Tree lights. I add a few every year.
Rich
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Tree lights. I add a few every year.
Rich
Okay, okay, it might seem early; heck, Wal-Mart isn't even open all night for Black Friday yet, but here it is...the 2012 Xara Xone Tree-Trimming Party. I figure a lot of us actually have a life, and although you might want to participate, as the holidays grow closer, your free time inversely proportional.
This will be a Work in Progress until, let's say, the 22nd of December. I'm open to suggestions along the way because this is our collaboration, but for the moment I'm attaching two files: one of the full tree, and one of a section of the branches, you you have a good view of it when designing an ornament for this location.
Every few days I'll copy posts on this thread to a tree, a cumulative thing, updating the tree until 12-22.
Ornaments are great, and so are popcorn and garland strings. Let's hold off on the tree topper, because that's sort of a Place of Honor, and let's see how the tree shapes up on the ornaments side of things before "finishing" it with the star, angel or other decoration.
We need gifts below the tree (see the tutorial Frances and I did for November!), and if anyone has a truly great idea for a background other than the original, I'll try to provide a version with an alpha channel on request, but I sort of like the dark, subdued background for contrast.
@stygg, I'll have a mantle shortly in a different thread, for your card and for others.
My Best,
GaryAttachment 93082 Attachment 93083
A Xara drawing of a garden object. Environment colored.
Rich
Thanks, Rich!
I thought I'd get the tree started today. I've added a popcorn string and tow of the splendid ornaments that Rich has donated to our tree-trimming:
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I see there have been a lot of downloads of the tree files.
Would anyone like to chime in now that the ice has been broken...to mix metaphors?
-g
An ornament from a wing set. I used two sets of wings as a brush, and applied a line profile for shaping. A little color adjustment in Photoshop. Just a vision I had.
Rich
Thanks, Paul. I'm going to hang onto this latest file and let other members post their ornaments, and then fit them in places in the upcoming weeks, okay?
Thanks again!
Gary
Here are two more ornaments all done in Xara with a bit of noise from FF and a gemstone also created in FF (run as a plugin from Xara :D)
I was originally going to post this in the clipart forum but I thought it might look nice nestled amongst the branches of out TG tree. If anyone is interested I have posted some vector snowflakes, including the one I used to make this, in the clipart forum http://www.talkgraphics.com/showthre...s&goto=newpost
Thanks, Frances!
The snowflake is glorious, and if no one comes forward with an angel or a star or something appropriate for the top of the tree, I'll put the snowflake on top in the weeks to come.
Speaking of snowflakes, giving, and ClipArt, here's a thumbnail of the attached file—I did three snowflakes in Xara, all ready to embellish and use on envelopes or the web or wherever they won't melt.
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I see two very nice free apps for making snowflakes: the one that's online and I really can't help you with it, except tell you to just experiment, is >>>SnowDays<<<
And then you have a very small app, <<<Vector Snowflake>>> you can download for Win, Mac, and Linux, and this is perhaps the best of the lot. I don't think the Scientist is Evil at all—he's pretty generous, actually!
Oh, and >>>Make-A-Flake<<< requires Flash, but you can use the onscreen scissors to cut away a triangle, and save as an EPS file.
Good luck, and make sure no two of them are alike, okay? You don't want to tilt the universe or create a black hole or anything.
-g
November 26th version.
Now, because this is all vector—object-based—I'll move things over in case we start running out of room.
So can we please start running out of room?!
That was an un-subtle plea for contributions.
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-g
Here's mine.
Seeing what I could do with a flake drawing.
Rich
I decided to relax this evening with a bit of drawing. We have two of these little cuties made from chistmas light bulbs and pipe cleaners that adorn our tree each year that we found at a craft sale years ago when the girls were little.
I thought I'd give this vector version to the TG community and the TG tree. The bulb is done in a named colour and the string is done with a brush (I used the eraser tool on it so you will need to ctrl+ alt+click to select the string with in the opacity for editing) so you can easily hang a few different coloured ones!
The pipcleaner antlers are also done with a brush and can be easily adjusted as well.
What's a "pipe cleaner"???
:)
They're selling them for 20x what they used to charge at a tobacconist here in the States, mostly in crafts stores, as "fuzzy wire twisters" or some other mysterious name.
-g
Here is an ornament made from Workbook 73.
Most here still refer to them as pipe cleaners although yes the stores here sell them as fuzzy twisters etc at a higher price as well.
My name is Asher and I am 10 years old, a homeschooler, and this is my dads account. He gave me permission to submit this picture. Thanks.
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Good job Asher. Welcome to TG.
Welcome, Asher!
You are quite accomplished with Xara; I like the holly leaves and the bells.
Everyone: I'll try to get an update going in a few hours, reflecting Asher's, Paul's, Grace's, and Christine's contributions.
By the way, "Ego Food" here is really okay. If you want to post an image of the ornament on a copy of the branch.jpg file, in addition to the Xara file, do it!
—Gary
You folks are wearing me out!
Is at least one ornament from each contributor featured now? I find I need to move the view over, and to be frank, I'm not all that pleased with my placement of the ornaments. If anyone can handle a fairly large private email attachment and would like to rearrange our tree, please PM me.
Good going so far, though. Lop-sided but grand. Like Barbara refers to me.
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—Gary
I was working with Filter Forge today to create a seamless velvet texture and I decided to put together a red velvet tree skirt with white fur trim for our TG tree. The skirt is done with a stained glass transparency and fits right over the existing one in the tree photo.
I've got the file; let me get to editing it in today, Frances.
I'm reworking the overall image and have a contribution to make, under the tree.
-g
Sorry I have taken a different take on the challenge and I hope you don't mind Gare. I have a grandson who is 3 who I look after when my daughter is working, since I have retired in August. I have been trying to improve his motor skills by drawing, cutting out and making things. When I read about your idea of not having a Christmas show like Gary had, I thought, I would involve my grandson, so I came up with the idea of the bird. To cut a story short my grandson made up the criteria that it must be a robin have a Paisley pattern be red, brown and green and yellow.
The assembly instructions is my criteria as I am trying to get him to read and follow instructions. I know the language is above him but when I read it out I simplify them and they are for all to follow. I do apologize for the file size but that happens and we have made the dec. so it now hangs in his bedroom. These files are open for anyone to use how they please. I know it's early but to all "Have a Happy Holiday Season" and the lord I hope you and I will not lose our temper when shopping with our loved ones.
Your Grandson's entry is just fine and beautiful, albacore. I understood and I think we all accept your gift without further rationalization, and thanks! Yes, the file sizes are on the hefty side, but that's an incredible amount of work, very intricate, and gang, please download and give this little gem a good look!
I'll add it to the collection shortly (I hope! I'm swamped this season!)
As I think I mentioned when I first pitched the thought to tg, that this is all about:
• Self-expression.
• Good will.
• Compassion, tolerance, beauty, the power of faith, the joy in your soul, no reservations.
If any of the above strikes a resonant chord, then GOOD! It’s a terrific start for an ornament, or a menorah for the mantle, or a shining star drawing to guide us, you get the idea.
Gary Priester's events and his stewardship of the Xara Xone have proven to be an nearly impossible act to match or follow, so I've chosen to just try to break different ground, and want whatever we collectively create to be inclusive above all else.
So your work, your grandson's, your friend's...all Things Spirited and Kind and Wondrous are welcome!
My Best,
—Gary
Whew!
Okay, here's the late November 29th edition.
Frances, integrating that skirt was a challenge! Brush strokes are ungainly and I hope I did it justice by converting it to a bitmap and then toning areas. The white was "whiter than white". Folks, if you'd like to download Frances' skirt file, she has some lovely fine detail in it that unfortunately is lost in this small JPEG. I need to put the reindeer ornament back; as you can see, I've reworked the file. It's 300 dpi and about 8 by 10" now. More tomorrow I hope. We could use some toys and stuff, too.
The nutcracker—from a certain perspective—has its origins in Xara. I draw all the paths and then extruded and performed other operations on them in a modeling program.
The tree is looking splendid. You should all be very, very pleased and proud of your work toward this common goal!
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Note that we have plenty of red spherical shapes and could use others and perhaps a bough of tinsel as we work our way up the tree? Christine, thanks for the baubles file—your colors help break up some of the repetitive colors. Perhaps next year we can pick a color, such as red, and do next year's tree in one unified color!
-g
The tree is looking beautiful :) The skirt looks lovely! Thank you Gary!
For anyone who might like them I've decided to post the red velvet texture and 2 different white fur brushes down in the clipart forum :)
These used to be in the shareware section but I don't think they are now.
Christine
I have been busy too. You may use any or all whatever you wish. Whatever you do not use I"ll use somewhere else.
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Here's how we're looking on TGIF, the last day of November...
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I think it's a wonder! Would anyone like a perspective guide to draw gift wrap packages beneath the tree?
-g
This was from the Xara Xone December 2001 tutorial.
I was thinking that underneath the tree is looking sparse also Gare. Needs gifts, and maybe a train to go around under the tree and gifts.
Hi Larry—
Tomorrow I will post a version of the base of the tree that will show some perspective lines for gifts, toys, and the doll Mike W. asked for. Mike, that tall, really?
Here's an update!
Attachment 93331
—Gary
What we are missing around here is some Christmas music!
I'm attaching an original arrangement of "Oh Come All Ye Faithful"; it's not a high energy tune, but unfortunately I can't post stuff that's not in Public Domain. I used a Digital Audio Workspace—a software application that lets a composer create midi tracks that can then be recorded via plug-ins that produce hi-fi sampled sounds of trumpets, drums and so on.
This song (I'll post more as we get closer to the Big Day) is part of a collection I arranged and recorded.
Attachment 93332
So I'm pretty sure you won't hear this version at the mall.
My Best,
Gary
Ok now you've gone and got me singing Christmas songs! :D Of course my rusty vocals didn't do your beautiful composition justice! ;))
lovely images from Larry and Gary P. Here is another contribution from me, some strands of tinsel, each strand is a shape created with the shapebuilder and filled with a foil texture. The .xar file contains two sheets of gold and silver foil that are locked FF effects. You can access the bitmap that the program creates to display the locked texture in the dropdown on the infobar, for either the fill or the transparency tools.
In the image below I used the eraser tool with a soft setting to blend the tinsel into the tree branches.
I love tinsel, we used to call it icicles but that was before it changed to silvered mylar or something that would not stay on the tree, now it's just a distant memory. I also love bubble lights, would Bob's animated bubble light work with this or is that getting too complicated.
I would have a very hard time putting an animation within the body of the image, and have it work and look effective, Larry. But a still image would be fine.
It's do-able, it;s just very time-consuming!
-g
OK Gare, That's what I thought. I hope Bob(or was it Bill, I'm confused) submits his bubble light as a still.
@Larry—
I can pull a still out of the animated GIF Bill Taylor (Bob Taylor is "IAmTheBlues" and not a Moderator! And I mix them up, too!) and update the tree with the tinsel today or tomorrow.
I've given this away before, so this is not new: the Xara document has several Christmas-theme strokes, bitmap based and high resolution so they're good for printing. 5MB download, no apologies! Think of it as Christmas Past, okay?
Attachment 93343
My Best,
—Gary