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Fun Stuff => MAKE => Topic started by: keiko on 20 Jan 2006, 12:18

Title: developing mad skills with wacom
Post by: keiko on 20 Jan 2006, 12:18

just posting to see if anyone has any tips for smooth lines in photoshop with the wacom. i watched jeph's movie clip of him drawing a panel and i just can't seem to get my lines so fluid. maybe i just need more time with the tablet, but any suggestions for improving in this area would be of great help! thanks! ^_^

Title: developing mad skills with wacom
Post by: ozphactor on 20 Jan 2006, 12:36

First off, make sure you have smoothing enabled in the brush settings. A no-brainer, really.

As for technique... draw fast and don't hesitate. Don't worry if it doesn't look perfect the first time; you can always undo and keep trying (just like Jeph does in the video). The quicker you stroke and the less you hesistate, the smoother the lines will be. Simple.

Title: developing mad skills with wacom
Post by: keiko on 20 Jan 2006, 18:11

Quote from: ozphactor

The quicker you stroke and the less you hesistate, the smoother the lines will be. Simple.

that's what i thought. guess it's practice time for me! >_< back to the drawing... erm... tablet.

Title: developing mad skills with wacom
Post by: Justin on 21 Jan 2006, 16:17

Quote from: ozphactor

First off, make sure you have smoothing enabled in the brush settings. A no-brainer, really.

haha! holy crap i have no brain! i had no idea there was a "smoothing" feature. I've always thought that my computer just wasn't good enough to process those quick strokes. what a difference now! thanks for bringing that to my attention :)

Title: developing mad skills with wacom
Post by: keiko on 21 Jan 2006, 23:09

Quote from: Justin

i had no idea there was a "smoothing" feature. I've always thought that my computer just wasn't good enough to process those quick strokes.

i discover new stuff on photoshop all the time, man! don't feel bad ^_^
the limitlessness of these programs is almost too much sometimes ^_^

Title: developing mad skills with wacom
Post by: Mollinda on 02 Feb 2006, 13:03

Quote from: Justin

Quote from: ozphactor

First off, make sure you have smoothing enabled in the brush settings. A no-brainer, really.

haha! holy crap i have no brain! i had no idea there was a "smoothing" feature. I've always thought that my computer just wasn't good enough to process those quick strokes. what a difference now! thanks for bringing that to my attention :)

There's a smoothing feature!? Where?!

Title: developing mad skills with wacom
Post by: jeph on 02 Feb 2006, 14:34

Guys, Photoshop's "smoothing" feature does absolutely nothing to smooth lines with a Wacom. It's all about brush control. Quick, sure strokes will always look better than slow, laborious ones. You just have to practice over and over and over until you get comfortable enough to do things in quick little jabs without it looking bad. If you want a program to automatically fix your linework for you, get Flash or Illustrator.

Proof that "smoothing" doesn't really do anything noticeable:



(click for full-size)

Title: developing mad skills with wacom
Post by: blackmage on 02 Feb 2006, 15:33

The trick I use is quite simple. I draw big,  and then zoom in 300% on top of that. It gives you far better control over your linework.

Of course, it only really works if you're going over a quick sketch underneath.

Title: developing mad skills with wacom
Post by: Justin on 03 Feb 2006, 19:41

[accidently doubleposted, sorry. see below. :P]

Title: developing mad skills with wacom
Post by: Justin on 03 Feb 2006, 19:42

Quote from: jeph

Guys, Photoshop's "smoothing" feature does absolutely nothing to smooth lines with a Wacom. It's all about brush control. Quick, sure strokes will always look better than slow, laborious ones. You just have to practice over and over and over until you get comfortable enough to do things in quick little jabs without it looking bad. If you want a program to automatically fix your linework for you, get Flash or Illustrator.

Proof that "smoothing" doesn't really do anything noticeable:
(image)

that's not true, at least not for me. before i enabled smoothing i wasn't able to get smooth lines with quick strokes, i had to move slowly, at least slowly in comparison to how i can move now. here is an example of what smoothing does for me:

(http://www.mastersoftheart.com/files/smoothing.jpg)

without smoothing, i can't make smooth curves with quick strokes, as you can see. it's as if the line can't keep up with the motion.

Quote from: Mollinda

There's a smoothing feature!? Where?!

in photoshop 7.0 i find it in the right top corner click on "brushes" and you should see it there in a checklist kind of thing.

Title: developing mad skills with wacom
Post by: Stifled Dreams on 03 Feb 2006, 20:16

THEORY: If you draw fast enough that smoothing will make a difference, you will notice that something is amiss if it isn't turned on.

Title: developing mad skills with wacom
Post by: Mollinda on 04 Feb 2006, 10:17

Damn my smoothing is on anyway and I still get jaggy lines from drawing too fast!!!

Title: developing mad skills with wacom
Post by: nEmoGrinder on 07 Feb 2006, 06:46

PART ONE: Actually it may be the tablet?  I personally use a graphire 2, a little old tech and I notice in photoshop that my lines look choppy.  I never tried PHOTOSHOP smoothing (probably because I didn't know it existed) but I HAVE used illustrator which I'm assuming has smoothing on automatically and I can totally tell the difference.

maybe you have a better tablet than I do, faster transfer rate/better DPI and therefore have no need for smoothing because the tablet is accurately drawing on teh screen what you draw on the pad.

IF this is true PLEASE let me know because I am thinking of buying a graphire 4 from best buy so I can start my own comic and not have to go through the hassel of adjusting lines and the like.

PART TWO: I'm assuming all of you use photoshop (I'm very comfortable with it) and now that I know smoothign exists I can stop using illustrator (which just confuses me because I don't use it much).

any other suggestions for programs to use?  I've done flash but i think it exaggerates the line weight/shape a bit too much.  I actually really like the way illustrator does line weight but until I get used to it I'd rather have a OK looking comic than an experimental crappy comic.

nEmo

Title: developing mad skills with wacom
Post by: kid_militia on 09 Feb 2006, 02:01

for personal use as well as work use, I use an Intuos 3 (9"x12") with Photoshop:CS and have never experienced nor heard of these mentioned problems with smooth lines. if you're really looking for something new, I give personal recommendation. obviously the 9"x12" size is not a requirement, but from what I've heard compared to what I've experienced, the intuos line of products is excellent.

painting with intuos 3 and ps6 (before I had cs):
(http://myspace-620.vo.llnwd.net/00218/02/64/218684620_l.jpg)

I'm no master painter, and I definitely dont get paid for this, but having the right tool for the job helps me pretend it.