Cintiq

Powerhouse bought a Cintiq last week. It is a thing of beauty. I borrowed it for the weekend and spent most of my time "test driving" it at home.(Here is a shot with John McLaughlin watching over my desk, as I play with Captain Capitalism on the Cintiq.)

I believe this tool will revolutionize things. I know this is not news to anyone in our industry, and I am probably behind the curve on this, but I am looking forward to catching up.

We tested the a Cintiq in 2002 or 2003. Unfortunately, at the time we were a much smaller studio and we were working on Disney's Proud Family at the time. Our contractor wanted pencil on paper drawings, not digital images...so none of us really had a chance to play with the Cintiq, and we had to ship it back before really using it too much.

Currently, several of us use 9x12" Intuos tablets both at home and at the studio. I probably have used them less than most, and get frustrated when trying to work on them paperless at home. The simple fact that the Cintiq can rotate, and you can see where your curves are going, makes a major difference.

It was a bit awkward at first, but by the end of the weekend, there were times that I forgot I was drawing on a monitor, and felt like I was at my animation table inking.

One thing I wish the folks at Flash and Wacom would get together for a pow-wow. I would love to see a plug-in Flash where the amount of pressure you used on the Cintiq corresponded to opacity when doing rough animation. I would also like some more options in Flash for drawing and line smoothing...but I understand the new version might address some of this.

I think I am going to bite the bullet and order one for home and Captain Capitalism use.