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Just got mine a couple hours ago. It is a awesome tablet.
With that said, I do miss 3D Touch, though.

I can see 3D Touch adding too much weight to a screen that size right now, but I'm surprised they didn't implement it when using the Pencil in non-drawing apps. You've got the pressure sensitivity in the stylus!
 
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Many digital illustrators I follow or know of still use Photoshop and Illustrator besides Manga Studio and Sketchbook Pro. At the end of the day, it's just a tool and how you use it with knowledge and experience that matters. But it all starts with an idea, pen and paper to begin with to build up the digital image. I still use Illustrator because I find it easier to manipulate the vector paths with precision and and layer up as much as I want, if needed. Also the Pantone color system in Adobe's apps are the industry standard if you need to use a professional print service using CMYK mode which is VERY important for accuracy ( based on clientele or agency parameters ).

Manga Studio is growing in popularity these days but for conceptual art or industrial design, Sketchbook Pro is a fantastic tool for this purpose. I have the iOS version as well but it's so slow on my original iPad that I've stuck with the desktop app for reliability and deeper features.


Actually I work at a printing press, so I know the importance of it lol. A co worker and I have experiment with using manga studio at work, the results was very interesting, but like you said, Adobe is the industry standard.

A friend and I started our own comic/animation studio and we also help out another local studio. Between the two studios most use Manga Studio or use it with Photoshop/Illustrator. But to be fair, we are very small companies and some of my artist only use manga studio because I do lmao. Also comic artist Brian Bolland, Dave Gibbson, and Mike Krahulik to name a few, use Manga Studio.
So it is definitely growing in popularity lol.

I did have chance to try the Surface Pro 4 and iPad Pro out earlier today at best buy. They didn't have the Apple pencil for me to test :( It seem pointless to me for it do be that big and still be iOS and not OS X. Maybe it would have been better if I got to test it with the pencil. I was really impressed with Surface Pro 4. They did have a Surface Pro 3 with the Pro 4 type cover and pen to test on it. That was awesome. I would recommend Surface Pro 3 user to just get the Pro 4 type cover and pen, just getting those would be big upgrade.
 
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given how much they were promoting the pencil, thought it would do much better vs. surface than it seems to do.

I tried the pencil and the keyboard at the Apple Store. I was amazed how good it felt to hold and to write/sketch with it.
You could not feel any lag when drawing and when using the pencil there was no hand interference even though my hand was on the screen most of the time.

The keyboard was good too. I'm a fast typist and it was as good as a standard laptop/desktop keyboard, the hands felt comfortable and at speed there was no issue with keys being missed.
My only comment would be that they need to add a "home" button to the keyboard, just feels odd not having one.
 
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I would recommend Surface Pro 3 user to just get the Pro 4 type cover and pen, just getting those would be big upgrade.
Got the pen at the airport so not had a great deal of time with it. It feels a lot nicer against the screen though.
The keyboard is great. Feels like a proper laptop now and Hats off to MS for making these backwards compatible.
 
Actually I work at a printing press, so I know the importance of it lol. A co worker and I have experiment with using manga studio at work, the results was very interesting, but like you said, Adobe is the industry standard.

A friend and I started our own comic/animation studio and we also help out another local studio. Between the two studios most use Manga Studio or use it with Photoshop/Illustrator. But to be fair, we are very small companies and some of my artist only use manga studio because I do lmao. Also comic artist Brian Bolland, Dave Gibbson, and Mike Krahulik to name a few, use Manga Studio.
So it is definitely growing in popularity lol.

I did have chance to try the Surface Pro 4 and iPad Pro out earlier today at best buy. They didn't have the Apple pencil for me to test :( It seem pointless to me for it do be that big and still be iOS and not OS X. Maybe it would have been better if I got to test it with the pencil. I was really impressed with Surface Pro 4. They did have a Surface Pro 3 with the Pro 4 type cover and pen to test on it. That was awesome. I would recommend Surface Pro 3 user to just get the Pro 4 type cover and pen, just getting those would be big upgrade.

Printing press? Nice! I used to work at a print shop a couple years back part-time and left the business to go on my own as an independent contractor ( ie. freelance ). But yes, Adobe is the industry standard and has been for years. I think it's due to the consistent UI despite the high price tag their products carry, or used to, until they went the Cloud approach. I use CS5 suite ( PS, Illustrator and InDesign ) for my creative needs with interchangeable file formats.

When Manga Studio first came out several years ago in grayscale, I bought it out of curiosity and was surprised how nice the inking and toner engines were, although the UI was a bit confusing at the time. The current version is a huge improvement from the former, in my experience. I know a few local comic illustrators who still use PS for their work and I kept suggesting MS.

As for the Surface 3, your mention of the Pro 4 pen and type cover working with it is surprising. Are you sure the new pen/cover is backwards compatible? Because if it is, I'd grab the SP 3 since it's cheaper and was suggested to increase the RAM as much as I can so I can import Manga Studio, Mischief and Sketchbook Pro in the Windows environment ( I own the serial keys already so all I have to do is download the WIN versions and I'm good to go ). I've tried the SP 4 pen at Best Buy and was surprised.

This way, I can do my work ' on the go ' and back home to my OS X desktop, if needed. This will allow me to resurrect an old comic project as a graphic novel from scratch.
 
Fully backward compatible. I can vouch for that.
The packaging lists Surface 3, Pro 3 and Pro 4.
 
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They seem to exhibit more "iOS rot" over time than my recent windows devices have.

Not sure if you're trolling.. but what the heck is "iOS rot"?

Causing me to buy new $800 iphones every 2 years to keep my device performing well. That is ridiculous.

What? I don't even.. your post doesn't even make the slightest amount of sense. Devices get perceivably slower over time because of feature creep and the more demand on hardware. It happens to every device with an upgradable OS. If you re-installed your original OS, it would be just as fast as the day you bought it. The same applies to Windows, Android, OS X. It's not like it's somehow magically wearing out and slowing the hardware.
 
I can see 3D Touch adding too much weight to a screen that size right now, but I'm surprised they didn't implement it when using the Pencil in non-drawing apps. You've got the pressure sensitivity in the stylus!

Yeah, I get that. After using the3D Touch, it drives me crazy now that I can't. With all the screen real estate on the Pro, it will be so useful when they do implement it. Moving the cursor on the keyboard is almost at nessesaty.
Honestly, it's almost a deal breaker for me. Not really sure just yet. I have gotten along just fine all this time with other iPads, so....we shall see.
 
As for the Surface 3, your mention of the Pro 4 pen and type cover working with it is surprising. Are you sure the new pen/cover is backwards compatible? Because if it is, I'd grab the SP 3 since it's cheaper and was suggested to increase the RAM as much as I can so I can import Manga Studio, Mischief and Sketchbook Pro in the Windows environment ( I own the serial keys already so all I have to do is download the WIN versions and I'm good to go ). I've tried the SP 4 pen at Best Buy and was surprised.

This way, I can do my work ' on the go ' and back home to my OS X desktop, if needed. This will allow me to resurrect an old comic project as a graphic novel from scratch.

Pro 3 and Pro 4 pens and keyboards are interchangeable between generations. However, the Pro 4 pen will perform similarly to the old pen when used on a 3. I believe the latency and pressure sensitivity improvements are built into the screen of the 4.
 
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That makes sense. But it's still very helpful to know that. I can go with SP 3 or 4 either way.
Oh yeah. Though I will also say that the cooling is miles better in the 4, with the fan hardly ever coming on and much quieter when it does. Screen quality and color is also much improved... Now on par with my iPhone.

But strangely, the one new SP4 feature I see no one talking about is also the best. "Windows Hello". It has an infrared camera that uses facial recognition to unlock the device. It's one of those magical things that works so well it is scary. Like the first time you used TouchID. It is super fast, faster than swiping to unlock... And it works every single time, even in total darkness. Apparently it learns how your face changes over time and is accurate enough to tell identical twins apart. I'm so used to TouchID being temperamental, I did not expect Hello to work every time.
 
Not sure if you're trolling.. but what the heck is "iOS rot"?



What? I don't even.. your post doesn't even make the slightest amount of sense. Devices get perceivably slower over time because of feature creep and the more demand on hardware. It happens to every device with an upgradable OS. If you re-installed your original OS, it would be just as fast as the day you bought it. The same applies to Windows, Android, OS X. It's not like it's somehow magically wearing out and slowing the hardware.


This was in response to a person who was referring to "Windows rot" and how Windows computers get slower over time which was why he was going to stick with iOS. I was just making the point that iOS is just as bad and probably worse than Windows in this regard.
 
This was in response to a person who was referring to "Windows rot" and how Windows computers get slower over time which was why he was going to stick with iOS. I was just making the point that iOS is just as bad and probably worse than Windows in this regard.

In fairness iOS runs on a far, far slower hardware. The same can be said with Windoze running on intel Pentium D.
 
In fairness iOS runs on a far, far slower hardware. The same can be said with Windoze running on intel Pentium D.

I've got a jankity 7 year old Pentium laptop running Win10 32-bit that I've pushed through the betas all the way to the most recent update.

Hasn't slowed down a bit.

About the only thing that can slow down bootup times these days is if you install a bunch of junk apps that set themselves to launch on boot, and you refuse to turn them off.
 
Pro 3 and Pro 4 pens and keyboards are interchangeable between generations. However, the Pro 4 pen will perform similarly to the old pen when used on a 3. I believe the latency and pressure sensitivity improvements are built into the screen of the 4.

I've been trying to work this out. I've spent so long with the Pro 3 pen that I got used to that hard nib on glass feel.

I know the Pro 4 has pixel sense but I thought it was the pen itself with the greater pressure levels. I wonder if anyone has used a Pro 3 pen on the Pro 4?

So far I've been testing out the Pro 4 pen in OneNote and Photoshop. It does work differently to the Pro 3 pen. It's going to take a lot more testing and configuration to hit that sweet spot.

One thing I've not tried yet are the various nibs. That's going to be exciting to see if they actually do something different.

Downloading MangaStudio at the moment so I'll see how it works with that tomorrow.
 
I've got a jankity 7 year old Pentium laptop running Win10 32-bit that I've pushed through the betas all the way to the most recent update.

Hasn't slowed down a bit.

About the only thing that can slow down bootup times these days is if you install a bunch of junk apps that set themselves to launch on boot, and you refuse to turn them off.

The problem is you still need to tinker this tinker that go to services, registry, blah blah blah to get it to work even decently. iOS with gazillion apps doesn't need all those **** to run fine while if you let windoze and windoze programs do whatever the program wants without you tinkering, any system will choke and BSOD, etc. iOS is smart enough to ensure minimal user tinkering on every app you install while you need to check every step you do or else face bloaware, viruses and malware.
 
I have the same PLUS an ip6, a 13" MBAir, a 15" rMBP, iPad Air, iPad 4, iPad rMini, and multiple desktop variants - basically everything Apple makes lol - and I STILL got the iPad Pro and I LOVE IT.

Having the extra real estate for everything I do is really a nice add, same with the extra processing power and increased RAM. I don't use it for games or photography or even work; I use it for research, reading academic journals, taking research notes, performing data analysis, etc. It is extremely useful for me having the ability to read digital docs (word, PDF, PP, etc.) in full size, editing and marking up digital docs, and being able to read/write notes while viewing a research document or website page for reference simultaneously.

The only thing I do not like is that web pages load in a mobile theme instead of a desktop version because of iOS. That being said, all you need to do is switch to a desktop page when needed. Not a big deal really when compared to all the other benefits in provides me in my particular use case needs.

Your own PMMV depending on use.

Hope this helps.



Best,

JS
You are keeping the air even with the pro?
 
When Manga Studio first came out several years ago in grayscale, I bought it out of curiosity and was surprised how nice the inking and toner engines were, although the UI was a bit confusing at the time. The current version is a huge improvement from the former, in my experience. I know a few local comic illustrators who still use PS for their work and I kept suggesting MS.

As for the Surface 3, your mention of the Pro 4 pen and type cover working with it is surprising. Are you sure the new pen/cover is backwards compatible? Because if it is, I'd grab the SP 3 since it's cheaper and was suggested to increase the RAM as much as I can so I can import Manga Studio, Mischief and Sketchbook Pro in the Windows environment ( I own the serial keys already so all I have to do is download the WIN versions and I'm good to go ). I've tried the SP 4 pen at Best Buy and was surprised.

I've been trying to work this out. I've spent so long with the Pro 3 pen that I got used to that hard nib on glass feel.

I know the Pro 4 has pixel sense but I thought it was the pen itself with the greater pressure levels. I wonder if anyone has used a Pro 3 pen on the Pro 4?

So far I've been testing out the Pro 4 pen in OneNote and Photoshop. It does work differently to the Pro 3 pen. It's going to take a lot more testing and configuration to hit that sweet spot.

One thing I've not tried yet are the various nibs. That's going to be exciting to see if they actually do something different.

Downloading MangaStudio at the moment so I'll see how it works with that tomorrow.


When I first suggested Manga Studio to everyone, they were very open minded about it. When I suggested Surface Pro 3, that is when they got the pitchforks and torches out lmao.

Its funny how the Pro 4 pen is in octagon/pencil-like shape, but the Apple pencil is more of a pen shape lol. I also got use to Pro 3 pen too, but the Pro 4 pen did started to grow on me after just a few minute of using it. I would had brought the pen and type cover for my Pro 3, but the rent was due lol.

Here is link to a review of using the Pro 4 type cover, pen, and pen nibs on a Surface Pro 3.
http://surfaceproartist.com/blog/20...o-review-surface-book-settles-for-pen-instead
 
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The problem is you still need to tinker this tinker that go to services, registry, blah blah blah to get it to work even decently.

No, you don't. I haven't absolutely had to touch the registry in years, and the most I've ever tweaked was setting up a dedicated partition at the front of a second HDD for the page file, which I don't even need to do anymore now that SSDs are a thing.
 
I've been trying to work this out. I've spent so long with the Pro 3 pen that I got used to that hard nib on glass feel.

I know the Pro 4 has pixel sense but I thought it was the pen itself with the greater pressure levels. I wonder if anyone has used a Pro 3 pen on the Pro 4?

So far I've been testing out the Pro 4 pen in OneNote and Photoshop. It does work differently to the Pro 3 pen. It's going to take a lot more testing and configuration to hit that sweet spot.

One thing I've not tried yet are the various nibs. That's going to be exciting to see if they actually do something different.

Downloading MangaStudio at the moment so I'll see how it works with that tomorrow.

The pen nib kit has a nib that is the same kind of plastic tip of the old pen. I am also used to that smooth plastic feel now.
 
See I still don't think iOS should function like OS X - I think it should run single screen apps rock solid for professionals. Professionals are not unzipping files and e-mailing multiple attachments, this is office lacky work and should be done on a laptop. Id use my retina Macbook for such tasks, I would want or expect to do them on an iPad - Pro or otherwise.

The only thing i think is natural to implement is being able to drag things between the multi-tasking windows, this seems obvious and is currently impossible.

I don't want all the Windows type features you mentioned implemented.

The iPad Pro i think should excel as.

  • Advanced planning and organisation (building blue prints etc, where you can use pencil and hands and advanced vector software to draw up house plans in a single app, much more interactively than you can on a laptop)
  • Logic Pro Remote (multiple channels you can touch and edit at the same time as if you were using a real midi controller or desk, other audio apps can also take advantage of the added real estate to enable this to replace a midi controlling mixing desk)
  • Digital Artists (the advantages with pencil are already there for this as are the apps and being used instead of a Wacom Cintiq and being more flexible whilst its at it is an obvious usage instance.
  • Engineers note taking - I mean just take a look at this https://twitter.com/dlpasco/status/665012435141574657, https://twitter.com/dlpasco/status/665013005080375296
  • Coda for web design - the new version lets you pull in an iPad mini sized website next to your code which automatically updates as you write it. This is the first example that I think overlaps with a laptop and where you might as well do it there, were it not for the fact that you're seeing a live example of exactly what your site looks like on iOS Safari and mobile devices which is ideal for troubleshooting your code before then going back to desktop based browsers to do the same. Its more streamlined than refreshing an emulator in OS X.
  • Advanced large touch screen remote - I expect to see lots of pro apps take advantage of the large iPad Pro and use it as a second screen experience, like the Logic Remote above, other pro apps should do this so you can interact with the experience in OS X and use the iPad Pro as a controller.


GOOD luck with keeping it, and all its apps, alive in such a niche market
 
GOOD luck with keeping it, and all its apps, alive in such a niche market

Not everything Apple sells has to be an iPhone seller you know. Its good that Apple sees purpose in niche devices like the Mac Pro, iPad Pro and Apple Watch. Why people seem to thing its a bad thing they're willing to make stuff that appeals to few people i'll never know - the niche items are always the best things a company does.

and for the record, music production is a very lucrative "niche" market. There are at least 60 companies who's sole revenue stream is making plugins for other peoples music software (like Logic). There are plenty who'd develop just for the iPad Pro, these apps aren't usually your consumer 79p don't forget either, they'll be priced as niche apps which means they cost a lot more.
 
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