Light Table

Hi Everybody!

I'm thinking about building a Light Table, maybe will help me finalizing some sketches and everything.
How many of you have a light table?
You guys, whose own a light table can post here any pictures of yours? i'm looking for any ideias...
reviews of your light tables would be helpful to, critics are welcome.

Thanks!
Magliano

i hope you dont mind me asking wtf a light table is

Hehehehe no...

The Light Table is...a Table with Lights...They are know as Light Box.
http://www.uspanteco.org/Uspanteco%20Website%20Fotos/Stan%20light%20table%20web.jpg
This.

But this is a big one. Over the light table you can redraw a sketch.
You put the final paper over the sketch and clean the lines.
http://www.nippobrasil.com.br/2.semanal.manga/01aula/160_28/imagem02.jpg
http://www.nippobrasil.com.br/2.semanal.manga/01aula/160_28/imagem03.jpg

is thats for tracing??

lol

I use my light table almost religiously.

After I blow up a sketch I'll tape it to the light table and transfer my image to a clean sheet of paper. Then I'll transfer that image to another sheet. Being sure to fix stuff between each transfer. When all is said and done you get a great drawing that maintains the character of your loose sketch.

Transferring is a method employeed by illustrators for centuries. Transferring via Artograph is the "Illustrators" secret. shhhhhhhh don't tell them I told you.

Tracing is a valued skill in the illustration world. One which we would all benefit from knowing well.

Masters copied works by masters to become masters.

My light table has 4 16" lights in 2 banks and is just a square box with an edge cut to drop in a piece of glass. I have had it for 16 years and it's fabulous.

It's the tool that enables me to take a rough sketch to clean toon.

-Lemorris

p.s. I'll post a pic later...I think I'm gonna draw that Reno.

i still think its tracing :disappoin

It is.

But is tracing my own sketch to clean the lines un-pure?

I mean...it is my drawing...right?

oh! im sorry i misunderstood your post, when u said "your image" i thought u meant an image you had of what you wanted to draw, not the image you had allready had. no its not as you said "unpure"

lol

In the world of professional illustration it goes for reference too. The light table is an invaluable tool. No more important than an eraser...but no less either.

Many auto illustration professionals suggest them.

Just FYI

p.s. Like Bonz will tell you. If you aren't good at drawing what you see you won't be good at tracing anyway. Imitation is a valid learning method.

id like to think of myself as a good drawer, i really need 2 get some pics up on her soon, but anyways about the light table i never really herd of 1 b4

Thanks Lemorris!
You explained all!

I used the the window tip (using it as a light table) but is hard to draw in 90 degrees, and my arms hurts after a few minutes hehehe

And, men...Artograph projectors are an elephant!! I prefer to use a light box, I mean, it's probably the same result. I saw a picture of it few days ago but didn't know that was an Artograph.

Thanks!
Bye
Magliano

i understand now. thanx lemorris

Usually I make a sketch, trace it, add some details, and then trace it again, so I have 3 drawings, with one final piece.

I just use a window too, it just doesn't seem to be worth the money IMO

I think tracing your own stuff is the best way to really work out the problems in a drawing without overworking it.
It is about planning to me.
I also got a light box. It was when I thought I wanted to be an animator.
But it gets very little use nowadaze. Tracing in photoshop,
illustrator and painter is alot better btw. Just gotta get used to not looking at your hand when you draw. :)


http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y226/grantrl78/1223.jpg

"Light Tracer"
It cost 100 bucks. Has a flourescent bulb so it doesn't get hot.
But it has these plastic nubs on the drawing surface that get in the way bad.
They hold on the plexiglass top. Bad design.

Freehand drawing is much better .. Cause you feel the proudness you cant feel with tracing !
But anyway to start drawing is okey ,, Its just so Fun !

Challe / :smokin:

^ it has nothing to do with that



light tables by professionals are strictly used AFTER a bunch of original sketches are made.

then instead of ERASING or completely RE DRAWING the image you trace your own rough sketch and make everything nice neat and clean.

some times it takes 3 or more times.


unless you are a TRUE MASTER and famous, there is no way you can produce a purely CLEAN illustration without using one.



so by using a light table you lose NOTHING since your image was originally a FREE HAND drawing in the first place. however, you do GAIN a tremendously CLEANER final image.

Well said!

thanks Nathaniel

That was very well put.

Even if you don't have a light table you can transfer using carbon paper until you get it locked down then finish.

Your work will improve greatly.

-Lemorris

Thanks Guys you really understood me.
I've tried many ways to clean a sketch, but always i lose something. Never has the same feeling from the sketch.

Start by really looking at the image. The attitude isn't in the detail. First look at the form. Squint your eyes when you look at the sketch. As you transfer think about how lines connect or cross. How one curve relates to another. Each piece adds to the whole so share the importance.

-Lemorris

I usually use a window, a lot cheaper lol

i still think its tracing :disappoin
ok. here we go. another one of these posts about tracing.

ok. get over it. most car art that is mass-produced, for one, is ALL traced from a source photo --most of your favorite artists --they all trace their stuff. i'd say 90%. Normal Rockwell --the grand master-- traced nearly ALL from photos he took himself. he then painted them in his style. he could draw and paint without tracing. but he had deadlines.

and that little grid method that everyone uses: that is tracing. as lemorris points out, the old masters --they all traced their stuff. michaelangelo and the sistene chapel: guess what --that was all traced from pounced cartoons on paper onto the plaster. he then filled it in like a coloring book. mind you, he drew his own stuff, often using the grid method, which is tracing. again, he could draw with or without tracing.

typically, if you cannot draw anyway, your tracing will reveal that. as well, if you cannot comprehend 3-point perspective, then you will not be able to use ellipse templates correctly. ie, you will "trace" the wrong ellipse for the chosen perspective view.

i can go on about this, and get even more angry, but what is the point. tools are an enhancement to skill, not a surrogate to skill.

and all of this debate about purity --forget it. let me say it again: if you cannot draw very well to begin with, then tracing will not change that fact one iota. you will still suck a$$. if you are masterful at your craft, then you will employ ANY and ALL tools appropriate to get the client smiling and calling you back. and that is really the bottom line: MONEY and TIME and SKILL and TALENT --> all are one and the same. :smokin:

see?

typically, if you cannot draw anyway, your tracing will reveal that

I told you.

lol

Keep in mind that Bonz is a pro...no joke. He spits da troof...whurd up

hey, lem-mastah-morris.

i've been away for a bit and i came back on here, and i had to chime in. been doing volvo and acura storyboards. and i saw the "Stealth" premiere. movie was fun. prolly the most faithful to my stuff they used was the refueling blimp sequence.

anyway, thanks for props, btw. stay real!

see?



I told you.

lol

Keep in mind that Bonz is a pro...no joke. He spits da troof...whurd up

LOL!!!!

:) :) :) :)

prolly the most faithful to my stuff they used was the refueling blimp sequence.

You worked on it?

You worked on it?
yes. for about 3 months. i did some sequences that were cut from the film, and others that were not. the surviving scenes i helped to design are the "camel hump 9" refueling explosion sequence, and "death of henry," where EDI leads henry on a collision course.

i did the opening, but it was changed from pre-dawn to daylight. and i did a sequence where the camera starts in outer space on a communications satellite and follows it's beams down to the secret installation. that survived to the final cut as well.

there was a massive and crazy scene, deleted from the movie, where EDI leads ben into downtown Beijing, but that never made it to final cut. it took a couple of weeks to design that sequence, too. the script changed a lot during pre-production. an awesome scene of EDI flying about six feet off the deck of the Great Wall was never shot. but i drew it out completely.

and i never used a light table. :biggrin:

i do have a light table, though. a small store-bought one. i use it fairly regularly when i absolutely need to haul ass. or i will use photoshop in tandem
with hand-drawn work. it helps to automate tasks that would otherwise take too long manually. i use photoshop so often, actually, that i had to buy a more comfortable chair for my work station.

Damn. Looks like it has one of the lowest tomatometers ever.
Here is one of the only positive reviews "I'm not sure if I should club
it to death or hug it." Sounds like Rob made some bad calls. :) Too bad.
Sure has a good cast. Bet the reviews really hurt its boxoffice.
Sux the power reviewers wield.

Damn. Looks like it has one of the lowest tomatometers ever.
Here is one of the only positive reviews "I'm not sure if I should club
it to death or hug it." Sounds like Rob made some bad calls. :) Too bad.
Sure has a good cast. Bet the reviews really hurt its boxoffice.
Sux the power reviewers wield.

if you're into speed and effects, with an actual story, and you don't go into it
taking it very seriously (as the film itself, in general, does not take itself seriously), then you will have some fun with popcorn and a date at the movie.

if you're looking for academy award material, you will be very disappointed.

and fyi, word-of-mouth and opening weekend will make or break a film overwhelmingly more than reviews.

insofar as boxoffice, it opens this weekend, so we shall see. i'm interested either way how it does on opening weekend.

Again i'm not trying to judge it myself.
I'm no critic. I think they are pretty low.
I have seen a few movies that have had bad reviews that I have loved.
Just hate to see em unanimously club a movie that I was looking forward to.
And though I hope not, I know that it will have a bad impact on its business.

Again i'm not trying to judge it myself.
I'm no critic. I think they are pretty low.
I have seen a few movies that have had bad reviews that I have loved.
Just hate to see em unanimously club a movie that I was looking forward to.
And though I hope not, I know that it will have a bad impact on its business.
it depends. for example, i saw "war of the worlds," a technically dazzling film with awesome visuals, but overall thought it had little to no story. and the characters' situations were often dumb, unconvincing, and unecessary. and it got mixed to bad reviews, stating pretty much what i just said. yet it raked in tens of millions opening weekend and beyond. and i wouldn't want to sit through it again. but they got my money anyway.:frown:

I worship speilberg's work. Many parts of wotw ruled. But it could have been better. I feel like it was worth the money though. And its reviews did point out the things that you mentioned but they were generally not that bad. Just not up to the rest of his work. Plus you could put his name on anything and it would make lots of money just because of his track record. See one George Lucas. :)
But the part that bothers me about Stealth is the freakin fury of the bad reviews. I think catwoman when I see such bad press.
But you are right
bad reviews don't always kill a movie.

Huh...Nice...

Another late movie for Brazil...
til five minutes ago i have absolutely no ideia of what you were talking about heheheh

Well, in september i'll tell you guys what i think about the movie hehehehhe

well, i just watched the trailer...

Well, trailer is trailer, but looks to me another action/si-fi future movie. The theme is old, but the visual looks great...another movie to seat and watch it.
But, where the light table leaded us to the movie?

well, i just watched the trailer...

Well, trailer is trailer, but looks to me another action/si-fi future movie. The theme is old, but the visual looks great...another movie to seat and watch it.
But, where the light table leaded us to the movie?

yeah. the thread got hijacked and then just morphed.

i hate george lucas today. he was my childhood hero. but i think he must have gotten a full frontal lebotamy or something. he sucks. the new star wars films are unwatchable. to me, they are purely awful and reveal actual incompetence.

speilberg was another childhood hero of mine, too. he still has the touch, mostly, but seems these days purely interested in effects only. i do not worship any director anymore.

Stealth is nothing like "cat woman." that is just awful. Stealth, in my summation, is pretty good. it does not suck. but it is not the best film you will see this summer either. i think if you liked "fast and furious," you will probably think Stealth is alright. to me, f & f, the original, is "ok." it overall was good. and i will watch it once in a while. the subsequent sequels of it are just awful, though.

if you just hate Stealth, then that is ok with me. i do not take that personally. there are some things rob did as a director that i would have approached differently. but i was not entrusted to that role. nor did i want it.

i have worked on a few, far lower-budget and forgettable, films that were not very good. and i took the money and ran. and i never mention them. Stealth, however, i will mention to others. :smokin:

As I said...

We are not tying to understand the humanity in your movie. I think it's pretty well done, the effects look nice and the theme is interesting (even being old…).
As f&f I’ll seat, watch it enjoy and we are done.

I think the main problem is that people are trying to find "philosophy" everywhere.... Lord of the rings for example...I hate that crap!! Man, is boring long...But people create a religion around that “RPG movie”.

Well, be proud of your work! People liking or not...you did your job, and did well!
No problems about the topic, I was just thought it was funny how the subjects change...

Bye
Magliano

As I said...

We are not tying to understand the humanity in your movie. I think it's pretty well done, the effects look nice and the theme is interesting (even being old…).
As f&f I’ll seat, watch it enjoy and we are done.

I think the main problem is that people are trying to find "philosophy" everywhere.... Lord of the rings for example...I hate that crap!! Man, is boring long...But people create a religion around that “RPG movie”.

Well, be proud of your work! People liking or not...you did your job, and did well!
No problems about the topic, I was just thought it was funny how the subjects change...

Bye
Magliano

LOL!

yes. it's only Hollywood. i, too, hate Lord of the Rings. that is such flamboyant boredom.

insofar as a light table, again, i do use them and have a small one. sometimes i need to trace something if i am out on a job, and i did not bring my own. so i hold the paper up to a window in the lobby and use the sun. it works fine. it is the same thing.
;)

Thanks for talking about stealth bonzelite.
I think it is cool as hell that you worked on it. :)
You have a badass job!
And Magliano didn't mean to help hijack your thread.
BTW I saw the "Brazil" (wink) you are talking about.
Now that was a great movie. :)

Thanks for talking about stealth bonzelite.
I think it is cool as hell that you worked on it. :)
You have a badass job!
And Magliano didn't mean to help hijack your thread.
BTW I saw the "Brazil" (wink) you are talking about.
Now that was a great movie. :)

yeah, i don't know whos thread this is. or was.
something about a light table. making one from scratch.
i'd just go out and buy one. smaller ones are pretty cheap.

to hijack it more, i will say that robs next film will start pre-pro around
february. it is "sinbad." so i'll probably be drawing lots of period costumes and monsters and battle scenes --subject matter that i have not done too much of. so it will be very challenging.

LOL!! Stealth is a boxoffice flop!!! WOW!

i've got to laugh at that --depressing, but what else is there to do? ha! it only made $13mil over the weekend. that is a total failure. the film costs exceeded $120mil. man that is awful.

it's only hope now is overseas sales of the dvd.

LOL!! Stealth is a boxoffice flop!!! WOW!

i've got to laugh at that --depressing, but what else is there to do? ha! it only made $13mil over the weekend. that is a total failure. the film costs exceeded $120mil. man that is awful.

it's only hope now is overseas sales of the dvd.

Damn!!! That is really gonna hurt the careers of alot of the highups involved.
But you are right about the dvd thing. Will probably make more there than anywhere. Don't know about the rest of the world though. Americans blowing up stuff in other countries isn't too popular these days.

Bet Foxx's career will go much the same way as halle berry's. His stock will go way down. I hate to see it. Looks like a smart and talented guy.

Hope this mess doesn't hurt the sinbad plans. :confused:

i really cannot say what it will do the careers of the higher-ups. everyone got paid regardless. rob made his fee right away. all of the actors got paid no matter what. it is the studio that must eat the whole pie --Sony fronted the cash for the whole deal. so i dunno quite how it works when a film tanks.

i just nearly cannot believe how awful it is doing:

think of it this way: 13 million dollars is not really ANY money. that barely covers the costs of the truck drivers and catered meals and plane tickets and hotels for the crew.

it does not even begin to scratch the surface of even the expense of the entire camera package rental from Panavision. it is as if Sony set up a lemonade stand, and hocked dixie cups of lemonade all weekend. that is a good parallel.

wow.

i don't think, either, it will influence "sinbad." rob is in a contractual agreement, i think, similar to sports stars. they are paid regardless of how the team does. i think that is how it is. but i could be wrong.

i don't think even using a light table can save Stealth at this point!!

lolol!

It'll do great on DVD. Theaters are hurtin. If it wasn't for a VW I wouldn't have seen even 1 film at a theater this summer. It doesn't have that old magic for me right now...hmmm

I'll see Stealth just cause you were involved, much like that Dennis Hopper GTO flick I watched 1800 times.

-Lemorris

well stealth got absolutely 0 hype in my area before its release. i never saw a single preview or add or anything.

i still dont even know what it is about.

lolol!

It'll do great on DVD. Theaters are hurtin. If it wasn't for a VW I wouldn't have seen even 1 film at a theater this summer. It doesn't have that old magic for me right now...hmmm

I'll see Stealth just cause you were involved, much like that Dennis Hopper GTO flick I watched 1800 times.

-Lemorris

yep. "the last ride." i actually did better drawings, overall, on that one. i was warmed up by then (that film was made during Stealth, and released before Stealth).

i think Stealth was not really that bad of a movie. but apparently i'm in the minority! a film that does that poorly will not be in distribution very long. that is standard. it just sort of "disappears."

it will be at the dollar theatre in about a month or less. LOL! --with crying.

back on topic: i think had i used a light table, the film would still have done poorly! :evillol:

I honestly dont care about the reviews. As long as there are action scenes and explosions, it's ALL good!

I'm also gonna watch it because you worked on it. It seems ok...


Yeah, and light-tables aren't that bad, I just think that they are too expensive.

BTW; do you have some of the scenes you drew? I'd really like to see them.

thanks.

in all due respect, Stealth actually opened at the #4 position, with far more movies below it in sales than above it. the highest grossing film last weekend only made 20million.

if you like action and eye-candy, then it is no skin off your back to see the movie. it is meant to be fun. and it is. and that's it.

Bonzelite ;)
CATWOMAN = opened at #3
fri $6,092,823 sat $6,227,239 sun $4,408,349

And dennis hopper is a god.
Best movie of the 80's was bluevelvet.
I didn't get to see last ride though.

Bonzelite ;)
CATWOMAN = opened at #3
fri $6,092,823 sat $6,227,239 sun $4,408,349
WTF?!
:lol2: LOL!! it blew chunks at only about $6mil at #3? that is dreadful.
but it was actually #3? :confused:

have films just blown a$$ and i haven't been keeping notice? these figures
are anemic.

Behind bourne supremacy and irobot.
That was another bad one. An Isaac asimov book that was really good. But the movie sucked.
I Robot held lots of promise, but never really ignited for me either. i did not dislike the film, but it was not a repeat watch. i still don't need to see it ever again. the film had so many things that could have been done better, simple things that would have made a big difference, but, at this point, who cares.

Stealth is similar: it is not that it is bad so much that it is more easily forgotten. like bubble gum.

i know this thread is totally forsaken. but what the heck.

I've used a light table for years. Long before there were computer aided drawing programs, they were a great tool for producing clean, professional looking drawings.
Used to have a huge one, right next to my drafting table. Now I no longer have either, lol.
Managed to find a small, table top model a couple of years ago, only 11x17, but perfect for what I use it for.