Success ** Bhrazz Build log

[Bhrazz]

Okay, since this ''cheap cintiq'' has become one of my priority in my personal project and i know is gonna see the day, I'll post here and you folks can help me clarify some question I have in mind.

Let me introduce my self properly!
I am a game artist and I've been looking to get the cintiq for a while now, but the price is just unreal. A guy from conceptart.org posted this usefull link and all my question is solved(at one point). YES! LCD'S are slim enough to be put over a wacom!

I am the kind of guy who make his own furniture, I draw(at least im re-learning:P), I paint, I modify almost everything I have at home to fit my need and repair all I can, my car, dvd player and whatnot. This being said, I try to do everything on my own.

So for my project, I bought a LCD screen some months ago.
The LG L204WT (wide) and now I will strip this thing down and make my own cintiq.
I also went to a local store where they sell stuff for electronics and mecanics and I will also make some sort of tripod to fit with the overall new cintiq. I'm gonna be able to rotate 360 the screen, also tilting it and lifting over if I need to. I am unsure of what the final result will be in point of esthetic but it should be overall ok.

Alright so now I have a couple of question in mind.
Because I want a big canvas to work on I have this tablet in mind: http://direct.wacom.com/stores/2/Refurbished_Intuos2_12x18_-_40_P730C35.cfm

12X18 Wacom
10.8X17.3 Screen.

1.2 and  .7 inches left over the edges. I guess I will need to recalibrate my wacom on ''define area'' by the programm I supose?
Also, what you think of the LG screen to make that? I really don't want to waste a 400$ on a try, so maybe so of you can tell me if is worth the shot or not with a LG.

Please be aware that this project is gonna see his end somewhere in January, but is gonna be build that is for sure. If it cost me 3000$ i'm still saving money from buying at wacom:D

P.S. My main speaking language is french/Spanish so forgive me.

Cheers,

Bhrazz

[Bhrazz]

Guess Drew can move this to the new help section^^

Yay me for posting to fast:D

[Drewid]

It's fine here. I think it would be OK as part of your build log.

I'm a games artist too, since 1987, perhaps I should get a real job now.
 
The Wacom drivers are very easy to set up for different areas of the screen or the tablet so size should be OK.

Most monitors I've seen her and on DIY Projector forums would be OK for building I think.  On the projector forums there used to be a lot of talk of finding monitors without flat cables (FFCs) because they were hard to extend,  but now there are places that sell extension kits for these flat cables, this is not a problem anymore.


Sometimes the boards on the edge of the screen can be too big to fit inside the wacom case, so you might have to be creative with extending the case a little or making a new one  like Ya3 and r3d373 are planning.

[chingwa]

Hey Bhrazz, welcome!  It looks like we are both attempting a similar build... I'm using a 19" Westinghouse monitor with a 12" x 18" intuos 1 tablet... I imagine essentially are builds will be very similar.  However each monitor can present it's own challenges depending on how it is configured on the inside.  Diferent manufacturers tend to use their own boards/cables/ribbons... so unfortunately nothing is standardized.

I'm planning on building my own case from scratch, and was also thinkin of doing a rotasting stand.  We'll see how it goes.  Good luck on your build!

[Bhrazz]

hehe, this community is been so friendly with me....just wow. Thanks for that everyone. Someone sent me this item in sell at ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/WACOM-UD1825R-TABLET-18-x24-Writing-Area_W0QQitemZ140063473526QQihZ004QQcategoryZ3680QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I'll see how hard is gonna take me to get the pen but for 10$ is kinda worth a shot:)
I was thinking getting an intuos 12X18 brand new(refurbish) so I wouldnt bother anymore with upgrade or such things. But meh, 10$+shipping is fair enough. Only pressure will be affected.

Like chingwa said, I want to make a case as well. I'm just unsure if I should make it in metal or plastic. Plastic is much easier to use but more fragile. We'll see! I can't wait to get inside all those cable=)

[r3d373]

Hi Bhrazz. Sound like it's gonna be a good build.
I'm also doing a 12x18" with a 19" widescreen monitor. I've got everything I need now except the important part, the tablet!
I got it thru eBay. The seller posted it and it left the US on the 6th. The Parcelforce (UK postage company) have got it listed as using 48h delivery but no tracking has been added by them.
I'm guessing it's being held up by customs.

As Drewid said, I'm extending cables. Rather that extending internal signal cables (possible signal loss issues), I'm adding an extension for board to board power and a shielded short VGA extension.

[Drewid]

Hey bhrazz, does your monitor have an external power brick?
If the power convertor is inside the monitor you're going to have some extra work to do.
It will need to be shielded to stop bad magnetic fields.

[Bhrazz]

Hey bhrazz, does your monitor have an external power brick?
If the power convertor is inside the monitor you're going to have some extra work to do.
It will need to be shielded to stop bad magnetic fields.

It does have some sort of brick but is in cylinder.... pretty small like the size of your thumbs. Not sure if is that but I'm willing to do everything I can to make this work! im waiting on chingua to finish his own and see how it goes with the adapter.

Edit: I just put my current wacom over my screen (wich should be close enough) and it does not interfer, so I'm good on that point!:D

[Bhrazz]

The wacom is on the way! Soon this thread with picture. I got a nice 12X12 UD. Will update as soon as I can!

[Drewid]

I like your idea of trying the wacom over the screen. That's a good piece of thinking, everyone should do that before they start taking stuff apart

[robcat2075]

Don't the wacoms have a shield inthe back?  That would prevent the LCD from interfering with a not-disassembled tablet but might not tell you how things would work once you had them sandwiched together.

[Drewid]

That's kind of the point.

Magnetic fields are very very difficult to shield.  If your monitor produces interferences of a bad frequency then shielding it may be next to impossible.  Reading that Wacom "how it works" thing they use a mixture of shielding and careful selection of components to stop problems in tablet PCs and Cintiqs.

If the guts of the monitor don't interfere through the shield the either the shield works, for the monitor doesn't interfere, or it interferes on a frequency that doesn't matter.   

If the monitor interferes through the shield then it will still interfere when it's all bolted together, so perhaps it's not worth stripping it all apart in the first place.  Stick the monitor on your PC instead and add it on to the "dodgy monitors" list.   

[Bhrazz]

Alright, after many time, I finally got the chance to get the stuff I needed to. First things first. I've got the wacom from ebay for 200$. And another 200$ for the monitor wich I bought brand new from best buy. After looking around at some different spot for buying my screen, I never found any monitor with the adapter on the cable, they are all coming integrated inside the monitor, wich is bad. So think week I finally have some time off and people who love me finally decided to let me do some of MY STUFF!

Here is one the beast, wacom 12X12UD, pretty common.


Pretty easy to open, no seal(even if I don't have any warranty.) Just 4 screw and bam, is there, nothing seem to be very complicated from there.




After that, I got into the monitor....

I feel almost bad to open such a beatifull case. However it came whit such a crappy stand, I didnt feel bad very long.

When I was shopping, this monitor was one of the only to fit my need that didnt have any seal. I knew from the begining it might not be working with the project but I decided to give a shot anyways. This picture show where to open it, and be carefull to not scratch to much the plastic.


And this is inside, this is where thing start getting hot!




And then, I started to make the final test and see if it was working with the shield anyways. The set-up is right there.




...And it didnt work. Packed back, bring it back, gonna shop another monitor with the adapter outside the monitor, should find something quickly!

[Tanassi]

Hi Bhrazz,

good luck with your build, and i was curious about the proximity distance of your ultrapad, on my ultrapad digit. II 12*18" i've measured a total of ~12.5mm from the sensor circuit board to the maximum reading height, it can vary of ab. 0.5mm from point to point.

Vince

[Bhrazz]

hi Tanasi, The pen readin stop somewhere between .5inches to .6 inches.