Experiments with SketchUp + Xara

[Ross Macintosh]

John And Risto -- You really need to become SketchUp'rs! It is joyfully intuitive, exhilarating, and gets you thinking in the third dimension. It is great for doodling or some detailed modelling -- a joy to use! Why not figure on some use for it at work and have your employer buy it for you...

I've worked on another study -- again, Xara has a big part in all of these studies. This one tries to introduce a realistic pen wiggle into the exported SketchUp line work. To do that I used a 'glass' filter in Xara. Here's the image.

Regards, Ross

[ZEBtoonz]

All very interesting, Ross! I have been using SketchUp for about a year now. I primarily use it in creating little "sets" for comic book stories. It was always a bother having to do several panels of the same room at various angles. It took a lot of time to figure out the perspective for each shot. But with SketchUp I can put together a room, add furniture and fixtures, and then rotate and view it at any angle I want! It's terrific! I then take snapshots of the various views and print them out. Then, I draw in my characters.

The only drawback is that everything is "oh so perfect" which doesn't go so well with my cartoon characters. So I have to compensate by distorting things a bit in the final drawing. But it really does save time for me overall.

[John Rayner]

My partners like the money I bring in, but I have a heck of a time convincing them to spend any... You know how that is... Maybe after X2 is released, I can see if anything is left over for sketchup. But X2 will be my next major purchase...

[Ross Macintosh]

John -- What is it you do in your work-related life? Please start a thread in the "Off-Topics Forum" I'd love to hear about it. Maybe thin I can think up some inovative reason you & your partners just have to have SketchUp for.

ZebToons! -- That is a really cool use for sketchUp. Where can I see some of your cartoons? Do you participate at the SketchUp Forums? You should! We really need to round out that community with more people who aren't boring architect types. Do you use Xara for your cartoons too?

Regards, Ross

[ZEBtoonz]

Ross,

To see some of my stuff go to my site (link at the bottom of this post) and go to the Gallery. Most of it is Xara (see folders Covers, Logos, Toonz 2 & 3). I posted a bit on the PushPull site about making 2D figures to insert in my scenes, but that was a long time ago. I haven't been into doing much posting at all really and only started in this forum today. I have been reading the Xara X forum for a long time but just never got around to saying much.

I am attaching an example of a pic I did in Xara based on a SketchUp room I created.