Tablets or phones for 3D work?

Pixie3D

Hi there,

since the hardware for handheld devices is getting more powerful, I was wondering how many artists are using tablets or mobile phones or have considered using them? If not, why not? If you already do, what are the pros and cons for using handheld devices for CG work? Is the hardware powerful enough for 3D modeling, animating, texturing etc.? Is the software advanced enough to do proper work? Which software should I use? etc.

Kind regards,
Soren

Taylor Brown

Cant seem to find Maya or Substance Painter on the Google play store. Links?

Animas

With tablet he might mean those new-ish wacom mobile studio pros. They do have computers in them and from what I heard are okish (?) for zbrush and sculpting.
No idea about mobile phones and what might be there usage apart from sketching.

Pixie3D

I was simply thinking of using a 3D modeling app from the Android store to start doing some 3D modeling on my phone or my Android tablet and was reaching out to see if anyone would have any experience in that area.

Andreicus

Pixie3D said:

I was simply thinking of using a 3D modeling app from the Android store to start doing some 3D modeling on my phone or my Android tablet and was reaching out to see if anyone would have any experience in that area.

There are some sculpting apps that i tried some years ago but the quality wasn't good and even nowadays the hardware of tablets or smartphones is not powerful enough to allows to work comfortably like on PC.
Also on PC to use a software like Zbrush at its maximum potential without any lag you would need an i7 minimum ( or AMD equivalent ) and at the moment there are no mobile devices that has a CPU that is as powerful as an i7 or more.
For traditional hard surface modeling or poly modeling in general i don't think that there are any apps out there.

For drawing, tablets are really good though and many people use them instead of drawing on PC.

If you want a more interactive way of sculpting you can try a VR software like Oculus Medium or Kanova if you have a VR headset of course ( i dont' and my GPU doesn't support it ).

musashidan

I can only imagine it to be an absolute nightmare on a phone, coupled with the fact that there are no decent programs for such.

Are you still developing your own 3D program?

Pixie3D

Andreicus Thank you so much for the heads up.

musashidan Yes, when I find time for it

Pixie3D

musashidan After I have tried a few 3D modelling apps, I agree with you that most mobile phones are not very suitable for 3D modeling due to physical small screen size that makes it difficult to care for great details, however I guess there are exceptions to any rules because the Samsung Notebook actually seems pretty doable for this kind of work. The pen that comes with this phone seems perfect for selecting points, edges and polygons on a limited screen space and the hardware also seems reasonable to run 3D apps. In general it seems like a much better option to use a tablet because of the physical size and it will probably end up being my final choice. But I must say it is quite an awesome and liberating feeling not have to be depended on a PC or heavy laptop to do 3D work. Since hardware becomes more powerful and cheaper as time goes by I think 3D modeling, texturing and animating on Android/iOS tablets has a bright future. I am definitely considering of porting Pixie3D to Android and iOS.

sacboi

Hmm...putting some thought into it, I wouldn't necessarily go the mobile phone (android) route just yet, although there's still a fledging core of development going on...outlier it must be said but still for those who can't manage to 'power down' after a hard slog at the office whilst tootling home via public transport, then a potential time waster nonetheless however a bit of an expensive one if their weapon of choice happens to be a Galaxy Note 10

7 Android apps to make 3d models