Best Type Of Second Monitor

Modern Day Myth Prod. LLC

Modern Day Myth Prod. LLC

With the change in technology, I no longer believe the best editing setup is a CRT TV and computer monitor for editing.

I presently have an HD monitor with my desktop. The video card can support a second monitor. The video card also supports 3D HD and my Blu-ray burner drive supports 3D Blu-ray as does the latest version of the Nero Suite that I have (Version 12). Windows 8 is designed for a touch screen environment.

Would it be to my advantage to get aa 3D HD monitor with a HDMI connection as my second monitor? Or, should I get a touch screen monitor to replace the original monitor and add the 3D HD monitor later? I cannot afford to buy both. They are expensive. I am hoping to buy on or the other before the year is out. If I go for a touch screen, I would move over the HD monitor as the second monitor until I could afford the 3D monitor.

I am thinking about the future of media in film too. Although, 3D Blu-ray may fissile out because the sales are not what TV manufacturers were hoping for.
 
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I have 3 questions:

- do you shoot stereoscopic projects?

If yes: you need a 3D monitor, otherwise it's a waste of money

- do you like smudges on your screen?
- do you use software where it's convenient to touch the screen, instead of using the keyboard-mouse/pen interface?

If no, no: you don't need a touch screen.
If yes, no: you don't need a touch screen, but you can still touch your screen to make smudges
If no, yes: think about it, try it somewhere and then don't buy it: you can use that money in a better way
 
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Okay with the 3D monitor. I just have a HD DSLR camera and HD camera. I don't know if my DP has added a stereoscopic camera to his inventory. He has both HD and DSLR cameras. He may even have a RED camera by now.

The whole Windows 8 operating system is optimized for touch screen. So, forget the smudges. The higher quality ones are smudge resistant. They also use up a DVI or VGA port to the video card plus one or two USB ports (depending on which one you choose) for the interactive touch screen environment to work. Because of this, the more expensive ones even come with built-in USB hubs.

The touch screen can also accommodate digital pens like digital drawing pads. That can work with Photoshop and Fractal Design Painter. Chances are Microsoft Expression Web 4 and Adobe Dreamweaver will make use of the touch screen as well because they are what you see is what you get web page design programs.

New Windows 8 laptops are made with touch screen monitors. So, that is the direction of the future. Voice activate and touch screen will replace the mouse and keyboard in future versions of Windows.
 
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Modern Day Myth Prod. LLC said:
Okay with the 3D monitor. I just have a HD DSLR camera and HD camera. I don't know if my DP has added a stereoscopic camera to his inventory. He has both HD and DSLR cameras. He may even have a RED camera by now.
Click to expand...

You are just speculating here.
Not the way to make a proper decision.
With all the focus on the manufacturer side on 4K, you can safely say the 5th (?) wave of stereoscopic movies got stranded in cinemas (again). The amout of 3D TV's and broadcasts are very small.

Besides that: adding VFX to 3D video is a lot harder than it is normally.

Modern Day Myth Prod. LLC said:
The whole Windows 8 operating system is optimized for touch screen. So, forget the smudges. The higher quality ones are smudge resistant. They also use up a DVI or VGA port to the video card plus one or two USB ports (depending on which one you choose) for the interactive touch screen environment to work. Because of this, the more expensive ones even come with built-in USB hubs.

The touch screen can also accommodate digital pens like digital drawing pads. That can work with Photoshop and Fractal Design Painter. Chances are Microsoft Expression Web 4 and Adobe Dreamweaver will make use of the touch screen as well because they are what you see is what you get web page design programs.

New Windows 8 laptops are made with touch screen monitors. So, that is the direction of the future. Voice activate and touch screen will replace the mouse and keyboard in future versions of Windows.
Click to expand...

Ok, next question:

- do you think you need a touch screen? You don't strike me as the photoshop savvy designer making paintings all the time.

BTW, I don't think touch and voice will completely replace keys and pointers (mouse/pen).
It's very inconvenient to do precision work while you own finger blocks your way.
It's also very inconvenient when you need voice commands while you also need to discuss the process in the meantime.

And it's fascinated to know the more expensive touch monitors have USB hubs, but all in all it's cheaper to get a hub without touchscreen :P

Please don't let your passion for technology make you buy stuff you will hardly use
 
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I have a Watcom pad with an old Windows XP computer. It has both a digital pen and mouse to use with the pad. The pen is way more accurate than the mouse when using it with Photoshop and Painter.

So, I am considering the touch screen.

We have some computers at work with touch screens. Once you get used to them, you can nagivate through programs faster than with a mouse. Also, Android phones and pads and Iphoness and pads are getting everyone used to the touch screen and voice activation environment.
 
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Modern Day Myth Prod. LLC said:
I have a Watcom pad with an old Windows XP computer. It has both a digital pen and mouse to use with the pad. The pen is way more accurate than the mouse when using it with Photoshop and Painter.

So, I am considering the touch screen.

We have some computers at work with touch screens. Once you get used to them, you can nagivate through programs faster than with a mouse. Also, Android phones and pads and Iphoness and pads are getting everyone used to the touch screen and voice activation environment.
Click to expand...

Navigating through programs and tweaking an edit are not the same.
With tweaking you want a clean view on what you do: that means nothing should be between the eye and the screen.

I hope the XP machine is not your edit machine.
If that's the case: safe money for a new computer instead of high tech screens.

I have a Wacom tablet as well. Never used the mouse that came with it.
And, as you have noticed already: you don't need the pen to be on the screen to use it effectively.

Over-investing in gear you hardly need is not the same as being future proof.
 
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I disagree with you there. Some of my better logo designs are from the digital pen's touch.

Also, I am in the high tech computer industry with my day job. So, I need to teach myself the latest in technology to help customers with my day job.
 
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So you NEED a 2nd HD monitor and a new Wacom.

Unless your boss pays for the touch screen so you can practise the newest technology...


BTW, I haven't seen everything you ever made.
But for titles you only need a mouse or pen the put it in place. The actual titles are typed, unless you design your own fonts or logos.
(I won't go into the alternatives for Photoshop to make you titles, that's one of your other threads ;) )

It is obvious you already made up your mind about what you WANT.
I'm not sure it's what you NEED, but it's your workstation, so only you can decide :)
 
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Start with a typed font and rework it with a pen and Photoshop and / or Painter tools to add texture, color, and shadow effects.

Example is to rework a script font with a pen to make it look more hand written and color and shadows can make it look like pencil or charcoal.
 
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If anyone else here is a frequent user of Sony Movie Studio and Vegas Pro, you are familiar with the eyedropper tool for compositing with greenscreen with the chroma key. The eyedropper tool allows for a perfect color match with the background to make the background invisible to overlay a new background behind it. A drawing pen is more accurate than a mouse for a perfect color match. That is only one use for a drawing pen with editing. The compositing works the same in Vegas and Movie Studio.
 
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I use my Wacom pen instead of a mouse.
I use the pen for everything, because it's a more relaxed way to work with less strain on my arm, shoulders and back. Especially with intensive retouching or long days of editing it's healthier, because it's a more natural (writing) posture.
It's just like writing and my arm rests on the desk. With a touch screen monitor you'll need a whole different setup or you'll get tired of raising your arm all day.

It's easier to move fast and draw more precisly with a pen.
More precise for an eyedropper? I think that depends on the mouse you use...
But it draws a lot better :)

BTW
An eyedropper for chromakeying is not specific for Vegas or Sony Movie Studio: that's present in every professional NLE, After Effects and other compositing software.
Nor is it a special function for a pen. The pen is just a replacement for the mouse with extra possibilities because pressure can be used in Photoshop for spraypaint or line thickness.
Before you start naming every function of your software as a use for the pen: that's hollow rhetorics ;)
 
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I had the fortune of seeing a Watcom monitor in one of my illustrator's studio's when we worked on an animatic for a sales pitch. Once you get use a drawing pen on a monitor, you will like it better than a Watcom drawing pad. There is competition now with the crossover to touch screen monitors as Microsoft is making Windows go the touch screen way.

Last year, I bought more editing and special effects software than I have had time to learn so far this year. I have been spending a lot of time repairing or replacing broken equipment for the business and my personal living quarters. There is so much to do it almost looked hopeless. But, doing things in small step has ended up making great progress. My audio and camera equipment are well organized now. And, I have easy access to my lighting equipment. I don't have much in the way of lights. It can only help to supplement someone else with a full inventory. I have also been working on building up my Canon EOS 60D DSLR set with a better bag than can hold much more than just a camera and more lens this year. It was needed. Before I started to rebuild my camera inventory, all I had was a working Canon HV30 with video quality no one here seemed to like.

I have Adobe Premiere and Boris Fx as well. I have Premiere Elements with my Dual Core 2 Sony Laptop. So, Premiere isn't hard to learn. I just have not done anything serious with it yet. Sony Movie Studio is good for small projects that need to be done in a hurry. So, that is what I have been using more.

My illness that put me in a hospital last year has cut into time to learn new software as well.

I can see the use of a touch screen monitor with a drawing pen with my new computer. It will be useful.
 
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One thing I've noticed with Sony and Adobe, their junior software packages are, for the most part, really the old versions of their professional software. My laptop has Sony Movie Studio 9 and Vegas Pro 8. The desktop has Movie Studio 11. It is more advanced than Vegas Pro 8. It must actually be Vegas Pro 9 or 10. I've seen Adobe do the same thing with Photoshop and Premiere. They claim they have the same software engine.
 
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I have the 64 bit version of Windows 8. And, the video here is with the 32 bit version. But, the idea of the dual screen (2 monitors) will be very similar to this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNYi78XH_kQ

This way the computer user can work in the metro screen and desktop screen at the same time.
 
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I personally can't see any real use for either 3D or touch displays for general media work.

Graphics tablets are great - I used one exclusively for 5-6 years and it's certainly faster and more precise than a mouse once you get used to it. Touch displays are very different - touch is far less precise, and your finger/hand obscures what you're working on; holding your hand out unsupported in front of you for long periods of time is also an ergonomic nightmare. The wacom displays are much better than a touch monitor, but they're designed to be used flat like a tablet - not up on a display like a second monitor.
 
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When I have cash for upgrades, I'd like to upgrade to a touchscreen second monitor, mounted near my keyboard. I did the pen-interface thing for a while, and while it was great for staving off RSI, drawing on a piece of paper a few feet away wasn't really any better workflow-wise than a mouse. But the idea of drawing sequences/envelopes right on the screen where I want them appeals to me.
 
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