Product Review: Wacom Intuos 3

[kdiddy13]

I finally saved up enough cash to buy a new tablet. I figured why not go all out and get a 6x8 Wacom Intuos 3. I knew it would be an improvement (I was using a 4x5 serial Wacom Graphire, not bad, but not great), but I had no idea how big an improvement.

First of all the pen is fantastic. It has a bit of weight to it, has an incredibly wide range of sensitivity (especially noticable in programs like Painter), and a nice sized rubberized grip. Bottom line, it just feels good. The stand that comes with it lets you stand the pen up or lay it on its side at the cost of being a bit bigger than the old stands.

6x8 size is ideal. The drawing area is actually big enough to feel like I'm drawing. I've noticed a dramatic jump in the quality of my digital drawings. However, the overall tablet size is a little large (about 50% bigger than my old graphire) and a little trickier to use with a keyboard at the same time. Manageable, but trickier.

But the real improvement on the Intuos 3 over earlier models (I use an Inutous 2 at work), is the addition of the scroll pads and buttons on the side. There are 4 programable buttons and a scroll pad on each side of the drawing pad. They default to Shift, Ctrl, Alt, Space, and mouse wheel (that's on a PC). They are also programmable globally and for specific applications, standard stuff for Wacom.

The really cool thing is that you don't need the pen to use the side buttons. That's right you can use the side buttons with your fingers (including the scroll strip). So while you're drawing and animating away in Moho, you can use all the standard navigation modifiers with the mouse clicks while holding the tablet on your lap or any other comfortable drawing position and not need to use the keyboard. You could have one side with modifiers and the other programmed with your most used 4 most used tools. It may not sound like much if you aren't using a larger tablet now, but it really is a very cool innovation.

The mouse that comes with it is better than they used to be (5 button, scroll wheel), and it has a bit more weight to it than they used to. Ultimately though, I'd either use the stylus or a "real" mouse as it still has a weird disjointed feeling to it. I don't have an optical mouse at home, but at work I know you can't use the Intuos2 as a mouse pad because the laser doesn't reflect properly. I don't know if that's a problem with this model.

The texture of the drawing area is the same as it always was, but doesn't have the clear plastic sheet that lifts for tracing. I never used it so it wasn't a big deal. The non-drawing area is a clear acrylic type material, which takes a little getting used to. It's very fancy looking, but is so smooth it feels a bit "sticky" at first, like resting your arm on a piece of really clean glass. I imagine it may be easier to keep clean, but I'm concerned about it scratching. Time will tell.

Bottom line: I love it! If you're working without a tablet, or working on an old clunker of one, the Intuous 3 is a very worthy purchase. The buttons are a HUGE bonus feature that I wasn't even expecting. The design is sharp and futuristic looking, although may be prone to cosmetic damage (again, I haven't seen it yet, it's just a gut reaction). The pen is very nice, while the mouse is improved, but still not as good as a "real" mouse. Personally, the 6x8 is the perfect size for me. 4x5 was too small to get a good feeling for sketching and drawing, while I imagine that 10x12 is cumbersome for standard work and may not fit on many people's desks (although, it's probably great to draw on).

It also comes with a very nice software package including: Photoshop Elements 2, and Painter Essentials. Both are great additions to the Moho artists tool box. While they aren't the full versions of Photoshop CS or Painter IX, they do include a all the tools I typically need and use on a project.

If you do some searching you can find it for just under $300 (I got for $289 from shipdog.com and was very happy with their service).
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[hemorrhoid]

After reading your above review I am really interested in this product. I have never used a tablet before, and I know little about them. But being a person who prefers hand drawing rather than drawing lines on a computer I have a few questions.

Is it as accurate as drawing on paper?

When using it in moho is what your drawing automatically in vector format, and Are the lines and points all automatically connected and ready to be filled?

Will it be easier to use this to draw in moho rather than using the add point tool built into moho?

Is it really worth $290 if I am only planning on using it for animation mainly in moho?

[kdiddy13]

Hmmm. Interesting questions. All and all they're tough to answer, as the tablet is kind of an odd experience. Some people love em, others can't catch on to it. It's a much more personal style of working with the computer as compared to the generic input of the mouse.

Is it as accurate as drawing on paper?

You miss the tactile feed back that you get from working directly on paper. And it is a bit disorienting at first. Especially since the tablet is almost always a different size than the monitor (althought they do have a really pricey tablet/flat screen monitor that I've heard really kicks ass). There are options for removing the distortion between dimension (length to width differences), so that if you draw a square on the tablet, it will be a square on screen.

Utlimately, it's different than drawing on paper, but much closer than working with the mouse. Where I can't draw with the mouse, I can do some really nice sketches right on screen. One of the big advantages is that it will sense how hard you are pressing and it can do a number of things to reflect this (size of stroke being the most obvious).

When using it in moho is what your drawing automatically in vector format, and Are the lines and points all automatically connected and ready to be filled?

Yes, it's in vector format. It uses the freehand tool to draw (it works like a regular mouse for everything else). It reflects your stroke strength and outputs lines of varying width. I believe there is a auto close option. Typically I don't use the freehand tool in Moho, I generally create basic shapes and mold them like the Mudboy tutorial. But when I have I get some very nice results.

Will it be easier to use this to draw in moho rather than using the add point tool built into moho?

If you are used to the absolute precision of adding points and working that way, then probably not. If you are a great drawer and find you can quickly sketch out characters, it may work very well for you. Typically, even after adjusting the settings, (and this goes for most vector programs) I find that the freehand tool creates a nice looking line, but it has so many points on it that it's difficult to work with.

Is it really worth $290 if I am only planning on using it for animation mainly in moho?

Professional animator, spending hours at the computer, or doing lots of graphics work? Absolutely. Just for Moho? Probably not. I'm hesitant to recommend such an "extravegance" for a hobbyist. I'd recommend a more inexpensive alternative like the Wacom Graphire, a very nice graphics tablet (I think they even have a 6x8 graphire now). Either way the stylus has the advantage of not being as hard on the wrist as the mouse, and if you work on the computer all day then come home and work more on the computer, it can really be a wrist saver.

Basically, I love mine and it took a while to save up for it, but I also use it as my primary input device for just about everything (even web browsing). It took a week or two of solid use and customizing (setting the rocker switch to right and middle mouse buttons) to get used to using one, but I've become very attached to it now.
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[Lost Marble]

You miss the tactile feed back that you get from working directly on paper.

This is true - the pen on the tablet can feel a little too "slippery". Try this: cover the tablet with a piece of paper, and then draw with the pen on the paper. It adds a little friction to the experience and may make it feel more natural.

[JohnO]

I've been using tablets for many years now; my old Wacom ArtPad II 8x6 is still doing sterling service on a secondary machine. I tend to routinely use the pen as a general input device and only resort to a mouse when extreme precision is required.

One of the problems I have with my (now fairly aged) Graphire 12x8 is the noticeable 'jittering' of the cursor when the tablet is mapped to a large desktop, especially near to the edges of the active area. Is this any better with the Intuous range? If so, maybe it's time I upgraded.

beoð ge gesunde

John O

[kdiddy13]

One of the problems I have with my (now fairly aged) Graphire 12x8 is the noticeable 'jittering' of the cursor when the tablet is mapped to a large desktop, especially near to the edges of the active area. Is this any better with the Intuous range?

I haven't noticed any jitter with the intuos3 (and I am familiar with that phenomenom). It seems to have smoothed out alot of the jitter that I used to see in some of the older tablets. It has a very good feel to it.

Although along similar lines, I find that it is so sensitive that I can't hold the pen perfectly still long enough (we're talking fractions of a second here) to get tool tips to pop up. But that seems to be the case with all of the tablets I've used. Solution: Try very hard to lift the pen straight up off the tablet. A pain, but a minor in convenience.
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[JohnO]

I see that at 5080lpi the resolution of the Intuous3 is considerably more than double that of my old Graphire. That ought to go a long way to evening out the jitters.

Hmmmm... Now see what you've started, you naughty man. If you get an irate e-mail from my wife you'll know why.


John O

[kdiddy13]

I imagine that you won't regret it. It took some convincing, scrimping and saving, and asking just for money for Christmas for me to get mine, and I'm totally glad I splurged on it..

Send your wife my apologies!
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Ecstasy rehab advice

[spasmodic_cheese]

get a tablet pc if you can, its totally worth it, and much easier to draw with accuracy, unless you get that wacom tablet with the screen built in, but then you dont get the portability of a laptop

Toshiba M200 is the BEST investment of my life.

[Snudddy]

I'm also having one of wacoms tablets and I think its excellent with something new then using a mouse. The only thing I can't overcome is that it's much more relaxing drawing direct on paper seeing the pen touching the surface and leaving marks.

With a tablet you draw without looking at the paper and just looking at the monitor. The eyes should look at the tablet and not at the screen but it is at the screen witch is most important to look because there is where we get the final results.
I think the tablet should have a monitor to draw on, but then also it probably would be very expensive.

[Snudddy]

I think Wacoms "Cintiq" table would satisfy my digitalpen needs

[cribble]

I dunno, i've never been a drawing tablet fan, but i have considered it.. and the review just pushes my urge in getting one... hmm...