SVG effects for Inkscape as a companion for Xara

[steve.ledger]

Huh, oh, I used two live effects. The first was to 'break' the shape up a bit into a bitty look; I used the Redfield Craquelure 3D one which I think comes with Xara. Then i just used the Alien Skin bevel with various settings to give it the shiney 3D look. I didn't save the xar file as I thought people wouldn't have the LEs to play with it. It was just a quick job to show that the claim that Xara was deficient relative to Inkscape was in fact false.

Xhris using those filters mean they are no longer Vectors.
While Craquelure comes with Xtreme, the Alien skin bevel does not (Bevel Boss does, but only as a demo)
I think the point Ivan is making, is that SVG is a vector throughout whereas applying Craquelure immediately creates a bitmap .


Edit: Oh, I see you changed your post while I was posting and checking Xtreme .
So yes, you need third party purchased plugins which again create Raster results.
So not 'apparently' invisible after all

[handrawn]

ah, in that sense 'deficient'.....

[ivan louette]

Huh, oh, I used two live effects. The first was to 'break' the shape up a bit into a bitty look; I used the Redfield Craquelure 3D one which I think comes with Xara. Then i just used the Alien Skin glass (bought) with various settings to give it the shiney 3D look.

Clever use of Redfield Craquelure 3D indeed ! And Yes I often use Alien Skin Glass.

It was just a quick job to show that the claim that Xara was deficient relative to Inkscape was in fact false.

At the moment Inkscape is deficient relative to Xara in many many areas. And of course the 0.47 development version I use is very unstable, but at this stage it's a natural thing.

I am not recruiting for Inkscape. It's not my goal to denigrate Xara. All the composite pictures I post here are made in Xara with png pictures exported from Inkscape.

Thus if Xara doesn't develop an SVG filters editor and doesn't support them, that's not a big problem. I will continue to work like that. It's easy and friendly.

What I try to show is the possibility to use a free complementary tool (in fact Inkscape as a very capable and respectable SVG Editor) for this particular kind of work : texturising vector shapes (often drawn in Xara) with textures created nearly from scratch in Inkscape, assembling elements like every 3D texturiser do. Because Inkscape SVG Filters idea is much closer to 3D texturising techniques and it uses the same algorithms.

On the other hand the child I am much prefers creating from scratch and explorate and share freely what he find than working with proprietary filters and their reduced number of settings.

kindly
ivan

[Xhris]

The underlying shapes on which the LEs are applied remain editable vector shapes for scriptable LEs (i.e. these). The resulting modification to the vector shape has the LE reapplied (hence the name) and is rasterised for screen output (like any object). Xara's website shows video of exactly this using LEs. The LE itself is neither a bitmap or vector, it's a process. The result of any operation is always rasterised for screen output. I define remaining as a vector meaning having properties like any standard vector shape as opposed to its bitmap copy which is uneditable except at the pixel level. I suppose that's how you define whether something's a vector or bitmap--whether edits can be made independently of direct pixel modification. Shapes with LEs applied, or extrudes, or bevels are not edited by changing their pixels directly and so are vectors. Even bitmaps are really vector objects with a bitmap fill. I suggest a new thread: what is a vector or something for continued discussions on this though.

I suppose one thing Inkscape has in favour is that these nice effective LEs are available for free. It's also a shame Alien Skin charges such an extortionate amount for their software.

[ivan louette]

I think the point Ivan is making, is that SVG is a vector throughout whereas applying Craquelure immediately creates a bitmap .

In fact SVG filters effects are resolution independent, like vectors are. However they don't create vector shapes. Simply they work on the pixels of your screen and can be changed to bitmaps afterwards. However if you zoom on these effects or if you scale strongly a shape whith effects applied you will reach the limits of the algorithm implementation or something like that and see unexpected textures appearing. At the moment they are also exigeant in system resources.

In Live Effect in Xara the vector shape remains underlying. You chose at which bitmap resolution they are applied and it's perhaps not so heavy for the system.

The two solutions are interesting because non destructive.

But I explained above which kind of pleasure I have with Inkscape solution.

kindly,
ivan

[ivan louette]

While I was searching for feathering in SVG I found this strange "Petals" Effect.

At some settings it even can create gaps between the segments where they have an inner angular junction.

I add a Xara brush with the pictures below.

enjoy,
ivan

[ivan louette]

On the beach : sand, water, algae and jellyfish...

enjoy,
ivan

[ivan louette]

New cracked and waxy effects.

enjoy

ivan

[Egg Bramhill]

You're creating some very wild & excellent brushes here Ivan. Thanks for sharing.

[ivan louette]

Thanks Egg !

Knowing your taste for creating superb brushes and finely tuning their settings I am sure you could have a lot of fun at exchanging files and effects between Xara and Inkscape.

kindly,
ivan