The Cintiq digital pipeline immediately introduced tremendous time savings as Big Bad Boo completed Mixed Nutz, which will soon premiere on PBS and Shaw Communications. The most significant efficiencies were in the storyboarding and layout processes, where paper boards and constant trips to the scanner were completely eliminated. Now, Big Bad Boo has undertaken its first production done entirely with the Cintiqs: 26 11-minute episodes of One Thousand and One Nights, an animated comedy targeting the 6 to 9 age group based on the ancient Persian tales of Shahrzad.

Previously, artists needed to paste pieces of paper on the storyboard panel indicating changes, or draw them in and rescan the board. Now, storyboard revisions are drawn directly onto the Cintiq's 21-inch LCD screen in Photoshop CS4 and Toon Boom Storyboard Pro using Wacom's pen technology, where an animatic is created prior to final animation in Toon Boom Harmony.

Artists at Big Bad Boo also appreciate the pressure sensitive pen that allows line weight variation simply by varying the drawing pressure of the pen. This works perfectly for achieving the textures and the rich lines needed for One Thousand and One Nights. Storyboard Artist Gordon Crum notes, "The Cintiq pen's ability to mimic actual drawing on paper, such as the opacity of a pencil or the gradient in a line, is its biggest selling feature for artists."

In addition to dramatic workflow acceleration and new creative options, Aly Jetha cites another benefit of having Cintiqs in the pipeline: higher quality work. Artists using the Cintiq's expansive drawing surface are able to see an entire board at once, leading to better layout decisions, smoother transitions and better animation timing. "A lot of studios are cutting corners by using smaller tablets or the mouse, making it difficult for layout artists to do their job right," he says. "Because of the screen real estate the Cintiq offers, we are not only doing faster work, but better work. I'm convinced of that."