I know you can rotate a contour so its filling rotates also in different steps. I hope you understand what I mean. Some time ago I experimented with that but I don't know how it works anymore. Here's the example:
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I know you can rotate a contour so its filling rotates also in different steps. I hope you understand what I mean. Some time ago I experimented with that but I don't know how it works anymore. Here's the example:
I know you can rotate a contour so its filling rotates also in different steps. I hope you understand what I mean. Some time ago I experimented with that but I don't know how it works anymore. Here's the example:
Jolande,
I don't get what you are saying. It almost sounds like you are trying to use a BLEND. Could you explain further?
-Ed.
I remember Ross fooling around with large contours and then changing the rotation of the fill in the original shape, and then changing the fill in the shape.
Here is a quick example
WordStyleinc.com
Thanks Mickie, it's comming back to me. Yes it was rotating the fill!
Jolande
Great! ... Now that you guys have figured it out ... tell me what I am doing wrong. I am filling a shape with a bitmap ... applying a contour ... and trying to slice the "rings" of the contour out of the image. It seems like it would be simple to do ... but I can only seem to accomplish it after many, many, attempts. What am I doing wrong?
-Ed.
OK, I need a proper tutorial on this one. I have not even a clue as to how to do this. Is the contour still grouped with the interior or are they ungrouped and then rotated??
I'm wanting to know!! http://www.talkgraphics.com/images/smilies/smile.gif
Richard http://www.talkgraphics.com/images/smilies/wink.gif
http://www.ramwolffsworld.com//Publi..._Prowl_sig.gif
http://www.ramwolffsworld.com/RAMWolffsWorld
OK ... DUH ... solved my problem ... now to figure out what Mickie and Jolande were doing http://www.talkgraphics.com/images/smilies/rolleyes.gif
I made this page a long time ago that tried to show this trick. Reading it again now, it isn't that clear (certinaly not up to Gary's high standards!) but it might give you some clues.
Jonathan
I don't know how Mickie does it with the bitmap fill (if I rotate the fill of the elipse nothing seems to be changing) but I can give you the tut with a linear fill. Here it is:
I spent many hours playing with this technique after seeing it on Jonathan's website. It is amazing what can be achieved.
Jonathan - I understand you used to work at Xara Ltd. Hows life been treating you since? When at Xara Ltd. what did you work on?
Regards, Ross
Here is the original thread about this technique. It is a fairly slow loading page. Note that there is a warning that the technique can crash your computer if you make things too complicated.
I attach below a graphic (previously posted) of a image I made using the technique. I still find it hard to believe that classy background was created using the contour tool!
Regards, Ross
Ross
I believe Johathan is long gone.
Not sure if I read the answer for rotating the fill. If so, forgive my being repetitious.
Click on the top element of the contour twice to enable rotate/skew mode. Rotate the fill.
Now, press Tab to select the bottom contour shape. The rotation handles will be available for the bottom shape and you can rotate it.
Gary
Gary Priester
Moderator Person
<a href="http://www.gwpriester.com">
www.gwpriester.com </a>
<a href="http://www.xaraxone.com">
The Xara Xone </a>
Gary - Jonathan is following this thread. Note his posting above!
Regards, Rossy
Hey Gary http://www.talkgraphics.com/images/smilies/wink.gif - I am not 'long gone'. I haven't posted much recently but I do still read the forums to see what is going on.
As you may have guessed I (and all the other people who worked on Xara X) no longer work at Xara.
Me and a few other people got jobs at Serif after being made redundant from Xara and so far it is going well. I have worked on DrawPlus, WebPlus and PagePlus.
It is good seeing everyone is still here and still creating great drawings. I read some of the posts about the next version of Xara X and it is sounding good (and it is good to know it is still being worked on).
Jonathan
[This message was edited by Jonathan Payne on March 14, 2004 at 7:33.]
I GET it http://www.talkgraphics.com/images/smilies/smile.gif
Johnathan-
Thanks for lending your expertise.
-Ed.
Oh, the bitmap fill...I got the one magic copy of Xara that allows you to rotate the outside contours http://www.talkgraphics.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif
When I made the above example yesterday, I didn't think I had done anything special. When I tried it today, it took me quite awhile to duplicate yesterday's effort ... the entire shape kept rotating.
I finally figured out that when the elipse is selected with the fill tool, you not only get the fill arrow, but a small node on the edge of the elipse. Begin your rotation at this node and voila.
Thanks Jonathan and Ross for coming up with the ideas and original thread.
Mickie
WordStyleinc.com
My copy is yet more comprehensive http://www.talkgraphics.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif, I don't have to start rotate at the node, just begin any place except the actual fill handles.
Jolande
Now this is fun ;-}
As far as I can tell, using a contour is just a quicker and more convenient, but more restricted way of doing what could be done with a blend. The countour automatically creates a "back" shape with matching nodes for the starting shape. A manual blend takes more time, but allows you (say) to have the front and back shapes off-centre. Either way it's very pretty ;-)
By the way, I would have never guessed in a million years the trick with needing to rotate the fills starting from the (single) object node. If you don't do this, at least on my copy of XX, both the master shape and contour fills rotate at the same time so is no interesting blend effect. I cannot imagine why it works this way, but it does.
Obscure UI design or a happy bug?
BTW in the image below the left hand object uses a blend not a contour. It's rather pretty but to be honest I have no idea how I got it to look this way, and I'm not sure I could do it again...
Regards: Colin
OK, once I got it, I got it!! http://www.talkgraphics.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif
When Mickie said to look for that other little node, I was NOT and still can NOT find that little node, I'm not that blind!!
What worked for me was if you click on the very outter contour you will have one set of fill/rotator handles and if you click on the inside a different set but when the contour is first created they are aligned so you can't see the other when the various contour areas are clicked on.
SOoooo, when I was just about ready to give up I by accident just clicked and draged a new set of fill/rotator handles and all of a sudden the fill got really weird. Hmmmm, I thought to myself. I then clicked on the center and sure enough there was still a set of handles directly in the middle. So I then playing around.
First I could just get color fills to do what I wanted but then I kept at it untill I "got it" and was able to work with bitmap fills too. You can actually work with a mixture of bitmap fills and color. If you place an eliptical or any fill that creates more than one node then you can fill the central contour steps with a bitmap fill.
In the examples. Of course I used Dmitry's wonderful Spray app to create my little filled globes. The top/back object is the "parent". One set of handles is filled with black and red and the second set is filled with black and gold and the I played with the rotations of each one untill I got the fill. The number of steps is a nice even 22 steps. I nice oraange shadow glow and there ya go. Created a bitmap copy of it. Filled the largest of the ungrouped bubbles with it, copied it and then selected the rest of them and "pasted attributes" and then applied a black drop shadow to the whole lot of them.
The Contour object below is another example with different color fills. The difference is I selected "repeating" instead of "single" fill. It reminds me of a mesh fill, I like that allot!! http://www.talkgraphics.com/images/smilies/smile.gif
Top/right is an example of using a color fill with a bitmap fill. The nice looking metalic bevel is just that a bevel set to the back of the contour. The outer contour is an eliptical fill of white and black and the central contour is filled with a bitmap called Cloverbk.jpg (can't remember where I got that one from, sorry, it's really nice looking but I will post it here in case anyone wants it.) I then selected each set of handles and went at it untill I got a really swirled in type of effect.
The bottom/right contour are bitmap copies of the last two mentioned and the top most image has a simple linear transparency applied and then centered on top of the other to create yet another effect.
Glad I "got it", one less thing to learn now!! http://www.talkgraphics.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif
Thanks Jon for keeping that Contour tut page up, it helped a bit!! http://www.talkgraphics.com/images/smilies/smile.gif
Richard http://www.talkgraphics.com/images/smilies/wink.gif
http://www.ramwolffsworld.com//Publi..._Prowl_sig.gif
http://www.ramwolffsworld.com/RAMWolffsWorld
Here's the repeating tile I said I would post. http://www.talkgraphics.com/images/smilies/smile.gif
Richard http://www.talkgraphics.com/images/smilies/wink.gif
http://www.ramwolffsworld.com//Publi..._Prowl_sig.gif
http://www.ramwolffsworld.com/RAMWolffsWorld
Nice effects Richard http://www.talkgraphics.com/images/smilies/cool.gif
Thanks Ed!! http://www.talkgraphics.com/images/smilies/smile.gif Was a fun day learning all sorts of stuff from Dmitry's Spray program to finally figureing out this contour rotation stuff!!
Richard http://www.talkgraphics.com/images/smilies/wink.gif
http://www.ramwolffsworld.com//Publi..._Prowl_sig.gif
http://www.ramwolffsworld.com/RAMWolffsWorld