switch to c4d.

[51M0N]

In 10.5 this problem is solved. Under preferences you can adjust the scale of movement, rotation and scaling until you feel comfortable.

Markus

Great news, thanks for the heads up!

[Dtox]

The only difference I see between having the tablet option checked or unchecked is that if it's unchecked, the cursor disappears when you click and drag.
What's the point of that?

[Srek]

The disappearing cursor allows for the movement to extend beyond screenspace. Of course this only makes sense with a freely moving device like amouse, not with a tablet that corresponds 1:1 with screenspace.
Cheers
Björn

[steve-o]

i took everyones advice, and i LOVE it.....i'm not sure about the check mouse or tablet cause i can switch between mouse and tablet without having to check any boxes. i just wanted to thank everyone that replied. i am in love with this thing. there is a steep learning curve with using it, but that will be solved in time the more i get used to it....but it feels so natural...like drawing on paper....and the fact that the pen doesnt have to make direct contact with the actual pad makes tracing pictures and my own artwork easier to bring out in cg, and photoshop.....i always get good advice when i come here, and i just wanted to say thanks to everyone that replied.

p.s.-sorry for the insanly poor sentence structure.................................

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