Wacom Adds Multi-Touch To Bamboo

Next generation Bamboo™ combines Multi-Touch and pen input, ushering in a natural, intuitive and simple way to work with computers

Vancouver, WA - Sept. 24, 2009 - Wacom® today announced an exciting new computer input solution with the introduction of Multi-Touch in its new family of Bamboo tablets.   Bamboo tablets are USB peripherals that deliver natural and intuitive input to desktop or laptop computer users.   With the ultimate goal of creating harmony between humans and technology, Wacom combines Multi-Touch (finger-based input) with pen input to deliver an entirely new standard in human-computer interaction.  "Multi-Touch provides a very natural and intuitive way for users to navigate and interact with applications," said Dennis Hoff, senior consumer product manager for Wacom.  "By combining Multi-Touch with our renowned pen technology, Bamboo provides users with a new computer input approach that is not only extremely flexible, but friendly, fresh and fun."
Bamboo includes a family of five distinct tablets: touch-only, pen-only and three versions of the pen and Multi-Touch combination.  Bamboo offers choices to give end-users the freedom to work with their computer the way they want.  Bamboo also goes beyond current mouse and other input solutions by adding the power of Multi-Touch gestures such as zoom, scroll, pan and rotate.  Compatible with Windows® or Mac® operating systems, Bamboo is easy to use and introduces a way of computing that is about as natural as one can get. 
Bamboo's timely introduction reflects modern design and functionality by offering new ways to interact with computer-based content.  "Multi-Touch and pen input are highly complementary input methodologies, each providing distinct benefits to the overall creative experience.  We live in a world where people demand immediate and direct interaction during computer sessions," continues Hoff.  "Making that interaction as natural and easy as possible is Bamboo's raison d'être."

Getting In Touch with Bamboo
The next generation Bamboo family is as diverse as the user it intends to serve.  While Multi-Touch input might be foreign to some, there is a whole generation of touch-centric users who have emerged thanks to the introduction of mobile devices, such as the Apple® iPhone™ and even larger surface displays like those found in Automated Teller Machines (ATM).  Touch is here to stay and Bamboo addresses this growing affinity for touch by providing a line of inspirational products that meet this phenomenon head on.  "We are quite literally putting input control and expression into the hands of the user by making Multi-Touch available for everyone," explains Hoff.  "It truly represents a positive move within the user community by introducing a natural, human element to the computing experience."

"Pentastic" Bamboo
Wacom's patented, pressure-sensitive, battery-free and cordless pen is still central to the Bamboo experience.  While Multi-Touch gives users a fresh new way to interact and navigate with their computer, pen input delivers the precise input control and a true pen-on-paper feel.  Whether annotating, drawing or editing, the pen is the ideal tool to use when working with software applications, especially those creative applications that support pressure sensitivity.  One can even erase mistakes with the pen's digital eraser.  When combined with Multi-Touch, the Bamboo pen becomes a natural extension to the whole input process, providing users an enjoyable computer input solution for work and play.

Bamboo Family
The new Bamboo family is comprised of three core products: Bamboo Touch; Bamboo Pen; and Bamboo Pen and Touch.  Two additional tablets, Bamboo Craft and Bamboo Fun form the rest of the lineup, each having its own features and benefits to satisfy different consumer tastes and needs.
For computer users looking to replace a mouse or augment integrated laptop input, Bamboo Touch ($69 USD) provides an exciting way to work with the computer, opening the door to a brand new world of enjoyment with Multi-Touch.  Like all Bamboo tablets, Bamboo Touch simply plugs into a computer with the attached USB cable.  A complete tutorial on all touch gestures is included in the box. 
Bamboo Pen ($69 USD), like the name implies, is a pen-only tablet and well suited to end-users who would like to employ the pen for digital ink and creativity.  The pen delivers accuracy and pressure-sensitive control and allows the user to customize two side buttons within the Wacom Tablet driver software.  Bamboo Pen comes with Corel® Painter™ Essentials, a creative software application with realistic tools for sketching and painting.
Bamboo Pen and Touch ($99 USD) provides amazing flexibility by offering pen and Multi-Touch input in a single device.  This tablet is geared to users seeking an input device for the office or home that allows them to navigate with their fingers or use Bamboo's patented battery-free and cordless pen technology for pen-specific work.  Users can alternate between the two input methods easily and quickly.  Simply, if the finger is in contact with the tablet surface, touch becomes the primary input.  If the pen tip is brought into proximity to the tablet surface, touch is automatically turned off and pen input controls the cursor.  For example, one could easily use Multi-Touch to select icons and scroll through a document and conveniently switch to the pen when an annotation or quick sketch is needed.  Bamboo Pen and Touch comes with Adobe® Photoshop® Elements for photo editing and retouching as well as Nik® software's filters for photo enhancement.
Bamboo Craft, offering pen and touch input and included software, is ideally suited for today's scrapbooker and crafter.  Bamboo Craft users will enjoy using the pen to retouch and edit photos as well as create and embellish designs.   Users can conveniently employ Multi-Touch input to zoom-in on or rotate an image.  When ready to add a handwritten note or signature, simply pick up the pen and let it flow.  Bamboo Craft ($129 USD) ships with an amazing array of software and valuable items, including Adobe Photoshop Elements, Corel Painter Essentials, Nik filters, 26 digital scrapbooking lessons from renowned designer Jane Conner-ziser, a free scrapbooking album from Shutterfly®, digital craft embellishments, a coupon from Digital Scrapbook University for a free online class, a free one-year subscription to the popular magazine, Scrapbooking and Beyond® and a gift certificate from the e-store at CafePress®.
Bamboo Fun ($199 USD), in stylish silver, combines pen and Multi-Touch in a larger-sized tablet than Bamboo Craft or the other Bamboo solutions.  It is ideal for home creatives or photo enthusiasts looking for more control and freedom of movement when their fingers or pen are positioned on the tablet surface.  Bamboo Fun ships with Adobe Photoshop Elements, Corel Painter Essentials and Nik photographic filters.

Bamboo OS Support
Bamboo will work with current and next generation operating systems such as Microsoft® Windows® 7.  In fact, Bamboo supports Windows 7 out-of-the-box along with Windows XP, Vista™ and Mac OS 10.4 and 10.5.  Additionally, Bamboo supports Multi-Touch gestures such as pan, scroll, zoom, rotate and forwards/backwards.
"By combining touch and pen input, Wacom continues its tradition of providing human interface solutions that embrace and support the creativity and personality of the user," said Masahiko Yamada, president and CEO of Wacom.  "As our relationship with computers evolve, so does Wacom's quest to make certain that the very characteristics that make us human find their way into our technology and that users discover a whole new world of digital exploration and freedom."

About Wacom
Founded in 1983, Wacom's vision to bring people and technology closer together through natural interface technologies has made it the world's leading manufacturer of pen tablets, interactive pen displays and digital interface solutions. The advanced technology of Wacom's intuitive input devices has been used to create some of the most exciting digital art, films, special effects, fashions and designs around the world
and provide business and home users with the ability to explore digital content creation in a comfortable, natural way.

 

Technorati Tags: Wacom,Pen Tablet

Video Training Review: A Celebration Of Art - Paint Like A Master with Fay Sirkis from NAPP

Written By T. Michael Testi

A Celebration Of Art - Paint Like A Master with Fay Sirkis is the new video training DVD for those who want to learn to paint digitally using Painter X and Adobe Photoshop. It is hosted by Fay Sirkis, an internationally recognized portrait artist, photographer, and instructor. The video is published by National Association of Photoshop Professionals, or NAPP. If you are not familiar with NAPP, please read my review on Photoshop User magazine to gain more insight on what NAPP is all about and why you might want to join.

Paint Like A Master is contained on a single DVD that runs 222 minutes and can only be used on a computer. It is aimed at users new to digital painting and want to move into this medium. The author goes over the material in 23 lessons.

Lesson 1, "Analyze the Image" examines what you need to do to simulate the look of a fine art painting. Here you will look at primarily simulating watercolor and oil, what to look for, and how to set each up. Lesson 2, "The Sandwich" is a technique that will allow you to color-correct your image, especially in situations where you have multiple areas of highlights and shadows.  Lesson 3, "Final Preparation" shows you additional sandwich steps that will help you prepare skin conditions to handle blemishes and wrinkles before heading into Painter.

Lesson 4, "Wacom Tablets" instructs you on some really key ways to set up your Wacom Tablet to work with Painter much more efficiently. This includes launching Photoshop and Painter from the tablet as well as undo and changing brush size.

Lesson 5 & 6, "Painter X" takes on the tasks of first introducing some of the new features to Painter X and how some of these will be further addressed in later lessons. Then we are walked through the interface and how to use Painter X in general.

Lesson 7, "The Cloners" describes the use of the Clone stamp functionality within Painter. In this lesson, you will see how the use of the Cloners can really be powerful if used correctly. The instructor also gives a number of 'little' tips that can really be helpful while using this tool. Lesson 8, "The Blenders" takes a look at what blenders are and how they can be used in Painter. This lesson also does a good job at looking at the Re-saturation (Resat) control on the brush info bar as well.

Lesson 9, "Watercolors" begins to show you how to work on a watercolor by continuing with Blenders techniques. Here you will see how to emulate a watercolor border in a painting. Lesson 10, "Custom Pallets" examines one of the features in Painter X. Now, you can share custom pallets with others just by saving them and transferring a file.

Lesson 11, "Custom Workspace" now describes how the workspaces are used in Painter X. Since these, too, can be saved, Fay saved her personal workspace, which includes all of her brush categories, pallets, as well as everything as she has laid out on her system, and has provided it for you on the DVD.

Lesson 12, "Shadow and Highlights" shows you how to give your painting what it needs to pop the image out to the viewer. Here you will work with enhancing the shadows and highlights to give better definition to your image.

Lesson 13, "Details" looks at how when you add outlines to your image you can give it more depth. This way, you accentuate the finer points of your image. By adding a line to an upper piece of cloth, you give the lower piece the impression of distance.

Lesson 14, "Portrait Hair Brushes" now takes a look at some of the hair brushes that the instructor includes with the DVD. These include hair color brushes, hair texture brushes, and a wonderful fly away hair removal tool.

Lesson 15, "Portrait Faces" shows you how to bring out the best in the face. Here you will work with brushes to smooth down the skin tones and focus on retaining the reality of what the person looks like.

Lesson 16, "Mary Cassatt" takes from example of the warm painting of children and mothers that Cassatt did, and translates the types of brush strokes she used to gain that same feeling to your image.

Lesson 17, "Rembrandt" begins by showing you how to create a master layer. By using a combination of the Rembrandt oily brush and the Rembrandt blender, you will be able to create the look and feel of a Rembrandt masterpiece.

Lesson 18, "Real Bristle Brushes" were a major feature to Painter X. They replicate the real bristle brushstrokes by not only simulating the look of a brushstroke, but also forcing you to dip the brush, so to speak, to refresh the amount of color on the brush.

Lesson 19 & 20, "Autopainting" covers the Underpainting, Auto-Painting, and restoration features in Painter X. The first part examines how each of the three parts works starting with the Underpainting, and then the Auto-Painting. This is done in stages where you are able to get finer and finer detail. Then you use the Restoration to add the detail back from the edges.

Lessons 21 begins the first of three bonus lessons (22 and 23 being the others). In this one you will see how to create an image similar to a Renoir using the auto-painting system. Then you will recreate another Cassatt image, again using the auto-painting, and then finally one more with techniques of Monet.

A Celebration Of Art - Paint Like A Master is a wonderful DVD that works in a very systematic fashion and logical manner. It is filled with a lot of tips and techniques that will totally enhance your ability to use Painter. Since it comes with many images that you can work with as well as a trial copy of Painter X, you can get started right away. It is clear that the instructor, Fay Sirkis, is very knowledgeable about both painting and Painter X.

The retail price of A Celebration of Art: Paint Like a Master is $149.99 USD. You can get it from KelbyTraining for $107.99 USD, but for NAPP members it is only $94.99.

If you want to learn to paint digitally, want to learn Painter X, or take your Painter skills to the next level, then I highly recommend A Celebration Of Art - Paint Like A Master.

Technorati Tags: Painter,Painter X,Corel Painter,Photoshop,Art