Tablet PC & Flash? 2

[RoguePoet01]

Hi,

I'm learning Flash and was wondering if there were better alternatives to drawing with a mouse.

I was thinking of looking at a Tablet PC, but I'm not entirely sure it will be compatible with Flash.

Thanks

 

[pixl8r]

Waacom tablet would be much cheaper than a Tablet PC.

Wow JT that almost looked like you knew what you were doing!

 

[RoguePoet01]

Thanks,

Are you using the Waacom tablet for your Flash work?

 

[pixl8r]

Not currently but I have in the past. I do not think that you will have any trouble with the tools and the pen.

Wow JT that almost looked like you knew what you were doing!

 

[wangbar]

I use a tablet all the time and if you're also using Freehand/Illustrator or Photoshop it's really useful - it let's you paint directly to the screen without compromising your style. I find that the drawing tools in Flash aren't that great so I tend to work in another application and transfer the results over to Flash. There's a program from Adobe called Streamline which will clean up your PS files into vector format which you can paste directly into Flash.

 

[RoguePoet01]

Thanks Wangbar,

Are you using Streamline now? Does it make vector images that are easily editable?

I used a vector converter once, but it was back in the late 90's.

It worked great, unless you had to make some edits, then you found that the vector image was sometimes a hodge-podge of lines instead of a few continuous ones.

 

[oldnewbie]

Hey Pixl8r... I can definately see why your posts in this thread would be considered as valuable posts!

 

[pixl8r]

And Old I can see why yours would be considered inappropriate.

Wow JT that almost looked like you knew what you were doing!

 

[oldnewbie]

Inappropriate? Nah! I'd say humorous!

 

[wangbar]

Streamline is something I use on a pretty much daily basis. It allows you can scan in line drawings or import Photoshop files and vectorize them - you can clean up the image within the program too to get smoother lines if necessary. After you do the conversion you can just select and copy the image and paste it directly into Flash then edit with Flash's line and fill tools.

The only real drawback I've found with Streamline is that it's not so great with really detailed colour images (I think 'trace bitmap' in Flash does a better job) but it's fantastic with line art.

 

[RoguePoet01]

Thanks Wangbar,

I just discovered the "trace bitmap" feature in FMX and I think I'll toy with that for a while, maybe move up to Streamline later if I need it.

I really appreciate you guys turning me on to that Wacom pad. That's exactly what I needed. Adios.