Revit & Wacom Intuos

[jmpimen]

Hi everyone,  In the past day I been lock through different websites and videos to try to see which is the best configuration for the use of the new wacom intuos tablet in Revit, all the videos that I have seen are oriented for use in Photoshop and in the forum that mention, only say that they Like a lot and that the tablet is wonderful, please if someone can give me information about what is the best way to start setup and use the wacom table in Revit or any tutorial that shows how to use the tablet with  Revit, I would bee greatly appreciate it a lot.

Thank you.

[ToanDN]

I've never seen anyone use a tablet with Revit but I did see an 'digital artist' using it with AutoCAD a while back.  He drew more slowly than pouring molasses in January.  But yeah good luck to your finding.

[jmpimen]

 ToanDN, thanks you for your respond but yes a lot of people use it a pen tablet now. also if you do a little search in this forum you will be found some. 

Thanks.

[ToanDN]

Here is one.  Hope other pen users can take their eyes off their tablet and give you more answers.

http://revitoped.blogspot.com/2010/10/intous-4-pen-tablet.html

[brentkmcdonald]

Hi  jmpimen,

To combat wrist pain, I have used an intous pro with Revit for about 4 years now.  It is not perfect but it works well.  You will be slower at first, but you pick up speed once you get used to using a pen tablet. It is also nice to have a pen when discussing a design with other people, because you can sketch right over a screen grab using windows 10 screen sketch app. I never use a mouse and never miss one. 

My setup  

Turn off use windows ink in the pen propeties.

Regarding panning  and the right mouse button - I have the side buttons on the pen set to middle click (tip side) and right click  (Eraser Side) (see attached photo) . 

Regarding zooming I use an app called easy scroller which allows me to zoom in and out about my mouse pointer using the page up and page down buttons on my keyboard.  Neither Pinching or the touch ring work well for zooming in and out in Revit.  Download it here and set it to start with windows by dragging a shortcut to your start up folder. http://rhdesigns.browseto.org/easyscroller.html

I have never setup the radial menu or the shortcut keys, because life is short. 

Possible alternative to the Intuos 

I just purchased the XP-PEN Artist15.6 Pro 15.6 which essentially a low cost Cintiq without touch. I think that will be better than my Intuos. I will let you know after I receive it.

[jmpimen]

brentkmcdonald thanks you for your comments and yes is been really slow for me to get used to, but as you said I getter better every day. one issue that I didn't figure out yet is the double click to open a view from the project browser and the easy way to zoon & out in a specific point on the screen. also, I started with the new tablet  which I don't know if the best way to star.  

Thank you    

[brentkmcdonald]

jmpimen

I just tap twice with the pen to double click. I have my pen tip fairly close to the surface to the tablet (about 1/8" 4mm), so I just rock my wrist twice towards my body. A good alternative to double tapping the would be to switch the eraser to double click until you become more comfortable with the pen (its really just a time issue).

Also if you have a multiple monitor setup you may want to set a custom profile for revit in which under mapping you have the screen area set to the monitor you use revit on. That would would give you a bit more control when double clicking. You will have to switch apps, press the windows key, or click the task bar for the screen area to go back to full.

Zooming is the major weakness of a tablet, because you don't have a mouse wheel. Easy scroller solves that problem. Place you pen over the area you want to zoom toward or away from while holding the PageUp or PageDown. It will zoom smoothly to or from your pointer.

I hope this all makes sense.

[mccotterarchitecture]

I am hoping as someone who has been using the pen tablets with Revit you can help expedite my learning curve.   As an experiment, I trying to see if the pen is beneficial over a mouse.  I used a pen 25+ years ago with CAD and loved it....but that was before the roller wheel on a mouse.  Over the weekend I bought the Wacom Intous Pro Medium to try and have been working through getting things set up.

I think I have found a solution for zooming and panning.  However, I can't seem to scroll within the properties and project browser windows.  The roller wheel saved a ton of time when I knew I needed something way down the list.  Now I find myself having to grab the slide bar and drag down.  That isn't as quick as the roller wheel.  Have you found a solution for this?  Does the Easy Scroller work for that as well?

Thanks,

Tim

[brentkmcdonald]

Hi Tim
Yes, Easy Scroller works in the Project Browser and Properties windows. All
you need to do is put the pointer over the window and press Page Up or Page
Down. You can also right click on a blank spot in the project browser to
search; which can be faster than scrolling depending on what you are
looking for in there.

[mccotterarchitecture]

Thanks,

I will have to give this a try.  Hoping I retrain my memory muscle to work through all of this 🙂

[cad2]

I am wondering about the same thing! I mean, man I use AutoCAD since the Version 12 in MS DOS and man times has changed. But I did got a god peak of people drawing on a real Hugh drawing board with ink and transparent paper. Wouldn't it awesome when those times come back, no one needs to hide behind a screen anymore. Yes I use a mouse, and sometimes in Navisworks my 3D Mouse. But hey, I can definitely see in the nearby future, that a trend pops up were we all can do it in a more natural way. The technology is on the way. Would I use it? Im studying right now interior design, and I got into a lot of the Adobe World, with also contains a lot of hand drawing, and so on. Iv Autodesk jumps on it, the tablets get powerful enough, or you can even link your Workstation to it. I see the transformation also in the Laptop scene now. More Pens, Apple showed us how, with less lag and color brilliance .

If you know more about it let me know. Me for myself Im in a situation right now, where I need a new laptop and maybe I might try out a Wacom Tablet, and will defenitly test Autodesk on it, just like i did 12 years ago with bootcamp, and everyone laught at me using windows on an iMac or MacBook Pro..... time is changing, never stay still, keep your mind open.

[cad2]

I guess with the new touch possibility is that problem solved now? pinch it... 🙂

[brentkmcdonald]

I wish it did but pinch zooming doesn’t work. Revit Lt 2020 or AutoCAD Lt 2020 will just stare back at you blankly.  Using easyscroller with the scroll wheel set to “page up” and ”page down” keys is the most natural way to zoom.

Additionally for anyone thinking about using a tablet for CAD skip the intous for the XP-PEN Artist15.6 Pro 15.6 or something similar that has a scroll ring. It is much easier, and more comfortable to draft on a pen display vs a tablet. It is 100 times better drawing directly onto the screen.

[Anonymous]

I new to Revit and taking an Intro Revit class online this summer 2021. Does the Wacom 3D pen work with Revit, anyone try yet? https://estore.wacom.com/en-US/wacom-pro-pen-3d-kp505.html