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experience with Graphics Tablets for AE
Hi,
I have never delved into this area before but for an up and coming project it is looking like I will need a graphics tablet for hand drawn animation over video footage.
I was wondering if anyone using this forum has had any experience of using graphics tablets with After Effects on a Mac platform.
Are there any that I should stay away from? What makes the prices vary so much?
If anyone could suggest a reliable, not amazingly fancy one for a reasonable price I would be very grateful. There will be two people starting out work on this project and possibly more as it develops, so keeping the cost of the tablet down would be nice in case we need to purchase more.
I’m also guessing that the best size of the tablet depends on the work that is being done. Are their many considerations I should take into account for this?
I look forward to you replies,
Many thanks!
Martin. -
3 Replies
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I’ve used Wacom (“wakkum”) tablets for years — love it. Right now, I’m using the Intuos 6×8. The size is a good balance of accuracy and footprint for this desk. It comes with a mouse, when precise double-clicking is needed in NLEs and such. But I also use a regular USB mouse for a change of pace. Yes, you can use both … on the Mac, at least. Probably on Windows, too.
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I am running AE CS3 on a new Mac Pro and I am currently using my old Wacom Intuos2 tablet. It works great all the time. I even take it to work and plug it into the PC I have there.
In my opinion (from someone who’s only used Wacom tablets) Wacom’s products are great. You can download the drivers you need (Mac or PC) from their website (but you’ll get them on disk when you buy the tablet too) and plug them into anything. Mine is a 6×8 inch tablet but it automaticly scales it’s performance to my widescreen monitor at home. In other words, no matter what dimension screen you have, the top right corner of the tablet IS the top right corner of your monitor (and so on for the other 4 corners).
Wacom has several levels of tablet that range from affordable to CRAZY EXPENSIVE! For any professional application, the Wacom guy I spoke with at SIGGRAPH recommended the Intuos line of tablets as the base. Below it is the Graphire tablets and for home users, they recently released Bamboo.
Anyway, check them out for yourself:
https://www.wacom.com/index2.cfm
I’ll soon be ordering an Intuos 3!
Good luck, Chris
Chris Heuer
Freefall FX, LLC -
I have an A4 Intuos 3 at work on my PC and it is excellent.
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