Moho with Surface Slim Pen 2 questions

[Greenlaw]

Hi,

I recently got a Surface Laptop with a Slim Pen 2, running under Windows 11, and I was wondering if any Moho users had a similar setup.

For the most part, this is working well for me but in Moho I'm finding that the pen won't properly click on any button that pops up a menu list...like, for example, the Bone Constraints button or Select Group button. To make it work, I need to first press and hold the side button and then tap the on-screen button to open the menu list. With the mouse, I only need to click on the button to call up the menu list, no modifiers needed. With a Wacom pen on a Wacom tablet, I just tap the button with the pen.

I checked that Use My Pen As A Mouse was active, and it is.

Is anyone else is seeing this behavior? Do you have a solution for making a tap with the stylus tip behave more like a left mouse-click, like a Wacom stylus does?

Thanks in advance for any helpful tips or insight.

[Greenlaw]

Quick follow up: When I disable the option to Use My Pen As A Mouse, then the buttons with the menu list respond to the Slim Pen 2 as expected. (Just tap with the tip.)

Hmm...unfortunately, I know I enabled this feature to fix a different problem with the Slim Pen 2 a few weeks ago...but, shoot, I forgot to note what that reason was.

Anyway, problem solved for the time being. Will post again when I re-discover what that other problem was.

(It probably had something to do with simulating r-click or mm-click with the pen or some other mouse behavior.)

[Greenlaw]

Ok, I finally looked over the official MS manual and videos for the Slim Pen 2...apparently, that's just how the pen works: you need to press and hold the side button before tapping on a screen item to simulate different mouse click modes, can't just tap directly on a screen item like with a regular mouse or Wacom pen.

No way around the extra step. Annoying but guess I'll get use to it. (Already starting to.)

I really should know by now, when in doubt, RFTM.

[chucky]

I hate how the surface and Apple don't have two side buttons, Eh.

[synthsin75]

I hate how the surface and Apple don't have two side buttons, Eh.

Inflation. Same price, fewer buttons.

[Greenlaw]

The pressure, smoothness, and response of the Slim Pen 2 is actually quite good but, yeah, the single side button does ruin the experience...especially for what it costs. Maybe I should have bought another Wacom tablet computer...at least my old Wacom Companion 2 worked the way I expected it to.

ATM, I'm using the Surface Laptop and Slim Pen 2 with the Huion Keydial with a button set to act as a middle mouse. It's fine, just a little clunky since the Keydial sits off to the side.

I read yesterday that my Wacom Expresskey Remote should work with the Surface Laptop and provide middle mouse functionality for the Slim Pen 2. Because it's narrower than the Keydial and can sit on the screen, maybe it's more suitable? TBD.

Yesterday, I tried adding an on-screen middle mouse for the Slim Pen 2 using the TabletPro software, but I ran into an annoying Microsoft Store problem. Will try again later because, in theory anyway, the software should be useful when I don't have the Keydial handy.

[chucky]

There is another compatible pen called the Renaisser that ( after tests I saw ) proves to be the best ntrig tech pen out there. It has two buttons and superb line works perfectly with surface.

[Greenlaw]

Yes! I got a Renaisser 530 because it has a 'normal' Wacom-style rocker switch. It was also considerably cheaper than the Slim Pen 2. I played around with it a little when it arrived...the rocker is a little weird because the switch is flat and flush against the barrel...makes it a little hard to know if I'm pressing it or even if my finger is on the button. I'm sure I can get used to it with practice, just too busy lately.

From what I understand, the Renaisser still doesn't do middle mouse on the rocker with Windows alone, but the Tablet Pro software I mentioned earlier is supposed to enable that. I'll try it out as soon as I can.

That reminds me, need to check if the Microsoft Store problem is fixed. One of the components for Tablet Pro called Tablet Pro Pen Tool disappeared from the Store the other day and I discovered this right after I uninstalled the software and tried to re-install it from the Store. (Thanks MS.)

Curious to compare the Renaisser and Slim Pen 2. The SP2 really does draw smoothly and I read that the pressure sensitivity and response is better than the Renaisser. That said, I may find having the rocker switch on the Renaisser more appealing. Will let you know more when I get around to testing the two side-by-side.

Update: Yay, the Tablet Pro Pen Tool is back up in the MS Store...sort of. For some reason, the app still doesn't show up in a search (not be confused with the same developer's Pen Tool Free Stylus Remapper, which does show up,) but I can access the store's Tablet Pro Pen Tool page from a link on Tablet Pro's website.

Will let you know how things go.

[chucky]

Yes, that Tablet Pro app is pretty good on the right tech of course.
Glad to see it all working, interesting about the rocker switch and middle mouse.
I would actually like even more buttons and even a scroller of some kind.
Wacom used to do an airbrush pen (which I never had correct tablet for); it looked good.

[Greenlaw]

Just a quick update: I got the Slim Pen 2 and Renaisser 530 working with Tablet Pro, and tested this setup in Blender since Blender requires middle-mousing for navigation.

Slim Pen 2 with the Blender preset. Slim Pen's single side button behaves like the middle mouse button. To get r-click, you need to press and tap the screen twice (I guess once to switch to rm click mode and again to actually do the click.) So when using Blender, press and hold for navigation and tap twice while pressing and holding to pop-up the r-click context menu. IMO, it's a little clunky but I could probably get used to it.

Renaisser 530 with the Blender preset. Low rocker is rm button and upper rocker is mm-button. I noticed I can make the upper button behave exactly like the button on the Slim Pen 2 as described above. It's a little weird but could probably get used to it.

Middle mousing this way does not feel as smooth as using a Wacom pen or a mouse. TBH, I'm still not sure which method I'll settle on. ATM, I still prefer using a regular mouse with Blender but I may change my mind when I start learning/using Grease Pencil. Or maybe I'll just avoid using Blender on this tablet computer.

Since this is a Moho forum, I'll write about how these pens perform with Moho later.

[Greenlaw]

Today I got an XenseLabs Quickeys. I'm still messing around with this but my first impressions of this device are very high. The XenseLabs Quckeys is another wireless remote like Wacom Expresskeys and Huion Keydial, but so far this one is way cooler and more usable than the other two.

At a glance, it looks like the Expresskeys but with eight buttons along the edges and an OLED panel in the middle. There is a single button on one end and a dial on the other. The OLED panel displays labels for the eight edge buttons and they changes dynamically as you switch between programmed button sets or when you launch a program that uses a custom set. I LOVE THIS DISPLAY...seeing labels on the device is MUCH nicer than referencing an on-screen chart like with the other devices.

The button on the end switches between four button sets of buttons assigned to the current profile. This means you can assign up to 40 buttons per profile! By default, the device uses a 'universal' profile but you can create custom profiles for any specific program that load when you launch the linked program.

The wheel is multifunctional and changes modes when you press the button in the center. Around the dial is a ring that changes color between modes. You. By default, the ring controls Scroll, Zoom, Rotate and Brush Size, and the dial is programmable to perform other functions.

And you can customize almost aspect of this device: label names, LED colors, screen brightness, sleep timer duration, etc. You can use it wired (USB) or wirelessly. On a full charge, it's supposed to run up to 53 hours. You can even change the orientation of the device...vertical, upside down, dial on left side, on the right side. I use it horizontally with the dial on the right, which works nicely on the Surface display. The build is nice and weighty metal like Wacom's, and has a soft rubber base so it stays in place and doesn't scratch your screen.

It seems like Xense actually listened to artists and addressed many of the shortcomings for the Wacom and Huion devices. One thing I wish it had is blue tooth support instead of the Wi-Fi dongle, but none of them have that so maybe there's a technical reason for it.

For under $100, this is a very impressive add-on.

Well, so far anyway. So far, I've really only used it with the Surface tablet and Photoshop. Later today I want to try it with Moho and Blender. Will let you know how it goes.

P.S., in theory, with 40 programmable buttons per program, I could replace MQC with this device. But I'll probably keep MQC and use this along with it.