Mac Desktop (Artrage 6) vs Artrage for iOS

[pixelstate]

I have Artrage on both my Mac and my iPad.

My questions on technique/workflow are how do you use both programs (or do you) in your creations and what are the pros and cons of each?

I presume that Artrage on ios is far less feature rich (capable) than Artrage 6 on desktop? - My lack of experience has meant that I have not yet really hit limitations at this time but they must be there - custom brushes and more complex brush settings variations?

I prefer to paint with the iPad, find it more intuitive than using Wacom on desktop but was wondering whether I am ultimately going to mis sout on capability if I do this? - I considered using the iPad for initial sketching out the painting and exporting the file to desktop to lay the actual paint?

Any advice is appreciated.. my painting is very much angled toward familiarisation with the tool rather than creativity at this time.. so keen to learn the 'right' application.. this is a quick example - Artrage on ios

[markw]

Hello pixelstate,
First off, let me just say that I don’t have an iPad so have no first hand experience working in ArtRage with both platforms.
That said;
Yes, you are correct that the iOS version is not as feature rich as the full desktop version. Mobile devices just don’t have the computing resources of a full computer so need a striped down version to run.
Whether any missing features are a show stopper for you only you can say.
You can find a full product comparison of features here: https://www.artrage.com/product-comparison/
The other main difference is that the mobile versions have a max size that they can make a canvas in terms of pixels.
For example on an iPad Pro it’s around 4096px x 4096px max size and on an iPhone around 960px x 640px.
This could potentially be a problem later on if you are intending prints from your work. But a way around this is to record a Script as you paint on the iPad and then play that back on your desktop ArtRage where you can set a new larger size for the painting.
You can find more info about painting sizes and Scripts here: https://www.artrage.com/manuals/the-...ick-reference/
The big plus though for the mobile versions of AR is of course that it’s mobile! and you are not chained to a desk to work

Edit:
One last thought to possibly get around the iPad size limit, now that Catalina is here you could use the new Sidecar feature, allowing you to draw on the iPad screen but having the computer do all the heavy lifting. That would give you the best of both worlds.
I don’t know if that’s possible, Andy or another user with an iPad & Catalina would have to chip in here. But it’s an intriguing thought…

[kaveman]

When Apple introduced the new iPad Pro, the company boasted that its slim slate is more powerful than 92 percent of PCs out there. The benchmarks confirm this.

iPad Pro software should not be second class to the PC versions.

[sjm88]

When Apple introduced the new iPad Pro, the company boasted that its slim slate is more powerful than 92 percent of PCs out there. The benchmarks confirm this.

iPad Pro software should not be second class to the PC versions.

This is 100% correct. My 2018 iPad Pro is faster than my 2018 Mac Mini across pretty much every task I complete. It also has (IMO) the best drawing interface available on the market - and the market for art apps on the iPad is huge.

ArtRage is being left behind, and failing to support iPad with fully featured, modern software with a good UI is not going to help that. It's sad, but it's true.

I am simply not interested in using desktop/wacom solutions any more for drawing and painting when the experience is slower, worse to use and less convenient.

I saw ArtRage 6 was out and I was really hopeful that the iPad app would be feature-complete, and receive the upgrade it's so desperately needed all these years. Sadly, it seems that isn't the case.

Anyone saying that full, feature-complete ArtRage can't work on the iPad Pro simply doesn't know what they're talking about. I hope ArtRage sees the light - it remains my favourite ever software for simulating natural media, but it's vanishing into the pages of history on its current trajectory.