Configure Max for tablet.

jerry

Hi,

I've seen and heard some people talk about using their wacom for modelling. The thing is, i cannot get it to be smooth in any way. Especially viewport navigation is a pain. Rotating and panning just doen't work with the wacom.

What i would like is use a button + drag to do these things, almost the same as the mouse.

How can i configure max to make this happen, and i don't want to keep pressing those buttons on the pen too much.

Any thoughts or experiences?

glib

I've been using my tablet in maya for over a year now with the default maya settings, but I always have to set my wacom to 'tap to click' instead of 'hover and click' in the wacom preferences. This means to right click, you hold the button and touch the pen to the surface, instead of hovering it above and pushing the button (which IMO is crap). The lower button is right-click and the upper is middle-click.

I've switched to max in the last 6 months or so, but I use draster's switcher which gives me maya-esque control, so my tablet setup stays about the same. I would never go back to a mouse though, ever. There are some guys at work that use a wacom with the default max setup, but I don't know how they can stand it. Max by default seems to need a mouse wheel to dolly in and out in any useful way.

jerry

Thanks for your reply but since I have never touched maya i'm still stuck. There are bound to be people here who made it work for them in a way i can adopt.

silversteez

i use my wacom with the default max viewport controls and it feels great. granted, it did take me awhile to get used to it, but i love it now. it requires a lot of hovering the pen over the surface while pressing middle-click (i set one of my pen buttons to middle-click). all the hovering felt awkward at first, but seems very natural to me now.

jerry

silversteez wrote: »

All the hovering felt awkward at first, but seems very natural to me now.

I tried switching the buttons and I definately have the awkward feeling, but i guess this is the best option then. Thanks.

CompanionCube

i have the the tip/nib as left click, the first button on the stylus as middle click, and the button above that as right click, its just like a 3 button mouse then, so if you know how to do things in Max with a 3 button mouse its no different i have never gone back to using my mouse when in 3Ds Max, it actually feels weird the one time i was at a friends house and tried to.

i recoomend everyone use a tablet in their 3D program, it never leaves my hand the whole day wether i'm browsing internet, in Max, zbrush or photoshop. never understood these people that switch between mouse and tablet while working. only time i use mouse is for gaming.

Muzzoid

I find it much more presise to use my mouse for moving verts. Its just more comfortable to me. Some people like using the tablet for things other than drawing but some dont.

ceebee

If you guys use your Wacom for 3D that often it might be good investing in an airbrush wacom pen which has a wheel on it. Might be useful for max people who use middle mouse wheel a lot for sliders/etc. Never used one before but it might work?

renderhjs

I myself think that max is designed to be used for the mouse hence the best experience imo is gained with a 3 button mouse with scroll wheel.
The only option I know is the brush (push, pull, relax,...) stuff that supports tablet input (at least I think so).

If you want to get out more with your tablet using max, maya, ps,... check out this thread:
http://boards.polycount.net/showthread.php?t=60572
where funky bunnies released a neat tool where you can map application specific shortcuts to screen buttons.

sprunghunt

jerry wrote: »

Hi,

I've seen and heard some people talk about using their wacom for modelling. The thing is, i cannot get it to be smooth in any way. Especially viewport navigation is a pain. Rotating and panning just doen't work with the wacom.

One thing that will really help with using the wacom is to set rotation to "circular crank" in the preferences. This changes the way you rotate so you rotate objects by drawing circles on the tablet. It's much better than the other way when you're using a wacom.

pior

lower rocker button as middle click
upper rocker button as right click

that's all you need for max, maya, and mudbox nav. It will feel natural in just about a day!

Ceebee, interesting point!!

SkyGround

Why mouse wheel in max? Just press Alt+Ctrl and middle click and you can zoom , or press alt+z to enter zooming mode.

NAIMA

I am unsutre if to buy a tablet , I would like to if I will be able to work better , do you think it would be good for me to get one and incase wich one ? sorry if I post here but I see here there are problems reported with it and I didnt want to spam the forums with another thread...

SkyGround

NAIMA Dont think, just buy ))

jerry

pior wrote: »

lower rocker button as middle click
upper rocker button as right click

that's all you need for max, maya, and mudbox nav. It will feel natural in just about a day!

I think this can be the conclusion of the thread :thumbup:

Naima > If you want to be involved in painting textures or doing other sorts of digital graphics work it's a must buy. Decide according to your budget, i have a 6 inch which is big enough for me. If you have the chance try to test some different sizes to get a feel. I like the portability of the 6". Used it for three years and it still works, and i still love it

2cool4school

I've assigned the keys 1,2, and 3 to pan, zoom and rotate (you may have to delete their normal assignments). Never used those keys before and it works great.
I agree that once you get used to using a tablet you will never go back. Use it all day for everything.

Autocon

what do you guys use to rotate your models in max? I set one of my wacom keys up to middle click and hold alt and use middle click to rotate. That is what i do with my mouse but when I use my wacom it lags really bag when rotating.

Zooming in and out is totally fine though