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#72884 by Ted B
Sat Dec 16, 2017 10:41 am
Anyone tried Datacad on the massive Dell Canvas? It has a horizontal touch-sensitive 27" graphic-display with a pressure-sensitive digital pen for graphic artists using Photoshop and other graphic editing software. There are a few interesting YouTubes showing it being used.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vO7Tn8eV0E

With handwriting-recognition it might be just like working on paper the traditional-way.
I'm intrigued, but it's expensive just as a graphics tablet. But not unreasonable compared to buying another PC workstation for the studio-office. Being able to work directly on the drawings for design sketch and construction drawings like we do when it's pencil-on-paper the "old way" has been one of the Holy Grails for design Architects for decades since CAD came out. Connected to a Tower PC workstation configured for CAD work, it might be immensely-powerful ... or a nightmare.

http://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/cty ... 3743305071
#73627 by Ted B
Thu Apr 05, 2018 8:30 pm
UPDATE: I still haven't found a review in using the Canvas for CADD, but I'm still intrigued.
#73632 by Paul Nida
Fri Apr 06, 2018 1:51 pm
In DataCAD you can turn on Inference Snapping which allows you to use a tablet without needing a middle button. It works nicely with my tablet so it should work the same with the Canvas which sounds like an oversize touch screen tablet.
#73675 by Ted B
Tue Apr 10, 2018 10:43 pm
I've read the "manual", it's thread-bare thin with any specifics. The stylus has two-buttons and a pressure and angle-sensitivity tip like an Apple Pencil. The customizable "puck" looks like it has potential, but it's not specific about text-entry or handwriting-recognition. Direction-Distance (...which after 25+years of Datacad'ing I still don't have the hang-of; **hangs head in shame**) might be just the trick.

The screen does has the typical two-finger tablet navigation pan--zoom--rotate, and menu boxes and screen program-windows. They also mention a reduced-blue mode to reduce eye-strain...? And guess you can also just use a fingertip to pick and move stuff like a tablet.

Paired with a 27-in. vertical touch-screen monitor/integral PC might make for a very productive workstation. But I don't yet know where to place a conventional keyboard*...even if it has a fullsize virtual keyboard(?)...maybe a pullout keyboard tray? Reaching-over a physical keyboard would be awkwards. Maybe I'd still keep my present PC station of normal "business stuff"; email, web-surfing, etc...
[ * - I'd either go high-end gaming keyboard, ...or clicky-retro like my still-used 1928 Underwood manual.]

My current CAD station setup I have the desk's traditional righthand pullout tray pulled-out with a bolster to raise the surface flush to the desk surface so I can rest my right arm wrist-to-elbow on the "L-surface" while using the mouse, withe the keyboard directly in front of me. It's still awkward to reference printed material at the same time. Fortunately I only use letter and 11x17" documents. It's not ideal, but it's manageable... Large 24x36" drawings still live on my drafting table behind me in the bay window; when it's not occupied by sunning cats.

These days I use Sketchup Pro and Layout as much or more than Datacad-18 in my architectural practice. I'd do more digital illustration and rendering work, but the mouse-as-brush is awkward, ...one reason the Canvas initially caught my eye. The Wacom-style graphics pad/pen just doesn't work for me.

I'm still a pen and pencil on paper guy.

It's billable-time, so if I knew it would be more productive -- or even just more intuitive -- I could better justify the huuuge investment, ...though it's still only a few thousand-dollars. I remember our first Autocad workstation, it was $35k-plus in 1980s-money. Now I have a $200 Samsung 10-in. tablet I use more than my desk PC.

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