As you become more confident with a program such as Zbrush inevitably you will look for ways to improve your workflow. One of the best ways to do this by far is using a Drawing Tablet. If you ask in any forum what are the benefits, you will no doubt get the same answer Pressure Sensitivity!!
Pressure Sensitivity is one of the main advantages of a Drawing Tablet when using Zbrush. However this is not the only benefit, increased precision and programmable buttons can greatly improve your workflow.
As you may be able to tell I’m a fan of drawing tablets and strangely I get a bit sentimental about mine. It has served me well in the many hours we have spent together. If you are considering getting one I encourage you to read through this article I will outline exactly how it can benefit you in your Zbrush endeavours. Who knows you might even be able to develop a weird relationship with an inanimate object like me.
What is a Drawing Tablet
A drawing tablet at a glance seems pretty basic but there is a lot more than meets the eye. As the photo below shows it is basically a pad similar to that of a touchpad on a laptop. You use it with a pen and they come in a variety of sizes.
There are two main features most drawing tablets have and they are. Sensing how hard you are pressing down on the pen to intensify or lighted the brush stroke. The direction you are tilting the pen to alter the effect of brush strokes.
The tablet can be used in lieu of a mouse or in conjunction however it does require a little getting used to as it is a different way to navigate.
There are two main components of a Drawing Tablet and these are the Tablet themselves and the Pen
The Tablet
The tablets can differ greatly in size and the number of buttons which you can apply hotkeys to.
The below is that of my Wacom Intuos Pro. What I have found extremely useful is the eight hotkey buttons and the wheel. The Wheel can use in multiple ways which I mainly use to quickly resize my brush in Zbrush. These buttons of course are not essential but they certainly make things easier.
The Pen
To me the pen is the most important part as it needs to be comfortable to hold for long periods and needs to be responsive. This is the reason personally I am a huge fan of Wacom they have a battery free pen its comfortable to hold with hotkeys on the grip. Most Wacom alternatives have the hotkeys on the grip however the battery free features in not always available.
Do You Need a Drawing Tablet
Absolutely not you can still create great art without one. Is it nice to have YES!! It can and will improve your workflow however they can get pricey. It’s understandable to be reluctant to invest when first starting out.
In Zbrush personally I use both a mouse and drawing tablet as certain functions in Zbrush are simply easier to use using a mouse.
If you are still deciding whether you should take the leap I strongly encourage you to read this article I created Can you Use Zbrush with a Mouse. It gives some great ways you can utilize a mouse using Zbrush.
Pressure Sensitivity
Probably the biggest advantage you can get from a drawing tablet in Zbrush is pressure sensitivity. If you have ever sculpted using a mouse in Zbrush one of the biggest frustrations is having to be constantly adjusting the intensity. With a drawing tablet the pressure sensitivity adjusts intensity as you go based on how hard you are pressing on the tablet.
It seems very minor but I can assure you it makes a huge difference to your sculpting. It gives it a much more organic feel and allows you to create shapes much easier than you normally would.
Increased Precision
The precision a drawing tablet can offer over a mouse is huge.
As mentioned you have more fine control in Zbrush over intensity. However through just being able to more naturally draw using a pen helps heaps. Using a mouse can get a bit clunky.
Below is a quick demonstration of this. I used a mask to write and as you can see the drawing on the tablet is a lot neater (or as neat as my writing can be).
Programmable Buttons
One less notable but very important part is the shotkeys drawing tablets can offer. Zbrush is renown for having to hold Shift, CTRL & ALT in various combinations. With the buttons you can switch this to a single button either on the tablet or pen. It makes such actions as masking, undoing and navigating really easy so you never need to touch the keyboard or mouse as you can program left click as well.
For example I’ve set mine up so I can undo with one button mask with another and have right and double click set on the Pen.
Alternatives to a Drawing Tablet
If you think a drawing tablet is simply not for you there is one other alternative. There are what are referred to as pen displays. You draw directly on the screen these with all the same functionality as the drawing tablet.
These are great but come with a big price tag Wacom have recently released some budget models in the form of the 16” and 22” Cintiq. However if you are absolutely serious about your 3d modelling the 24” & 32” Cintiq Pros are the best displays money can buy. In fact it’s on my bucket list that I can save up the spare change to buy one. We can dream right?
Recommendation
You can find my full list of recommendations here, but as you may have already guessed I am a Wacom fan. There are some solid contenders in the market of particular note is Huion. They are a solid contender when it comes to price to performance.
The main reason I preference Wacom is they have been the number one choice in the market for some time. They are usually at the forefront of innovation. Their tablets are great quality and even though they can be a big investment you know they will last for years. I’ve had my Intuos Pro for close to 5 years and it’s still going strong.
As far as I see it in regards to drawing tablets these my 2 favourite at the moment for Zbrush.
The Intuos Pro Series
Huion Inspiroy H1611
If I have convinced you to try a Wacom tablet I would preference the Intuos Pro Series. I would recommend the Medium. The large is just too much when it comes to modelling in Zbrush in my opinion. Be aware however this is somewhat of an expense investment.
If you are on a budget or just wanted to test the waters first I have actually become increasingly fond of Huion, particularly the Huion Inspiroy H1611. These will work great have plenty of customizable buttons and best of all are cheap!!! You can usually find them for less than $100.
Conclusion
Hopefully you now have some idea how a tablet can improve your workflow in Zbrush and a general idea of what to look for when your deciding to invest in one.
I cant emphasise how much a drawing tablet has helped me while using Zbrush. If you are serious about learning Zbrush its something certainly worth investigating. Besides if your anything like me I look for any excuse to try out a new toy!!