polymnia

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polymnia
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  • New iPad Pro models with larger screens are under development

    polymniapolymnia
    Please, bigger tablets! At 15-16” there will be few reasons for artists to select a MacBook Pro now that the software is beginning with to catch up. I’m in that camp. I’d love an iPad with the screen size of an MBP with the pencil and all that unlocks creatively. 
    tmayjahbladecaladaniandavgregSanctum1972byronl

  • Elgato Stream Deck review: A Mac accessory you didn't realize you need

    polymniapolymnia
    dewme said:
    ...Personally, I'd like to see the numeric key region of 101/102 keyboards transformed into the functionality that this device provides. I rarely have a need for the numeric keys so if I have to tolerate the big-slab-i-ness of a huge keyboard on my desk I'd prefer that the extra real estate it consumes provide a lot more benefit than simply a numeric keypad. My accountant partner would disagree, but both of our needs could be met if the extra part of the keyboard did what these devices do.
    I love this idea. Though, being a right-handed artist using a Wacom tablet, I'd love it MORE if the Streamdeck/Number Pad could be tacked on to the LEFT side of the keyboard so I could use my left hand to operate Streamdeck controls while drawing with my right hand.
    watto_cobra

  • Elgato Stream Deck review: A Mac accessory you didn't realize you need

    polymniapolymnia
    MplsP said:
    For $80-250, how hard is it to simply type “Command-space, excel, enter?” Actually, you need to type the first couple of letters of a program’s name and it usually pops up. (Besides, MS Office apps take so long to load on my 2016 MBP that saving a second is pretty much pointless.) For other applications, anyone who is reasonably facile on the keyboard can do it just as quickly as taking their hand off, looking down and finding the key on the keypad to press.
    Not worth it at all for the task you mention. 

    But I think about the repetitive, deep menu excursions I do in my photo retouching work. Specific filters used over & over. Selection/masking manipulations. Layer management conventions that I do manually. 

    While I could make actions & setup custom keyboard shortcuts, I have never been able to remember more than a few custom shortcuts.  Actions, while amazing, are just another deep multiple-click ui maneuver that slows me down. 

    My guess is the more esoteric your Application usage is, the better the Streamdeck will payoff. 

    It’s not for opening apps, though if you’ve got leftover buttons after programming the really nerdy stuff, why not?
    d_2bageljoeyrandominternetpersonfastasleepwatto_cobrabeowulfschmidt

  • 2021 12.9-inch iPad Pro review: Pro hardware without Apple's pro software

    polymniapolymnia
    entropys said:
    The software issue isn’t apps. Although apps could do more than they do with that SOC.
    the software issue is the IpadOS itself.

    file management is its biggest problem. End of story. 
    Multi user ability. It’s a pro machine.
    Multi windowing, multitasking all need fundamental work

    The list is bigger, but those are the biggies preventing iPad being a laptop replacement, instead of a laptop alternative.
    I share your concerns about the filesystem being a major problem. I generate lots of big files in my work. I copy directories full of media assets through various phases of production then deliver big files to my clients upon approval of my work. I can do this now, but the tools are clunky and Dropbox integration isn't a bulletproof as it is on the Mac.
    williamlondonmuthuk_vanalingamentropyselijahgwatto_cobra

  • 2021 12.9-inch iPad Pro review: Pro hardware without Apple's pro software

    polymniapolymnia
    Andrew_OSU said:
    jwdawso said:
    Good review, but why not include running pro-type apps from other developers? Just running geekbench and complaining about no Apple Pro apps is shortchanging the review. But still a good review!
    I'd sure hope that after almost four thousand words I had a bit more in there than just running a geekbench test and complaining about Apple's apps.

    I mentioned LumaFusion alone 3-4 times including two photos of the app in action. LumaFusion is great but it still isn't as full-featured as Final Cut Pro is. There's also no full-featured Logic equivalent and especially no Xcode option. There is iMovie, GarageBand, and Playgrounds but those aren't the same thing. I also put more weight on Apple for a reason. It cant sit here and say it is this high-end professional workhorse if it wont bring its own apps to the platform but expects others. How it can expect the full version of Adobe Premiere or AfterEffects to come to iPad without Motion, Compressor, and FCP?

    There are plenty of great apps for sure such as the Affinity Suite which has near-feature parity with its own desktop apps. but photo apps are one of the most saturated areas of the App Store so it is expected to have quite a few of those.


    The original commenter could have been a bit more charitable in their assessment of your review. But I am also interested in other Pro application experiences. Specifically, Photoshop. If I buy the new iPad Pros, one of its jobs will be running Photoshop when I am away from my retouching studio. I have used a Wacom tablet with a MacBook Pro on the go before, but it's putzy to work in that configuration. An iPad & Pencil is a much easier hardware configuration to carry around and, more importantly, actually use away from my own desk.

    Lightroom would also be a good app to evaluate professional workflows.

    I wish I had non-photo pro app suggestions, but I'm a photo retoucher, so that's my center of app gravity.
    williamlondontmayjwdawsoVermelhowatto_cobra