New Sketchbook Pro videos detail upcoming features

Photoshop isn't the only major application getting a big facelift this summer. A release date for Autodesk's Sketchbook Pro update hasn't been announced yet, but several of its new features have been leaked in tutorial videos.

First up is the program's new Perspective Guides tool. In the video below, you'll see how the tool is used to work up this city block scene. And below that, the same artist provides a technical walkthrough of the perspective tool.

We're fans of Paris Christou's work and his entertaining tutorials for Sketchbook Pro 6, so it's nice to see him getting into the act. In the video below, he walks through the software's new blending modes.

Paris Christou of ToonBoxStudio explains Sketchbook Pro's new expanded blending modes, coming this summer.

And lastly, the new version will feature animation capabilities. Here is a walk-through of how to work with Flipbook.

Sketchbook Pro's new Flipbook feature is used to create a walk cycle in this tutorial from Emmy award-winning animator Mike Milo.

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Photoshop CC enters touch era tomorrow, bids adieu to Wintab

Adobe Photoshop and Microsoft have had a troubled relationship when it comes to the Surface Pro.

When the first generation tablet first launched, it took a couple of months for pressure sensitivity to be available in Photoshop. Even though the program works relatively well, its crowded UI is so small that it took a hack to make it legible. And on Surface Pro 3 review units Microsoft issued to journalists, Photoshop runs sluggishly, with noticeable lag.

That should all change tomorrow, when Adobe will unveil the latest updates to its Creative Center suite of applications, including the long-awaited Photoshop 15.

We don't know too much about what's in this version, but we do know that it supports multi-touch gestures for zooming, panning and rotating. The interface has been redesigned with icons scaled 200% for touch. And perhaps, most significantly, this is the first generation of the program to adopt Microsoft's INK API, leaving behind Wintab.

This move means Photoshop users on all TabletPCs (regardless of digitizer tech) will benefit from pressure sensitivity without the need for additional driver support. With Corel rumored to be close behind with their upcoming Painter update, Wintab's days appear to be numbered.

To get you primed for what will be revealed tomorrow, below is the brief Adobe presentation from the Surface Pro 3 launch event last month.

Adobe Photoshop CC sneak peek from Surface Pro 3 launch event.

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Lenovo ThinkPad 10 reviews coming in

Still no word on availability from Lenovo, but reviewers have apparently had their hands on the new Thinkpad 10 tablet for a while.

Paul Thurrott published his first impressions earlier today and now Lisa Gade of Mobile Tech Review has posted a very informative video review.

The machine is probably under-powered for most art applications, but its Wacom digitizer nonetheless makes it an interesting competitor to the $799 Core i3 Surface Pro 3.

One of these days, Lenovo may add me to their reviewers list, but in the meantime, here is Lisa's video. She begins discussing the pen at around the 9 minute mark.

Lisa Gade reviews the Lenovo ThinkPad 10 tablet. This is a 1.3 lb., 10.1" Windows 8.1 tablet with a 1920 x 1200 IPS display and the Intel Atom Z3795 1.6GHz Bay Trail quad core CPU. The tablet runs full Windows and it has 2 gigs of RAM and 64 gigs of eMMC flash storage plus a microSD card slot.

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Penny Arcade Surface Pro 3 update

Mike Krahulik, Penny Arcade's Gabe, has published an update to his experiences with the Surface Pro 3 that is an absolute must-read for anyone concerned about the tablet's suitability for artists.

He has been shown updates that I haven't seen that will clearly make a positive difference to users.

After I was done drawing I went out to lunch with some of the people from the team. I said to them “listen, I am an edge case. I don’t use this machine the way most of your users will use it. I understand this thing isn’t going to do everything for everyone.” Their answer was basically “why not?”

It's a great post and well worth your time. Check it out here: http://www.penny-arcade.com/news/post/2014/06/16/surface-pro-3-update

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Suface Pro 3 pen nib wear? No problem, says Microsoft

If you've used soft nibs on your Wacom pens, you know those suckers wear down quickly. But you also know that most pens ship with a few extras and that replacement nibs are easy to find.

Several folks who've trekked down to their nearest Best Buy or Microsoft Store have been expressing concern online about how worn the nibs on the Surface Pro 3 display pens have become after their first weekend in service.

As you can see in the image above, I've experienced this too.

Microsoft or N-Trig will eventually market nib replacements, but it's unclear how soon that will occur. Most other N-Trig OEMs do not. So what are users to do if their pen nibs deteriorate badly?

I reached out to Markus Weickenmeier of the official Surface Blog, who oversees Surface Audience Marketing for Creators, and received this encouraging response: "If you are experiencing nib wear you will be able to call the Microsoft Surface Support Center and they will send you replacement nibs.  They are free of charge and you simply remove the existing nib and replace it with the new one."

Sounds crazy and expensive to me (and I told Markus as much) but that's the current plan. I hope they'll eventually just throw five spares in every pen box or open up a self-service online ordering system soon. 

N-Trig told me most of their pens' nibs last a year, but the Surface Pro's is noticeably softer than the tip on the other N-Trig pens I've tested. Perhaps Redmond is underestimating how much you guys will chew through these nibs?

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Mudbox finally a reality on Surface Pro thanks to Intel update

UPDATE 6/10/14: And...no sooner do I publish this post but Microsoft decides to release a firmware update. Today's Patch Tuesday releases include a new display driver, but in my case, the updates offered were all security fixes. Windows Update promptly reverted my display driver with the March 11 Hardware Update and despite my repeated checks still hasn't offered the new firmware for download. So if you're using the latest Intel HD graphics driver, make sure to verify what Windows Update is installing. I'll update this post again once I confirm that the firmware does include the display driver Mudbox likes.

ORIGINAL POST

It's been a long time coming, but Autodesk Mudbox users can finally use the 3d sculpting and texturing application on the Surface Pro 1 and 2 thanks to a recently released display driver update from Intel.

Mudbox 2015, released in March, is the first multi-touch capable sculpting program to run on the Surface Pro. Unfortunately, Microsoft's official display drivers didn't work properly with the program's paintbrush tool, crippling its texture painting capabilities.

Although Mudbox runs a distant second to ZBrush and may even be outsold by upstart 3D-Coat, I've always thought it was a good choice for the Surface Pro and other small sized tablets because of its clean, orderly interface. Although Autodesk has sometimes seemed to neglect the software, it recently dramatically lowered its price to $495 or $10 per month subscription. http://www.autodesk.com/products/mudbox/buy This competitive pricing puts the software within reach of any artist.

The updated Intel HD driver can be found at the following link: https://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&DwnldID=23885&lang=eng It's likely that Microsoft will offer this or another compatible driver during an upcoming firmware update, but if you don't want to wait, you can follow the installation instructions below.

WARNING: This process is moderately advanced. If you're not accustomed to mucking around with your system, don't attempt this. You have been warned!

If you attempt to install the executable directly, you may not be able to do so. The installer will likely warn you that the driver is not certified for the Surface Pro.  

To work around this, download the .zip version. Unzip the archive. In Device Manager, find the Display adapters >> Intel HD Graphics Family Properties. In the Driver tab, select Update Driver. Tap on "Browse my computer for driver software" and then point it to the Graphics folder you just unzipped.

This should work for most of you but it's possible that Windows will notify you that the best drivers are already installed. That was the case for me, so I went back to the Properties >> Driver tab and Uninstalled the current driver. On the confirmation, select Delete the driver software for this device.

I'm not sure about this next step, but it worked for me. Windows will want to reboot the system immediately after the device driver is deleted. Don't let it reboot because it may reinstall the old drivers upon restart (just because you told it to delete the old driver doesn't mean Windows won't call out and download the official driver upon reboot).

Instead of rebooting, run the new driver's installation program. When it's done installing, then you can reboot.

Performance is still not flawless on my Surface Pro 2. The pen doesn't register 100% of the time, especially when trying to target standard UI elements like the close button. Changing brushes with the pen is hit and miss. It's sometimes easier to use a finger to choose between sculpt and paint tools, though this is also sometimes hit and miss.

I had to rollback my Wacom driver to the official 7.2.0-4 release version. The unofficial update I published recently doesn't seem to be compatible.

But combined with the latest version of ArtDock (which I'll publish tomorrow), it's still a lot of fun to interactively sculpt and paint in Mudbox without the need for a keyboard. Even if you don't own it, I recommend having a go with the trial version. You may be hooked.

Thanks to Alex Cheparev for the tip regarding the new driver's availability.

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N-Trig closing Wintab compatibility gap

EXCLUSIVE

If you've read any of this blog's Surface Pro 3 coverage, you'll know that my greatest concern about the new tablet's pen technology has not been a lack of pressure levels or high initial activation force. My biggest fear, borne out by testing of about 40 graphics applications, has been the limited compatibility of N-Trig's Wintab driver.

As we quickly discovered when we first tested the driver on N-Trig equipped convertibles from Sony and Acer earlier this year, the manufacturer's Wintab software seemed to only support Photoshop. And the more recent version touted by Microsoft during its Reddit AMA session yielded similarly disappointing results. 

Following the publication of my Surface Pro 3 "What Runs, What Doesn't" feature detailing this woeful state of affairs, N-Trig engineers enlisted my aid in better understanding the issues confronting them. Within 24 hours of our initial contact, I was given exclusive access to a new driver test build.

Unlike my initial tests, which required downloading and installing each application, it was very easy to test this new driver with the 100 GB of applications already stored on my Surface Pro 3's SSD.

The results were so dramatically positive, I wanted to publish them immediately. However, N-Trig requested that I temper my enthusiasm while they conducted a bit more internal testing.

Indeed, isolated issues remain to be sorted out, but I can now report that the vast majority of Wintab software that I've tested now recognizes pen pressure on the Surface Pro 3. Additionally, I tested the new drivers on the Sony Flip 15A and Acer Aspire R7-572 and both have yielded similarly positive results.

Pen pressure tests in Mischief. Initial activation force is too high, making light strokes very difficult to register.

ZBrush? Check. Painter? Krita? Check. Check. Mischief? SAI? MyPaint? Check. Check. Check.

Notable exceptions include the ever problematic Autodesk Mudbox, which still doesn't recognize the pen and Adobe Illustrator, CorelDraw and CorelPhoto-Paint which all exhibit intermittent pen issues.

The N-Trig developers tell me that they're noticing other more subtle issues in some software which they're attempting to address before the Surface Pro 3 is released June 20.

I've also learned that Adobe's Photoshop CC update, which eliminates the need for Wintab, is scheduled to be released on June 18. Corel's Wintab-less versions should be available in July.

Once the Wintab driver is released publicly, I'll update the What Runs feature. In the meantime, if compatibility with your favorite Wintab application has been holding you back from ordering a new Surface Pro 3, that should soon be one less obstacle.

Demo machines began arriving in Microsoft Stores and Best Buy outlets throughout the U.S. this weekend and I still recommend that you try the pen out for yourself.

I'm convinced that the drawing experience will be acceptable to most of you, but the most demanding among you may still want to wait until Microsoft publishes its pen control panel shortly after launch. 

Though much improved, issues remain. In this capture from Krita, the stroke fails to draw twice. The same issue is present in Adobe Illustrator and CorelDraw.

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Improved Mudbox ArtDock...and one for Softimage too!

Alex Cheparev, the designer of the icons in the SurfaceProArtist ArtDock, is a big Mudbox user and he sent me his improved toolbar for that software back when Autodesk released the 2015 version.

I took that opportunity to begin to create a more compact layout for the docks, starting with the program picker and Mudbox and I even had a go at creating a new dock for Softimage.

Unfortunately, that was when we both discovered that the program's paintbrush was not behaving properly with the Surface Pro's display drivers.

So I shelved the project until a fix for Mudbox was released, never expecting the resolution to take many months.  As I wrote yesterday, a new Intel HD update corrects the issue.

I also promised yesterday to release this new ArtDock today, but I realize now that it's in pretty rough shape.

Photoshop, Sketchbook Pro, Maya and ZBrush are unchanged and should work as before. The 3DS Max and Sculptris docks are placeholders (most of the keystrokes are not mapped correctly).

The Softimage dock is very much an alpha version. I went a little nuts putting down all my favorite keyboard shortcuts, but I think it's working well.

Alex's new Mudbox dock works great  In addition to adding multiple columns of icons, I moved the starting position of the new docks to locations where they were less likely to interfere with important menu items.

Download the SurfaceProArtist ArtDock 2.5 beta here. 

To use the ArtDock, you'll first need to download Autohotkey from http://ahkscript.org/download/1.1/AutoHotkey111403_Install.exe. When the installation is done, make sure to run the Autohotkey script. Unzip the SurfaceProArtist ArtDock and copy the Artdock folder to your C:\ directory. Double-click the ArtDock shortcut to run (you can copy this to your desktop or taskbar).

I'm not sure how much time I will have to invest in getting the other ArtDocks fixed in the near term, so if you have time to make them work, please let me know so we can share your efforts with the rest of the SurfaceProArtist community.

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Lenovo Thinkpad 10 with Wacom due out soon

Last night's announcement from HP reminded me that I had never posted this news from Lenovo, which was released in mid-May. Like every penabled device, the fact that the Tablet 10 is penabled is entirely absent from the release below. It seems only Samsung is placing its pen front and center in promotions of Note devices. The Thinkpad 10 is not yet available for sale, but you can find out more from the Lenovo website here:  http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/tablets/thinkpad/thinkpad-10 

PRESS RELEASE

ThinkPad 10: The Best Business Tablet gets Better  

Pioneering for a superior user experience, ThinkPad 10 is optimized for business professionals seeking the ultimate in flexibility and connectivity. Constructed from premium aluminium with Gorilla glass to protect its ten inch full HD vivid display, the ThinkPad 10 tablet delivers a premium mobile experience with enhanced productivity capability in a purposeful lightweight design. Users can be creative with four flexible modes – Tablet, Stand, Laptop and Desktop. When connected to the optional ThinkPad Tablet Dock or USB3.0 docking station, users can add an external display, mouse, and either the Compact Bluetooth keyboard or directly attach the ThinkPad 10 Ultrabook full sized keyboard, making the transition from a highly mobile tablet to a resourceful office environment seamless. The Quickshot Cover makes photo taking a breeze. Whether for personal or business use, a quick flip of the cover protecting the eight megapixel camera launches the app automatically, ready for that dramatic landscape or the insurance assessment.
 
“Customers want a versatile device that adapts to their way of life and offers uncompromised productivity whether in the office or on the move,” said Luis Hernandez, vice president and general manager, ThinkPad, Lenovo. “Our new ThinkPad 10 tablet marries business optimized features with a unique multimode design to offer an exceptional computing experience that allows users to work, play and create in virtually any environment. ThinkPad 10 is engineered for quality you can touch and measure and is designed to adapt to be what you need, when you need it.”

Boasting an unmatched range of business features and accessories, the ThinkPad 10 comes with a digitizer pen for pinpoint accuracy and natural writing input, Windows 8.1 including 64-bit support, up to 4GB of memory and up to 128GB of storage.Wireless options including 3G/4G LTE1 ensure access to data virtually anywhere and up to ten hours of battery life provides productivity throughout the day. IT managers will also appreciate VPN access control, application deployment management and can prevent users from installing prohibited apps. In addition, Lenovo Services offer a complete suite of packages, including sealed battery warranties, accidental damage protection and laser etching and tagging.

Pricing and Availability
The ThinkPad 10 starts at $599 and will be available starting in June on www.lenovo.com and at selected retailers. 

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