Wacom tablet

[Thaxter Clavemarlton]

Tablets are the GUI-input choice of many editors.

I first learned the Mac on a Trackball.

After that, I thought I’d never get used to a mouse, but now the mouse is all I use.

I’ve used some tablets as well.

It’s like driving an auto transmission car and then buying one with a manual trannie.
It foreign and difficult at first, but once you get used to it, you can eventually “intermix” as needed.

[Walter Biscardi]

I’ve been using tablets for about 8 years now. First with my Media 100’s and now with FCP and I can’t work without them. Especially with multiple monitors it just makes my work so much faster. Also a do a lot of work in Photoshop and After Effects where there is no better tool for masking and compoisiting.

I run the 9×12 Intuos 3 on my main system with dual screen displays. I’m going to pick up a smaller one for our second system in the near future. Can’t recommend them enough. Takes a couple of days to get used to them, but then you’ll never go back to a mouse.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Creative Genius, Biscardi Creative Media
https://www.biscardicreative.com

Now in Production, “The Rough Cut,” https://www.theroughcutmovie.com

Now editing “Good Eats” in HD for the Food Network

“I reject your reality and substitute my own!” – Adam Savage, Mythbusters

G5 Dual 2.0, AJA Kona 2, Medea FCR2X

[Editbay1]

Using one since 1996.

Faster and more efficient editing and graphic design.

Go for it and don’t look back.

[Debe]

I use both the Wacom tablet and the mouse.

However, I’m left handed but learned to mouse with my right hand. I always have the stylus in my left hand & the mouse in my right, unless I’m doing work best suited to the keyboard.

I love it! I miss it dearly when I go to client’s offices that don’t have one.

debe

[Jeremy Garchow]

On Walter’s advice, I picked up my first tablet about 4 months ago and love it. It took some getting used to and some time to get the settings how i wanted, but after I figured out what worked best for me, it has been awesome. As Walter says, if you work in AE or photoshop, it truly shines there as well. Plus, my wrist loves me for it as I seem to have taken away it’s pain.

Jeremy

———–
G5 Dual 2Ghz <> 4GB RAM <> FCP 5.02 <> Kona 2

ATTO 42XS <> Huge Systems 1.25 TB 4105 Fibre

[Scott Davis]

Thanks, I think I’m going to go for it. Another editor I’m working with has been using one for a while and to watch him use it was really amazing. Much faster and more fluid.

[Dean Sensui]

I’ve been using a Wacom tablet for the last several years and have long since stopped using anything else except a trackball.

The only thing I find troublesome with a tablet is double-clicking on an item in a sequence. If not done carefully the clip may get slightly shifted inadvertently. Sometimes for those tasks I’ll use a trackball.

But overall, for speed, convenience (and having to work with limited desk space), I really prefer the tablet.

Dean Sensui — http://www.HawaiiGoesFishing.com

[Bob Woodhead]

Wacom Intous if you have bucks to burn or if you are an artist (or aspire to be one), the Graphire series otherwise. I use a 6×8 Intous. Love it & the pen, but man oh man does the Wacom mouse suck!!!! Awful ergonomics. Got a Logitech MX500 (*best* ergonomics, IMHO) on the side for mousing. Spent a bunch of years editing on Quantel kit, which was designed for tablet… always seemed so elegant and fluid.

Bob Woodhead / Atlanta
Quantel-Avid-FCP-3D-Crayola
G5 DP 2G, 10.3.4, 3.5GB RAM, FCP 4.5, Aja IO, Huge 320R [raid3]

[Martin Baker]

I’ve used a Wacom for editing since 2000 (first on Avid DS/Symphony, now on FCP) and can’t imagine using a mouse again.

Double clicking with Wacom is the thing that usually throws people but here’s the way to stop that frustration – you should have one of your pen buttons mapped to a double click (I use the front button for double click with the rear one mapped to Right click). When you want to double click something like a timeline clip, you just HOVER above it and press the button. Do not actually touch the pen down on the tablet. That way there’s no way you can accidentally move a clip, which is what usually drives people nuts.

Martin
Digital Heaven, London UK
________________________________________
NEW! VideoSpace – free diskspace calculator widget

[John Calhoun]

I’ve been using a 9×12 for 3 years. It’s great for paint work in Photoshop; nothing better. I use the 4 button mouse mostly, with ‘control click’ to button 2; ‘option click’ for button 3 and ‘command click’ for button 4. Of course having a scroll wheel is very convenient when I have 10-20 layers going. Being able to switch between pen and mouse when the wrist starts to ache is a career-saver! The Wacom is well worth the investment for the professional editor.

pxlmvr

John A. Calhoun
Zone Communication Group
Cincinnati, Ohio