Is anyone using a touch screen for drafting in TBC? I think it could have it advantages. Dell and Wacom appear to have good external touch screen monitors that you can link to an existing setup, PC/laptop. 

I feel like it could be fun and make it feel more hands on. 

Like the Microsoft Surface Studio 2

Yea. Very similar

Patrick L'Heureux, P.E.

Severino Trucking

(603) 340-2578

Sent from my iPhone

These are external displays.

I like the idea of tapping icons with my left hand instead of creating a bunch of key shortcuts and remembering what they heck everything stands for. 

The floating button bars that Alan has showed us how to setup would be very useful as well. 

I purchased a Surface Studio to have development look at this a while back - while it works - the touch screens do pick up on your fingers when you rest your hand on the screen, and drawing when your hand doesnt touch the screen is more challenging to get good line shape etc. There would need to be a decent amount of optimization in the software to facilitate use of Touch screen, and the software needs to be educated to understand the type of Gestures that you use on Touch screens - you can use Studio to Digitize linework and that worked OK with the above caveats

I agree that being able to interact more with the software with Touch would be nice - you need the Active Stylus interface also - I have a Touch on my Laptop but the rubber tipped stylus is hopeless with apps like TBC - the Active Stylus interface now available on more recent touch screens I believe would be better if supported by apps like TBC and that helps eliminate the hand issue.

I should get back on that - the other thing that put me off is that Studio while a great PC is not that powerful and there are limits on Graphics Memory and RAM and Processor compared to the Power Laptops that many of our users use - so while Touch would be great it comes at a sacrifice of power of PC also

With my touch screen I can touch Icons - but I typically don't do it because I am not using all touch etc. Mixing Mouse, Keyboard and touch is maybe one step too far for me until I can drop one of the other inputs

Alan

If you do look back into it:

The Studio 2s have much more impressive specs, same as the laptop I just recently retired, that are more on par with CAD requirements but they come with a price. 

You may also want to check out Wacom. You can add a digitizer display to an existing setup. They have some smaller screens that are fairly reasonable and they also have the option to upgrade some of the bigger displays with a “brain” and make them a complete computer. I think their attempt to  compete with the Surface. I like the fact that they have a 17 key configurable keypad. The keypad seems like it would be perfect for cad shortcuts depending on its capabilities cutting out the need to try and 2 finger keys on opposite ends of the keyboard. 

Wacom Cintiq Pro: creative pen display | Wacom 

I am looking at the Wacoms because like you mentioned the specs of typical touch screens are not great without sending a fortune and the ones with some power tend not to be portable. 

I’ll keep you posted if I pursue anything. 

Also, I wouldn’t be opposed to a TBC version for my Hololens.

I got a chance to try this with the Wacom 24 and it actually works very well. The only thing is that how the buttons display on the 4k displays need to be bigger, especially when you are using your finger to select them. I would say around 1.5x what they are at right now. 

I think one of the nicest things is instead of creating numerous keystroke shortcuts, you can create a custom toolbar palette and it is very quick to switch back and forth when you are using two hands. 

Requests that would make the experience better:

• 2 finger pan, similar to other programs
• pinch to zoom
• the ability to drag you finger to navigate combo-boxes
  • Examples:
    • Layers
    • Layer Manager
    • anything that has a scroll bar, yes you can select the scroll bar to move but it can be tricky depending on the size of the bar and sometimes the bar can get hidden. Particularly the layer scroll bar in properties if the windows is snugged up too much. 

I used this app on my IPad Remote Desktop From Any Device | Parallels Access  . i find using a gaming mouse works just as good as a touch screen.  i have the Logitech G602 and having 9 quick command buttons in one hand is a time saver even thou its not much time being saved.  i currently have this installed on my laptop and ipad Duet Display .  helps for an additional monitor when not in the office.

After a couple requests to support, debates with my bosses, and emails with @Alan Sharp, I bought a Wacom Cintiq knockoff personally. 

It’s definitely not as smooth as I would like, such as in drawing apps, but for digitizing cross sections or contours it’s a huge time saver. Much more natural than clicking and holding on a mouse. 

I had had no desire to buy a new machine for this, and Wacom was my first choice. The cheap version was $380 on Amazon and works fine for me.

Huion Kamvas GT-156HD V2

Anyone got any suggestions in general for screens/monitors to best run TBC and Realworks?

@Alan Sharp