Intuos or graphire???

buddikaman

Hey all,

I recently bought a intuos3, but the cost was pretty high and i am thinking i might want to go with a graphire3, can anyone tell me the main differences between the two pads...

Mostly i am doing amateur texturing for 3d models, i am trying to get serious about improving my digi-paint skills but could i get the same productivity out of a graphire as a intuos?

I know the sensitivity is higher on intuos but i read on this board that u cant really tell a difference...so is there really not much difference between the two?

-Buddikaman-

pyromania

The levels of pressure sensitivity isn't a big difference. Intuos have 1024, graphire's 512. 512 is plenty, you still get perfectly smooth brush strokes. What you may notice is the difference in tablet resolution, or lines per inch (LPI). The intuos3 had a huge upgrade in the LPI. The intuos2 had 2540 LPI, but the intuos3 bumped it up to 5080 LPI. The graphire3 has 2045 LPI, so if you have gotten used to the intuos3 then go to graphire3 you might notice, a difference.

Of course this all depends on you painting style. I used a graphire2, which only has 1015 LPI, for a long time. It worked great for character texturing. It wasn't until I started trying digital sketching that I started noticing the LPI difference. When you did quick, sweeping brush strokes, parts of the stroke would turn out flat. It was like the tablet missed part of your pen movment and played connect the dots, with your brush stroke. Now with the graphire3's having 2045 LPI I don't think thats going to be an issue.

The intuos have the pen tilt function, while graphire's don't. If you come from a traditional art background where you expect the brush to behave differently based on angle, you might want this. For character texturing, I don't think you would ever use this. You are always working on such small details, the actual brush stroke won't change all that much.

The warrenty is another difference you may want to consider. Graphire's come with a 1 year warrenty, while intuos have a limited lifetime warrenty. If you think you are going to be keeping this tablet for a long time, you may want to go with the intuos.

Bottom Line:
The graphire3's are great tablets for character texturing. The resolution should be fine for the type of work you will be doing. I'd save your money and get the graphire3. Any sort of tablet is better than painting with a mouse.

buddikaman

thanks for your insight pyro, i appreciate it

i think im just gonna go with a graphire 3 for now, maybe later down the road when my texturing skills dont suck and i feel the need to upgrade i will...right now i just want to better my paint skills, and im thinking a graphire will be fine for that.

-Buddikaman-