Pen lag/deadzone on Surface pro 2017 in Zbrush

Anonymous
2018-05-29T22:59:20+00:00

I bought the Surface Pro 2017 i7 8GB model a couple of days ago primarily for Zbrush (3D sculpting software) with the use of the surface Pen. 

Everything seems to work other that this problem: When i place the pen tip on the screen there seems to be a small zone of about 3mm around the tip where nothing gets registered. When i go out of this zone the stroke gets registered and everything seems fine and is responsive. This happens with every new stroke.

The issue is only with the pen, the trackpad works fine. I did not encounter this issue in other software than Zbrush so far; Photoshop is fine. 

I downloaded the Wintab drivers, turned off 'flicks' and 'press and hold'. Windows is updated (Windows 10, version 1803)

I really hope somebody can help me since I use Zbrush professionally and I bought the Surface Pro just for this software.

Other than this I really love the device and I would hate to return it just for this small software issue.

Kind Regards, Robin

Surface | Surface Pro | Display and screen

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  1. Anonymous
    2018-09-12T19:54:26+00:00

    Just tried it out. It don't work for me either. I have a Surface Pro 4 by the way. Here is a another video showing the problem:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLeOK\_9MkD8

    And it's not only in Zbrush. I can't believe this bug feature don't get any attention...

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  2. Anonymous
    2018-09-11T22:15:18+00:00

    Having played about with more I've come to the same conclusion. It does feel like it made a difference, but I'm not sure if I'm just wilfully imagining that now. It's certainly not fixed, either way.

    I went back and tried Zbrush on my old Surface Pro 2, this is one of the old Pro 2s, when they still had a Wacom screen. I've used that machine professionally and shipped assets made on it. Using it again after the Windows update it now has the same issue as the Surface Book 2. It's still got Zbrush 4R7 on there, so I'm laying the blame solely at the feet of MS for this.

    What's even more annoying is if I plug my trusty old Intuos in that works flawlessly. :/

    I've made a ticket with Pixologic too, just in case they have any thoughts, but imagine a fix is out of their hands.

    Does this mean anyone using a tablet/touch screen device is having the same issue now?

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  3. Anonymous
    2018-09-11T21:53:16+00:00

    Thank you for the suggestion but unfortunatelly it didn't work for me.

    Like you said, it feels like it might be slightly better but the problem is definatelly still there. Not a big difference for me sadly.

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  4. Anonymous
    2018-09-09T23:16:32+00:00

    I have the same issue on my new Surface Book 2. I've tried doing the following at it feels like its made a difference.

    https://www.top-password.com/blog/disable-windows-ink-workspace-in-windows-10/

    Not sure if I'm just trying to convince myself or not as there still feels like there's a 'dead zone' but a dramatically reduced one if so.

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  5. Anonymous
    2018-08-27T06:48:45+00:00

    Hi Luiz,

    It seems that the pen works perfectly with Microsoft software, such as ppt, word and onenote.  For all other software, it doesn't. Maybe someone can look into it and check what's special setting they are using for those software and apply it to others.

    Dabin

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