Question: As an industrial designer, I've tried trackballs, pen tablets, and practically every mouse on the market, but nothing comes close to the look and feel of drawing with pen and paper. Is there a better way to use my desktop Mac and Silicon Graphics machine to draw product prototypes?
- Scott Summit, San Francisco
Dr. Bob: To begin, Scott, I'm not a medical doctor. I'm a doctor of technology, bound by two guiding principles: First, do no harm. Second, if that doesn't work, turn the machine off and then on again. That said, I think your main problem is that while your hand is operating the mouse, you're viewing the results from at least two feet away on the screen. To close the gap, you may want to try a new input device from Wacom that serves as both LCD screen and touch-sensitive drawing surface. The PL-400 will set you back $3,000, but it's a perfect tool for your line of work. You plug a PCI card into your Mac and then use the stylus to make changes directly onto the XGA-resolution surface. To hook up to your SGI machine, you'll have to buy a Wacom converter box (around $150) and a separate PCI card for NT (cards from ATI or Number 9 work well). Once you get set up, your stylus should feel like it's hardwired to your brain.
Got a tech question? Ask Dr. Bob at askdrbob@wiredmag.com.
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