WebXealot #35 - The end of the road?

[alkolka]

Gary is finishing the mountain of work defining and exploring our "tools." Between Xara X's help file, Gary's online manual, and experimentation, I can understand and use the tools.

I can also visualize the end result, the final illustration, that I strive for. Gary's Xaraxone tutorials always work towards a project completion. But sometimes, at least for myself, they speed right through one or more techniques a little too quickly to understand the underlying illustration principles.

And there is a middle ground where I often (way too often) get stuck.

It's like building a house. You obtain the tools and materials and some experience using them. An architect's plan and drawings light the way. But how the heck do you thatch a roof? Build a masonry chimmeny? Finish trim around windows and doors?

When I mentioned attacking the creation of materials, I was referring to this middle world beyond Xara X's tools.

I believe it was Gary who, a few months ago, reminded non-artists like myself that chrome has no color, and illustrating it depends on portraying its ability to reflect the adjacent world. I knew that, but I didn't understand it in the Xara X perspective.

I'd bet that Gary and the experienced members of the Xaraxone community can come up with a zillion topics filling in the techniques required to better understand this middle level of computer illustration.

Al

Al Kolka
alkolka@attbi.com

[qmr]

yes, I too learned this computer graphics thing by going on to 'net and finding Gary's makeover maven articles and then the community help at i-us. I'm pointing folks here I've turned on to Xara to Garys tuts.
I'm sick of computer software books.. I have a bunch of Flash books gathering dust.. each new release makes the previous tome useless. Thats why Garys X-files online are such a great idea, and why online learning generally is a world with a bright future.. PLUS the fact that Xara worked out ergonomics early so their brilliant software keeps similar through each version.. just adding wizzy new features. So I can still open my Xara manual (v1) and brush up on earlier procedures that are still exactly the same.
Xara.. proof that programming dweebs CAN get it right!
Q

[Judi A]

1st off I would never have upgraded from Corel Draw 3 to vs 5 if it were not for the Corel Draw forum that Cris Dickman had and i/us and your tut's on it.

2nd I would have never bought Xara 2 if it wasn't for your flagrant praises on i/us. Corel Draw 5 was sooooo slow it wasn't worth the effort.

The Xara Xone, Talk Graphics combination is the best combination ever dreamed up on the internet as far as graphics goes. Viewing all the different applications and ways to do things not only by you but by forum members is mind boggling.

Sutdies and challenges seem like the next logical step.

Judi
P.S. I am soooo glad that Xara is not part of Corel anymore. Have you seen their Procreate website where they stuffed Painter? It is one of the worse designed, impossible to communicate with anyone sites on the web and Xara would have been advertised on that site too, as that where they have put all purchased programs. The users that complained high and loud, but they are deaf.

Off Soap Box.

My Stuff

[RAMWolff44]

I was over in the XaraGallery and Ross had created a beautiful piece using scanned images then adding effects to it. Some were Bitmap effects some were more native Xara effects. One was stained glass transparency.

Request: Do you think we could disect and learn more about the different transparency effects?? Stained Glass, Bleach, Contrast.....ect....

Seems to me that the use of these effects would be used more by us 'newbie-ish' users if we were more educated about them. I know each effect has it's importance but not sure "why, how, when" to use them.

Thanks so much

RAMWolff [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img]