By Brady Betzel
From alleviating wrist pain to increasing accuracy in digital multimedia work, pen tablets are an integral part of a multimedia creator’s toolbox. I have reviewed Huion products before — the Kamvas 16 Pen Display and the Inspiroy Keydial KD200 Pen Tablet — and there is a common thread: unmatched value.
The Huion Inspiroy Giano Pen Tablet measures 16.8 inches by 10.3 inches by 0.35 inches with a 13.6-inch by 8.5-inch working area. It weighs just 40 ounces and currently retails for $199.99. The Inspiroy Giano can connect to macOS and Windows 10 (and up) computers via Bluetooth 5.0 as well as a USB-C connection. It also connects to Windows 7/8/10 and ChromeOS via USB-C only and even to your Android-based phone via Bluetooth 5.0.
The Inspiroy Giano comes with a battery-free PenTech 3.0 electromagnetic resonance pen with 5,080 lines per inch of resolution and 8,192 levels of pressure sensitivity. The Giano supports pen tilt, 10mm sensing height and greater than 300pps report rate and has six programmable keys. In addition, the Giano sports a smart LCD screen, which will display battery and connection status, sleep mode and sedentary reminder. Included with the Giano is a glove to help work smoothly, extra nibs, a pen holder, a pen, tablet and cables.
Practically speaking, the Huion Inspiroy Giano Pen Tablet is large. If you are currently working with a smaller-sized pen tablet, you will have to get used to the increased real estate, but it will eventually win you over. The Huion app is simple and easy to use. You can even program the six programmable keys on a per-app basis, meaning you can make your Photoshop shortcuts different from your Resolve shortcuts. The only thing missing in the Huion app is the ability to increase the cursor speed over distance. You can do this in Windows by accessing the pointer speed setting in the control panel, but it would be really helpful to have the option in the Huion app.
I really love using pen tablets. They have a very natural feel when traversing the screen. And the matte/paperlike texture eases the transition from writing on traditional paper to writing on a digital surface. The Huion Giano embraces Bluetooth technology to wirelessly connect to computers and even phones. This gives you the freedom to use the Giano without carrying a bunch of wires and power adapters with you. Battery life seems to last a typical workday and a half for me, but to be honest, I like to keep my external hardware connected via hardwire if possible, so battery life isn’t as much of a concern.
Physically, not only does any wrist pain I feel start to diminish after a couple of days of work, but my efficiency picks up as well. In Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effects, masking becomes much more intuitive and accurate. In Blackmagic’s DaVinci Resolve, moving around the edit timeline or turning color wheels works faster. And doodling on the screen during an Evercast video review is much more accurate. Color correcting without a hardware panel feels sluggish to me, but with a pen tablet, it feels much more natural and accurate. Using the Huion Inspiroy Giano with plugins like BorisFX Mocha Pro and Continuum, masking in Resolve and more improves not only the accuracy but also general movement.
While I am not a proper artist, pen tablets really jumpstart those creative juices. Sometimes it sets off an entirely new creative thought process that you would have never found without using a pen tablet. It sounds a little outlandish, but it is true. About 13 years ago, I was an assistant editor and noticed my wrist hurting after working all day in Avid Media Composer, grouping footage, labeling b-roll. and other typical assistant editor tasks. That’s when I decided to try a pen tablet. The first two weeks were tough… almost impossible.
I work fast, so when I picked up a pen and found I wasn’t working as fast, I was worried. Luckily, someone had told me it would get better after a couple weeks. And thankfully it did! After about two weeks, I was back to my same work speed as when using a traditional mouse. Eventually, I was working even faster than I was with a mouse. When I started learning masking and compositing inside of Continuum or After Effects, I really started to see where pen tablets were useful. Bezier curves and masking points quickly became easier to work with.
Summing Up
So whether you’re a seasoned video editor, a versatile content creator or another type of multimedia artist, the Huion Inspiroy Giano is definitely worth a try. This unique pen tablet boasts similar features and durability to its pricier competitors, such as the Wacom Intuos Pro Medium, but at a fraction of the cost. With the Giano, you can enjoy the same benefits of a high-end tablet without breaking the bank. And if you’re looking for even more options, Huion.com offers a wide range of tablet solutions, including the Inspiroy Keydial and pen displays for direct drawing. Your wrists will thank you.
Brady Betzel is an Emmy-nominated online editor at Margarita Mix in Hollywood, working on shows like Life Below Zero and Uninterrupted: The Shop . He is also a member of the Producers Guild of America. You can email Brady at bradybetzel@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @allbetzroff.
The tablet itself retails for $279.99, but the bundle (which you really should get) retails for $359.99. In comparison, the Wacom retails for $379.95. There are other alternatives, like XP-Pen and Huion, but I’ve never used them, so I don’t feel comfortable comparing them. That said, the Wacom Intuos Pro is an amazing tablet, but the Xencelabs pen tablet combined with the Quick Keys remote is a game-changer for me.
Digging In
The build quality of the Xencelabs pen tablet, pens and Quick Keys module is top notch, but if you have a Wacom Pro Pen lying around, it will work as well. The pens are all battery-free. I personally like the traditional-sized pen, which is a little fat like a Sharpie, but if you want a pen that’s more slender, one is included with the bundle. The skinny pens always feel too small for me, regardless of brand.