To Tablet, or not to Tablet...
Hello polycounters...
So as rather few may have seen in some of my recent posts, I'm somewhat of a beginner modeler and working on an game for Android. I'm hoping to hon my skills in different areas as at the moment, it's a one man operation...
I'm fairly comfortable with modeling, but where I'm really struggling is with texture work. I'd posted a question on what the cost would be to hire someone on a pay-per texture basis and since this isn't my full time job or anything... I can't quite justify spending as much money as that will cost as I have to feed my wife and children and keep a roof over our heads...
I'm currently using free software for everything (Blender and GIMP). I'm in absolutely no way an artist (I shouldn't say that as art is indeed subjective)... but I can sketch pretty good on paper. What I'm really finding is that trying to apply any of that skill (what little of it there is) to using a mouse in the GIMP is becoming a crash course of making textures that are somewhere between bad and terrible. Every line I draw is a squiggly mess and I'm finding the use of paths to be too mechanical. I could very well be dealing with some amount of impatience too... but anyway...
So as the subject states... I'm questioning on whether or not to take the plunge and really try to learn some proper technique and wonder if getting a pressure sensitive tablet would be the right thing to do. I'm already reviewing very basic drawing tutorials (and feeling quite like a child as I do so) and wonder just how much of it I can apply once I get back into the mess of using my mouse on the computer again.
There is of course the option of posting a bit more of my modelling in my post under Freelance jobs and feeling the water more for pricing from already experienced texture artists...
Any advise is greatly appreciated.
So as rather few may have seen in some of my recent posts, I'm somewhat of a beginner modeler and working on an game for Android. I'm hoping to hon my skills in different areas as at the moment, it's a one man operation...
I'm fairly comfortable with modeling, but where I'm really struggling is with texture work. I'd posted a question on what the cost would be to hire someone on a pay-per texture basis and since this isn't my full time job or anything... I can't quite justify spending as much money as that will cost as I have to feed my wife and children and keep a roof over our heads...
I'm currently using free software for everything (Blender and GIMP). I'm in absolutely no way an artist (I shouldn't say that as art is indeed subjective)... but I can sketch pretty good on paper. What I'm really finding is that trying to apply any of that skill (what little of it there is) to using a mouse in the GIMP is becoming a crash course of making textures that are somewhere between bad and terrible. Every line I draw is a squiggly mess and I'm finding the use of paths to be too mechanical. I could very well be dealing with some amount of impatience too... but anyway...
So as the subject states... I'm questioning on whether or not to take the plunge and really try to learn some proper technique and wonder if getting a pressure sensitive tablet would be the right thing to do. I'm already reviewing very basic drawing tutorials (and feeling quite like a child as I do so) and wonder just how much of it I can apply once I get back into the mess of using my mouse on the computer again.
There is of course the option of posting a bit more of my modelling in my post under Freelance jobs and feeling the water more for pricing from already experienced texture artists...
Any advise is greatly appreciated.
Replies
if your lines all squiggly try this. it simulates lazy stroke like Z-Brush. Really handy. also since getting a tablet i get far less cramping in my hands(pretty sure i was developing carpel tunnel)
http://people.happycoders.org/kamih/wordpress/?page_id=46
I recommend getting a cheap used intuos if money is tight. They are much better than graphire or bamboo.
im the same as die_Kröte i can sketch ok on paper but trying to do that with a mouse and i fail every time. i was thinking about getting a tablet as well but iv never actually used one before so i was wondering what they are like
You can get both types. I havent tried a screen/tablet combo but i find a tablet just fine (I also come from more of a drawing background)
http://www.wacom.com/productinfo/
For sketching the bigger the tablet the better. Small tablets force you to draw from the wrist making your arcs pretty wobbly and crappy.
Tablets with internal moitor (e.g. Cintiq), how do they work?
I mean, is it a carryable computer like a laptop with own CPU,GPU, Harddrive and such or more like a monitor with "touchscreen" (I know it's not a tuchscreen, electromagnetic induction etc.).
If it is the first, how do you get software installed on it and can you upgrade the hardware? If the latter, then you could not "work with it everywhere" like Wacom advertises.
Ofcouse I searched on the wacom page but I can't seem to find a answer on such a general question. It seems to be to obvious, not for me though.
As a hobby artis and poor student I can not afford a tablet with monitor anyways, but someday for shure.
@die_Kröte
Since your name sounds german I want to suggest this to you
[ame]http://www.amazon.de/Aiptek-Media-Tablet-14000U-Grafiktablett/dp/B000TGMI5A[/ame]
I own this since 3 years now and oly got one realy little problem with it.
This hotkeys on the frame are not devided the way it is shown on the tablet. For example between "K22" and "K23" there is already "K23" and "K24" starts somewhere in the middle of "K23". When you hover the pen over one of this hotkeys the function is dispalyed on screen tough, so thats not much of a problem. The price is amazign for a tablet of this size (widescreen support too).
Oh one more thing, a reseller called genius offers a better driver for this tablet. The tablet is the same but called "G-Pen M609" there.
The driver from their site supports 2 Monitors.
long link adress to genius driver
Strange advertising they do then:
"Use it in your prefeared work environment" and "Use it as Stand-Alone-Sollution"
I won't mention Photoshop or ZB, because on those I don't think there is any other way around to be truly efficient rather than using a tablet. (except in ZB sometimes I use the mouse to change values in the 'deformation' tab as I find the pen to sensitive, so for other related stuff I might use the mouse as well).
I own an Intuos 4 Medium, and although it might sound a bit pricey (around 450 $ in canada) it is totally worth it. That being said personally I never use the buttons in the left side of this tablet neither the wheel... (I know they look sleek...), you can set them up as ALT , SHIFT CTRL... but although I tried them (and I mean it), I find the position of my arm uncomfortable as I need to lay it back,
so in the end I use only the keyboard instead. So for me the real value is in the sensitivity added to the pen/tablet.
I will also recommend you an intuos 3, I had one for a while before switching to this one and totally did the job, it is an awesome tablet, you can find one second hand in good shape on ebay or stuff like that, just make sure is in 'good shape'.
and finally as Perna mentioned a bamboo tablet is worth the money as well. I tried one for a short period and I think it is a good tablet for the price too. Hope this helps man
I'm risking a little bit of flamage but I'm going to ask anyway. I've done quite a bit of Googling but finding tutorials on model texturing seems to be more difficult that I thought it would be. So far getting different material looks hasn't been terribly difficult, but it very much appears that low poly modeling relies a lot on the details of the texture to make the model really shine. Are there any decent tutorials of note that really cover this kind of thing? (I.E. creating good clothing folds, staying aligned with the UV's, etc...)
Yes, I noticed the alternatives for a touch product and got the one that was just with a Pen, thanks for mentioning that.