My Experience with the Cintiq Companion

I'm experimenting with Paint Tool Sai and slowly getting a natural feel for the device.

A brief personal review of the Cintiq Companion:

Wacom, the manufacturer of top-of-the-line digital art tablet displays and styli, have released the Cintiq Companion this past month. After reading several reviews, I have decided to buy one for myself. If you are an artist contemplating on whether you should purchase one or not, let me share with you my personal experience with the Cintiq Companion 256GB Windows8 tablet so far, with a few points that some other reviews may have missed. (There also exists a Cintiq Companion Pro 512GB tablet, as well as Cintiq Companion Hybrid Android tablets, but I have not used these models).

I've had the fortune of purchasing my own Companion this past month, and have been really enjoying my new tablet so far. This is the third Wacom product I have bought for myself, having used an Intuos2 for the longest time before getting a Cintiq21ux for freelance work. My justification for buying the Companion tablet was to have a more mobile digital art setup, as my old Intuos2 finally croaked after ten years of service, and my current laptop is an unwieldy 7 kilograms. With this new tablet, I would be more ready to work remotely if need be. It would also provide an opportunity to create art away from my computer desk.

Other drawing tablets I have considered were the Surface Pro, as well as Samsung Tab and Asus Transformer. But Wacom's Cintiq Companion was made specifically for the digital artist, which is why I chose it over the alternatives.

One of the things I am really impressed with is the fine tooth of the glass on the screen, which gives a sense of friction that I don't find on my Cintiq21ux. The tooth also gives a matte finish to the glass which prevents me from seeing my own reflection or distracting light sources. I also love the high resolution of the Companion's screen, which is full HD 1920 x 1080 pixels. Drawing in detail with the Companion is just as fine as drawing on paper. It has a pixel density I am really comfortable with, much finer than on my Cintiq21ux. menu items don't appear too small, as they would appear on other smaller-sized tablets.

The battery runs for 7 hours on the lowest brightness setting. I spend most of my working day staring at a computer screen,so I like having the screen dimmer when I draw. It also attracts less attention if I'm using the Companion in a coffee shop or a pub.

Although I haven't drawn with my tablet outdoors yet, I did test out the fullest brightness setting of the screen to see if I can use it in sunlight. The screen does get very bright, and I can in fact see vibrant colours outdoors under a bright blue sky. As stated before, the matte finish of the screen prevents me from seeing the bright reflection of the sky. However, the only time I would not be able to see the screen clearly is if the sun is behind me, shining onto the screen. That is not a big issue with me really, as I could always find shade if I wanted to.

Initially I found the tablet to be quite heavy. It weighs about 2 kilograms. When I first used it, my left arm got tired in less than a minute! I'm happy to say though that my arms have adjusted to the weight, and I can easily carry the Companion gripping it with my hand, as I would have done with my old paper-and-pencil sketchbooks. 2 kilos definitely beats the weight of my old 7 kilo laptop! Quiet fans keep the tablet cool, though I haven't tried playing a video game with full graphics to see what would happen.

Still, there are a few things I wish were improved in general. There is still a wide gap between the drawing surface and the drawing itself, whereas on a Surface Pro, the screen is optically bonded, which means there is barely any gap between the pen tip and the image. I find myself calibrating the screen each time I turn it on, only because I want more accuracy with my drawing instruments. Once that is done though, the drawing experience is pretty fluid. I would just like one day for Wacom to make a display with even less distance between the pen tip and the image.

Of somewhat a lesser nuisance, the placement of the Companion's power button is a bit problematic sometimes. Occasionally I will accidentally put the tablet to sleep from placing my hand right on top of the button when I hold the Companion in a particular way. Audio is also not so great on this device, whether is is listened through the built-in speakers, or through headphones. The volume seems to go only halfway compared with other devices I use.

People have complained that the Cintiq Companion does not come with a Haswell processor, which is said to improve battery life and graphics performance. I had actually pondered whether I should wait for Wacom to release a Haswell tablet. But technology is always improving each month, and by the time a Haswell Wacom comes out (perhaps a year?), there is sure to be another new processor which promises to be even faster than Haswell. I figured why wait; my Cintiq21ux from 2009 still serves me well and has not gone into obsoletion, despite the fact more advanced Cintiq tablets exist today. I personally think this Companion will not go obsolete anytime soon.

Overall though, I really love this device! I'm glad I paid a little more for the Companion and did not settle for a cheaper, smaller Surface Pro, or other tablets. It does have Wacom's notoriously high price to pay for it as well ($1999US, or $2099CAD), but it is a very niche product not meant for everyone. If you are an artist heavily involved in the digital arts, and you're looking for a tablet computer for art creation, I would highly recommend Wacom's Cintiq Companion. If you are an amateur artist, starving student, or an artist whose medium is not primarily digital, then this tablet might be a bit overboard to spend your money on.

Review: Secret Millionaire's Club

As was the case in the last review, I had nothing to do with the production of this series.

I decided to give this show a review, as it is the sort of show there ought to be more of; Educational, informative, inspiring. Even though it is badly animated, there is so much that I enjoy about this series, and I hope more people get the chance to see at least a few of these online.

Secret Millionaires Club is a series created by Warren Buffett, a highly prominent businessman and philanthropist. His show is aimed at teaching kids about the basics of business and economics. The short clips you can find on the website, Secret Millionaires Club, are highly informative and easy to understand, especially for someone like me who does not dabble too much in business. Warren Buffett actually voices the animated version of himself, which really displays Warren's committment to educate children about how to spend, save, invest and borrow money.

What is really brilliant about the show is that his advice and tips for business are just as applicable to situations in real life, as Warren explains in easy-to-memorise slogans like "The more you learn, the more you'll earn". Even though the target audience is for kids, adults can learn from these small lessons as well. Many of the lessons encourage fairness and respect, something capitalism has been lacking as of late. Topics include the dangers of credit cards, borrowing and interest, listening to your customers, and one of my favourites, demand and cost:

There is a set format that repeats every episode, which makes viewing this series quite addictive, and the badly written theme song actually sticks in your head after viewing. It is put together quite well, and definitely a series worth recommending to anyone who wants a better understanding of business.

Still, I do have to slam it on the animation. And the jokes, though dorkably lame, are still better than some other crap I have seen elsewhere. But for the informative aspects of this series more than makes up for that. There ought to be more educational material such as this, perhaps even on other less understood topics like law and politics, etc. Great stuff. Watch it!

Review: Detentionaire

Detentionaire is an intriguing animated TV series from Nelvana and airing on Teletoon in Canada.

Nelvana is the animation house that produced one of the funniest and most outrageous animated school series in recent memory, Clone High. They also produced another not-so-funny, uninspiring school series, 6Teen. So when I learned about Detentionaire, I approached it with caution. It could be a really good series, or a complete disaster.

I just loved Clone High!

Didn't care too much for 6Teen...

Lee Ping spends a year of detention for an elaborate prank that he didn't commit, and must prove his innocence by following a string of clues while hiding from the half-cyborg Principal Barrage. So I didn't really care too much for that premise at the beginning. I was also initially put off by the tiring stereotypes, lame puns (Lee Ping = leaping?) and out-of-place sci-fi robots. Could this weird show really carry on this story over two seasons? And what's with the name... is detentionaire even a real word?

Detentionaire can be somewhat hard to get into at first, because the world that is set up is not too believable. The setting looks reminiscent of Toronto, but the believability is thrown off by alien monster janitors, half-cyborgs and some strange creepy worm mascot crawling around the school. I was not too wild about the old "jocks, nerds and cheerleaders" stereotypes that abound, and those token, secondary ethnic characters that always appear in high school shows such as this.

Also, I initially thought the character design was somewhat mildly interesting, but still looked like a cross between 6Teen and student work. And if any of you like to pay attention to animation quality, it is quite lacking here as well. I think they use Toon Boom, but those walk cycles are just terrible, and their movements still have the so-called "flashy" look about them.

Despite all this, I continued to give this series a chance to prove itself. So far, I have watched the first five episodes. I didn't even think I would watch the show this far, and expected that I would drop off out of disinterest.

Lee Ping

But let me tell you, I am really liking Detentionaire so far! I'm looking forward to watching the next episode, and the one after! Now why do I like this show...

I think it really boils down to the whole mystery format. which keeps me guessing who framed Lee Ping and why. "Well, what happens next? Why did that happen? What is that clue supposed to mean? How does it all fit together?"  The sequential storytelling format, while very common in Japan, is not that common in Western cartoons, and this makes Detentionaire even more interesting to watch.

After getting through episode three, I finally was able to step into this bizarre world and go with whatever is happening. I no longer questioned why Biffy the bully is even helping Lee, or what that worm creature is doing in the school. Probably because there is an expectation that this will be explained later. The story does get even more weird by episode five. I just wonder where we will end up by the 41st episode!

Most surprisingly for me, the characters do become relatable at some point, and not the boring, flat stereotypes they first appeared to be. Lee, despite being a whitewashed Asian with a typical Chinese mom, is generic enough of a character that any viewer could be in his shoes. There is a romantic dynamic between Lee and the school reporter Tina, and the blonde Brandy, who has an interesting fake relationship with Lee. I'm actually really curious how this love triangle plays out. And Holger, the Scandinavian sidekick, is actually hilarious! But I'm still having a hard time warming up to Camillio, the other sidekick, with his blatant Latino cliches. 

Biffy, Lee and Barrage

I have warmed up to the character designs. I don't know how the designer could pull off giving the characters such long giraffe necks! But the style does grow on me, and I think Lee has a very appealing and unique character design.

There is a sort of bizarreness I love to see in any sort of work, and Detentionaire does occasionally go in that direction of off-beat weirdness that I adore... like when Lee duels with the math club captain in a match using a Dance Dance Revolution-style calculator board. WTF! XD

Overall, this show is quite different from other school shows, and it can be hard at first to really step into the setup of this world, but the plot twists and big question marks keep me hooked. While the animation is not the best, the unique character designs are refreshing to watch. And some of the entertaining characters such as Holger make viewing worthwhile! I will continue watching this series as more episodes air.

I recommend you watch Detentionaire as well!

(I was not involved in the production of this show in any way.)