My desktop setup is very much like Ravells - except my monitors are ahead and to the right (the way you say you want it set up). I have a keyboard shelf that pulls out under the desk, that's where I keep the tablet and mouse (usually I use the one on the tablet), then reach up to use the keyboard.
When I'm using the laptop at the dining room table I use the tablet directly in front of the keyboard (square), no mouse, just the pen. If I'm sitting at the couch I keep the laptop on the tray in front of me and the tablet in my lap. No angles, though I can deal with it if need be (not so much now that I was able to justify upgrading to cs5 and can rotate the canvas on a whim)
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"...sometimes the most efficient way to make something look drawn by hand is to simply draw it by hand..."
My layout is pretty much like Fig 4 (left side), with the tablet centered just a little more, and my mouse is a bit further to the right and when I am not drawing I put my tablet somewhere further to the left and instead pull the keyboard closer.
I am right-handed, and I surely couldn't use a mouse with my left hand (Fig 5, assuming his trackball is the mouse-equivalent he uses).
Also, my right eye is MUCH worse than my left, with Fig 5 layout the 2nd screen would be too far off beyond my peripheral vision. Last but not least my desk is in a corner with walls in front and left of me, so it feels moe natural to have the 2nd screen at an angle to the left wall.
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I couldn't affix my tablet to the desk. For one thing, I have to share it with my wife, but for another, I find it more comfortable sometimes to hold it in my lap, or supported on my left arm. I don't find that I have any trouble with hand/eye coordination by moving it around; I seem to adapt to a new configuration within a few moments.
My typical set up is primary monitor straight ahead with the keyboard centered in front of it on the desk. The mouse to the right of the keyboard (like bart, I can't use the mouse with my left hand). My second monitor is to the right and angled toward me. The tablet is either held in my lap, or I can push the keyboard back to put it on the desk directly in front of me. The pen is mapped only to the primary monitor, and I've disabled the touch strip on the right (it's an Intuos3) because I frequently brush it with the side of my hand as I draw. I've remapped one of the buttons to Alt, and I replaced the double-click on the pen with middle mouse, so I can navigate in Maya more easily.
Bryan Ray, visual effects artist
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I can't say I'd ever stick my tablet to the desk but, then again, I don't exactly have an ergonomic setup. I have a large flat-screen monitor in front of me with a small keyboard in front of that and my tablet in front of that, with the mouse and pad to the right. I move the tablet out of the way when I'm doing a lot of non-tablet work. My tablet (Intuos4 medium) has a mouse but I've never been able to get the hang of using it (drags too much for my taste).
M