jacc@tekigm2.TEK.COM (Jonathan A. Colby) (07/03/87)
... I am considering the puchase of a graphics tablet for my A1000. Does anyone have experience with the several that are advertised (Kurta, Anakin, etc.)? Please mail responses to me and I will post a summary. Jac Colby jacc@tekigm2.TEK.COM Tektronix Inc (They disclaim me around here, too) Personal Engineering Products MS 02-386, PO Box 500 Home: 5529 SW Patton Rd Beaverton, OR, 97077 Portland, OR 97221 (503) 627-4534 (503) 292-1609
keithd@cadovax.UUCP (07/09/87)
In article <1902@tekigm2.TEK.COM> jacc@tekigm2.TEK.COM (Jonathan A. Colby) writes: >I am considering the puchase of a graphics tablet for my A1000. >Does anyone have experience with the several that are advertised >(Kurta, Anakin, etc.)? Please mail responses to me and I will >post a summary. Speaking of graphics tablets... I've had a Summagraphics BitPad for quite a few years, it has a parallel interface, and I'm sure I could figure out how to hook it up to the Amiga parallel port. However, does anyone know how I would have to go about hacking the software so that I could use it with DPaint II? Since we don't have a mouse.device that I could replace with a BitPad driver, what do I do? Hack up some hardware to convert the pad's parallel port to mouse signals and hook it to the 9 pin (gag!)? Get out the debugger and trap through DPaint (also gag!)? Pay EA $$$$$$ for some kind of developers kit? Any suggestions? Keith Doyle # {ucbvax,ihnp4,decvax}!trwrb!cadovax!keithd # cadovax!keithd@ucla-locus.arpa Contel Business Systems 213-323-8170
bryce@COGSCI.BERKELEY.EDU (Bryce Nesbitt) (07/13/87)
In article <1641@cadovax.UUCP> keithd@cadovax.UUCP (Keith Doyle) writes: < I've had a Summagraphics BitPad for quite a few years, it has a parallel < interface, and I'm sure I could figure out how to hook it up to the Amiga < parallel port. < [what do I do?] Hack up some hardware to convert the pad's parallel < port to mouse signals and hook it to the 9 pin (gag!)? Get out the < debugger and trap through DPaint (also gag!)? Pay EA $$$$$$ for < some kind of developers kit? Any suggestions? This is easy. Assuming you magically have the input from the tablet you simply format it like RAW mouse events, and call the input.device IND_WRITEVENT command. Dpaint will never know the difference. "poof" (See the Rom Kernal Manual's input.device chapter. Page 3-106) ----------------------------- |\ /| . Ack! (NAK, EOT, SOH) {O O} . ( " ) bryce@cogsci.berkeley.EDU -or- ucbvax!cogsci!bryce U "Success leads to stagnation; stagnation leads to failure."
daveh@cbmvax.UUCP (Dave Haynie) (07/13/87)
in article <1641@cadovax.UUCP>, keithd@cadovax.UUCP (Keith Doyle) says: > Keywords: digitizers graphics tablets penmouse easel > > In article <1902@tekigm2.TEK.COM> jacc@tekigm2.TEK.COM (Jonathan A. Colby) writes: >>I am considering the puchase of a graphics tablet for my A1000. >>Does anyone have experience with the several that are advertised >>(Kurta, Anakin, etc.)? Please mail responses to me and I will >>post a summary. > > Speaking of graphics tablets... > > I've had a Summagraphics BitPad for quite a few years, it has a parallel > interface, and I'm sure I could figure out how to hook it up to the Amiga > parallel port. However, does anyone know how I would have to go about > hacking the software so that I could use it with DPaint II? We've got some of these around here, though they hook in through the serial port. As far as I know, no one's hooked one up to an Amiga just yet. The approach you'd probably take is to write a task that sits in the input stream. As events are recognized as coming from the bitpad, your task translates these into mouse events. This is all happening at a reasonably high level; it's not like you actually have to turn bitpad signals into mouse quad signals or anything. You're going to have to play some trick, I think, to translate between the absolute positioning of the bitpad and the relative positioning of the mouse. Once this driver is installed, though, it should work for any Intuition application. I think I've seen an example of something like this around, but I can't recall what it was called. > Keith Doyle > # {ucbvax,ihnp4,decvax}!trwrb!cadovax!keithd > # cadovax!keithd@ucla-locus.arpa Contel Business Systems 213-323-8170 -- Dave Haynie Commodore-Amiga Usenet: {ihnp4|caip|rutgers}!cbmvax!daveh "The A2000 Guy" PLINK : D-DAVE H BIX : hazy "Catch a wave and you're sittin' on top of the world" -Beach Boys
IMS103@psuvm.psu.edu (Ian Matthew Smith) (10/22/90)
I was talking to an artist friend who is interested in the Amiga and I need to know about some imput devices. She has used mice (Mac & IBM) and does not like the feel. Could anyone recommend a good input device that uses drivers so it can work with existing software programs? (DP III, Disney's Animation Studio, ect...) What would be the best for someone used to drawing with pen and ink? Most work will be *exactly* what Disney's program does, so any ideas? Thanks in advance. Ian Smith <ims103@psuvm.bitnet>
lcline@sequent.com (Larry Cline) (10/23/90)
In article <90295.104209IMS103@psuvm.psu.edu> IMS103@psuvm.psu.edu (Ian Matthew Smith) writes:
I was talking to an artist friend who is interested in the
Amiga and I need to know about some imput devices. She
has used mice (Mac & IBM) and does not like the feel. Could
anyone recommend a good input device that uses drivers so it
can work with existing software programs? (DP III, Disney's
Animation Studio, ect...) What would be the best for someone
used to drawing with pen and ink? Most work will be *exactly*
what Disney's program does, so any ideas? Thanks in advance.
Ian Smith <ims103@psuvm.bitnet>
I would strongly recommend the R&DL AProDraw tablet. I have used them myself
and an artist friend of mine would love to get one (but she'd have to buy an
Amiga first and she doesn't have the money). They come with a stylus and
can be used to replace the mouse. It works with DPaint but I'm not sure how
well it works with Anim.Studio (they originally had problems with the DPaint
interface).
One thing I did notice was that when working with the normal intuition stuff
it was very uncomfortable for me. The idea of tapping the pen twice to open
a drawer seems foreign. Fortunately, if you put the stylus down so that it
is not on the tablet surface, you can use the mouse normally. If you have
the stylus down on the tablet, the mouse fights with the tablet and you get
all kinds of interesting motion.
One drawback I noted was that it used the serial port. Possibly with a
serial port card you can get away from tying up the port. I don't recall how
well it shared the serial port. It might be that you would have to kill the
driver if you wanted to use a 25pin switchbox.
The tablets are available in different sizes up to 18" x 18" (?) and maybe
even larger now. They are more expensive than the Easyl but I prefer them
because you can use the tablet one handed and they're available in different
sizes.
Just my $.02 worth.
Larry Cline
lcline@sequent.sequent.comjerry@truevision.com (Jerry Thompson) (10/26/90)
In article <LCLINE.90Oct23083948@crg8.sequent.com> lcline@sequent.com (Larry Cline) writes: >even larger now. They are more expensive than the Easyl but I prefer them >because you can use the tablet one handed and they're available in different The Easyl can be used one handed. The buttons are optional. -- Jerry Thompson | // checks ___________ | "I'm into S&M, "What I want to know is, have | \\ // and | | | | Sarcasm and you ever seen Claude Rains?" | \X/ balances /_\ | /_\ | Mass Sarcasm."