Enter the Void - Experiments in Contouring

[Ross Macintosh]

I've been playing around with the contour tool after seeing the tip Xaran Jonathan Payne put on his web page.

I thought of the title "the void" because with this technique you can't really anticipate the results. What is really fun about the technique is the interactive nature of creating the effects. Basically the technique involves applying a many-stepped contour to a shape with a linear fill. After it has been contoured you select the original shape and then modify its fill. In almost real time Xara X rerenders the contour. (I say "almost" because it does get slow when there are hundreds of contour steps). You can also select the contour itself independant of the original shape and modify its fill. Visit Jon's page and you'll see his tip in a tutoral.

The technique allows very different effects to be created as the my attachments show.

Regards, Ross

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[Ross Macintosh]

The following example was created in the same manner as the one above. This one has 900+ steps so it slowed xara down a lot. I really like the abstract ying/yang result. I doubt however if I could reproduce it from scratch. It was the result of some successful playing.

Regards, Ross

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[Ross Macintosh]

This one shows the technique applied to text...

Try the technique and have some fun!
Regards, Ross

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

[Ross Macintosh]

This example had both the fill and transparency settings to thank for the pastel effect. After getting the general appearance fiddling with the fill settings I used plasma transparencies to soften the contour.

Regards, Ross

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

[Ross Macintosh]

I've posted below the xara .xar file if you want to dissect or modify the above examples. You might get a font substitution but don't let that stop you from playing.

One suggestion - eliminate the shadow from the ying/yang example before you play with it. The shadow really slows down the redraw. You can also notch down the number of contour steps to speed things up. (For the Ying/Yang the high number of steps was an attempt to smooth out the results. Also note the original object at the centre of that example is very small).

Regards, Ross

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

[Ross Macintosh]

I also posted in the gallery forum (the "gallery seemed too quite" thread) an example of an animated gif made using this technique. It is very strange...

Regards, Ross Macintosh

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

[ivan louette]

Hello Ross,

I tried this one with a concentric excentred blend, then mapped it on a beveled circle. Despite a little problem of meridians and parallels (because the beveled circle divide into quarters when the bevel is too wide: a bug ?), it seems to be a kind little planet, isn't it ???

regards
ivan

[amoore]

What particularly catches my eye is how the blue curves in the yin yang symbol look like they were embroidered by a stitching machine. It's interesting that you and ivan have both produced images that look like photos of textiles.

Allison

[Erik Heyninck]

while playing with the techniques you write about, I first lost some tools icons, and finally the contour tool itself. Xara slowed down and I finally got the message:

internal program error 4547.$öb

perhaps it became a little too heavy?

it's certainly not that my PC isn't powerful enough...

[Ross Macintosh]

Given Erik's report of errors I suggest any downloaders of the .xar file take seriously my recommendation that you remove the shadow from the ying/yang and notch down the number of contour steps considerably.

I suspect that combining different multicolour complex (circular, conical, elliptical) fills to the original object and the contour are taxing on poor old xara. Combine them with hundreds of steps and differing transparency settings and you've got a very complicated job for xara.

Even without pushing into the void too far I think you can achieve some very interesting effects. I'm still amazed by the first image above. It is afterall just a very simple shape to which a contour has been applied. As an architect I'm attracted to the sense of "space" created - I love the light shining into the space. I'm amazed that the xara file for that graphic would probably be just 2 or 3k in size.

Regarding the ying/yang design I can't help but see in it a design for a porcelain table service. It would make a nice dinner plate on which to eat my Kraft Dinner. Oh and by the way I want to retain the copyright on that design! The trick to attempt to achieve the 3d effect seen in the ying/yang is to put a few very tight colour changes in your linear fills. To see the linear fills I used you can select the contour or the original object, copy it, and then apply its attributes (ctrl-shift-a) to another shape.

I tried to duplicate Ivan's ball-like effect and couldn't. Mine came out like a peppermint candy - you know the ones with the swirling candycane colours. Yummy but not a planet!

Regards, Ross

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