5 ms·

Astropad: Turn your iPad into a professional graphics tablet

31 points by mronge 12y ago

jpetersonmn 12y ago
Looks cool, however I couldn't watch the video as it kept freezing. Marked it to check it out later.
- gdonelli 12y ago
  It's super HD.. maybe that's the problem Try on: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouwCHT3rGRY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouwCHT3rGRY
bia 12y ago
Love this idea. One less thing for me to have to carry in my bag.
- mronge 12y ago
  Thanks, that's great to hear :) We've been working on this for 1.5 years and we had to write completely custom tech to make it happen. We're happy to answer any questions about our tech
  - cpr 12y ago
    What's the unique sauce that makes this work? How do you keep arbitrary Mac apps in sync with the iPad display?
    - mronge 12y ago
      That's the tech we built we call LIQUID: http://astropad.com/#tech http://astropad.com/#tech
      - cpr 12y ago
        Sure, but that doesn't really tell us anything.
        mronge 12y ago
        We'll have to follow up with a tech blog post where we go into more details.
      - jinushaun 12y ago
        So it's basically a faster Air Display? I agree, the site is too vague. I don't know what it is, so I don't see why I need it.
- wanderingstan 12y ago
  That's the kicker for me too. I'm often on the go, and don't do enough Photoshop work to justify lugging around a dedicated wacom. And even if I did it wouldn't have screen, let alone a gorgeous one like on the iPad! Astropad is working great for me so far. Now time to invest in a pressure sensitive pen.
geoelectric 12y ago
This sounds awesome. It's a little unfortunate that the iPad Air (at least the first one) is really inexact for pressure-sensitive drawing, though. It tends to reject or miss the very first part of fast, light strokes. It only recognizes them properly when you start out rather deliberately, counter to how you might sketch or crosshatch. While nobody has officially confirmed last I looked, best guess seems to have been this is an accidental touch rejection heuristic in the touch drivers to compensate for your hand overlapping the thin bezel when you hold the tablet. That was borne out by the fact that if you first touch the screen elsewhere, the strokes register immediately and correctly as part of a multitouch. This has, unfortunately, seriously damaged the usefulness of my Wacom Intuos Creative iPad stylus. I've seen the same complaint leveled at other styluses too. I can't see how it wouldn't hit this solution as well. That said, I'll definitely check this out. I've always wanted a Cintiq but couldn't justify the cost as a hobbyist. If Apple has allowed or will allow the rejection behavior to be disabled by drawing programs, this would be a slam dunk for me.
- mronge 12y ago
  We are extremely interested in the rumored iPad Pro and stylus :)
  - geoelectric 12y ago
    And with functionality like this, so am I!
- tumultco 12y ago
  Of all the styli for the iPad, the Jot Touch 4 seems to be the best as far as accuracy. It is the only one I'd put in the "usable" category." Surprisingly the newer Jot Touch Pixelpoint is horrible compared to this (missing strokes, not keeping straight lines, not being able to detect near the edges of the screen) and I wish I could return mine. The Cintiq is a nearly natural pen and paper experience, but if I'm on the go, the Jot Touch 4 + AstroPad has worked out well.
  - geoelectric 12y ago
burkesquires 12y ago
$50! Wow...that is quite a hefty price tag for essentially an app!
vim-guru 12y ago
So it's like Duet display except it's suppose to run just fine on a wireless connection?

31 points by mronge 12y ago

jpetersonmn 12y ago

Looks cool, however I couldn't watch the video as it kept freezing. Marked it to check it out later.

gdonelli 12y ago
It's super HD.. maybe that's the problem Try on: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouwCHT3rGRY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouwCHT3rGRY

bia 12y ago

Love this idea. One less thing for me to have to carry in my bag.

mronge 12y ago
Thanks, that's great to hear :) We've been working on this for 1.5 years and we had to write completely custom tech to make it happen. We're happy to answer any questions about our tech
- cpr 12y ago
  What's the unique sauce that makes this work? How do you keep arbitrary Mac apps in sync with the iPad display?
  - mronge 12y ago
    That's the tech we built we call LIQUID: http://astropad.com/#tech http://astropad.com/#tech
    - cpr 12y ago
      Sure, but that doesn't really tell us anything.
      - mronge 12y ago
        We'll have to follow up with a tech blog post where we go into more details.
    - jinushaun 12y ago
      So it's basically a faster Air Display? I agree, the site is too vague. I don't know what it is, so I don't see why I need it.
wanderingstan 12y ago
That's the kicker for me too. I'm often on the go, and don't do enough Photoshop work to justify lugging around a dedicated wacom. And even if I did it wouldn't have screen, let alone a gorgeous one like on the iPad! Astropad is working great for me so far. Now time to invest in a pressure sensitive pen.

geoelectric 12y ago

This sounds awesome. It's a little unfortunate that the iPad Air (at least the first one) is really inexact for pressure-sensitive drawing, though. It tends to reject or miss the very first part of fast, light strokes. It only recognizes them properly when you start out rather deliberately, counter to how you might sketch or crosshatch. While nobody has officially confirmed last I looked, best guess seems to have been this is an accidental touch rejection heuristic in the touch drivers to compensate for your hand overlapping the thin bezel when you hold the tablet. That was borne out by the fact that if you first touch the screen elsewhere, the strokes register immediately and correctly as part of a multitouch. This has, unfortunately, seriously damaged the usefulness of my Wacom Intuos Creative iPad stylus. I've seen the same complaint leveled at other styluses too. I can't see how it wouldn't hit this solution as well. That said, I'll definitely check this out. I've always wanted a Cintiq but couldn't justify the cost as a hobbyist. If Apple has allowed or will allow the rejection behavior to be disabled by drawing programs, this would be a slam dunk for me.

mronge 12y ago
We are extremely interested in the rumored iPad Pro and stylus :)
- geoelectric 12y ago
  And with functionality like this, so am I!
tumultco 12y ago
Of all the styli for the iPad, the Jot Touch 4 seems to be the best as far as accuracy. It is the only one I'd put in the "usable" category." Surprisingly the newer Jot Touch Pixelpoint is horrible compared to this (missing strokes, not keeping straight lines, not being able to detect near the edges of the screen) and I wish I could return mine. The Cintiq is a nearly natural pen and paper experience, but if I'm on the go, the Jot Touch 4 + AstroPad has worked out well.
- geoelectric 12y ago

burkesquires 12y ago

$50! Wow...that is quite a hefty price tag for essentially an app!

vim-guru 12y ago

So it's like Duet display except it's suppose to run just fine on a wireless connection?