http://www.amazon.com/Yiynova-UC-logic%C2%A0SP-1001-Digitizer-Tablet-Display/dp/B00P7J6NL4/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1427077302&sr=8-2&keywords=yiynova

$350, 10", 220PPS speed, 2048 sensitivity levels, 5018 LPI, uses UC-Logic, which is known to be more accurate and responsive than Wacom's digitizer.

But I'm not sure if I should get it. Any thoughts?

Did you read the reviews?

WabaGrillOnFleet said:
Did you read the reviews?

Somewhat.

I currently use a UCLogic based tablet (Monoprice 12", $80 AUD), have used Wacom Graphire in past, and can confirm UCLogic feels more responsive.

The person complaining about inaccuracy when tilted is probably correct, but AFAIK that's just a result of how the technology tracks pen position (radio transponder). Wacom technology is also transponder based, so I've got no idea whether they manage to do better or not. It doesn't really matter -- as long as the accuracy is decent, the main obstacle to good drawings is you, not your input device.

Might as well mention that most UC-Logic based tablets work on Linux as well, not sure whether this specific one does though. (it's nice to have the option to boot up a LiveCD on any old system and just draw, in case your main system is temporarily unusable)

I've never read a pro suggesting that tablet screens are substantially better than plain tablet for digital artwork in general, Just that they are good for specific types of work (lineart).
This may be because it's hard to configure them physically in a way that is simultaneously nice to draw on and nice to look at.

That's about it for the tablet side of things. For the display side, it's worth checking to see what controls it has (the manual probably says). Brightness, contrast, and color temperature adjustment are about the minimum needed for basic level of display calibration -- eg via lagom.nl/lcd-test .

EDIT: Oh, and you should probably think about how you are going to hook it up. Most people I know of that use one do not use it exclusively as their main display, they use it in conjunction with a real monitor. Only exception I can think of is moatdd . So having two HDMI outputs available would make things better.

savageorange said:
I currently use a UCLogic based tablet (Monoprice 12", $80 AUD), have used Wacom Graphire in past, and can confirm UCLogic feels more responsive.

The person complaining about inaccuracy when tilted is probably correct, but AFAIK that's just a result of how the technology tracks pen position (radio transponder). Wacom technology is also transponder based, so I've got no idea whether they manage to do better or not. It doesn't really matter -- as long as the accuracy is decent, the main obstacle to good drawings is you, not your input device.

Might as well mention that most UC-Logic based tablets work on Linux as well, not sure whether this specific one does though. (it's nice to have the option to boot up a LiveCD on any old system and just draw, in case your main system is temporarily unusable)

I've never read a pro suggesting that tablet screens are substantially better than plain tablet for digital artwork in general, Just that they are good for specific types of work (lineart).
This may be because it's hard to configure them physically in a way that is simultaneously nice to draw on and nice to look at.

That's about it for the tablet side of things. For the display side, it's worth checking to see what controls it has (the manual probably says). Brightness, contrast, and color temperature adjustment are about the minimum needed for basic level of display calibration -- eg via lagom.nl/lcd-test .

EDIT: Oh, and you should probably think about how you are going to hook it up. Most people I know of that use one do not use it exclusively as their main display, they use it in conjunction with a real monitor. Only exception I can think of is moatdd . So having two HDMI outputs available would make things better.

Thanks for your response.

I might as well get this or the Monoprice 22HD if it's a better investment instead. I do have a GTX 660 Ti, so I have an HDMI port, and two DVI with a HDMI to DVI cable. I can probably manage with three screens at this point since my 21" HD Monitor is also plugged alongside my 32" HDTV via DVI. x3

But yes, that's the main reason I wanted to get a UC Logic, it seems it has an advantage over Wacom with the price and responsiveness. So I'm trying to invest in something cheap that can be useful in the long run, since I'll be doing animations and webcomics later.

Should I go for the smaller 10" Yiynova with the shortcut buttons or the larger Monoprice 22HD with the larger screen? I'm sure it uses the same UC logic digitizer. ( http://www.amazon.com/Monoprice-Interactive-Drawing-Display-1080p/dp/B00S8VFCVA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1427097898&sr=8-1&keywords=monoprice+22hd ) there's also a 19" one that's $100 cheaper ( http://www.amazon.com/Monoprice-19-Inch-Interactive-Display-110707/dp/B00IACES94/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1427097898&sr=8-3&keywords=monoprice+22hd )

Arcanine09 said:
Thanks for your response.

I might as well get this or the Monoprice 22HD if it's a better investment instead. I do have a GTX 660 Ti, so I have an HDMI port, and two DVI with a HDMI to DVI cable. I can probably manage with three screens at this point since my 21" HD Monitor is also plugged alongside my 32" HDTV via DVI. x3

But yes, that's the main reason I wanted to get a UC Logic, it seems it has an advantage over Wacom with the price and responsiveness. So I'm trying to invest in something cheap that can be useful in the long run, since I'll be doing animations and webcomics later.

Should I go for the smaller 10" Yiynova with the shortcut buttons or the larger Monoprice 22HD with the larger screen? I'm sure it uses the same UC logic digitizer. ( http://www.amazon.com/Monoprice-Interactive-Drawing-Display-1080p/dp/B00S8VFCVA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1427097898&sr=8-1&keywords=monoprice+22hd ) there's also a 19" one that's $100 cheaper ( http://www.amazon.com/Monoprice-19-Inch-Interactive-Display-110707/dp/B00IACES94/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1427097898&sr=8-3&keywords=monoprice+22hd )

A few dot points:

• 22" and 19" are different types of display (22" is LED based, 19" is just 'TFT' which could be any type, but probably non-LED TN with mediocre viewing angles). 10" doesn't comment on exactly what type of display but Yiynova's website should be able to tell you.

• There's a bit more to tablets than just the digitizer. Hardware can also do stuff like event filtering (smoothing etc), so the Yiynova is not necessarily an equivalent experience to the Monoprice.

• Shortcut buttons are an accessory. Some people love them, some people ignore them. Not really a deciding factor IMO.

• A smaller one is an ergonomic advantage. It can be pretty hard to arrange things so you have comfortable access to all three (keyboard, tablet, main display)

Personally I would research the 10", and if it had a good display type (not TN -- IPS is good, IPS LED is great), I'd get that. If not, I'd check up on whether the 22" is IPS, and if so, get that, otherwise the 19".

PS: the pen holder on Monoprices (and probably Yiynovas) is great. Apropos of nothing, I just.. when I got this tablet I was like 'haha fuck you Wacom, this is -so- much better than your back-of-tablet clip'. (note that it is NOT more secure though, so blu-tacking the holder down is probably a good move.)

savageorange said:
A few dot points:

• 22" and 19" are different types of display (22" is LED based, 19" is just 'TFT' which could be any type, but probably non-LED TN with mediocre viewing angles). 10" doesn't comment on exactly what type of display but Yiynova's website should be able to tell you.

• There's a bit more to tablets than just the digitizer. Hardware can also do stuff like event filtering (smoothing etc), so the Yiynova is not necessarily an equivalent experience to the Monoprice.

• Shortcut buttons are an accessory. Some people love them, some people ignore them. Not really a deciding factor IMO.

• A smaller one is an ergonomic advantage. It can be pretty hard to arrange things so you have comfortable access to all three (keyboard, tablet, main display)

Personally I would research the 10", and if it had a good display type (not TN -- IPS is good, IPS LED is great), I'd get that. If not, I'd check up on whether the 22" is IPS, and if so, get that, otherwise the 19".

PS: the pen holder on Monoprices (and probably Yiynovas) is great. Apropos of nothing, I just.. when I got this tablet I was like 'haha fuck you Wacom, this is -so- much better than your back-of-tablet clip'. (note that it is NOT more secure though, so blu-tacking the holder down is probably a good move.)

I researched, the 10" is IPS as is the 22HD.

Just popping in for a quick question, seeing as this thread is relevant.

As someone who has recently started seriously drawing, what would be a good tablet for a beginner, and more importantly, what else would I need to start using it, since I have almost no idea what I'm doing.

BanzaitheEngie said:
Just popping in for a quick question, seeing as this thread is relevant.

As someone who has recently started seriously drawing, what would be a good tablet for a beginner, and more importantly, what else would I need to start using it, since I have almost no idea what I'm doing.

I started with a Wacom Bamboo Fun from 2009, just go with something basic and cheap, like the Intuos Pen, or go cheaper with the Huion or Monoprice tablets.

Arcanine09 said:
I started with a Wacom Bamboo Fun from 2009, just go with something basic and cheap, like the Intuos Pen, or go cheaper with the Huion or Monoprice tablets.

Hmm... ok, I'll look around, see what I can find.

BanzaitheEngie said:
Just popping in for a quick question, seeing as this thread is relevant.

As someone who has recently started seriously drawing, what would be a good tablet for a beginner, and more importantly, what else would I need to start using it, since I have almost no idea what I'm doing.

Before considering tablets, consider that you need a good amount of RAM. 2gb is minimum, 4gb is better. Later if you get really into it, up to 12gb can be beneficial (offhand, both Feng Zhu and David Revoy use systems with 12gb, they are both pros). This allows two main things: a) lots of layers, and b)lots of undo steps.
If you have a fairly recent system, CPU speed will probably not be an issue, though again, more is better.

If you have the desk space, I think the 12" Monoprice I have is probably a pretty good beginner option -- only $80 AUD, plenty of drawing space, nothing too complex. You do have to remember to keep it clean though, because its plastic flap is incredibly good at attracting dust.

I can't comment on getting it installed on Windows or Mac, as I only use Linux (on which, you know, you plug it in and specify the evdev input driver, and it just works).

After that you probably want to calibrate it (set what area of the tablet maps to the screen). There are a few programs available for that but again, I don't know any Windows or Mac specific information.

Then you just need some painting or drawing software. I personally favor MyPaint and Krita; Mypaint especially has a very nice fluid interaction that I haven't really seen matched by other programs. Those are free + open source. Plenty of people seem to favor paint tool SAI, but I can't comment on it myself.

Whatever software you use to draw, you should find the stroke smoothing options and familiarize yourself with them and what they can do for your line quality ASAP. Then see how high you can crank the undo levels setting before you start experiencing problems.

You also probably would want to get familiar with some image *editing* software. I'd personally recommend GIMP, especially with the GMIC filter-toolbox, which is excellent for cleanup work and postprocessing.

Some people, including pros, just use Photoshop for everything, but a) it's expensive, b) it's not particularly suited to drawing, and c) it has a loooooong learning curve. Separating your editing software from your drawing software limits how much you need to learn about each of them (don't need to learn to draw in your editing software or vice versa).

The rest is practice. Please be aware that drawing on tablet is NOT really like drawing with pencil, drawing well with tablet takes practice even if you're already skilled with a pencil.

Oh, one other thing: drawing digitally is not like drawing on -paper-, either. It's very worth it to get used to zooming in/out a lot. With zooming, you can be arbitrarily precise without overworking your hand muscles or eyes. It's a very good thing to be aware of to help you to draw clean digital art. Later, getting skilled at using layers will also pay off.

There are really infinite vistas to explore here.. Adding 3d (Blender) and vector (Inkscape) skills to my repetoire has also significantly enhanced the range of things I can draw, but realistically that type of thing is something I picked up well into my digital art education.. the central message I'm trying to give here is just: 'one main drawing software, one main editing software. Learn them both, and also, do digital art like digital art, not like analog art -- use undo, zoom, and layers liberally'.

Well I know system specs are not a problem, I recently built a new computer with 8 GB of ram and an Intel i3 processor.

As far as drawing/editing software goes, I do have a version of Photoshop that I play around with from time to time, so I suppose I can try that, and if that doesn't work out I'll try something simpler, probably.

Thanks for all the advice though, I felt like I needed a "scope" of what I was getting myself into, since I've wanted to get into digital art(as a hobby, not a profession)for a while now. I'll see what I can find/do in the meantime.

BanzaitheEngie said:
Just popping in for a quick question, seeing as this thread is relevant.

As someone who has recently started seriously drawing, what would be a good tablet for a beginner, and more importantly, what else would I need to start using it, since I have almost no idea what I'm doing.

This one is great and very affordable http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CP1DOQ4/ref=psdc_16034531_t3_B00DKRLAFY