I’m loving everything about my new iMac -except- this funky “mighty mouse”. So I started shopping for a replacement mouse, except a decent one is about $50. So I’m thinking for a couple bucks more I may as well just get a graphics tablet (like a 4x5 Wacom or similar). I used one long ago for paint apps, but not with any 3D apps and especially not with any development apps like Unity. Is anyone doing this? Does it work? Any recommendations? Thanks!
Most 2D and 3D Apps are supporting Wacoms and the special pen features like tip rotation, angle etc. today. Cinema 4D with BodyPaint for example is excellent to use with any type of Wacoms, but i would suggest an Intous 3 with TouchPad and Express Keys. It will save you from returning to the Keyboard to often. Modelling is also speed up a lot.
I havent used my Wacom with Unity so far. It may have some issues with the transforming tools, due to the very fine tuned pen tips. Cinema has a special preference option wich must be enabled when using a Tablet. Otherwise you get weird results when trying to navigate in your viewport…
But a Wacom is definitly a good and practical (and fun…) approach to anything concerning graphics and Layout.
I have a 5x4 Wacom (Intuos 3 refurb) and it’s pretty sweet for texture painting. The mouse is also very nice… there have been problems with the driver and Unity in the past, the Delta still doesn’t work. I find the Wacom pen invaluable for texture creation, but if you’re just looking for a cheaper solid mouse go for a 3 button model from Kensington. The drivers are highly customizable.
PS- Mighty Mouse might be one of Apple’s worst ideas ever. Damn, just make a multi-button mouse already! No one is buying this “one button simplicity” bullshit anymore.
Yeah, the mighty mouse isn’t all that mighty… I’ve got one and the only aspect of the design that makes it powerful is the little scroll ball on the top, but that gets dirty pretty quickly and now it only scrolls along the x-axis. It’ll probably be another decade before Apple releases a real two-button mouse.
To fix that problem with the scroll ball… push it down a little, not fully, then roll to the direction that does not work… After a few seconds it should be cleared.
I still would love to buy a mouse which has a proper asymetric design, three buttons, features a scrolldevice which is able to provide three axis, so that lifting the finger or pressing it on the point in the mouse alters the height (pressure sensitive and electric/thermal distance sensors for instance). Moreover i would like to get rid of the cabel but i don’t like to use batteries or accus in a docking station. It should be feed itself with solar and thermal/kinetic energy from my hand/movements.
This would be mighty…
By the way how well can you steer your 3d apps with a tablet? I always was wondering if this would work out better but i never tried it so far.
I’ve got Wacom tablets on all my machines, but I use a mouse for most applications and reserve the pen only for paint apps. I find it’s too sensitive for 3d and daily navigation.
Well, i used my intous 3 A4 with cinema 4d, zbrush and photoshop more often then the mouse. It is quite practical and the use of those ExpressKeys wich are freely configurable offers a very fluid workflow. And as said before, it keeps the keyboard away.
Since january i use a Wacom Cintiq 21" and with direct optical feedback i only get back to my mouse when gaming. Working in C4D, Bodypaint or zBrush is nearly like touching the model. Cant think of a better way than that. But an Intous 3 A4 will definitly do an excellent job.
Which tablet size would you recommend for what kind of work when looking at A5 and A4?
Thanks for the feedback. I forgot that the Wacom comes with a cordless mouse so I guess I’ll have the best of both worlds it seems.
What drives me nutz about the less-than-mighty mouse are the “squeeze” button and right button. I seem to trigger the squeeze by accident once every couple of minutes and my right clicks only register about 50% of the time. The roller ball has been OK, but my iMac is only a week old.
Note that whatever USB mouse you were using before you got the Mac will also plug into the Mac.
(I love the mighty mouse shape, but the right-button is unreliable for me too. It’s all in how you hold your hand–some people have no problem, some do. Like me. An interesting concept for a mouse, but not worth it–real buttons are better than virtual ones!)
Re Wacom and its mouse: note that by default a tablet uses absolute, not relative positioning. In-game, that can send very different signals and make control difficult. Shouldn’t be a problem in the editor though. Also, a normal mouse always moves “up” when you FEEL it move up–the direction the mouse is facing. It’s common to hold your mouse at a bit of an angle at different times, but up is still up. Not so with Wacom: up is the TABLET’s up, even if the mouse is held at an angle. For some people, this is awkward. I have a little bit of a problem using one for GUI pointing/clicking. They’re still great for drawing with the pen though!
Re tablet size: I’ve tried may sizes, and it’s your personal call but I recommend small. The 5x4 ones (Graphire 2?) seem perfect to me–although sadly they lack some of the features of the higher-end Wacoms. I had an 8x6 and I gave it away: I ended up using just a portion of the surface. Using the whole surface was SO tiring! Look how far you move your mouse to get across the screen–measuring how far, say, the place where the cable joins moves across the mouse pad. Not far! A tablet bigger than that means moving your arm farther and faster… all day long. A workout. I want me sedentary workplace to be sedentary! Of course it depends on what you’re doing–I’m sure CAD benefits from a huge tablet. I was just drawing in Photoshop and Painter.
Hmm… you make a good point about mouse orientation Morgan. I often sit sideways to my desk with my feet up. The pad would be perfect for this, put it in my lap and sketch away. But the mouse might not work well moving sideways. I guess I could always have -both- plugged in (the keyboard has 2 USB ports) but my desk is cluttered enough already (with 2 monitors, 2 keyboards and 2 mice).
What about the pads by Genius? Anyone try them? Price is about half that of a Wacom. I’m pretty much decided that a 4x5 will be big enough for what I need. Larger is usually for tracing paper sketches any hoo…
I think A4 is the size of sizes… not to big to handle anywhere and lots of space to use any application with comfort. Also A4 represents a good size to fit a normal screen, so you can actually feel your pointer location and get better results.
When using them a lot its better to have some space for your hand to rest and to move freely over some distance to get dynamic fluid brush strokes.
An A5 is good for doodeling and some standard masking procedures in photoshop. When you like to draw or paint or use it for modelling, i think the A5 is too small.
@bigkahuna
I havent any experience with Genius Pads, but resolution and reaction speed is a great factor. Anything below 2048 dpi will give you pixled or even crippled lines when working fast in Photoshop or Painter. For Modeling i think it wont matter. I tried a Graphire once. It meets all requirements to do normal graphic work, modeling and painting. But still… no Express Keys… 
bigkahuna, the 6x8 is definitely the way to go. I’ve got two 4x5’s and they’re mostly used as mousepads! 
Reading Morgan’s response re: the 6x8 real estate; he’s absolutely right. That issue is mitigated for me because the rig that has that pad has two widescreen monitors installed. So effectively, I’m only using half the pad to cover each desktop.
Probably, but I’ve got no room. It’s either a 4x5 or just get another mouse. I’m looking at building a new desk, but my office is kind of cramped already.
True–screen size is a factor. With a big enough span of screens even a mouse can be tiring.
Re orientation in your lap: it’s OK as long as you tilt the tablet the same way as the mouse. But a lot of people vary the mouse tilt–without even thinking about it–and then it gets annoying. Having a real USB mouse as well solves the problem though.
I recommend a Graphire 2 if the size/features (no tilt I don’t think?) are acceptable. Great driver software, great feel/ergonomics. I think it comes with a nice version of Painter too–but it might be an older Rosetta version.
I don’t think they make the Graphire 2 any more. There’s a Graphire 4 though. Thinking about getting this when I order my 1 GB RAM upgrade:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16883100021
That’s what I would get for myself–but the tablet size you need is a personal call.
Hmm i’ve heard that the surface is easy to scratch and the clamping in paper isn’t working this well, so i got a recommodation for the Intuos…
I’m really unsure about the size…A3 looks okay for my monitor resolution but this might change for bigger ones. Question is if my arm is long enough to work on a A4 surface. Can you reduce the working area on a A4 tablet so that you only use a region which you define → smaller region on old monitor and full region on multiple of a new screen?