To Cintiq or not to Cintiq?
polycounter lvl 13
I have been toying with the idea of getting a wacom Cintiq 21UX for some time but am worried about spending that amount of money on something I cant drive 
Currently Im a freelance character artist and work on an A5 wide Intuos 3 which I love but I see Cintiqs being used more and more with high end studios and they are sexy as hell. But then I read reviews from illustrators in ImagineFX and other sites saying they arent that great and they would rather stick with the standard intuos.
The main drawbacks they had were with the screens brightness which is not as powerful as your standard monitor which affects your contrast and colour and that its hard to work on for a substantial amount of time. they gave it 3.5/5, and for something that costs so much I really want 5/5
so to you Cinitiq users out there how good are they? are they easy to work with and have they made you a more productive artist?
I would be mostly using it for Zbrush sculpting, texturing and concepting. thanks for any help/advice
Currently Im a freelance character artist and work on an A5 wide Intuos 3 which I love but I see Cintiqs being used more and more with high end studios and they are sexy as hell. But then I read reviews from illustrators in ImagineFX and other sites saying they arent that great and they would rather stick with the standard intuos.
The main drawbacks they had were with the screens brightness which is not as powerful as your standard monitor which affects your contrast and colour and that its hard to work on for a substantial amount of time. they gave it 3.5/5, and for something that costs so much I really want 5/5
so to you Cinitiq users out there
how good are they? are they easy to work with and have they made you a more productive artist?I would be mostly using it for Zbrush sculpting, texturing and concepting. thanks for any help/advice
Replies
And I really love that the normal tablet doesn't get warm
The 21" Cintiq might be a different story.
My hand was covering too much of the image to see the 'whole picture' as I worked on things.
I couldn't sit at a nice distance away from the screen, so it sort of felt like I was about to shouted at by my parents 'for sitting too close to the tv' every 5 minutes.
Using keyboard shortcuts while using the pen seemed like I was in a minority report scene. Too much moving hands in really different directions.
Two screens with a intuos 4 at work seems so far superior in comparison.
Constant warming of my hand was more irritating than I thought possible.
My arm got tired after a while. <
This really pissed me off.
Although saying that, Cameron really likes em. lol, so ask him to give you the opposite point of view.
With that said I reckon the larger model would be great and solve all the problems I have with the smaller one, the problem is I don't have money to buy on gadgets these days.
shit, when i first got it, productivity hit through the roof. i seriously couldn't put the pen down.
its easy to use and i cant image myself going back to using the smaller tablets.
probably the smartest thing i have ever invested in.
con's - there is a very noticeable offset from tip position to cursor position
pro's - the ability to rotate the device
con's - the screen gets hot fast! making it less enjoyable to work with on warm summer days.
pro's - matte anti-glare surface and a slight texture for a bit of paper feel (still picks up glare from lights)
con's - easily scratched - (I have this thing for 4/5 months now and with average use have some big scratches on it)
All in all its a nice piece of hardware with unfortunately some mayor flaws, I don't know what kind of improvements the new model has over the one pictured above, but its not the perfect artists input device.
anyway, seeing the work you are doing with a normal tablet, I don't see why you would want a cintiq. Sure its nice and looks cool on any desk, but it takes some time to get used to and you need to find workarounds for some of its flaws. plus the scratches, ugh.
In the end it comes down to how you like to work.
If you want to have your input device take center stage and don't mind to invest time into it, take a cintiq
if you like to sit behind your desk with a tablet on your lap, sketching, then this is not your thing.
the perfect device would be:
portable
no offset between the pen tip and the cursor
does not heat up
anti scratch surface
good tech support from its manufacturer
all those points are not found in the cintiq
PS getting your scratched glass surface recoated costs you 450 bucks (not supported in your warranty)
The lag thing, Nah, Never seen that, maybe your pc suck if you have lag. The heat, Not enough to be a pain , scratching surface, is either cause your pen nip is too old, or u press to hard..
For me, after a few mins i was sold. Its alot more fun to paint and sculpt with that thing, its like RIGHT there! anyway. Like i said my opinion as a character artist , its a Joy to have.
Lag and noticable offset between pen tip and curson I´ve never ever noticed nor any problem with heat. It does have some problems with brightness but from what I´ve gathered that´s been fixed in recent versions.
The only problem I had was when I had worked with a cintiq for a long time and then got a job where I had to use a intuos again, took me a good while to re-learn that thing
Empty actually came across a good way to protect the surface..if you are a hard pressing foo...just go to Hobby lobby and pick up a roll of acetate and cover the screen with it ...I think it was like 8$
and the scratches are only on the semi new ones (2006 till 2009 models?) who have glass surfaces, since glass is pretty shiny they put down a coating on it to reduce glare and add a bit of texture, this is the stuff that scratches and it costs 450 bucks to have it recoated. Its just fail for such an expensive product. and no I paint very lightly and my tips are like new, I replace them on a monthly basis (got a shitload of them)
anyway, it did not make me a more productive artist:
the thing is so large that if you are a heavy shortcut user, you have to find a small enough keyboard that fits between you and the cintiq. you need to change the way you work.
Like others have said, the UI in photoshop, etc. is simply too cluttered on the 12 wx do to the screen resolution. This by far doesn't make it unusable or anything, but it does make you "uncomfortable" at times.
The only time I actually like the smaller screen of the 12 wx is when I'm working on Iphone characters. It's sort of nice on the lower res. to get a feel for how they look.
I think anyone who gets the 21 ux, and gets the proper setup will love it. Hell if you find you don't like working off the cintiq you can always just map it to other screens and use it as a intuos with an extra screen. Personally I do this with my 12ux from time to time to use my higher resolution monitors, so I get a different look at what I'm working on. Then I throw something less important on the cintiq like my IM manager.
Everything is better on a cintiq
well, you know, when you have 6 fingers... it can get a little cluttered. i thought you would have first hand experience in this arena Inigo.
I've found that I spend less time undoing strokes with the Cintiq, I've drawn with traditional tablets for about 13 years but it never matched how I naturally draw.
I have a tablet at work and it sucks compared to the Cintiq I have at home.
It is by far one of the best investments I have made.
The lower conrast levels and the tendency for colours to lean towards red is kind of annoying, but I always check my work on another display as I go along.
I'd say that you should try one out before buying though - it's definitely a big investment and not everyone likes using a Cintiq. I think there are licensed Wacom retailers in most big cities that will let you have a play with one.
Id love it if wacom would make a portable version of the 21ux so i could move it around (with a laptop).. sheesh, PLEASE! DO IT!
http://www.axiotron.com/index.php?id=modbookpro - Looking forward to reviews when this hits hopefully first quarter 2011, but I think it´s been postponed more than once.
TELL ME, i want a small one for traveling, I don't wanna have to bring the 21 its like a fucking gigantic luggage to carry. Lol
do it!!!
I wish I could try one out but I honestly have no idea where I could do that in the UK. I used my friends (Mr Oakley) HP tablet PC and having your hand in the way took a bit to get used to but I did like it. I guess see how much money I make in the next month or two and take the plunge
I love my 20wsx (still find it odd they discontinued it in less than a year)
But cintiqs aren't for everybody. Usually you can demo it at pro-camera stores.
You get use to the cintiq's quirks (except maybe the hotspot)
I think it's a hit an miss with the scratch issues. I've used mine for 2 years now, and only has 2 scratches on it.
So you would recommend cintiq 21" to those who have been working with cintiq 15..
for some reason, I realized that if I read 10 posts on "why one shouldnt buy cintiq" and come across one post on "why one should" my second thought of going for intuos just dies off for a while...<.<
I like the 21" because i can use my drawing tools (triangles, rulers, etc) easier and the larger screen is nice in photoshop.
Actually it is 21" and 12" is what I am wondering between...right now I have 15" which is doing the job but than again even that is too big for my work space.
According to Zbrush central, 12" works good with Zbrush also.
So if you can give any good reviews on 12" that'd be appreciated also.
If not...than I guess I'll have to stick with 21"