[froo]

I saw a Wacom Cintiq the other day in use. Wow. If you have $2k, it's better than pen and paper

As someone who has used both the Cintiq and pen and paper, I prefer the pencil/paper combination for storyboarding and general sketching as you get more feedback (feeling on your fingertips) than with a Cintiq because of the rough vs smooth surface.

Don't get me wrong, the Cintiq's are awesome and can allow some amazing tasks to be completed (especially with storyboarding & appropriate software), but often times I feel people need to make a deeper connection with the task at hand that the cintiq's just don't allow in certain creative arts.

I guess it's all a case of perspective. Sometimes imperfections are the key to making things special.

[wallflower]

> Sometimes imperfections are the key to making things special.

Love that comment. Very zen, very Friday, very deep

[mhb]

Electronic Stylus with Writing Feel patent:

http://www.google.com/patents?id=6MceAAAAEBAJ&dq=berkson

[froo]

Yet this has no visual feedback (there's a quantum leap between using a Cintiq and say one of the Bamboo's or Intuos'.. I have an older Graphite, used a Cintiq and fell in love instantly)

Plus, to Wacom's credit they have the many different pens to be able to quickly simulate different effects (and make it more like a traditional workflow) while the artist is using it - yet this stylus has no such thing.

The Cintiq's also have a very cool swivel stand for turning/tilting the device to make it more reminiscent of an animation disk. There's also a special wrist/pinky finger strap to help your hand move over the device more smoothly and reduce smudging.

Plus this patent looks like it has a rolling ball. I don't know of many artists who use ball point pens to draw with.

Specifically, most use felt tip pens, markers or pencils. Some of those artists even stop using pencils when the shaft becomes too short because it throws off the balance of the whole thing and becomes less intuitive for them to draw with.

In fact, in the pencil community (go read some pencil niche blogs, these people are REALLY passionate about their writing tools) there are several people who refuse to use a pencil with an eraser on the end (and the opposite is true) because of the counter balance effect.

Then there's also the fact that different pencils (both brands and grades) move across surfaces in different ways. I know of at least one artist who actually switches between 2 pencil brands of the same grade to achieve different effects while drawing.

Moral of the story, not all writing instruments are created equal - you can't just substitute one for another and expect the same result.