Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/69535
review Wacom's Intuos5 P en and tablets have always been a little taboo for me as an assistant editor. I could never get comfortable with them or be efficient enough to justify the cost. But then I got a chance to try Wacom's medium-sized tablet. By BRADY BETZEL Assistant Editor Los Angeles bradybetzel@gmail.com As an assistant editor I pride myself on being fast and efficient, I often find myself learning all the shortcuts I can while using the fastest mouse I can find. I always had heard that tablets were faster, intuitive and more ergonomic. After the past few weeks of embracing the Intuos5, I agree. A few years ago I tried to use a tablet with A speedier workflow for assistant editors. my nonlinear editing software: I would pick the pen up, not quite understand how it worked and within 30 minutes go back to my trusty mouse. Still I always felt there was a certain mystique to tablets — it just makes the user seem more professional. So after a solid week of forcing myself to only use the Intuos5, I can unequivocally say that I am faster, more effi- cient and highly accurate, which is the name of the game in post. IN TOUCH WITH GESTURES At my current job I use Avid Media Com- poser 5.0.3.7 and above. The Wacom Intuos5 installation went flawlessly on my Mac OS X 10.6.4 workstation at work, as well as on my HP xw8200 workstation running Windows 7 at home. On the Mac and PC it took no more than 10 minutes and I was off and running, trying to discover and harness the tablet's abilities for myself. The newest feature I want- ed to immediately test was the "touch" fea- ture. It is just as comfortable as the touch features on the Mac trackpad. all together and customize the three-, four-, and five-finger gestures to your liking. The one- and two-finger gestures are pre-set gestures, meaning that they can only be customized as much as the settings let you (no keystrokes or program opening options like the three-finger and up gestures. PRODUCT: Wacom Intuos5 WEBSITE: www.wacom.com PRICING: Small $229.95; Medium $349.95; Large $469.95 · Multi-finger touch · Wireless connection ability · Eight assignable express keys allowing the user to rotate, zoom, etc.; they also have the handy ability to bring up the Heads Up Display (HUD) on the computer monitor quickly and effortlessly. By resting your finger on a designated express key (it has a raised line on it much like an old-school phone's number 5) you can bring up the HUD, Unfortunately, inside Avid Media Composer, I was not able to get the zoom function using the two-finger pinch to work on my timeline, I wish it would have because that would be a pretty handy shortcut for me, not a deal breaker though. [Editor's Note: Wacom contacted Avid and discovered that Media Composer does not cur- rently support multi-touch gestures. As multi-touch continues to evolve, Wacom expects more software vendors to support multi-touch gestures.] CUSTOMIZATION Within the settings dialogue you can also customize the express keys and pen settings. Some favorites of mine are customizing the express keys to work differently within each program. For instance, in Avid Media Com- poser and other NLEs, I use some of the keys with modifiers such as Shift, Alt, Control, etc. Specifically inside Avid Media Composer, I use the express keys as macros. I perform syncing and grouping on an hourly and daily basis. In order to group clips together that don't have jam sync timecode or time- code whatsoever, I use six keys in short order: Mark Clip, Go to in, Matchframe, Go to out, Mark Out, and Create Sub- clip. For any assistant editor grouping by auxiliary timecode, this is a very common set of keys to be pushed. On the Intuos5 tablet I assign those six keystrokes to my bottom express key, The "touch" features are referred to as "My Gestures" in the Wacom Tablet settings dia- logue window. Within the settings dialogue you can enable and disable the touch settings 48 Post • June 2012 this might sound silly but it takes five keystrokes away. The time I save is just a few seconds, but add them up throughout the day and you can save minutes, even hours. The express keys also have a touch ring www.postmagazine.com which shows the user all of the shortcuts assigned on the express keys. Since I switch between programs often, I need to remind myself which shortcuts I program — this HUD is a great way to see them via an overlay over the program you are using. The pen is light and comfortable, the pen- rest includes many extra nibs. In addition the tablet includes many free valuable software titles: Adobe Photoshop Elements, Anime Stu- dio, Sketchbook, Painter and Color Efex Pro. One feature I wanted to but could not test at the time of writing this review is the wireless connection available for purchase as the Wire- less Accessory Kit, which harnesses an RF con- nection instead of using the USB connection that comes with the Intuos5. FINAL THOUGHTS In the end, the Intuos5 tablet is a slick con- duit to an efficient workflow; not only does it speed up my editing process by giving me a more ergonomic and natural pointing device, it allows me to not think about where I will make an edit and just "create." I know some might question why a video editor is writing a review about a drawing tab- let? My response is that this tablet saves me time, which saves everybody money. Most companies will call that a win. My bezier curves are better when creating blurs, my color cor- rection feels more interactive and natural, and my colleagues even notice how efficient the tablet is when I am doing simple projects such as exporting QuickTimes. More assistant edi- tors should give a tablet a chance, for at least a week. It will give you an edge. VITAL STATS