What size of a tablet is better for 3D - 6" x 4" or bigger 10" x 6"

Antonyony

Hi dear community,
Yes, before posting this thread I've read  most of the topics regarding tablets here. But  I'm still not sure what size of a tablet is better to choose in my case.
All these years I've been successfully using my Logitech G600 with 20 buttons for Modo, Solidworks, Photoshop etc.But It's time to study sculpting -  Zbrush, 3DCoat. Also I'm going to use a tablet for Substance Painter, and as mentioned above - Modo, Solidworks, Photoshop. I'm not an illustrator,  I'm not going to create 2D art. Just general 3D using. 

So I'm not sure what size is better:  6" X 4" or bigger 10" x 6"
6" X 4" It's compact, it takes less space on the table. It doesn't have useless (I suppose) buttons. As I've read many 3D artists work well with this size. 
10" x 6" Well... it's bigger. However, it takes more space on the table, and I'm not sure I'll be using a tablet all the time instead of my G600 .
Can you give me your thoughts, guys?

Alex_J

Are you a professional?

Is money a factor?

I've got the cheapest, smallest WACOM  tablet. Works fine for me. Common sense tells me a larger drawing surface will give more pixels per stroke, thus finer control. But, again, I've never felt like I suffered a lack of precision with the little one. You can always zoom in.

Someday, when I'm doing this for money, I want one of those big ones that is a screen and you draw right on the model. But how can you justify that if you aren't either very rich or making a comfortable living and your craft is majorly benefited from such a tool?

gnoop

I had a number of tablets.  .  A couple of Intuos ones didn't survive a little bit of coffee. They really don't like it .    Then I bought a cheap wacom bamboo and used it for long years.  One day it stopped to work suddenly and I decided to buy  Huion  because everyone told me it's no worse.  But it was.  Its tip was a kind of loosely planted.  Did annoying click sounds  every time I touch tablet surface . Felt rather like a mouse than a pen.  And the driver worked weirdly. I had no pressure  in Photoshop half of a time.   
 
I bought another pro Intuos. It's  perfect  except those supper annoying touch features, the rim  and  buttons on the left .   I wish I could chop them off . Whatever you set in the driver they are regularry on again. 

Recently I found out that my older Wacom Bamboo  still works . It  was  that damn  slim USB cord. A new cord and it works perfectly ok again.

So now I know it's just a matter of time when my nice new big Intuos pro would succumb to a next cup of coffee   and I'll go back to Bamboo.
 
In short the size is irrelevant , less buttons is better.

ps  I know nothing about x-pen ones.

Antonyony

BIGTIMEMASTER said:

But, again, I've never felt like I suffered a lack of precision with the little one. You can always zoom in.

gnoop said:

 In short the size is irrelevant , less buttons is better.

ps  I know nothing about x-pen ones.

Thank you guys for your answers! Your words an another confirmation - A6(S) 6"x4" size of a tablet should be enough.

Regarding Xp-pen - well, I shouldn't post those pictures )) It isn't an another topic "what is better Wacom or the others". It's just for discussions regarding the size of a tablet.

kanga

Yeah I use a Wacom Comic (newer Bamboo type) A5. Not sure the desk space is an issue, but it cruises over 2 monitors petty well. As has been said the zoom function in all the applications take care of any accuracy requirements. I actually have 3 bamboos, two more for students. All of them work perfectly. The only thing the comic has extra is that you can customize it per program and the buttons (which I dont use) are much smaller  which means the tablet takes less space. While using ZBrush I have it set to use the middle of the tablet. When I use it for something else it jumps back to the dual screen setting, which is pretty handy.

I have a buddy who is an illustrator and swears by his cintiq. When I grow up I will probably step over to one of those. But in the meantime the comic does more than I need, and A5 is more than enough space to work with.

Antonyony

kanga said:

A5. Not sure the desk space is an issue, but it cruises over 2 monitors petty well.
....
 While using ZBrush I have it set to use the middle of the tablet. When I use it for something else it jumps back to the dual screen setting, which is pretty handy.

Hmm... never thought about it. I'm also using 2 monitors,and often resize an application to the second one: main monitor is for 3D view and the second one is for properties panels. So if I set a  tablet for a single monitor, I couldn't use this set up anymore.

Does the driver switch back and forth automatically or you should do it manually?

kanga

Antonyony said:

...

Hmm... never thought about it. I'm also using 2 monitors,and often resize an application to the second one: main monitor is for 3D view and the second one is for properties panels. So if I set a  tablet for a single monitor, I couldn't use this set up anymore.

Does the driver switch back and forth automatically or you should do it manually?

Nope, its application sensitive. Your menus are part of the software which is what the settings focus on. I use one monitor for the application (main) and the other for reference. So for me the flexibility helps alot. Your setup there is no focus. The menus are just as important as the viewpot. Its mostly an extra for folks who have more than one app open.

Antonyony

kanga said:

Nope, its application sensitive.

That's great!

kanga said:

The only thing the comic has extra is that you can customize it per program

  Is this functionality only Comic related or all the Intuos product line has it?

kanga

Ah hi. Didn't see you question. I had a look on the web and it seems like they all have application sensitive settings. Being a bamboo user, its the  first time they have been available to me.

Antonyony

kanga said:

Ah hi. Didn't see you question. I had a look on the web and it seems like they all have application sensitive settings. Being a bamboo user, its the  first time they have been available to me.

NP. Thank you for your answers, it was really helpful

janoshx

I would recommend to get the new Wacom Intuos Pro M. The L is way too big unless you are used to draw long strokes already and to be honest if there would be S model and I would be using only one monitor I would be tempted for smaller one. But since there is not size S you can always make the active area smaller if you like. If you use two monitors you can set the wacom to be very wide so it extends both monitors. I personally extend it only partly to the second screen so i can reach Maya outliner and tool settings in the edge of my second screen. You can always just jump to second screen as well if you need to reach something on whole second screen like a web browser etc.

The best part of te new wacom Intuos Pro is the surface feel. It is not slippery anymore and it feel "a bit like paper" and it really increases stability and accuracy of the pen tip.

New wacom pens have different tip than the previous versions so if you need new nibs you have to choose the correct ones. The previous version of stylus is compatible with this new intuos pro tablets as well.

I almost never use any buttons on the actual tablet and the touch ring is not very usable. If it were just rotating disc like a potentiometer it would be much more usable.

Alex_J

I didn't read all the responses entirely, but jsut to be clear, when using two screens with the little WACOM (I think this is called the bamboo?), you can set one of the express keys to toggle between displays. So the way I work is viewport on my bigger screen, and then if I need to jump over to the other screen I just use my mouse. Not super elegant or professional, but it's second nature by now and I don't like trying to punch little menu buttons with the tablet anyway.