Artists! Wacom Mod! Thread

One of the failings of the Wacom tablets, IMO, is that they don't have enough buttons and the buttons they do have, are not ergonomicaly located. Furthermore, they are not sufficiently programmable. So I decided to rectify that. Here's a prototype board that I created to toggle keys specifically for use w/ Zbrush, glued to the back of the board.

I'll be putting up a tutorial on how to wire/code this on my youtube channel, nickelcitypixels. Wondering if there might be enough interest in this to produce them as a shield (a board that simply plugs into) for Arduino. Should be able to get the price down to $10?

To be honest, I use the keyboard more often than the buttons, and all I wish for was another slider (1 for opacity, 1 for brush size, 1 for zooming). I still use an old Wacom 3, which works perfectly fine for me. However, I've seen at friend's that the Wacom 4 series (and 5) have more buttons anyway. So are you aiming this mod at the old(er) Wacom's community?

Also nice to see you back here. I was following your Dreamcaster game/mod for a long time, and I still don't completely understand why you stopped developing (or did you?) In my opinion the game would make a perfect iOS game and you can even port all your assets to UDK.

Hiya! Thnx, it's good to be back!

Looking at the newer Wacoms I haven't seen any with buttons where I need them to be, on the back left hand corner of the tablet. I guess some ppl set the tablet down when using it? I can't work like that and IMHO an easel (or easel position) is better than a table. Additionally, this allows me to send instructions (like auto-save) that aren't dependent on button presses.

Re: Dreamcaters' Duel, development is temporarily frozen. For the last few years, after returning to the US, I've been working to establish a company and achieve the type of funding needed to fully realize my potential. I'd been a tenant at the SUNY Fred Tech Incubator. Corruption, and the general hostility NYS shows start-ups that aren't politically connected, has hampered my business building efforts.

Regardless, I'm teaming up w/ another moddb-er and I feel that success is now both imminent and assured! I'll have news to that effect shortly!

Edited by: mikejkelley

my other hands on my keyboard anyway, i dont need 2 hands to use my wacom, when i used a intuos 4, i barely used the buttons as i didnt want to have to remap the keys, nice mod, but i believe the only person who will get the most of it will be you the inventor, speak to wacom see what they say... makes sense having buttons on the back if your doodeling and want some quick response keys, but only for their high end screen tablet versions.

Hi, just to clarify, the Wacom mod and my company are fairly unrelated.

Ah well - that explains. I can't really imagine using the Wacom anywhere else than on my table, but I see how this setup could be useful for people painting with it on the lap. It would speed things up.

I think what could use some more buttons is not so much the painting, but the sculpting software. I am constantly using m keyboard with ZBrush, and if the buttons were not behind the wacom, but on top of the left corner, I'd use them. Perhaps you can make a version that clips to either the front or the back. I am also quite impressed you dared to open the tablet and connect this board. I spilled soup over my other tablet and when I opened it it had some silver strip inside, which got torn when I was trying to "repair" it. I just leave the damn thing as it is, now.

The biggest issue with the plugin you suggest is that it doesn't plug into anything. I know the 4 series have a mini-usb, instead of a fixed cable, so I guess it could work with an adapter there, somehow. Also: good to hear you have not given up on making games. I know it can be a curse at times, and I feel for you about the impossibility of getting funding. It's somehow similar here. Millions are spent on a new opera house (half a billion, in fact), but there is no startup of any kind for a game studio. So all we have are browsergames and mobile titles, and I'm looking into crowd-funding.

Edited by: SinKing

Hi yes, this was originally designed for use w/ zbrush in mind, it allows you to do things like toggle shift on so that you don't have to hold the key down to smooth, etc., works really well.

This version actually is a clip-on. I'd epoxied small bolts to the back of the tablet and then the microcontroller slips over that and nuts hold it in place.

The current version (I plan to make a bluetooth one eventually) uses cables for each of the boards. This dual mini micro usb cable might work as well but I haven't tried it yet;
Newegg.com

re: making games, thanks, yes, good luck to us all!

Even in 2D applications, the board offers so much added convenience and functionality that I think it really has upped my game!

Full size here;
Nickelcitypixels.com