Wacom Inkling took the digital art world by storm when it was announced in August. I pre ordered it as soon as I saw it.. After months of delays, I finally got my hands on one. Here is my video review:
I preordered the Inkling as soon as I saw it. If it was another hardware company, I don't think I would have pull the trigger so eagerly. Wacom understand artists, and the inkling's hardware is what I had expected, but the software is a real poop on a stick. Most of my complaints about the Inkling is in the software, so hopefully Wacom will address these buggy issues soon with updates.
Hardware Pros:
-Great design package.
-Can use standard pen refills
-Pen is very good, I've never used this type of ballpoint pen to sketch, I love it!
-Can be used as an input device for your computer
Hardware Cons:
-The pen took forever to charge, and after a few uses, it seems to be staying in the red longer and longer.
-It's not completely accurate, hope that this can be improved in the future.
-Inkling clip is very small. When touching the new layer button, it can shift the device a bit, and offset the layer. Even just drawing in the sketchbook, your pen seems to bounce the device around a bit.
-Great design package.
-Can use standard pen refills
-Pen is very good, I've never used this type of ballpoint pen to sketch, I love it!
-Can be used as an input device for your computer
Hardware Cons:
-The pen took forever to charge, and after a few uses, it seems to be staying in the red longer and longer.
-It's not completely accurate, hope that this can be improved in the future.
-Inkling clip is very small. When touching the new layer button, it can shift the device a bit, and offset the layer. Even just drawing in the sketchbook, your pen seems to bounce the device around a bit.
Sketch Manager problems:
-Missing SketchBook Pro icon, when SketchBook Pro is purchased through the Mac app store.
-When exporting to SketchBook Pro, the lines are completely jittery.
-Within Sketch Manager, the lines have verying width based on pressure, but no opacity levels.
-Can not render a Speed Drawing video.
-UI is not very intuitive, just feel buggy overall.
SketchBook Pro bonuses:
-Can open WPI files directly!!!Thanks Chris Cheung at Autodesk for telling me about this!
-Uses default canvas size, so can generate a huge images from inkling data.
-Uses last used brush and color, can generate your drawing with SketchBook's beautiful lines, and reproduce something very similar to the original pen sketch on paper.
-When exporting to SketchBook Pro, the lines are completely jittery.
-Within Sketch Manager, the lines have verying width based on pressure, but no opacity levels.
-Can not render a Speed Drawing video.
-UI is not very intuitive, just feel buggy overall.
SketchBook Pro bonuses:
-Can open WPI files directly!!!Thanks Chris Cheung at Autodesk for telling me about this!
-Uses default canvas size, so can generate a huge images from inkling data.
-Uses last used brush and color, can generate your drawing with SketchBook's beautiful lines, and reproduce something very similar to the original pen sketch on paper.
Here are some examples:
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| Problem: export from Wacom Sketch Manager, super wiggly lines |
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| Solution: Open the same WPI file from SketchBook Pro shows much better results |
Digital files examples:
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| Sketch of Arbo from Skylanders |
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| Test Sketch generated by Inkling |
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| Sketch from above, colored in SketchBook Pro |
Photos for comparison:
Bottom line, Wacom Inkling + Autodesk Sketchbook Pro = killer combination. It allows pure digital artists like myself to fall in love with real pen and paper again. I love having a piece of paper that I call an "original", yet flexible enough for me to work digitally. Inkling by itself with the current Sketch Manager software, is a fun little toy. At $200 a pop for the Inkling, you really want much more than a gimmicky toy.... But InklingBook Pro is a real artist tool, I'm looking forward to using more of it.
