Re: The all new "Xara is inaccurate" thread!
I do not have any doubt of Team Xara capabilities to fix or change the boolean operation algorithm(s) to create correct results.
The only question remains is if they see the need to change it. Only the future can tell. For now, you're better off with other options if you need accurate results.
Re: The all new "Xara is inaccurate" thread!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Nostaw
The only question remains is if they see the need to change it. Only the future can tell.
Not that I have a whole lot of profound insight to offer to this discussion, but Nostaw hit my point exactly. This has been a very active thread, and it sure would be nice if SOMEONE from Xara at least acknowledged the issue and told us whether THEY consider it a bug or not.
.joroho.
Re: The all new "Xara is inaccurate" thread!
I should imagine that wanting a Xara rep to participate would require not having the discussion over the Easter holidays, however maybe today or tomorrow as things get back to normal.
Re: The all new "Xara is inaccurate" thread!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
jamesmc
I apologize for being arrogant and wrong.
My enthusiasm for the software outweighed my common sense in not allowing others the rights to critique a software.
I shall endeavor to keep my enthusiasm in its proper place in the future.
I read all of your comments, and you may be right that the extra and inaccurate nodes in your examples are within tolerance, but there is also another aspect which hasn't been highlighted enough:
The errors stack.
You see, continuously performing the operation in order to produce your output is akin to repeatedly saving a jpeg file with medium compression. The image quality deteriorates over time, so even if you start out with a small glitch which may be within the tolerance, if you continue to use the operation, you may end up with a result far exceeding the margin of errors.
Re: The all new "Xara is inaccurate" thread!
Interesting thread.
I am a bit of a CorelDraw freak who has gradually moved over to working in Xara for many of my projects.
However, I often need to create complex hybrid shapes for diagrams that are to be printed or used in PowerPoint slides (definitely no laser cutting requirements) and do suffer great frustration that Xara messes up the final curved paths - instead substituting in an approximated straight-line.
It is like the Xara algorithm cannot calculate the cusp angles for the final segment and so cops out by using a line segment (which in some instances is OK, but in others results in a very nasty and visible degree of error).
For this reason, I still keep CorelDraw for such tasks - but would ideally like to work exclusively in Xara.
I can categorically state this as being one of only a very small number of niggles in an otherwise superb piece of beautiful British software! (Said in best Al Murray voice!)
KultiVator
Re: The all new "Xara is inaccurate" thread!
It amazes me how enthusiasm for an application can blind one to a real problem.
No-one is claiming that Xara should retain absolute CAD-style accuracy, but the errors in geometry after a 'Combine Shapes' operation are significant and *many* orders of magnitude bigger than Xara's basic limits of co-ordinate accuracy.
The all-old "Xara is inaccurate" thread, with some more observations and workarounds, is archived at http://www.talkgraphics.com/showthread.php?t=1971 .
Do we have source in Xara LX for Combine Shapes? The basic algorithm for intersecting two beziers is not that hard.
Re: The all new "Xara is inaccurate" thread!
eobet is quite right - the errors do stack / accumulate...
Often I need to perform progressive adds/subtracts/intersects to create the shapes I need.
An error early on, replicates throughout the design as it takes shape - resulting in an increasing degree of error/distortion as the design evolves.
The manual tweaking required to fix this is not always trivial in complex designs where geometric anomolies often stand out like a sore thumb!
Another quirk that gets my goat is the "forgetful" centre of rotation 'feature'. Has anybody else noticed this? I have a workaround - but if you spend all day using workarounds, it can really slow up your productivity.
KultiVator
Re: The all new "Xara is inaccurate" thread!
Guys,
I know only one thing: this is very annoying error, and it must be fixed somehow...
Maybe I didn't read the answer from Xara team about this? But I'd like to hear any comment from them about that issue...
Re: The all new "Xara is inaccurate" thread!
Actually the slight amount of inaccuracy doesn't bother me.
It is, after all, a drawing program, not a cad program.
Since it is a vector drawing program, more accuracy would require more points
and with that more computation time.
Would we all be willing to sacrifice Xara's speed for the needs of a few?
I don't think so.
If you are unhappy with Xara's abilities, go out and find another tool that fits your needs.
Enough said.
- Andfarr
Re: The all new "Xara is inaccurate" thread!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
AndFarr
Actually
Since it is a vector drawing program, more accuracy would require more points
and with that more computation time.
- Andfarr
But is that so? - Seems to me that xara can already produce accurate curves with a minimum of points, just not in this instance..... :confused: