Over the years I have tried a lot of things to speed up my work. From special mice to macro keyboards I always felt like I was purchasing gimmicks rather than actually tools. When I decided to migrate from an Intuos to Cintiq my first thought was: “OK, time for some research because I don’t wanna spend money with another gimmick!” and I was really shocked with the lack of answers that I found for the many questions that I had. I found reviews about the hardware quality, the size, how to connect to your computer (according to the instructions), and all the tech specs. I could even find some Zbrush related but it was basically “oh, it’s awesome and it feels great!” and no answer to my questions. I’m a generalist 3D artist, so I deal with old-school polygon modeling, rigging, animation, simulations, and a lot of other softwares than Zbrush or Mudbox. How it is to actually work with a Cintiq, not just 30min tests.
With that in mind, I decided to write this article with all the questions that I have and what I figured out!
Working with multiple displays!
From the get-go this was my biggest question: How do I work with multiple displays? Can I work with multiple displays? I looked over and over and all I could find was people showing how they mirrored their screens or extended but kept using a mouse. I can’t remember the last time that I modeled something using a mouse, that definitely wasn’t in my plans.
After some research, I found out that there’s a button called “Tablet mode” at the top right of the Cintiq and I thought: well, problem solved! I just need to press this button and I’ll use the Cintiq as an Intuos.
That didn’t work as planned since the Tablet Mode button does the trick, but not in a seamless way. When you press the Tablet Mode button a message saying “The display will go into tablet mode.” and you’ll have a couple of seconds to cancel this operation (Which is actually a good thing since I bumped that button a few times during the first weeks) before the screen turns off, transforming your Cintiq into a super fancy Intuos.
So my solution was using the Pro Pen 3D and set up the 3rd button as “Display Toggle”. The fact that you can set the 3rd button as almost anything you want (even software specific actions) is definitely a great addition to the Pro Pen. Having the “Display Toggle” action on my 3rd button I can seamlessly switch between using all the 3 displays (2 monitors + Cintiq) or just the Cintiq, without having to look for shortcuts or on-screen commands. After a few hours, it became a REALLY natural thing.
QHD, UHD, and FHD.
My 2 monitors are 24” QHD (2560 x 1440px) monitors, so I’m pretty used to have some extra room for software UIs then having an FHD monitor(1920x1080px). As a 3d artist, I believe this is something really important since I deal with A LOT of UIs. One of the reasons that made me consider getting a Cintiq Pro over the Cintiq is the 4k resolution. I’m used to the extra space, so no way I would feel comfortable to work on a smaller screen and with less resolution.
At first, I tried to work with 4k on the Cintiq and it feels great how things look clean and sharp. But this is a 16” screen you definitely need to upscale your softwares UIs. And this is where things start to get clumsy.
My first try was using the Cintiq as UHD and upscale only software UI to 125% and my 2 monitors as QHD. Not all softwares have UI scale options, so it didn’t last much longer. My second try was keeping the Cintiq as UHD and upscale the whole display using Windows “Scale and Layout” options. Once again I set up to 125% and things appeared to be working way better until I start moving windows around or having some windows between the 2 monitors with different scales.
I ended up switching the Cintiq resolution to QHD in order to match the other monitors and this definitely was the best call. Moving windows around and everything else feels really natural and no popping or unexpected giant software popping up!
Wacom Link Plus and the USB-C
USB-C can be something very misleading if you’re not much into computers. The Cintiq Pro 16 by default requires 2 USB-C cables: One for power and a second one for video (also known as Displayport Alt mode). The tricky part is that for the video you need a USB-C Thunderbolt connection! And this information gets more tricky if you don’t know that Thunderbolt is actually an Intel technology (and I use an AMD processor), so by default my motherboard doesn’t have a compatible USB-C port.
So with that in mind, I had 2 options:
A — As far as I know a lot of the RTX cards have USB-C ports (Displayport-Alt compatible), so if you have one of those new cards all you have to do is plug the USB-C and have fun! This is what I did, simple and straightforward!
B — Wacom Link Plus! I believe Wacom is pretty aware that not everyone has those fancy USB-C ports, so your Cintiq Pro 16 comes with Wacom Link Plus, a sort of hub/adapter that you can use either HDMI (which only supports QHD) or Displayport (if you’re looking for UHD) instead of the USB-C. It’s a little messy since you’re dealing with more cables than just 2 USB-C. To be fair it’s kind of trade since the Wacom Link Plus supports a single cable USB-C solution if you plug it on the top left USB-C port. So it’s more cables under your desk and less cable in your workspace — it’s up to you!
I tested both HDMI and DisplayPort, and since this is real life, there’s always a catch.
At first, I tried the HDMI with a super cheap spare cable that I have here for emergencies. It worked fine until I restarted my PC. After that, the Cintiq started to show a “No Signal” message and entered in standby mode. I tried to re-plug a couple of times with no success, so I decided to move on to the DisplayPort test.
Wacom Link Plus has a mini-DP port, so I ran to the cable store and got the cheapest DP/miniDP port that I could find. And once again it didn’t work. “Maybe I need a more expensive cable?” I thought. And I was right! I looked on Amazon and got this DP/miniDP Thunderbolt-compatible cable and voilá! It worked like a charm! UHD resolution and everything else works great.
I’ve seen a lot of people struggling with the same issue and blaming Wacom Link Plus, which definitely isn’t the one to blame. So if you’re not using a USB-C cable (which I strongly recommend you to use!) double-check your HDMI and DisplayPort cables because there’s a good chance this is the main reason for your issue is just a cheap cable.
Working on a daily basis
When I first got the Cintiq Plus 16, my plan was to use it only for sculpting, texture painting and sometimes retouching purposes. I was used to working with an Intuos M with limited area mapping (⅔ of the total area), so I was concerned that maybe my arm would get tired after long periods using only the Cintiq.
Surprisingly, after the first day, it feels so comfortable and intuitive that I naturally was opening all my main softwares like 3ds Max and Maya on the Cintiq and using them just like I always used to. What I didn’t expect was the neck pain at the end of the first week. So I really recommend a stand if you’re gonna work on the Cintiq for long periods. I’m using the Wacom Stand for Cintiq 16 and it really works great. I heard some complaints about the Cintiq not being compatible with the Ergo Stand but for me one of the greatest attractive is the 16” screen. It’s a really good screen size and doesn’t sacrifice your workspace. It’s a really personal thing I guess.
Conclusion
Right after getting my Cintiq, I worked all by myself on THU opening ceremony video with a really short deadline. I can definitely say that the Cintiq really shined when I had to do precision work like adjusting character silhouettes or fine retouching textures. Even animating felt like I was picking the controllers with a picker and playing with an action-figure. Somehow it feels less technical and more artistic to work with softwares like 3ds Max and Maya. I’ve been using the Cintiq for almost 6 months now and I can definitely say that it’s a gamechanger after you get used to it. Working on 3D applications like 3ds Max or Maya doesn’t feel super faster but def initely feels more intuitive, and for sculpting and painting it is unanimous that the Cintiq Pro 16 is a truly and significative step-up in productivity.
Also, I don’t think I have to go deep mentioning the quality of the hardware since every single review article states that. (it’s pretty dope though!)
Now that I’m super familiar with the Cintiq workflow, I can definitely consider an upgrade to the single 4k display (and maybe a Cintiq Pro 24 — why not? hahaha!) to enjoy all the power that Cintiq has to offer with no outside blockers at all.
The feel of look and draw at the same thing at the same time it’s intuitive and liberating. I remember that one of my first art mentors told me that “if you need to take a closer look at something, first look closer” and that quote never made as much sense as now.
If you have any questions feel free to find me on Twitter (@_vitorugo)or Instagram (@vitorugo_ )!
PS: This article was written 1 year ago but ended up never being published (#sad). I ended up upgrading my Cintiq to a Pro 24 and my secondary display (now I have a single 4k display instead of 2 QHD) and now I’m using the Cintiq Pro 16 as part of my mobile desktop setup when I have to travel and work. =)