I'm still trying to get past stick figures here.

what do you wanna tell us with this site?
I already know it XP

now I see it, the page was showing me just the main page of wacom before >w<
Now this is a pen-thingy I'd like to have, would be just great for me as a traditional artist ^^

Nice!

Totally going to get one at some point. Will be a WORLD of usefulness when it comes to dealing at cons and doing sketch commissions :3

I'm really curious to see how it performs in a real world environment.

Yeah.. good point.
Maybe I shouldn't get too excited about it until the reviews roll in..

omg lolz that exactly what i could use lolz i'm think i'm good at sketching but suck at in on the pc

Kinda interesting.. though i've seen a very similar thing once.. although that one needed a special paper to work..

yes, logitech had one, but no pressure and special paper..if it had a mechanical pencil somehow it'd be perfect, but at $200 it looks to be a great, cheap alternative to the cintiq (if you don't mind drawing in pen anyway)

That actually looks pretty cool

........wheres the undo button?

^THIS

The usefulness of this device is surpassed by the scanner. :T

It's not very good for sketching, since you can only use the special ballpoint pen, and I think most artists would rather use their favorite pencil(s) for that.

If the goal is to get your paper sketch into digital format, I duno, scanner has been doing that pretty okay. This looks expensive.

Only $300 and it automatically converts your images to vectors with layers =3

Yeah, but why would I care if my sketch is vectors with layers? It's just a sketch, not finished linework. I wouldn't ink with a ballpoint if you paid me; they have a tendency to skip and clog. There's no reason why I'd need it to be vectorized unless it was finished linework.

And a scanner is only about $80 or less, which seems a lot more promising for sketches. (also, I can erase and clean my sketchwork before scanning it because I can use a pencil)

Because then they are workable in illustrator. You could sketch, adjust if necessary in illustrator and then digitally colour. Also, for people like me who find it easier to sketch and do line art on paper it saves me having to sketch on paper -> scan -> and then clean up and convert the lines anyway.

I'm sure Wacom will not make their ballpoint like a regular bic :/ Chances are they'll create new and different pens, also, like they did for their tablets.

Open your mind to the fact that some people may find it useful, like myself

Not saying somebody won't find use out of it, but I'm still not seeing it to be terribly promising. It even states that it's intended for the preliminary front end of illustration. You know what I have for that? I have paper and pencil, less than ten dollars. If I want pen? I can get a pack of ball points for a dollar.

If you're sketch is bad enough that it needs to be adjusted in illustrator first, you may need to rethink your sketch. If it's minor errors, you could still probably fix them faster in PS with an intuos.

Same here, but I'd still find it useful to have my sketches instantly and easily converted to perfect vectors instead of sketch -> scan -> line -> path -> vectorise
Just makes the whole process a lot faster and easier, especially when I'm having trouble using illustrator. This will be great for a comic commission I have in the works, will make stuff so much easier :D

Yes, maybe some people will use this as an easy way around just learning how to draw. But their work will never be as good as those who already know how. Being a n00b shows through, no matter how much expensive equipment you have. It's the same theory with photography; a shit photo is still a shit photo no matter how good you are at photoshop.
But vectoring a sketch can be a long and tedious process. I'm pretty sure that I would get my work done a lot fasted if I had this and personally I find the process of sketching on paper, cleaning on computer and then possibly having to redo the lineart digitally anyway to be a real drain on my inspiration and motivation, the same as vectoring something.

Think of those doing graphic designs, they could have logos sketched up and then ready to go already vectored for them! And if you have a bunch of sketches to scan, this can take ages. I know myself that scanning can take ages and then sometimes the scanner only scans half a page or then you have to crop it and readjust the rotation so the image is the right way up. Yes, this may all just sound like I am terribly lazy, but its not true.

I want to make money from my trade, and you know what people like? Fast work. Fast and clean and great work. And this will help people.

And again I'll say, Wacom will probably release alternate pens like they did with the intuos 4 pen & airbrush and alternate nibs. And I am pretty damn sure this ball point will be much better quality than your $2 pack of 20 bics

The thing is, though, that it's mostly just for sketching. I don't need quality to do a ballpoint pen sketch. All I need is something that puts what I'm trying to draw on the paper. This device isn't intended for your final linework, so they probably aren't going to be doing very much in the way of accommodating for it. From what I've seen, this whole thing's intended use is getting the idea to the paper for the first time.

Yes, people want fast work. People also want quality work, too. If you're intending to buy this thing and go straight from drawing on it to coloring, you're not going to be getting much of the latter.

Also, I still fail to see why on earth you want your sketches vectorized. I could understand your inks; they're something that are going to be displayed, but your sketch isn't likely to be shown much at all, IF at all. I can only imagine that you want your sketch vectorized so that it's not pixelly when you size it up; that shouldn't even matter because you're the only one who's going to see it be a bit pixelated.

Those doing graphic design? It doesn't matter if their sketch is vectorized for them or not. It's not their finished linework or anything like that. They are still going to have to ink over it and do finalized linework. There's no point in them having fancy vectorized lines for something that they aren't likely to display.

So, uh, yeah. It still looks useless to me on that front.

Why can't I use this for lineart? I don't see any difference in sketching then inking with this and then having it already vectorised.

Also, vectors mean that it is clean. Meaning you don't have to clean the sketch yourself. It's there BAM on your computer ready to upload/put a bg behind, colour, whatever.

I honestly see myself sketching and then using this on my lightbox to do lineart or just doing neat sketches anyway ready for colouring on the computer. Some people's sketches are amazing and ready. I know that when my friend sketches he doesn't have to do much to any cleaning up when he goes to vectorise it. All the lines are there, he just messes around in illustrator and redoes the lines so they are vectors. With this BAM skipped a tedious stage of the process.

I draw in pen and exorcise that FORCES me to get everything right the first time. I would love to not have to mess around cleaning up my sketches. It's done.

You have to think beyond whatever they are advertising it for. Look into what it actually is. This is their first product of this kind, they are unlikely to overreact or push its use and performance to avoid bad reviews such as 'it didnt do everything they said it would'. Rather, if they under sell it then reviews will be more like 'wow, this was more than i expected!'

I don't completely get your view point, first you're like 'If you're sketch is bad enough that it needs to be adjusted in illustrator first, you may need to rethink your sketch' but now you're like oh sketches are just shit anyway ...

Plus, if I buy mine from Japan its only going to cost me approx $180 ... bloody bargain.

I'd find GREAT use for it if I'm honest. I mean I don't use fancy pencils to sketch, I scribble and then go straight in with inking when drawing on paper, and I rarely do this. I do sketch commissions at conventions so this will help out a hell of a lot in getting them all stored and made digital if the customer also wanted that sketch coloured digitally when I return from cons. I think its amazing and I want onnneee

lol...wacom failed...yeah...it's called a scanner...no shit, am i right?

You can skip the sketch cleaning stage completely, I think its worth it.

Especially when scanners can be little bitches and only scan half a page XD

And I hate having to go through my sketchbook and scan, crop, orientate and clean my work. This skips all that. Plus, its more portable than a scanner.


So, you're not really right or wrong. You prefer scanning for whatever reason. I personally will love to grab one of these :)

It can clean the sketch for you and all that shit? I didn't even see that part D:

Yeah! It records them as vectors which = clean lines

And you can also replay how you drew it :D

Its ... cool :'D

mmmm

That's pretty neat. Great for me since I usually just doddle on paper anyways.

i am so buying this.

Totally getting one =3

That seems rather redundant.

This would make drawing on lined paper more acceptable ;u; no one would know that you drew it there!!

Thats so awesome!!

I must remember this.

im still a few versions behind with my bamboo T_T

Though you can still create the same effect with a bic, a sketchbook, and a scanner X3
the downside is that you cannot ctrl-z with a real pen

Heh, I still have a Wacom Graphire 1. Been working fine for over ten years!

lol, old school X3
your work is really nice too (just saw your profile page)
I had a volito 2 but upgraded to a bamboo when my pen broke.

Oh, thank you. I haven't even heard of Volito, guess they're not as tough as the oldies.

I've been using my bamboo for 3 yrs now, don't feel bad. :3 I really need to upgrade someday, but moneyyy. T-T

Intuos 4s are real cheap now :D

I'll wait to see a proper customer review but that looks great. All things considered it's pretty cheap too.

I just watched a youtube video before reading your journal xD

looks an amazing tool for artists !

It looks neat, but there's no way I could justify the price when I could buy a scanner for >$80. I don't like the idea of being made to use their specific ballpoint pen, either (although I'm sure it's necessity).

There was already a solution to this made some time back.

its called a scanner.

And Before you say that a scanner is clunky, and takes up too much space, I have a scanner that is the size of a wacom pen. works just fine too.

there is no reason for this invention to exist.

What works well for you might not work for others and visa versa.

For some artists, but not for others. As many have pointed out above, using this at an artist's table at a con would allow people to do a sketch and hand it over to the client right then, but still have a digital copy of their own without having to scan the piece first.

which leads me to another point. The people who will find this useful are a very limited group of people indeed.

This is true, sadly. I'd probably still opt for a pen-sized scanner, myself. But if Wacom wants to make this for the people who do need it and there's nothing better they can be doing, I'm not really able to get too growly about it.

yeah i get rather passionate sometimes. its one of my little foibles.

Digital pen itself isn't new innovation. The little storage device that is connected to the pen is the new innovation in this case.

Fancy, fancy.

I love how people are going "OMG SCANNERS".

Scanners are a solution for MOST people.

But scanners aren't portable, and the portable scanners that do exist still leave something to be desired.

When all you have is a laptop, would you rather use a portable scanner or an Inkling?

I just hope they use Liquid Graphite ink and have a smart eraser on it, so that way it knows what parts you want to erase (liquid graphite ink is the best ink for pen-sketching since sliced bread. Period.)

Or better yet, make it a mechanical pencil setup instead of an inkpen. :o But still have the smart eraser that knows when you're erasing so it erases on the sketch too.

I think the downside with an eraser is that there's no easy way to tell how wide or thick the eraser is, so the tool couldn't assume which edge or thickness of the eraser being applied... :(

If the tool has a programmed image of itself, including the eraser, and was pressure-sensitive, then it wouldn't be an issue. :3

From what I saw in the 'how to draw with' video, you can't obstruct the Inkling that straps to the page.
Me thinks that this is basically a Wii situation--

THe two lights at the top are the sensors, while the pen tip exudes a light, and transmits a pressure signal.

RE: Programmed image of itself, maybe, but I don't know if it's smart enough to know how much eraser remains, and what shape it is.. :(

The next best leap in technology: Smart erasers! 8D

This looks pretty interesting. I would love to see a demo of it.

Meh, I don't find use in this. I don't need a vectorised picture in illustrator, and besides it says cs3 and up. anyone who doesn't have photoshop or might be clinging to cs2 or lower is screwed with that device.

Honestly I wouldn't find it useful at cons either, some people would FAR prefer complete pencil or traditional work, so now instead of having a lil portable scanner (I've seen some really good ones), you've decided to take this device that limits you to pen sketch and a digital result. How is that useful for conventions?

if you ask me it's more work... But alas, to whoever decides they want it to improve their linework for a computer, as practise or to be made into a digital thing, then sure, go for it. I just don't see the point as a convention tool.

Technology is going far. That's pretty awesome.

I still would rather have a Cintiq although this is a nice, MUCH cheaper alternative. XD I guess? Maybe? Sort of? X3 Looks interesting either way. I know a buttload of people who will jizz themselves inside out at the prospects. :P

*grabby paws* i want

Definitely I want it!

If I ask politely, maybe they'll give me one, and I can review it for you!

I'd rather they focus on making a $500 10/12 inch Android or Windows Cintiq Tablet. That way we can work on any kind of digital art (2D, 3D) without being tied down to two different machines.

I've seen the premise before, mainly for note-taking, not drawing. I only see pen-tips too, like in the models I've seen before. I draw in pencil and ink with specific inking pens, which I doubt would work with this system.

A nice idea, but nothing all that new XD;

I used a similar device develop by Genius once but it required a whole tablet under the paper. still this one actually looks great.
It would be even better if it were a mechanical pencil instead of a pen thought, i worry about how much the ink replacements will cost and if they would be even available outside the US

wow that looks amazing... I can't wait till it comes out

Wow! And only $200? As soon as it comes out, I'm getting it!!!

That'd be quite an interesting device to experiment with. A combination of real and digital media, hopefully it works as well as it seems. It looks quite portable from what the video showed.

To all those who are shooting it down for being "pointless" and replaceable by scanners...
The time and effort it would take to replace your ink drawings with vector lines would almost double the time you spent just creating the lines themselves. The flexibility of converting ink drawings to vector means you can also resize your drawing to a larger or smaller scale to work on further digitally without permanently losing detail.
The portability of it also makes it extremely appealing for staying mobile as keeping that kit on you is much easier than a computer and a portable scanning wand. All you would seem need is the pen, monitoring clip, and your favorite sketchbook.

It has its place and personally, I'm fairly excited to give it a try.

The people who are all 'durr scannurs' dont seem to get this at all.

the one person im talking with doesnt even seem to understand the pros of instantly having clean vectors ... apparently you could clean it up faster in photoshop ... lol

i cant wait to get my hands on one of these :D

Wow, I may actually be able to sketch "in digital" now O.o

I think there is a lot of creative potential in a device like this that people are overlooking; The main draw I see here is having a physical sketch suddenly become vector art with very little tweaking (supposedly). A 'layered' physical drawing is also an interesting idea, and I want to see how it can be utilized further than what the marketing is telling us.

this is really awesome! it's like... not $2000 and its a little closer to resembling a cintiq

Hey 'Neer, why don't you just ask for more site donations? WAH HAHAHAHAHAHA

But for srs, that thing looks awesome. I'm stuck with a crappy little Bamboo. :<

I already have a Cintiq, so... yeah. =P Although I want one of these eventually.

BLACK MAGIC!!!! I'll sell my soul to the for this XD

Coming next, the Wacom Deathnote.. Hate you co-worker? Hate your neighbors kid? Hate that old woman constantly dinging your doors when she parks?
With the Wacom Deathnote you can draw Your co-worker smacking himself in the face with a full coffee pot and watch it happen right before your eyes!

Nah, but seriously, some pretty neat technology, but if I am not mistaken other companies had made similar things, I wanna see Wacoms in action though as the other things I saw were mostly for writing or very simple stuff at best, this seems promising.

Would be awesome if I still drew on paper...
When I got my first and only tablet, I've been a digital artist ever since...

I can't even remember the last time I drew on paper... :(

that is rather interesting.

That's, like, the most useful product I think I've ever seen when it comes to art. I am definitely going to find the money and invest in one of these!

I am going to repeatedly kick santa in the groin while screaming high pitched obsceneties like an 8 year old on xbox live with a foaming mouth until I get this.

I find it funny to call this an "innovation" since other companies have had this exact same product on the market for years.

... They're just not Wacom.

You can even buy clip-on kits that work on everything from laptops to desktop monitors and turn them into crappy Cintiqs, all for ~$100. I don't think they do pressure sensitivity, though, and most monitors aren't designed to have someone stabbing them with a pen - you generally need something that's already touch-screen capable or stick some clear solid surface on top of it.

That's not to say that Wacom's version is a bad product. It's just a copycat product. And, knowing Wacom, they'll probably do it better than everyone else anyways.

Execution > Originality.

MAGIC *snort snort*

Yeah… you still need another tablet to further edit what you sketched with this pen. I'd rather they included this as an accessory with their tablets as a much smaller tack-on extra.

There are other pen capture products out there, mostly meant for capturing writing and simple napkin sketch ideas, so I guess what they did was make it more artistically detailed in capture and not focus too much on the OCR.

Not that convinced this is their greatest new direction, but I have one of the worst records in saying what's successful and not.

That is really cool! But you still need a tablet if you are planing on coloring the drawing. I'm saving up for the Intuos4 Medium.

"Hey guys. Imagine if, now stay with me here, you could draw... On PAPER. Wouldn't that be freaking amazing!?" - The basic advertising premise here

169.90€? gotta buy it.

Tasty!
I was hoping to stick with my intuos2 until it gave up the ghost but I just sat on the stylus a wee bit and now its all crooked and sad like a limp penis.
And because a bamboo is nearly the same price as a replacement stylus i may be ordering one this week... £40 for a stylus seriously...

If people have a scanner that auto scans layers into photoshop then you can color me impressed. As someone who sketches in ballpoint pen and has had difficulty getting clean lines scanned in, I find this awesome. This would solve many of my artistic issues. This is on my want list for sure.