2017 Cintiq lineup, and will they ever update the 22"?
-
This is my first topical post, so I hope I've put it in the right place...
Just wanted to see if anyone had an opinion about the Wacom Cintiq lineup for 2017. I have had my eye on the Cintiq 22" HD for some time now, but was waiting for it to update.
When I checked again yesterday, I found that Wacom was introducing a Cintiq Pro in two sizes, 13" and 16". No word on the 22,", but it looks to me as though they won't be updating it.
This will be my first Cintiq, and I'm somewhat chomping at the bit to buy one because I want to develop my digital sketching along with my Photoshop skills, but Cintiqs are expensive, so I want to make sure it will last for a while.
My questions to you all are: Is the 16" big enough for book illustration? Does the Cintiq Pro 16" look like a good way to go considering the trajectory of digital art technology for illustrators? Anyone know if Wacom is going to simply let the 22" fade into obsolescence, or is there any reason I should wait for them to update it? Are there alternatives I should consider? Any other thoughts?
Thanks so much for your input!
-
I don't have a Cintiq but I have, like many I'm sure, thought a lot about surface size.
The conclusion I've come to is that I actually don't need or want a very large surface area. At first it seems obvious: bigger is better.
But when bigger comes with a BIGGER price tag and when the truth is that I only use a few square inches of my current drawing tablet, it doesn't make sense to go bigger. . I just zoom in/out and move around the digital canvas as needed.
I would imagine that the smallest surface area wouldn't be the best but I'm not sure--it might actually work well.
-
I bought a used 13 inch Cintiq from a guy at a tattoo parlor for $700. He had used it twice. It works great and I love it. I did get lucky, because he had the 22" that he used daily and bought the smaller one for traveling, but said he never got around to using it.
I think it really depends on how often you're going to use it, and of course, how much you're willing to spend. For me, zooming in and out hasn't been much of an issue.
-
I am not sure I should tune in into this discussion because I do not want to put doubts into anyone's head. For me screen space is a fundamental asset and it is not only about drawing size. If you aim at an efficient workflow in PS (or Illustrator, or any other software), you have many palettes and windows open. On my standard PS setup I have the layer palette, a large color window (I use a plugin called Coolorus, which is much more efficient than the PS palette), the tool preset window at least half of the time, the side menus and several other windows that are opened only when needed (Properties, brush palettes, etc...). If you do not want to spend half of the time opening and closing windows or moving them around to free space on the canvas, you need a reasonably abundant space. When thinking about size, consider that palettes cover at least 1/4 to 1/3 of your canvas space at any given time point - sometimes more. If you are using reference and putting them on the canvas (I often do that, though not always), that will also eat up drawing space. Of course you can put the palettes as well as the reference on a second monitor, but then you will find yourself constantly switching between the mouse and the stylus or switching the stylus from one monitor to the other. Just some considerations - obviously everyone's needs and habits are different.
-
Thanks for the replies! Smceccarelli, I too am wondering about the amount of working space within the screen. Also, I am used to working with bigger arm movements. Right now I am working with a small Intuos on a 13" Mac laptop, and it feels very cramped--workspace and hand alike.
But I was thinking that it might be better to get any Cintiq than none, because I realize I'm holding off on doing big digital projects. I've gotten better with the Intuos over time, but I don't think I will ever be able to replicate anything near the quality of a hand drawn line with it.
So I think it's a question of whether to buy the 16" in February or wait and see if the 22" updates (if it does), at the risk of not working enough on the one hand or possibly not having the ideal size on the other.
Again, thanks for the replies everyone!
-
@Robadamatti.ta I am not sure what the updates are about, so difficult to advice. I have a 24HD since 3 years but I cannot see anything that would need to be updated (more screen space would not be bad ;-))). Before that I had different versions of the Intuos. The Cintiq is much better for sure, though I cannot say the Intuos was bad - I still use an Intuos at my day job.The Intuos 4 was actually a great love for me - it hurt me to give it away when the Cintiq came.
-
@Robadamatti.ta Hi there! I work with an old Cintiq 21 UXD and I don't need anything fancier, The workspace is really nice and big and it works wonderful. I also have a Ipad pro 13" and the good part about that one is that you don't lose any space on toolbars etc.. With a smaller Cintiq using Photoshop you do lose a lot of actual working space. On both devices you can make really good finished artwork. Now in the end, to make a good decision, I think you best find out on witch size you work best, rather than using the latest version. Good luck! Greetz from Leontine
-
So I've worked with almost all of the Cintiq products. I own a 22. I have a 24 touch at work as well as 13 cintiqs that we send out with faculty at our university. Last month I had the Wacom rep stop by with the mobile studio pros at my office. I would say stay away from the 13. Unless you are spot on with the hotkeys in photoshop, the menus are almost impossible to touch. Your workflow will suffer. The 16 is around the size of a iPad pro so if you can get to an apple store to see what that feels like in your hands. I like my 22 but a 16 might be an interesting sweet spot since you'd have the option to be more mobile than being stuck at a desk. Also, not sure what Wacom's plan is for cabling since the 22 is still using dvid and usb. That works fine on my pc at home but I fear upgrading to a new MacBook Pro and trying to figure out if I have enough and the right dongles to set up my machine!
-
I had a Intuos Pro Medium and upgraded to the Cintiq Pro 13 as soon as it came out. For me, it was too small and I didn't like the cords sticking out the sides (yeah both sides). I had to use all three cords (mini-display, usb, and power) because the USB-C didn't work. With the cords it was too hard to manage and I worried about damaging the ports because I used it on my lap a lot. I returned the Cintiq and purchased a Huion GT-220 V2 because the price was right and I thought I'd like the 21.5 inch display more. I've been using it for two weeks only; I really like it. If wacom had a 22 inch model that was newer I'd consider purchasing it. I do use the 22in Huion on my lap quite a lot. There are still three cords but they are tucked up behind the stand and I don't feel like they are going to get damaged. I thought I might try the Cintiq Pro 16 but after my experience with the 13, I'm not going to because of the cord issues. If it's going to be on your desk for the most part this might not be an issue for you. Still the 13 was too small for me.
