Galaxy Note 10.1

[Eelybot]

Has anyone used the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 yet? I've read a few reviews online for it, but they were from the point of view of a regular consumer (of course it's overpriced if you don't draw and compare it to an iPad). I haven't seen any from an artist yet.

I played with it briefly in the store, and I really liked it. I tried the original Galaxy Note (the phone), and felt it was too laggy. The lag wasn't completely gone in the Note 10.1, but it wasn't nearly as bad this time. The pen seemed accurate and palm rejection worked very well. Supposedly, pressure sensitivity was upped to 1024, but I'm not good enough to tell. Photoshop Touch was the only app I had a chance to mess with, but I've been hearing that people use other software instead (like Layer Paint, Sketchbook pro, etc).

I definitely consider myself a beginner and am curious what someone with real talent (aka everyone here) thought of it.

[emdeegee]

I just got mine a few days ago (from my job ). My first impressions are really good. I don't mind the lower resolution in comparison to an iPad (most reviews really focus on this); IMHO less pixels to push around = better performance (at a viewing distance for movies etc, I don't notice the difference). The weight and battery life are fantastic.
Drawing works quite well too. I don't think I'll be creating finished art on this, though. But you can export layered psd's via e.g. dropbox and import them on another machine (I have a Intuos 3 A4 and a 24" monitor; I really like the bigger screen for finishing stuff).
The apps could still be improved; PS Touch doesn't allow tiling textures, there is no colorwheel plugin and no possibility to import brushes... also no possibility to set e.g. a minimum width for brushes when using pressure sensitivity.
Sketchbook Pro allows for more tweaking of the brushes, but I think the canvas size is limited or something (still have to check that out in more detail).

I also have a HP 2730p convertible tablet pc running Windows 7, and while this has a slightly higher resolution and can run a full-blown Photoshop, it is way too heavy for doodling in the sofa. (I have a desk job, so I'm not that inclined to get behind a desk again in my spare time). I think the stylus (both are Wacom (and even interchangeable)) works just as well on the Note as on the HP, if not better. It is normal to have some minor lag, but on the HP I have calibration issues in the corners as well).

I think the Note is great for experimenting, developing basic concepts etc., but for finishing things up I'll probably switch to my 24" monitor again, although time could prove me wrong. If I find time in the following weeks, I might write a follow-up (maybe with art, although I'm not one of the real talents either )

[bish0p2004]

I bought one a couple of weeks ago and I didn't like it too much for drawing. Maybe I didn't give it enough time though as I couldn't get palm rejection to work for me. However, I recently just bit the bullet and bought a Samsung Series Slate 7 and I couldn't be happier. It just feels so nice.

[darkmagistric]

I was on the fence being that there are so few decent android Art Apps.

And I have the 5-inch note....and I found the Wacom Pen integration....to be kind of flawed. I think that had more to do with the 5-inch screen. But that coupled with poor art apps kind of kept me extremely hesitant to plunk down for the 10 inch note.

Untill......LayerPaint

Perhaps the best Art App on Android....Superior to even Sketchbook Pro in my opinion. Although It could use some work...the Brush Engine, functionally, layer & pressure support.....Its like closest thing Android has to Photoshop (as far drawing/painting anyway). Kind of similar to Art Studio on the Ipad.

I tried it out on my 5-inch note and fell in love with the App.

So I plunked down the $500 for the 10-inch Note...and have really been loving it.

I already own the Samsung Series 7 Tablet PC...which is like an inch bigger...my main reason for Justifying the purchase of the 10 inch Note was for life drawing classes.

As much as I love my Series 7 Tablet....The Battery Life can't top 2-3 hours...which makes it a problem for 3-4 Hour Life Drawing Classes. It got to the point where I was stuck having to sit near outlets (provided the venue had any), or bring a 2nd Tablet PC....normally my old Ls800. And in one venue....a photographer (who I had warned before hand) had actually tripped over my power cord resulted in one of the spot lights getting yanked and breaking.

With the Galaxy Note 10 easily having a 8+ hour-ish battery life...I was hoping it could solve my Life Drawing woes.....and it did.

Here are the sketches I did using Layer Paint





As much as I love Layerpaint....it was overall slower then using Photoshop CS5 on my Series 7 Tablet. However...this was more so the case with the 2-5 minute poses. When those seconds counted is when it was most noticeable. On the longer 20 minute pose...the slight speed decrease wasn't nearly as bad.

I also did try a few sketches on Sketchbook Pro...utterly horrible palm rejection. It was a mess....

One App that did surprise me was Zen Brush.

It has a very interesting Brush Engine...but the lack of Layers....and Lack of Zoom...and lack of colors..made it fun to try...but annoying to really do art on.....at least with the 5-inch note. The Extra Screen size on the 10-incher...different story.







Where I initially disliked its limited options.....for Life Drawing....I found it to be the perfect app.

And after the 4-hour Life Drawing Class.....using Full Screen Brightness the whole time....I still had 40% battery life left.

[darkmagistric]

I bought one a couple of weeks ago and I didn't like it too much for drawing. Maybe I didn't give it enough time though as I couldn't get palm rejection to work for me. However, I recently just bit the bullet and bought a Samsung Series Slate 7 and I couldn't be happier. It just feels so nice.

You should have waited....with Layer Paint (as well as the S-memo App) there is a way to disable single touch. So you can still multi-touch pan and zoom but not worry about the palm getting in the way. It works must better then Wacom or N-trigs own Palm rejection methods. I kind of hope that will eventually make its way to Tablet PCs.

[Malifer]

I think the galaxy note 10.1 really shines with a glove. the glove protects your palm so there is no palm issues and your fingers are open to zoom in and out.

I plan to pick up a galaxy note in october. the battery life on it is like 5x what you get on samsung series 7 slate.

[andya147]

i had a note and think it was superb .one massive problem sketch book and thats it hardly any new drawing apps in that respect the ipad walks all ove it

[Pav]

I wish Layer Paint added a bristle brush.

[Eelybot]

Thanks for all the replies. I forgot about this thread when the forum went down awhile back. I ended up buying one and have really enjoyed it, especially with LayerPaint. The artwork posted here is great and gives me something to aspire to with this tablet.

[darkmagistric]

Here's some more life drawings done using the 10.1 Galaxy Note and Layer Paint

[wannabeanimator]

So the consensus is that the 10.1 is a good buy using Layer Paint as the software to draw?

What is your thoughts for the beginner/hobbiest? Like, price wise, is it more cost effective
to get a watcom tablet?

[Griffonnage]

Don't forget with a wacom tablet you will need a latop, it's not the same thing.

The note is an Androïd tablet, you can draw during travel, in your sofa/bed/other place without anything else. The note is very accurate, it's nice for sketching. Some people do nice color works with it (well they are talented :p but that prove it's not a bad tool for it), but there is not tilt sensivity and only 256 pen level of pressure.

If you want to push detail and go into something more serious, wacom tablet is a good choice. But you will need a latop to run with.

It will depend on what use you want...

edit : and btw, a wacom tablet like intuos 3 is far less expensive than note 10.1. But, for hobby, if you consider buying the 12' cintiq from wacom, I would say the note is a better to consider, because of the mobility... But it's only my opinion

[Eelybot]

The note is an Androïd tablet, you can draw during travel, in your sofa/bed/other place without anything else. The note is very accurate, it's nice for sketching. Some people do nice color works with it (well they are talented :p but that prove it's not a bad tool for it), but there is not tilt sensivity and only 256 pen level of pressure.

The Note actually has 1,024 levels of pressure. But, yes, there's no tilt sensitivity. So, an Intuos or Cintiq will still be more accurate. Love the portability.

[wannabeanimator]

I was thinking along the same lines...portablity...currently I carry my sketch book around, but if I could just carry the tablet and get the same experience/results
that would be good. I was thinking of using it for sketching/concept and then transfer anything to my laptop/pc and do the finishing work on with Adobe/gimp
and watcom/intuos 3. Is the software on the android available on the PC (i.e. Layer Paint) and is Layer Paint good to produce quality work? Or does it matter
for a beginner?

[Griffonnage]

I don't know if layer paint exist on pc, I suppose it's a specific android application, but a lot of soft like sketchbook and co can transfer files into psd format or jpeg. I will let someone using LayerPaint answer to that

I think there are some good android software for sketching, I suppose they will evolve a little with time and feedback.
Or you can look for the very soon release of windows 8 tablet pc, some reviews should pop soon... They will be more expensive, but that's what happen when windows licence are used :p

[emdeegee]

Layer Paint indeed allows you to save a .psd, so you can just continue in PS or Gimp.
The TVPaint beta (until the 1st of November, downloadable from their site) is another great app. It's actually for animation, but the brushes and the sketch panel are really good. It's basically a complete port of their desktop version, so menus are a bit overwhelming, but it's manageable with the stylus.

[wannabeanimator]

Thanks everyone...oh, btw, I realized what XD was after I posted..duh....

I currently have a samsung galaxy SII and pretty happy with; so, I expect this to be
just of the same quality. One final question (well maybe)...

As a beginner, I have choice between this product or a wacom/intous, which should I get?

[hijavines]

i got mine a few weeks back and found it ok for sketching but not for final work. Its screen is not calibrated and it's too dark and saturated obvious only when you transfer your work to your desktop application such as photoshop. I don't know if it can be calibrated and if so is there an app out there to do the calibration because i've search for some built in calibration and all i found was brightness and choices for dynamic, standard and movie setting.

[darkmagistric]

Here's a full portrait/Caricature I did of a friend of mine using Layerpaint on the Note.

[hijavines]

After searching in the app store for something close to a screen calibration app I've found "Screen Adjuster" app which seemed to correct the color shift/contrast of Note 10.1. Here's a piece I did with LayerPaint....

[Griffonnage]

Thanks for posting some piece of work it help to have a better idea about Note performance !

[Eelybot]

After searching in the app store for something close to a screen calibration app I've found "Screen Adjuster" app which seemed to correct the color shift/contrast of Note 10.1. Here's a piece I did with LayerPaint....

Holy F that's sick!

[darkmagistric]

Here's another portrait I just finished on the Galaxy Note 10.1

[darkmagistric]

Ok, Comic Book/Lineart Coloring Test

Decided to see if I could color a piece of Lineart on the Note.

I choose this piece by the late and great Michael Turner. Since it s pretty simple illustration with few details....I figured this would be a good test piece since I wouldn't be going nuts on layers/details. I also kept it at full size. I found the Lineart at a pixel dimension of 1865x2745 pixels/300 DPI....and thats the dimensions I used for the Galaxy Note 10.1



To make one clarification, Layer Paint doesn't have a lot of the layer options that Photoshop has...so you can't technically split the lineart using just layerpaint. But since it runs PSD files, it was a simple matter of splitting the Lineart from the background in photoshop on my desktop....and just transfering the 2-layer PSD file into Layerpaint on the Note. (although in the end it didn't matter since I ended up not keeping the line art so I could achieve the painter look)

I made a few changes here and there...but after lord knows how many hours




I have to say, LayerPaint and the Note were a pleasure to use coloring this. Despite the big size of the image....it didn't lag or stall at all. At the most, the only error I encountered, was upon saving or opening the file...I would get a error message that Layer Paint was not responding. But if you just hit the wait button, the app works perfectly normal. Never once did it outright crash or did I lose any work.

[Eelybot]

Wow. Very good stuff, Dark. My experience has been similar. I wouldn't exactly say it handles my large PSD files w/o any problem at all, but it handles them and that's all I ask for. I pretty much do the same thing if I am bringing a project from Photoshop.. I shrink it down into two layers max.

[mardom]

Hello, wich is the max resolution you can work with layerpaint or similar apps on the note 10.1?

[darkmagistric]

Layerpaint doesn't have a Max Resolution. It gives you some preset choices, but you can quite literally choose any res you want. (if there is a limit, its bigger then any res I tried) My supergirl pic was at a res of 2745x1865. You have to keep in mind of course that the larger res you use, the more its going to bog down the app. And although the Canvas size has no res limit...the brush tools do have a limit on how big they can get. It you make a pic too big, the brush sizes will eventually max out, and when the tools are at their size limit, they do lag....especially the Water Color and Airbrush.

As far as other apps, pretty much every other art app on Android limits you to the fixed Resolution of the tablet which in the Notes case is 1280x800. And as far as I can tell with the apps on my 1st gen Ipad, most if not all IOS Art apps also impose a res limit based on the res of the device, which makes Layerpaint a really special one of the bunch.

[mardom]

thanks darkmagistric, yeah I own an iPad2 and all apps have a limit for the canvas size, I was hoping for something different on android and note 10.1. I'm looking for something that can work at sizes like 4000x4000 or bigger.

[darkmagistric]

Well...I can confirm that LayerPaint has no problem opening a 4000x4000 canvas.....however....if you really want to play with files that big....I would have to recommend you invest in a proper Tablet PC instead.