Wacom Cintiq (LCD monitor/tablet that lets you draw on it)

Shinova · Post by **Shinova** » 2007-12-07 09:01pm

I had the chance to try out a Wacom Cintiq 21 inch, and wow it's really something else.

It's basically a giant 21 inch LCD monitor that's also a high-quality tablet surface. It's like using a regular wacom tablet, but you can draw straight onto what you see, so the accuracy is magnitudes better and you can quickly accomplish details that would take you longer to do on an ordinary tablet. Plus you have a bunch of buttons and touchstrips you can individually configure as you wish and the whole display can rotate.

It bases at about $2,500 but I think it's worth that amount of money. Just a cool thing I got to try out recently.

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2007-12-07 09:05pm

What's the accuracy like? I don't know anything about tablets, but touchscreen LCDs don't have pixel-perfect accuracy generally.

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2007-12-07 09:07pm

Stark wrote:What's the accuracy like? I don't know anything about tablets, but touchscreen LCDs don't have pixel-perfect accuracy generally.

IIRC, they are very accurate - they use a different technology than conventional touchscreens.

Shinova · Post by **Shinova** » 2007-12-07 09:09pm

Stark wrote:What's the accuracy like? I don't know anything about tablets, but touchscreen LCDs don't have pixel-perfect accuracy generally.

It's not perfect, I suppose, but it's daaaaamn close. You can calibrate it so that you can offset the cursor to where the tip of your pen is by a certain angle and amount and such. Pressure-sensitive and tilt-sensitive like most modern tablets today.

It's good enough that I hear some animation studios have replaced all their traditional light tables with a bunch of cintiqs. I also see that youtube has some videos of it in action.

Covenant · Post by **Covenant** » 2007-12-08 01:46am

As an animator who has used them, yes, they're that good. Highly expensive but worth every penny. If you have a good fulltime job that involves drawing or at least making diagrams, and can afford a monitor like that for it, go for it. I use a wacom digitzier tablet and it works fine for drawing, so the Cintiq is not required whatsoever--but it does make life a hell of a lot more fun.