June 2013 Video Tutorial: Carved in Stone

Carved in Stone - June 2013 Video Tutorial

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Xara’s Bevel tool is terrific when you want text or shapes to protrude from the page, but what do you do when you want something to recede—to look as though you took a chisel to marble or other stone? The answer is: you watch the tutorial this month, as Gary explains how to use beveled text as a reference for manually creating and shading shapes so they look like they belong on a Greek temple. Put down that chisel, download the resource files, and learn some virtual sculpting!

Get the resource files and then show us your stonework in this thread.

Gary thanks for the tutorial, especially effective the intro being very small :D

Well but I have to admit, to play like that with letters reproducing the Bevel tool effects, that is too high for me both in knowledge and patience :( I got up with a saturday morning full power, but sooner would drop out the computer through the window than finish the S :D

Inspite of my failure learnt several things, was not aware that at having a repeating tile filled shape, the method to keep the fill ratio is marquee selecting the handlers and pulling them together with keeping control. Basically in other examples I did that with always cursor arrows and believed that is the only method. Also interesting that really in western countries reading from left to right has the effect that we wait the same for shine direction. Once was considering that and never find any answer why on graphics the sun typically shines from the left :D

So I do not deserve to post anything as it stayed as Bevel tool result, but just the proof that was thinking what to put in marvel
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Nice bevel though csehz, not easy this tut. as I found out :D In my effort I have tried to keep the shape text as near as possible (with my capability's) to near as the bevel I originally made and that involved a lot of tweaking, but as Gary said one time to me "I never said it was a walk in the park" :D
Like you csehz, I have learned a lot from this tut. and with some practice could get better result. It's a good technique to have, so I'm pleased with that. :D

Stygg

Congratulations Stygg but really, I respect those who can do this in real life, that can be a hard work sure, but from now also who can do a sentence in graphics in photorealistic way :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by csehz

Congratulations Stygg but really, I respect those who can do this in real life, that can be a hard work sure, but from now also who can do a sentence in graphics in photorealistic way :D

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I don't suppose anyone will have need to do a whole sentence in a photo realistic way, but for logos and other such work, it is a good technique because of the many ways you can personalize the text for yourself or a client, and suppose a client wanted a stone texture logo and you find your bevel tool is not working correctly!! as most people will head for the bevel tool for such an effect, Stone texture shapes to the rescue, so you will be glad you learned this technique :D So if you have the bevel tool, Text shapes and the technique from the Cotton Dan Band, you have a good choice of techniques to choose from and I expect Gary has a few more to show.

Stygg

Hi csehz,
here's the letter T without bevel tool applied, just the T text and shapes applied with bitmap fills. You must admit it's a handy technique :D

Stygg

I think you did a wonderful job Stygg! I started on this and had to put it aside as I've had other things that needed my attention :)

another good tutorial

i've always used the bevel tool and some ingenuity

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i dont get the faded colour you get when you bevel

i work only with the bevel and not the letter inside

draw a letter
bevel it outwards
ctrl+click the inside of the letter and make it invisible
now all you see is the bevel
shift+drop your texture onto the bevel
then rework the bevel inwards
the text and all the bevel options remain editable

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@ Francis, thanks for the comment Francis.

@ Frank, thanks for sharing Frank that's something else I've learned, I never thought of doing that, it works very well.

Stygg

before xtreme5 i did it like gary but its a lot of work and not editable which is a shame
i like his method of realistic metallic text
id never thouhgt of that

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i dont think it works because our subconscious doesnt accept text chiselled into metal plate lol

Hi Frank,

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Big Frank

~ i dont think it works because our subconscious doesnt accept text chiselled into metal plate lol

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It's also hard to find good "real life" examples to emulate...
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3s9hOGwUF-s

HTH, Colin

yes, plenty of examples of text engraved into gold, silver, copper, brass etc, but not metal floor plate like ramps for loading bays etc
thats why i dont think my drawing works
that and its probably rubbish, shadows and reflections all wrong
proof that rushing a drawing just doesnt work

if it looks wrong thats probably because it is wrong

fascinating how that guy in the video does that really small engraving
that's a real craftman at work

@Coltatts—

Welcome to TalkGraphics and the little portion I host—The Xara Xone.

Thank you for the link: evidently, if you want to illustrate engraved metal, in addition to shading and a much narrower gutter, you also need to create specular highlights as reflective metals tend to do. Perhaps in the future if I can figure out how to pull it off, I'll feature a tutorial on metal, which includes several optical phenomena going on.

@Stygg—Your component drawing of the character, and your shading of it is great, which brings me to a point in general:

@all—I was trying to be a little subversive in this month's tutorial, to get you to look at lettering, and see how it can be drawn and then filled so that it looks dimensional. Yeah, the Bevel tool can do a good approximation as Big Frank demonstrated, but I wanted you folks to learn to draw this kind of stuff, because if you can draw it, it's another step to visualization skills.

Drawing is the first step that makes the second step—filling the shapes—an exercise in diversity and speedy to accomplish.

I'm attaching this example as a Xara file you can download. My drawing isn't perfect, but you'll be able to see that instead of modifying bitmap fills, I filled the shapes with black and white and then used transparency in Bleach and Stained Glass modes, resulting in a similar effect to the chiseled look this month. But you can also use colors, as I've begin in the bottom example, to make flashy signage, and if you use Named Colors (which are underused and deserve a tutorial of its own), then you can quickly change the colors in your sign to do a dozen variations.

By the way, the light is coming from a 9 o'clock position in this example, a very "hard" treatment of light, just a different example of lighting direction.

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We have an American holiday coming up tomorrow and I just got out of one of two surgeries last week so I'm a little tired (okay, I'm a lot tired), but I'll try to check in later today with a complete alphabet of inset shapes so you can work on lighting and the colors you can use with this technique, deal?

My Best,

Gary

Gary thanks but probably you should rather rest, the most important is the health. The community sure would support that.

Thanks for comment and the extra text technique to work on Gary but I agree with csehz, you should rest your health and well being is foremost and you have just admitted your a lot tired so listen to yourself and rest.

Best regards
Stygg

take it easy gary
the forum will miss you but will survive

Welcome to TG Coltatts. Cool video, thanks for the link.

@ Gary
OK deal, but first take it easy big guy. Take a nap, we don't want anything to happen to you.

Here's my effort with shapes with stained glass and bleach trans. applied to letters. My shape drawing needs some more imagination I think but still a good technique to have and practice. In hindsight I think the letters N & R would have been better with block feet, so to speak. All comments and criticisms welcome on this technique. :D

Stygg

@Stygg—

Yes, both ends of a "stroke" need to be capped with as triangle, that's observant of you.

When I was in hospital, I borrowed a ball-point pen and some paper and sketched a logo I used to use, extruded out of metal, coming to a centerpoint. It's just a change in where you put the dark and the light pieces.

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My Best,

Gary

Off topic Gary but xaraxone.com is not connecting, at least from UK anyway.

Stygg

5:16 DST, New York

I don't think we're going to have xaraxone.com up for the rest of the day. It is definitely MAGIX's server Admin discovered, and no one is answering email, like sane people do on the weekend.

Sorry!

-g


It's gotta be the servers at MAGIX, folks.

Admin is alerted, we'll see what we can do.

Probably unplug something, then plug it back in.

2:16pm DST, New York

Tried to envisage what G.B. had in mind when he did his g sketch. My attempt is not very good but it's given me food for thought :D

Stygg

Stygg—

You have the essence of what I'd envisioned, you truly do, except for an area or two that is dis contiguous, but I'm sure you see those areas, right?

I had two advantages over you, Stygg:

1.) I didn't use a computer. Sometimes when you draw freehand, expression and ideas come more quickly.

2.) I was on excellent pain-killers. That's what I miss the most from my hospital stay.

By the way:

Xaraxone.com is back up. 9:00am NY DST time.

My Best,

Gary

P.S. The July Xara Xone will be a little late due to another hospital visit this week, and the reality that I started late last month, and that Gary P.'s reviews just came out and the top page is going to burst if I add one more article.

Gary I hope I have not disturbed your rest, I posted the image for the rest of the xone crew to view and comment, please excuse me if I have disturbed your convalescence.

Stygg

No apologies needed, Stygg. I'll be fine until Wednesday :(

I'm just stating a fact, probably over-sharing, and I'm a big boy and know when to login and when to stay in the physical universe.

My Best,

Gary

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Thanks, Frank.

Actually, they're round, about the size of a large button battery, and pale lemon coloured, Frank.

;)

Marvelous illustration, though, and very nice carved effect!

g

i was working from memory and decided to actually take one out to look at
they look vaguely like that but no writing on them
so much for drawing from memory
kudos to poetic licence!

Not to glorify controlled substances and narcotics (!), let's get back to the splash screen, and I see several times the BMP I posted has been downloaded.

Was anyone successful at using opposing colours as I mentioned and put in that file?

-g

Tried to improve on the g light and shade and I think I got it a little better :rolleyes:
Difficult to do from a sketch but enjoyable.

Stygg

Think this is about the best I can do with this g but learned a couple of things from Gary's sketch envisage. It's been worth trying to get the right effects for this sketch and although I think it could be better, I'll give it a rest and ponder on it :D you'll be glad to hear!;))

As long as we learn here, Stygg.

You've gone from zero to one hundred this month with the carved technique.

If we're interested in continuing this, I'll try to sculpt the centerpoint-style object here and experiment with lighting and post the results.

For now, my only criticism, Stygg, is that there are hard color changes in places that should display a soft transition like this:

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See attached file.

This is advanced stuff, understanding lighting and light fall-off on objects in 3D. You've all done quite well this month. You make me proud and happy to be of service!

My Best,

Gary

Thanks for the feed back Gary, will use the xar file you posted to implement the changes you have shown but all the same it's been interesting to make the fills and shades I thought you might have envisaged for the sketch without being shown every step first,(fool hardy lad :)) What a difference those soft colour changes make from the hard ones I used. Surprising what developed from one pencil sketch you drawn :) Perhaps you should throw more of the same at us to keep us on our toes.

Regards Stygg

My final try at getting the light and dark transitions on some parts of the g.
All these lines are making my eyes see double, could do with some of Frank's pills :D

Stygg

nice one stygg

watch them pills though

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