dl1@ukc.ac.uk (D.Langford) (10/13/89)
C'mon, guys... a week and several hundred messages ago I posted: > A friend has asked me to suggest how his son, an artist, can use a > Mac to produce line art. The problem is that he doesn't like using > the mouse for drawing - he'd prefer 'something like a pencil', > which is the medium he's used to. (I have heard that drawing with > the mouse is rather like using a cake of soap!) > Main hardware would probably be a big screen IIcx - any suggestions > about what input device would be best? Does anyone make a graphics > tablet (I know Apple /used/ to make one.. but I haven't seen it > lately); and what software should I suggest that he buys? Unfortunately, so far - a zilch response... Doesn't /anyone/ use a graphics tablet, or know of someone who does? In my innocence, I'd assured my friend that he didn't need to worry.. "Hundreds of thousands of skilled Mac people out there?" "Yeah. You can forget the problem. Our /problem/ will be in sorting through the megabytes of replies.." OK, net gods; I've learned to be humble... now, /please,/ may I have some advice??!! - duncan ----------------------------------------------------------------------- dl1@ukc.ac.uk duncan langford computing lab., university of kent, uk -----------------------------------------------------------------------
kehr@felix.UUCP (Shirley Kehr) (10/16/89)
In article <2745@harrier.ukc.ac.uk> dl1@ukc.ac.uk (D.Langford) writes:
<Doesn't /anyone/ use a graphics tablet, or know of someone who does?
<In my innocence, I'd assured my friend that he didn't need to worry..
I don't think many people on the net are artists. I tried the Kurta
tablet at a show a couple years ago and was not at all impressed. Maybe
things have improved since then. If you can find a source of recent
MacUsers or MacWorlds, they have reviews of input devices every so often.
It seems like I remember one of these within the last two or three
months.
However, the reviews rarely help you decide how it would feel for you to
use the device, and I don't know of dealers that carry one to try out.
They're quite expensive. Maybe you can find a mail order dealer that
gives a 30-day money back guarantee. Again, try MacUser or MacWorld for
sources of mail order dealers. Call the 800 numbers and ask about the
tablets even if they are not advertised.
MacWarehouse carries two kinds of tablets. The cheapest is an 8 1/2 x 11
inch tablet for $255. The 12-inch tablets are $399 (Kurta) and $325
(Bit Pad Plus). The options are kind of confusing.
MacWarehouse (800) 255-6227
Shirley Kehroster@dewey.soe.berkeley.edu (David Phillip Oster) (10/17/89)
I've written tablet drivers for Macintosh for a living. Here are some of the issues: 1.) How fast is the data rate from the tablet? Most tablets I've seen seem sluggish compared to the mouse. 2.) How sensitive is the tablet to the angle of the pen? Many tablets requirw you to hold the pen always at the same angle or the cursor moves. 3.) How sensitive is the tablet to stray fields? I've seen tablets that get inaccurate when you shift them a few degrees, due to interaction with the local magnetic field. I've seen other tablets that were built with out recognizing that the human body makes a good raio antenna. (on one brand, you can hold the digitizing pen in one hand, and fingerpaint with the index finger of your other hand. The positioning signals just travel through the body. This means that when the tablet is used normally, the amount of hand pressure on the tablet affects where the cursor is. 4.) How flexible is the software for specifying coordinate systems? My dirvers allow arbitrary rotation and scaling, with a dialog button to press to "preserve aspect ratio" that is, scale the x and y coordinates equivalently, so a square on the tablet translates to a square, not a rectangle, on the screen. 5.) Does the software have an easy way of getting into mouse mode? If you have a big tablet, it is a pain to stretch all the way across it to get at the menu bar. You should be able to flip the system into mouse mode, and ideally have the same kind of mouse acceleration that the normal mouse provides. 6.) What kind of macro package does the tablet support? You'll want quick ways of doing menu commands by pointing at reserved areas of the tablet. This lets you get more work done without taking your fingers off the digitizing pen. 7.) How does the tablet interface to the Mac? Serial tablets take up one of two valuable serial ports on a Mac. People with machines newer than the MacPlus generally prefer ADB tablets, although they are often more expensive. Conclusion: arrange for a test drive before you buy. Good hunting.
esf00@uts.amdahl.com (Elliott S. Frank) (10/18/89)
In article <2745@harrier.ukc.ac.uk> dl1@ukc.ac.uk (D.Langford) writes: >C'mon, guys... a week and several hundred messages ago I posted: > >> A friend has asked me to suggest how his son, an artist, can use a >> Mac to produce line art. The problem is that he doesn't like using >> the mouse for drawing - he'd prefer 'something like a pencil', >> which is the medium he's used to. Ok, ok .. I only read a small faction :-) of comp.sys.mac, so I thought someone else had answered this ... My wife had the same complaint "...every time I hit a new medium, I have to learn how to draw all over again ...." so we bought a Kurta ADB tablet. It's likde drawing with one of those pencils they give you in first or second grade (big, fat, and not as fast as a 0000 Rapidograph). It comes in various sizes (we have 8.5" x 11") and plugs into the ADB on an SE[x] or II[cx][xi] as just another device. It has a lifetime (!!!) warranty and they're even upgrading original ADB tablets to pick up new features. It comes with a cdev to adjust speed and sensitivity. Ours has a corded pen, you can also get a cordless pen for about $100. Street price is a hair under $400, check around ... ----- -- Elliott Frank ...!{hplabs,ames,sun}!amdahl!esf00 (408) 746-6384 or ....!{bnrmtv,drivax,hoptoad}!amdahl!esf00 [the above opinions are strictly mine, if anyone's.] [the above signature may or may not be repeated, depending upon some inscrutable property of the mailer-of-the-week.]