another challenge

[glenngosack]

Ok.. hotshots... draw this one in Xara. This was posed in CD Mag many years ago. Looks easy, until you try. But like the knot, once you get it, it is easy.

Glenn

[Ross Macintosh]

No sweat for xara. Took several minutes - but then I'm slow.

Regards, Ross

<a href=http://www.designstop.com/>DesignStop.Com</a>

[gwpriester]

The original image reminded me of a depth image used to make a stereogram in which white comes forward the most and black recedes the most. And so as stereograms are what I do for recreation...

Gary

Gary Priester

Moderator Person

Be It Every So Humble...

[Ross Macintosh]

Yes creating them is relatively easy in Xara. I wonder - is it as easy using xara's competition? Perhaps if anyone is familiar with the "other" illustration programs, they could comment.

Regards, Ross

PS - I suspect it would still be difficult in a true CAD program.

[JZiehlke]

I had fun playing with it my way. Between an alt rainbow fill, contour, bevel, and transparency, I finally came up with this. [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img]

Joan

[joroho]

Ross,
You mind enlightening all of us simple-minded folk on how you used the contour tool to come up with those funky colors?

joroho

[Ross Macintosh]

Beautiful Knot Jens!

When I refered to CAD programs I was thinking about 2D CAD. Xara is afterall a 2D illustration program. Certainly 3D modelling programs can meet Glenn's challenge with ease but try doing the same in a 2D Cad.

Regards, Ross

<a href=http://www.designstop.com/>DesignStop.Com</a>

[jclements]

Draw the X and circle, center them, join them, copy to clipboard, bevel them, paste from clipboard, widen the line thickness, covert line to outline, give it a fill and some feathering.

[Ross Macintosh]

Joroho - Yes the contour tool can create some interesting effects. I think we can all agree that when Xara Ltd. created the tool, such effects probably weren't on their mind. Jonathan Payne discovered that hidden in the straightforward tool were some interesting capabilities. See the thread Enter the Void - Experiments in Contouring to see examples and learn more. Also see Gallery seemed too quiet... for a couple animated gifs made using the technique and Pretty Poison for some other neat examples.

The technique involves giving a shape a multicoloured linear fill and a transparency. You then contour it (inside) with many steps. The magic happens when you Ctrl-select the original shape from within the contour and edit its fill and/or its transparency. Each edit results in modifications to all the contour steps. It is of course necessary to have a very high level of transparency. With many transparent contours one atop the other the effect is generated. It is a lot of fun to play with and exciting because it is hard to know what to anticipate.

For the funky example above I added a feathered white shape above as a highlight. The colours are a result from the contouring fun.

Hope this encourages you to try it. If you do - here's a good tip: Start with a multicoloured linear fill that has some tight colour changes (drag colours from the colour bar onto a linear fill's editing arrow). That fill can later be changed to conical, circular, or elliptical and still keep all the colours. The tight colour changes work wonders in the contour.

Regards, Ross

<a href=http://www.designstop.com/>DesignStop.Com</a>

[Soquili]

Hi Glen, the shape reminded me of a Medicine Wheel. Didn't take the time to make it look like quill work.

A Medicine Wheel is usually made from a piece of leather and wrapped with dyed porcupine quills, or dyed animal hair.

The colors used will vary from Nation to Nation.

Soquili [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]

[This message was edited by Soquili on March 12, 2001 at 08:34 PM.]

[This message was edited by Soquili on March 12, 2001 at 08:37 PM.]