I miss you, TVPaint! But wow is the iPad Pro great...

[neonnoodle]

Happy new year, TVPaint pals. It's been quite some time since I did any animating in TVPaint because I acquired an iPad Pro about six months ago. Although it's obviously not the full-fledged computer that it could be, the experience of drawing on it with the Apple stylus is VASTLY superior to any other tablet/Cintiq/Tablet PC etc. that I've ever used (and I've tried 'em all). The shape of the Apple Pencil is much much better than the tiny-tipped Wacom/Ntrig stylus form factor that's found on other types of tablet. Even though my Cintiq supports pen tilt, it doesn't feel quite right to tilt the Wacom stylus and not be able to touch the screen with the side of the stylus tip. The Apple Pencil has a proper conical tip, and is easily the most natural digital drawing experience ever.

As for animation, I have tried out every single animation app for the iPad that purports to handle hand-drawn animation. Only one is really useful for animation (RoughAnimator), although a few others do have potential. FlipPad (from Digicel) is good, but buggy and idiosyncratic (much like its desktop sibling FlipBook). I hope to see more development in this area. Here's some animation done in RoughAnimator:





It's a tough bargain to give up the power of really, REALLY good software in favor of something more immaterial (the drawing "experience"), but it's simply irresistible. I'm open to the gap being closed in the future. I hope Wacom takes notice of the design choices that Apple has made in the form factor of their stylus, because I would jump back to a Wacom-branded product (like their portable Studio product) in a heartbeat if it could match the feeling of the iPad.

[Fabrice]

Why don't you use astropad ?
It works (ok, only in the office)

[neonnoodle]

Yes, portability is a big bonus. Also, I am on Windows/Linux at the office so my option is Duet Display, which does not have wireless capacity. The performance of Duet is slower and worse than simply using the Cintiq which is already hooked up.

If I were already a MacBook type person, you can bet I'd be doing Astropad everywhere!

[Elodie]

I liked the shape of the stylus too, but this is the only thing I really liked with iPad Pro :/

[o0Ampy0o]

I would like to know what people do not like about drawing with the Apple Pencil and iPad Pro.

I carefully considered getting a Cintiq when I was building a system. Had the 22HD been updated I might have built something around one. The 27" is too big and expensive to be practical for me. I went as far as buying the 13HD however I postponed opening the box. I reconsidered, returned it and ended up with an iPad Pro 12.9 and use an app called Astropad. I like the small footprint of the iPad Pro. Although the Cintiq buttons and software interface have value (of course) I am happy to just have the drawing area available using Astropad to mirror a portion of the interface. The iPad can be 100% WiFi but its cable is a fine Thunderbolt plug with more like a wire compared to the Cintiq's bulkier cable and plug sticking out of the device. I am looking around for a programmable keypad.

I like drawing with the iPad Pro. I might only like using a Cintiq less because it takes up (takes over) so much space while I need my computer for many other things than art. Using at least a tablet is a necessity. The iPad/Astropad/Pencil feels much better than my Intuos Pro to me in addition to adding the ability to draw directly on the art.

[Elodie]

New generation of Cinitq Pro (13 and 16) will only have one usb-c cable with a small adapter : a usb connection for the computer and another one for the power. It's very neat.

Regarding the iPad Pro, I dislike :
- the shinnig screen : I prefer the matte screen of the Cintiq
- the way you charge the stylus battery is ridiculous.
- Apple policy which won't let us adapt TVPaint on iOS the way we would like to.
- the weight of the stylus (I like how thin it is, but it's damn heavy)
- the surface of the tip and the screen are too smooth : Wacom let its users the possibility to use scratchy tips

[neonnoodle]

New generation of Cinitq Pro (13 and 16) will only have one usb-c cable with a small adapter : a usb connection for the computer and another one for the power. It's very neat.

Regarding the iPad Pro, I dislike :
- the shinnig screen : I prefer the matte screen of the Cintiq
- the way you charge the stylus battery is ridiculous.
- Apple policy which won't let us adapt TVPaint on iOS the way we would like to.
- the weight of the stylus (I like how thin it is, but it's damn heavy)
- the surface of the tip and the screen are too smooth : Wacom let its users the possibility to use scratchy tips

Ah! The forum is back finally.

I have a matte screen film on my iPad. This solves the surface and drawing feel issues perfectly. With the screen protector on, it feels like a pencil on paper. It's true that the limitations of the software are troubling. However, I have tried using Windows on tablet devices and find it very hard to use many of the functions with only the stylus. iOS is limited but is optimized for touch input.

[Elodie]

Yeah, 3 days without going to the forum, I almost fainted

However, I have tried using Windows on tablet devices and find it very hard to use many of the functions with only the stylus.

You made a point.

[neonnoodle]

I'm intrigued by the forthcoming Samsung Book, which looks like the only Windows tablet other than the Wacom Mobile Studio Pro to have a pen that supports tilt... Perhaps it will be more affordable than the MSP.