Expresii on New Surface Pro

The New Surface Pro was announced back in May this year.  Today we will show you how Expresii runs on it.

The latest Surface Pro (2017) running Expresii. (Figure painting by Shuen)

The New Device

The outlook of the New Surface Pro is mostly the same as that of the Surface Pro 4, except that the more rounded edges now feels more inviting.  ​ The top model (CPU: i7 7660U; GPU: Iris Plus Graphics 640; RAM: 16GB) is capable of getting 100+ FPS. I'm very pleased with the performance given  the sleek package of the Surface Pro.   See a demo video   below - which include spontaneous painting  of some eggplants:    ​(ﾉ･д･)ﾉ

The New Pen

Highlights of the new Surface pen over the last generation:

1. Tilt sensitivity
2. Much lighter activation force
3. Much reduced lag,  especially near device   edges

The only downside  is that it doesn't support tilt sensing while hovering, something we normally would get  with Wacom's EMR pen   on their Intuos Pro or Cintiq lines.  Disappointingly, those new 2017-released  tablets equipped with Wacom's EMR pen technology (namely Samsung Galaxy Book &   Acer Switch 7 Black Edition) do not support tilt sensing during hover as well.      (๑◕︵◕๑)

Without hover   tilt sensing, you don't see your virtual brush in the right orientation right before you stroke.   That'd be awkward  because you need to know how the brush is touching the paper to make a mark.   Fortunately,   brush orientation   left from the previous stroke doesn't affect the correct rendering   of a new   stroke  with an initial tilt angle   quite different from   the final tilt angle of the previous stroke.  

You can make vastly different marks intuitively by varying pressure and tilt angle in Expresii.

In most advertisements by both Apple and Microsoft, they would say 'tilt to shade'.   Here, we show you that tilt is  not just for shading, but also for making   organic marks using the side of the   brush   as well.   In Expresii,  your ink and   brush  really interact with the paper. 

Pressure Level vs Activation Force

A lot of people  think the new pen is more sensitive because of the pressure level increase.   To me, pressure level doesn't really make a noticeable difference (given >= 1024).  It is mainly the improved   activation force   that makes the new pen feels more sensitive.  Those who are not sure about this   can try    toggling the   '1024-level'   option    on your Wacom device and see if you notice any difference.  ​

New Pen on other Surface devices?

Yes, you're covered.  ​According to Microsoft representative:​

"The new Surface Pen works with these generations of Surface Devices: Surface 3, Surface Pro 3, Surface Pro 4, Surface Book, Surface Studio and Surface Laptop.  The new Surface Pro is the first Surface to enable 4096 levels  of   Pressure Sensitivity  and  Pen Tilt.  These features will be updated on Surface Book and Surface Studio with updates in early 2018.  All devices benefit from the 9g-low activation force."

Game Mode

To make sure you get the best performance,   you can opt to use Game  Mode for Expresii.  What the Game Mode does is to    minimize background activities to give way for the foreground program.

The Game Mode is available if you have the Windows 10 Creator's Update. Press WIN+G   to bring up the Game Bar  UI. Read more about the   Game Mode   here .

Conclusion

I'm impressed by what Microsoft has achieved over the years for the Surface Pro Family.   I wish in the near future they are able to support hover tilt sensing as well. Expresii really shows off the sleek new Surface Pro for its powerful GPU and its new pen.   Users can make vastly different organic marks  simply by varying pen pressure and tilt angle, as well as the wetness of the virtual brush.  This allows spontaneous painting  not possible in any other app.