Tablet PC for 3Ds Max?

1magus

I'm sure this has been asked before but I cannot seem to get this idea out of my head.

Can you use a Tablet PC to model in 3Ds Max 2009?
And by model I mean off course use you're finger or digital pen to take a sphere for example and put it on the screen than model it as if you were using a mouse?

If this is possible can you do multi touch on 3Ds, so I can model something and than quickly move the scene around by rotating it without having to stop modeling?

Any recommendations for Tablet PCs?

And finally if this is possible do Tablet PCs run external video cards?
Sorry for all the questions and I know I am new but I really wanted to know this.

Ben Apuna

As far as I know most Tablet PCs don't come with dedicated graphics cards so you might not be able to push as many polygons, or use any fancy real time shaders. Looks like some of the newer models have SXGA+ 1400x1050 screen resolutions, the older ones mostly had 1024 x 768 which would be rather small for 3d apps.

Modeling with a Tablet PC's pen would be no different from using a wacom tablet to model with, except you would be pressing on the screen rather than the wacom of course. You might also need to pick up a duo switch wacom pen or a Cintiq 15x or Cintiq 18sx pen so that you could have 3 mouse buttons, rather than only 2 buttons that the standard tablet pc stylus comes with. Note that the newer Cintiq pens are not compatatble with tablet pcs.

One other consideration is that if you buy a convertable tablet pc rather than a slate version then you would also need a separate keyboard or other input device to use for your hotkeys, as the pen alone isn't enough for most 3D apps.

In the end unless portability was your main concern I'd say spend your money on a decent desktop computer such as per's new machine and buy a Cintiq instead.

sir-knight

some tablets do come with dedicated graphics, my toshiba m200 did, but that's 2 generations of laptops ago (at least)

They exist, but the resolution on the tablet is not enough to be precise enough for something that needs to be better than pixel perfect. Even for painting the tablet pc falls short.. it fills a void, but it doesn't do art terribly well.

Spend less on buying a standard laptop and add a wacom intuos to it, it'll be cheaper and be more tuned to art. The tablet pen really is only good enough to sketch with. At this point I felt I should've bought a standard laptop for much less (still got my tablet refurbed) but lack of a keyboard in slate mode is a huge problem.

Firebert

there is one and only one benefit of a tablet pc... you can take it anywhere you wanna go. that's it. i have an acer travelmate and have used it for about 4 years or so. i need something new and when i upgrade, i'm getting a small box and a cintiq. for a damn good tablet pc, you can easily drop plus or minus 2k, and for some extra dough you could build your own system and get a cintiq.... just my thinking anyway... if you're looking for the benefit of drawing on screen, stick to something that is really high performance and has a wider range of capabilities that will last you a good while and can easily be upgraded. laptops are tough to upgrade and tablet pcs get REALLY EFFING HOT which not only draws back on performance, but also wears down your internals. i have had zero problems with my acer other than it overheating easier as it gets older. don't think they make tablets anymore though.

going back to your initial question, i just use a damn mouse to model... plus (and this depends on the manufacturer), the pen options are more limited on tablet pcs. there's less pressure sensitivity, and limited buttons. i think mine has only one button and an eraser. so assigning hotkeys and shortcuts to buttons/actions on your pen is practically useless. you have more pen capabilities when you get past the low end wacoms.

1magus

So you are suggesting I get this: http://www.wacom.com/intuos/

Ben Apuna

Yeah that or:

http://www.wacom.com/cintiq/cintiq-12wx.php

or if money grows on trees for you then this:

http://www.wacom.com/cintiq/cintiq-21ux.php

CrazyButcher

maybe you could use remote desktop functionality to connect your tablet pc to a proper fast machine.

the cintiq alone costs as much as a tablet pc... )

CompanionCube

i don't think a cintiq is that great for Max, defiently for photoshop and even zbrush. definetly go for the intuos 3 or 4. i only have a graphire 3 & 4 and love using them for max, photoshop & zbrush. i wish i had the intuos because it has better pressure sensitivity and tilt. i wouldn't bother with a tablet pc, are there even any good ones?

sir-knight

all wacom technology tablet PCs only have 256 levels of pressure, no tilt. Also the pen accuracy is off by a number of pixels, even more so if you are look at it from an angle, which is all the time cause you can't see through your hand.

EarthQuake

My experince with tablet pcs has been.... Its really not the best laptop, its not the best tablet, and you pay out the ass to have 2 mediocre functions. But then i would never consider doing real work on a laptop in the first place.

aaronramsey17

I will been playing around with my new tablet pc

. It takes some getting used to, and I had to change some accessions. I searching for new and coll

tablet pc

accessions. Can any recommend me please.

Tablet pc

accessions