What's Reason's compatibility with Pen Tablets

[PhillipOrdonez]

I got the Kensington expert. It's fine, but the scrolling isn't as nice as I'd hope.

The tablet I ordered has touch gestures so I should be able to pinch and zoom and scroll with it like on a track pad. Not that I'm particularly fond of that way of zooming, though.

[dioxide]

What do you think of the trackball? I was thinking about trying one a while back. I imagine is good for the timeline and scrolling the Rack.

If you try/get a trackball, get one with a large ball. The one I have, and going from YT videos about music production one of the favorites, is the Kensington Orbit. It has a large ring around the ball for scrolling, which works very nice.

It is this one https://www.kensington.com/p/products/e ... roll-ring/

Ok thanks I will take a look.

[StephenHutchinson]

I mainly use my Wacom tablet for Photoshop but I do use it in Reason, Live, and Bitwig as well... it's sitting on my desk in front of a small M-Audio Keystation Mini 32 so why not use it. I find that I'm more accurate with moving dials and buttons and stuff than with the mouse.... my setup:


Reason with Wacom Tablet & Pen.jpg

Nice! Compared to mouse, what percentage do you think you use the tablet over the mouse when doing music work?

I'd say I use the Wacom with music software about 90% of the time. I don't use the pad as a trackpad... because I need it as a hand where it's positioned on my desk. I use the mouse mainly for scrolling and changing to other Mac desktop windows. The pens is also excellent for highlighting words in input text boxes.

One of my favourite things to with it is super tap or drag Algoritm's randomizer... it's super fast... much faster than clicking a mouse ... I figure I can get about 10 clicks a second with the pen... and it is so much fun. You also have the ability to tap and drag intermittently very fast until you find just the right randomized sound... it's fantastic.

The pen is also amazing for inputting midi notes and changing velocities etc... the fact that you don't have to hold down a mouse button is a blessing... the pen acts as.. well... a pen... fabulous!

[PhillipOrdonez]

Nice! Compared to mouse, what percentage do you think you use the tablet over the mouse when doing music work?

I'd say I use the Wacom with music software about 90% of the time. I don't use the pad as a trackpad... because I need it as a hand where it's positioned on my desk. I use the mouse mainly for scrolling and changing to other Mac desktop windows. The pens is also excellent for highlighting words in input text boxes.

One of my favourite things to with it is super tap or drag Algoritm's randomizer... it's super fast... much faster than clicking a mouse ... I figure I can get about 10 clicks a second with the pen... and it is so much fun. You also have the ability to tap and drag intermittently very fast until you find just the right randomized sound... it's fantastic.

The pen is also amazing for inputting midi notes and changing velocities etc... the fact that you don't have to hold down a mouse button is a blessing... the pen acts as.. well... a pen... fabulous!

That's very interesting. Do you use the express keys? Looking at your pic again, the video editing hardware you got there, would that not work to scroll instead of a mouse? Looks more comfortable to use than the mouse

[DaveyG]

Naïve question about pen tablets:

With a mouse you move a cursor then click a button when the cursor is on top of the thing you want to select/edit/activate. With a touch screen you press directly on that thing with your finger or stylus. But with a pen, how do you know where you are going to "click"? Is there still a cursor?

[dioxide]

Yes, it just controls the mouse cursor. So from the computer's point of view it is the same as if it were a mouse.

[PhillipOrdonez]

Naïve question about pen tablets:

With a mouse you move a cursor then click a button when the cursor is on top of the thing you want to select/edit/activate. With a touch screen you press directly on that thing with your finger or stylus. But with a pen, how do you know where you are going to "click"? Is there still a cursor?

the cursor moves when you hover the pen over the tablet. it also can appear wherever you place the pen on the tablet. Say the cursor is at the bottom left corner. If you hover the pen near the top right corner, the cursor will jump to that location. to click you do touch the tablet, otherwise just a cm or so distance between the tip of the pen and the tablet surface will do.

[DaveyG]

Naïve question about pen tablets:

With a mouse you move a cursor then click a button when the cursor is on top of the thing you want to select/edit/activate. With a touch screen you press directly on that thing with your finger or stylus. But with a pen, how do you know where you are going to "click"? Is there still a cursor?

the cursor moves when you hover the pen over the tablet. it also can appear wherever you place the pen on the tablet. Say the cursor is at the bottom left corner. If you hover the pen near the top right corner, the cursor will jump to that location. to click you do touch the tablet, otherwise just a cm or so distance between the tip of the pen and the tablet surface will do.

Great description. Thanks. I might need to try one now.

[StephenHutchinson]

I'd say I use the Wacom with music software about 90% of the time. I don't use the pad as a trackpad... because I need it as a hand where it's positioned on my desk. I use the mouse mainly for scrolling and changing to other Mac desktop windows. The pens is also excellent for highlighting words in input text boxes.

One of my favourite things to with it is super tap or drag Algoritm's randomizer... it's super fast... much faster than clicking a mouse ... I figure I can get about 10 clicks a second with the pen... and it is so much fun. You also have the ability to tap and drag intermittently very fast until you find just the right randomized sound... it's fantastic.

The pen is also amazing for inputting midi notes and changing velocities etc... the fact that you don't have to hold down a mouse button is a blessing... the pen acts as.. well... a pen... fabulous!

That's very interesting. Do you use the express keys? Looking at your pic again, the video editing hardware you got there, would that not work to scroll instead of a mouse? Looks more comfortable to use than the mouse

The express keys on my Wacom tablet are exclusively set up for Photoshop. I am a headshot photographer in Toronto, Canada and I have my own studio. For video editing, I use DaVinci Resolve and when I bought the program, it came with the speed editor you see on my desk. Unfortunately it is locked to the DaVinci software and there's no way to use it. I wish it would but for now there's no way to use it with any other software.

[PhillipOrdonez]

That's very interesting. Do you use the express keys? Looking at your pic again, the video editing hardware you got there, would that not work to scroll instead of a mouse? Looks more comfortable to use than the mouse

The express keys on my Wacom tablet are exclusively set up for Photoshop. I am a headshot photographer in Toronto, Canada and I have my own studio. For video editing, I use DaVinci Resolve and when I bought the program, it came with the speed editor you see on my desk. Unfortunately it is locked to the DaVinci software and there's no way to use it. I wish it would but for now there's no way to use it with any other software.

I'm in the process of finishing mapping the express keys for each software that I use, as they can be configured to respond to each program separately (at least on the Intuos pro that I got).

That's a shame that it only works with resolve! Must be a breeze to edit with it!

[PhillipOrdonez]

Some thoughts after having used the pen tablet for a little over a week.

After the first couple of days it took me to get used to using it, the experience has been a breeze. I am now able to work the whole day with a 95% pain reduction. On the days before I ordered this tablet, it had gotten to the point where the pain would appear within the first minutes of using the standing mouse. I would still get a mild pain sometimes, and not in the same area of the hand/arm, though. Still, the improvement has been remarkable. Being able to work is obviously a huge thing.

Regarding the tablet itself and the workflow, the highlight, for me, are the express keys and the touch ring. With a ton of planning (I spent designing and tweaking and re tweaking this system for a lot of hours the past week, and while happy with the way it is currently, I still want to refine it a bit more) I have set it so I can use Reason and Live almost entirely without touching the qwerty keyboard. Mapping the express keys (and the radial menus) to my most used features and keyboard shortcuts, I can edit audio, midi, create devices, navigate the programs... Any keyboard shortcut can be added. it is fantastic. I have even set it up to search for my most used devices by doing just two to three clicks!!!!

Additionally, I am enjoying drawing automation like never before

[dioxide]

I have set it so I can use Reason and Live almost entirely without touching the qwerty keyboard.

That's impressive. I never use the radial menu – I think I need to take another look at this.

[PhillipOrdonez]

I have set it so I can use Reason and Live almost entirely without touching the qwerty keyboard.

That's impressive. I never use the radial menu – I think I need to take another look at this.

Radial menus inside radial menus inside radial menus that open where the cursor is at (if you want) at the press of a button, and disappear one you've clicked on something, or can be pinned to remain floating there. Madness 🤯 so useful.

[Seckin]

What exactly do you draw on Reason?

[StephenHutchinson]

The express keys on my Wacom tablet are exclusively set up for Photoshop. I am a headshot photographer in Toronto, Canada and I have my own studio. For video editing, I use DaVinci Resolve and when I bought the program, it came with the speed editor you see on my desk. Unfortunately it is locked to the DaVinci software and there's no way to use it. I wish it would but for now there's no way to use it with any other software.

I'm in the process of finishing mapping the express keys for each software that I use, as they can be configured to respond to each program separately (at least on the Intuos pro that I got).

That's a shame that it only works with resolve! Must be a breeze to edit with it!

I tried getting the express keys to work in other apps but when I tried them, they always kept reverting to my photoshop application. I tried on a a couple macs and a PC and the same thing kept happening. In the end I just gave up. Oh yes, the speed editor for DaVinci Resolve is just fantastic... It has sped up my editing almost 10 fold at this point... especially when cutting clips... whizzzzzzz... cut.. whiz.. cut... whizzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.. cut

[PhillipOrdonez]

I'm in the process of finishing mapping the express keys for each software that I use, as they can be configured to respond to each program separately (at least on the Intuos pro that I got).

That's a shame that it only works with resolve! Must be a breeze to edit with it!

I tried getting the express keys to work in other apps but when I tried them, they always kept reverting to my photoshop application. I tried on a a couple macs and a PC and the same thing kept happening. In the end I just gave up. Oh yes, the speed editor for DaVinci Resolve is just fantastic... It has sped up my editing almost 10 fold at this point... especially when cutting clips... whizzzzzzz... cut.. whiz.. cut... whizzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.. cut

That's so weird. I've created profiles for reason, live, resolve, chrome, and the app just knows where I'm at!

[StephenHutchinson]

I tried getting the express keys to work in other apps but when I tried them, they always kept reverting to my photoshop application. I tried on a a couple macs and a PC and the same thing kept happening. In the end I just gave up. Oh yes, the speed editor for DaVinci Resolve is just fantastic... It has sped up my editing almost 10 fold at this point... especially when cutting clips... whizzzzzzz... cut.. whiz.. cut... whizzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.. cut

That's so weird. I've created profiles for reason, live, resolve, chrome, and the app just knows where I'm at!

Mine may be a bit older... the funny thing is... I have a spare... just in case this Wacom goes bad.. I might hook it up to my MacBook Air and see if I can download newer software for it and see what's what.