Best Graphics Tablet for Digital Art?

[Cybeat]

What's the best drawing tablet for CGing? I've been saving money for a Wacom Cintiq for a while (at this point for me, it's impossible to get $1000), so I decided to go for a regular tablet. Someone told me a Wacom Bamboo isn't good for CG, unless it's Wacom Bamboo Fun. Others told me an Intuos is better than Bamboo, while some artists I know said I should just wait to get a Cintiq. Now I don't know what's the best tablet....for a beginner tablet user. Any suggestions?

[Samu-kun]

You honestly don't need that expensive of a tablet if you're just a regular user and not a professonal. I use a Wacom Bamboo Fun and it works fine for all my tabletting needs.

Hahhh... I would like to get one of those whacky $1000 tablets though, just to see how they work. :3 Ah, but it's not worth the money...

[Sin]

Cintiq!? lol. Why'd you want to get that?!

A tablet is just an input device and it's not any better than the tools you use it with, whether it's Photoshop, Open canvas or Painter. All Wacoms are great, accurate devices and you can't really fail with any one of them. I have two older models but they still work as good as when I first bought them.

If it's your first tablet I suggest you get a Bamboo. Seriously..

[Cybeat]

Cintiq has a screen. Wouldn't inking and coloring be more accurate when you have a screen right below your fingers? It's like drawing on paper. I asked some people who have it, and they told me it's the best tablet to use, but it's too expensive. Since I'm new to this whole tablet thing, I thought I should just go with a regular tablet.

Is there any difference between Intuos and Bamboo?

[Mikan]

whatever~

[Sin]

Sure, it's definetly different to draw using a tablet than on, say, a piece of paper. Tablet surfaces has less friction than paper and you look at your screen instead of down at your pen. It's takes a while to get used to and you should expect that your first tablet drawings will look like shit. This is usually when buyer's remorse sets it but it's a temporary hurdle. It only takes a couple of hours to break down the interface barrier and it feels just as natural as with a pen and paper.

Just with a mouse, your eyes will track the cursor on the screen and your hand-eye coordination will do the rest. When you think about it, do you have to look down at your mouse to be able to accurately click a button? No, of course not.

Another side-benefit of using a "regular" tablet is that your arm won't cover up your drawing when you draw.

I'm not too educated on the differences between Intuos and Bamboo, but I think the Intous can detect not only the pressure of your stroke but also the angle. But not many of artist (or tools) take advantage of that feature. The pressure sensitivity might be higher on the Intous but I'm not sure.

tl:dr; Forget the tablet -- buy a scanner.

Boo! Scanners are great but they are a dead-end if you're interested in doing digital art. Something as small as the ability to use layers and undo-history can be infinitely helpful.

[Sapphire Dragon]

I personally love the cintiq after using it at uni (Ive used the laptops with pens aswell and I have to say the cintiq is worlds apart with feel and pressure control, im going to assume you havent used one mikan to say the laptop is even a painting tool. The surface of a cintiq is rough too and if you use the felt nibs you get slightly more friction than paper, its like working on thick card); I just cant afford one myself and for your first tablet thats going tooo far! (unless your rich.)
If you want my opinion if its wacom just make sure the surface area is about A5 or more and you will be fine.

EDIT: the difference between bambo and intuos is hard to tell, the bamboo has a mere 512 point pressure and the intuos has 1024 point pressures. Can you notice even 100 different pressures you put onto the pen?

[Mikan]

I've used one at my college too, but I wasn't very impressed.
It was seriously just a LCD screen with a plastic surface.
Those wacom guys need to invent a tablet that responds to every kind of touch.
It'd be incredibly useful if I could use my fingers to drag windows around or to rotate them or crumble up a file and fling it to the garbage.
Allowing only the pen to work on the screen is a little counter-intuitive.

[Sapphire Dragon]

ah right fair enough. My bad. But don't compare it to a laptop wth touchscreen, they arent even made for drawing and you really can tell, with the limited pressures and the bad accuracy with the depth of the screen included.

[Vatina]

I just have a Wacom Graphire (4 I think) and it works perfectly for me. After a short time you get used to drawing on the tablet and looking at the screen, it's not too hard. Sometimes I even use it instead of a mouse.

I'll still agree with Mikan and say that a scanner is great to have too though I draw all my lineart by hand, and then do the digital colouring with the tablet. But this is very different from person to person.

[Samu-kun]

To add to what everyone else is saying, I would say that using a mouse, a scanner, and a tablet works the best for me. First, I sketch a picture on paper, scan it, and then lineart and colour using a combination of tablet and mouse. I'm ambidextarious when it comes to the mouse, so I just use the mouse on my left hand and the tablet on my right. It's a bit bizzare, but I like selecting tools, zooming in and out, clicking on buttons, and navigating through scroll bars using the mouse and drawing with the tablet. :3

[Cybeat]

Ah, thanks for the opinions, everybody. I guess I'll go with a Wacom Bamboo. I'm not going to do all my art on tablet. I'd use it just for coloring.

@Sapphire Dragon: I wish I could try a Cintiq, but thing is, I never touched a tablet before. I don't even know what it feels like.

@Samu-kun: I would do the same way you would, which is sketching on paper, scanning, inking and coloring with tablet. I might use the mouse too, since I'm left handed and I use the mouse with my right hand.

[Samu-kun]

Mmm... Just so that you know, usually, it takes one or two weeks of practice until you get used to the tablet. Don't really expect an enormous increase in your abilities because you have a tablet. XD In fact, the first couple drawings you make will look alot worse than your usual work. Also, if your initial sketch isn't good, then there's no way that a tablet will make it any better. It solves some problems with the mouse, such as giving you pressure sensitivity, but creates others. I think the biggest problem with a tablet is that you can't rotate it like a piece of paper. Anyways, a tablet is a good tool to have, but don't expect too much of an enormous improvement. Drawing on a piece of paper and drawing on a tablet are two different skills that have much less correlation than you may think. :3 The only way you're going to truly improve is to release games, draw pictures, and listen to other people's critiques.

[Mikan]

It helps to read customer reviews and stuff when it comes to buying hardware.
Check places like Amazon and Newegg to see what people have to say about each tablet. (and to get a feel for ow much you should be expecting to pay!)

[rioka]

Ah, thanks for the opinions, everybody. I guess I'll go with a Wacom Bamboo. I'm not going to do all my art on tablet. I'd use it just for coloring.

Good choice. I got a tablet around early 2000 and I still have (and use) it. You don't need a fancy one or a large expensive one. As everyone says, there's a bit of a learning curve when you first try out the tablet. Don't give up and keep practicing!

Coincidentally, I'm covering CGing on Photoshop and GIMP this month, so check 'em out if you want. I just have a clean-up tutorial for now but next week, I'll start getting to actually coloring it.