Post Your Workspace!

[Stevenwhoward]

I had the 12 for a while until the contrast started to die on me and I was in need of another one (hence why I got the new one). The 12 is decent, but if you could wait to earn up for the larger- it's worth the wait. Having the large screen enables me to have all of photoshop or illustrator and the image on the Cintiq while I have photo or video reference on the Mac. The new one has a beautiful feature with the scroll in back so that pressing the front button with the thumb to cycle through scroll options (zoom, brush size, layer cycle, and canvas rotate) while the hand wraps around to scroll is convenient and has sped up the illustration process dramatically. I believe it is the most helpful and efficient tool any digital artist should have.

[clint]

Nice! I'm looking to pick up a Cintiq in the new year. How do you like the 21? Did you try the 12 at all?

I have a 21 at work and I like it for the most part. It's a must for shading, airbrush and sketching in photoshop. I don't find it that necessary for illustrator, I couldn't justify the expense when a tablet works just fine. Plus the thing gets HOT. It sucks in the summer when you have to be hunched over it and you are already hot to begin with. For the kind of work I do, I would rather have a nice widescreen monitor and tablet. As a monitor the cintiq is crap. If you are drawing all the time, can afford it and it's not your main monitor, I would get it. It's speed my work up in photoshop a great deal.

[Don Cheke]

Those are some pretty clean and tidy workspaces. My office has needed painting for a few years now, but I dread the thought of emptying it to do so. I have freelanced from this space since 2004.

[Stevenwhoward]

I've been meaning to post new picks of my new setup for awhile since last I moved... but glad I waited as due to a crash in my macbook's harddrive I made the move of adding a second computer so as to have the fixed macbook as a back-up computer. (The crash happened when I was working on a project for a client and until I got the computer fixed I was not able to work on anything! To avoid that I needed a back-up workstation). I was able to get a 27" iMac which dwarfs my 21"Cintiq. Also added to my tools are the things glued on to my chair arms. One is the rollerball mouse (to save my back I like to be able to sit back and move across the screen when I can without using a traditional mouse). The other is the Razer Nostromo. Commonly used and marketed as a gamepad it is extremely advantageous tool that almost negates the need of my keyboard. Instead of having to press Cmd+Shift+] to adjust a sublayer to the top in Illustrator or Cmd+] a hundred times to adjust a sublayer up through multiple sublayers, it is now a single keystroke. Also, like my mouse, I can sit back and do this. To me pressing multi key commands like Cmd+C for copy and Cmd+F multiple times is annoying (plus I'd rather not move all across the keyboard for the many useful keyboard shortcuts in Illustrator- nor do I want to reset the shortcuts in Illustrator as there are quite a few). I'm hoping in the next month or so to discuss the pros and cons of tools like this and drawing tablets like the 21"Cintiq that I have. Until then, thought I'd share the new set-up. In the background is a fan for days when I'm working the computer overtime and need an extra bit of "cooling." Pasted on the bottom left of the Cintiq is a keyguide for the Nostromo reminding me which key is which and on which keymap (there are 27 customizable buttons, 8 keymaps and endless profiles resulting in endless combinations!) Screen real-estate is NICE!

[JamesProvost]

@Steven
Interesting setup with the Nostromo and rollerball mouse. I've had both recommended to me multiple times, I should really try them out!

[matt_lorenzi]

Very nice. My workspace is where ever the kids can't get at my stuff. Hence the laptop. I need an upgraded machine here pretty quick. Using a hand-me-down from my dad. Something with a 17" screen would be nice...but I'm no longer a Mac user. I made my bed and now have to sleep in it, but I'm actually okay with it. James, thought you were out East, turns out you're a West coaster.

[Stevenwhoward]

Here is my latest set-up at home. 27" iMac, 21"Cintiq (with large Intuos 4 tablet as a secondary option underneath), and introducing my newest addition for creating my future detailed cutaways at actual print size or larger: 43" Sony HD tv. I have the Nostromo gaming pad and roller ball mouse attached to the chair for quick key access away from the keyboard and desk. If I want to return to traditional at all, I have my glass drafting table with lights underneath for velum use. Not sure where next I will want to upgrade...

[clint]

Wow, nice. That 43" makes the Imac look really small!

[Mike A]

Hi Steven,
That's some futuristic looking studio you have there
How do you find the sharpness and useability of the TV compared to a regular monitor?

[Stevenwhoward]

Mike,
Nothing has yet to compare to the resolution that Apple pushes through their screens. The TV is fairly close and it took me a good half of a week to calibrate the TV just right to get it's sharpness and color quality and contrast as close as possible to the iMac. Even still, the TV has better resolution and color quality than the Cintiq (you'd think being a company that develops graphics tools that Wacom would get their act together and create better color quality for their Cintiqs) TV's are limited in their resolution, but as long as you know how to 'fake' the look, it can work just fine. Also, I'm about 2+ feet from the 43" screen- the further I am from it, the less I notice the resolution. My main reason for getting the TV was because I had started my linework in Illustrator for a cutaway of my own design for the War of the Worlds Tripod: http://www.stevenwhowardart.blogspot.co ... e%20worlds When the illustration is complete it will be printed 14x40." I was previously working on a Mecha cutaway, but had issues with putting too much detail in that would be obscured when printed at scale because I wasn't able to work on the project at printable scale (I could work at scale in Illustrator, but I needed to see the overall mecha to make it work out and be balanced in its revealed details)- there truly is a thing as too much detail. The 43" will allow me to better balance my distribution of detail on the cutaway of the tripod. Most objects I wouldn't be running into issues such as these, but the tripod cutaway I am doing is of my own design through and through. There are no particular specifics yet of what exists on the inside and I will develop that as I go.
TVs will always be behind on the quality of computer monitors. You just need to know what you will be using it for in regards to your art and at certain points in your art, know when it is better to use the computer monitor (for example- ensuring that all your colors work right). That being said, everyone I have talked to suggests SONY HD screens. I'd say they are your best bet.