Artrage and my SP3 i3

[Andy847]

Hi, new to the forum. I just bought a new SP3 i3 128gb. I remember reading about overheating with the SP3 and mine is starting to do it. I finally decided to download just the trial of Artrage onto it last night. After a couple of hours on it of internet browsing and looking up art programs, I downloaded the trial Version. I have the full version with a Wacom Intuos I bought and really love the program.

However once I started to download, I started to hear the fan start to go. Not bad or that loud that it bothered me. Then when I started to play around with the app itself testing pens and brushes, it started to really get hot down on the bottom portion of the tablet towards the middle on to the side where the charging port is. It was not plugged into the charger at the time. I had to turn off, because of the heat getting to me holding it.

Today, I tried again and did a line drawing on it to see if it would act up again.. Sure enough after awhile the fan started going. Only difference is tonight I got my case for it, and it was in the case. Still got really hot, to wear I just turned it off. I guess I'm wondering now if maybe the Artrage app is too much for the i3 processor. The only thing is, it's just the Trial Version of an app. Not the full blown Desktop Version I may want in the future for it. Not sure if it's a bad unit or something I can get fixed by settings or doing something else. I like everything else about it so far, doesn't seem laggy in the least, but did slow down in the Artrage app the first time it got hot..

I know I read a lot of artists buying the i5 or i7, but not sure if I need them or not. Using as a laptop, but mostly for drawing on to replace my Samsung Note 10.1 (2o12). I really love the Surface Pro, but didn't want to spend all the money on the i7, but I can maybe afford to go with the i5, but only with the 4gb of RAM.

Is the i3 powerful enough for this program or app? I know it's a good program. I used sketchbook on the SP3 and I use it on my Samsung Tablet, so I'm familiar with it, just prefer Artrage. Thanks in advance. I will call support tomorrow to see if something I can do, unless you guys can help me out.

 

[Moonsurface]

I had artrage crashing on my SP3, that was the app version rather than the desktop version though.

 

[Andy847]

I will probably use the desktop version if it continues. It was crashing on me also. Screen would go black and I lost a couple of drawings, which was aggravating. So I figured it must be the processor. I went into the Store to either exchange, hear what they had to say, and maybe go to the i5 processor. I wanted to leave the store with Something. The tech guy there agreed the software I'd be using would need at least an i5 or i7, so that's what I figured I would have to do. I didn't want to pay for the i7 though.

Turns out they were out of Stock on the SP3 i5 Processor and wanted me to come back tomorrow for a sale, so I asked if the low end M3 on the new SP4 would handle it, thinking the processor would be better. He talked to a manager and said since they didn't have an SP3 i5 in the store or know when they would get more, they would give me a good deal on the i5 SP4. I do like the newer pen better.

I just finished updating and loading the same two programs again on the new SP4 (Sketchbook and Artrage trial), once again the fan (louder now) and the heat. I know the computer is working harder to download and load software, but it really does get hot. I guess I'm going to see how it goes for awhile and unless things start crashing again, will probably keep it. I love the Surface Pro 3 and the 4 I have now, so I'm sure it'll replace my Note 10.1 when it finally bites the dust. Just hoping some new art apps and software comes available for the thing though. If I have to use Sketchbook I can live with it, but I much rather be using a program like Artrage. Thanks for the input though. May just be the app itself, I have an email out to artrage about it.

 

[Moonsurface]

I settled on using clip studio (also known as Manga studio). It's really good software (desktop) allows layers etc and works very well on my Surface. I also have photoshop CC but prefer clip studio for drawing.

 

[Andy847]

Can I ask you if your surface pro gets hot and the fan runs on it with either software? It started again with the SP4 i5 Last night now. I'm just starting to wonder if this is normal for the Surface Pros to do that. I know it's a lot packed into a small package, just worries me when the whole thing gets hot like that. I kept drawing on it even though the fan was going and it was hot. Not sure if I want to keep it if it keeps up like this.

I know when I'm on my Samsung it will get hot sometimes and I've had that over 3 years. So maybe this is just something to expect with the surface pros in general. I'm just doing line drawings and shading. Nothing with Layers yet and no color or anything. I am on it awhile though.

 

[Moonsurface]

Can I ask you if your surface pro gets hot and the fan runs on it with either software? It started again with the SP4 i5 Last night now. I'm just starting to wonder if this is normal for the Surface Pros to do that. I know it's a lot packed into a small package, just worries me when the whole thing gets hot like that. I kept drawing on it even though the fan was going and it was hot. Not sure if I want to keep it if it keeps up like this.

I know when I'm on my Samsung it will get hot sometimes and I've had that over 3 years. So maybe this is just something to expect with the surface pros in general. I'm just doing line drawings and shading. Nothing with Layers yet and no color or anything. I am on it awhile though.

To be honest I havent' noticed too much with Clip studio. It's pretty quiet and the i7 SP3 was notorious for getting hot. when the fan does blow it's usually something else going on in the background like it's downloading updates, or virus scanning. I also found that using Edge caused it to happen a lot also.

 

[Andy847]

Thanks, I checked and no updates, I was on for 10 minutes and started to warm up again. Not sure what is going on with this. I uninstalled artrage trial version and looked to see what other apps there are. Other than Sketchbook, which is fine, nothing really in the app store for drawing or painting. I'm really disappointed to be honest with the Surface for Drawing. Not in the ability to draw with it, just the lack of things to try in the store. I know I can purchase the full desktop versions of better Art programs, but with the problems I'm having with just a trial of an "App" and it heating up, not sure I want to make the $50 investment in Artrage desktop or Clip Studio. I would think the full program would be harder on the machine. Since I already have the full Artrage app on my Mac and this is a Windows machine, can't justify throwing $50 away if it can't handle it.

I am impressed with the drawing capabilities themselves, but I can do the same on my Samsung Tablet. So maybe the surface is not for me. I really wanted to use it mostly for Drawing. The lack of apps in the store was a worry of mine from looking at the surface 2 when it was out. Still seems like not much there for what I need. The heating issue is something that is really bothering me, especially when I read a lot of people not having that. Having the SP4 now, I was hoping to get away from that issue. Maybe I'm just getting bad units, but I'm really considering bringing it back for a total refund. I'll just have to wait until Samsung releases a newer Note tablet some time in the future. Thanks for the help though.

 

[Moonsurface]

Why not try the trial version of clip studio? I love it on my surface. The store apps are not necessarily better than full software for optimisation.

 

[Andy847]

I can give that a try and see what happens with it. I saw a short video and the UI might take a little for me to get use to. One of the things I like about artrage is it's very simple UI. Clip Studio looks a little more complicated. I'm familiar with Sketchbook, so may be a bit similar. There is an app called Artflow on my Samsung Tablet I was starting to try, I wonder If I can find that on Windows. If Clip Studio doesn't cause any heat issues, I may decide to keep it then. Thanks for the advice.

 

[Moonsurface]

Depends what you want to do, have you tried FreshPaint? I love Fresh Paint the paint effects are very realistic. It only has limited options for canvas size (one size I think) but in general it's a great free app.

ClipStudio does have a lot of options and is very powerful (layers layer blending modes etc) but I found it quite easy to use. I love the fact you can turn touch mode on which then only registers finger touch inputs on the UI but not on the canvas, so no worries about accidentally touching or palm rejection fails. Palm rejection works quite well but the tip of the pen does need to be pretty close before anything else touches.

 

[Andy847]

I watched a couple youtube videos on someone showing how Clip Studio works and him doing a comic style drawing in two videos. I was rather impressed with a lot of it's capabilities. I would need to watch more to learn it though, definitely some things were stuff I didn't even know you can do with these programs. I'm familiar with Layers, different tools, and other things from Artrage and Sketchbook Pro, so I don't think I'd be totally lost on it. Just have to play around with it.

I have a more realistic style of drawing and draw what I see and I like cartooning also. I like painting on the tablet too, since I never did any real life stuff. Always was interested in that aspect of art. Not really into the Manga style, but The program itself is impressive. I'd have to decide which one to buy if I like it. Thinking the EX, but still have to find a little time to try the trial mode. Will let you know how it works when I do.

 

[Moonsurface]

I don't do manga style either but clip studio is pretty good for me. I still mess about in Freshpaint though!