advanced perfume bottles & technique

Hello! My first Post!

I am a student of graphics. My Dip of Design is based around Adobe Indesign. However, as someone who is serious about a design career, I have bought other programs like Illustrator. This week I tried the Xara Xtreme Pro 4 Trial. It blew me away! On my duo core PC it IS so much quicker than illustrator at the 3D effects. It's also much more intuitive.

After about 1 hr of use and looking at the movies [which, like this forum, are nicely linked to help in the menu unlike Adobe's totally unfriendly set-up] , I created a 3D perfume bottle really easily. I put in a glassy effect with the transparency, and made the bottle into a complex 3D shape. Then I added 3D text to the bottle with a shadow cast by the letters.

Now, this is all fantastic. It surpasses my craziest imagination that I could make something so good and complex after using Xara Xtreme 4 pro for 1 hr.

To strive for something even better I ask this: on my perfume bottle the label's letters look a bit flat rather than following the curve of the bottle. I mean, in a real bottle the letters to the most left and right would look a little fainter, and the ones in the middle subtly sharper, unless you introduced a new lighting effect.

So, how do I curve my letters subtly to match the curve of the bottle that they're on?

Hi.
There is a distinct lack of perfume bottles to look at, but as regards your question, the mould tool is the one to go for. You might need a little practice but its fairly intuitive, watch the movie in help or on the xara website, and of course adjustments are instant so you can see what you are doing and adjust until you have it right.
Derek

The distinct lack of perfume bottles is noted! :)

If it's possible, how could I put the bottle pic in this thread? It is quite a small pic with not many MB. [prob about 100 KB]

Hmm..mould tool...I haven't got into that one yet! Can't wait! :D

Welcome to TG.

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If it's possible, how could I put the bottle pic in this thread? It is quite a small pic with not many MB. [prob about 100 KB]

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Please read : A quick guide to posting on the forums.

This should be the right one.

Yes. That's it.

Made up the label name BTW.

Letters could curve with the bottle a touch more.

Welcome to the Xtreme Conference grenadi.

Glad you have discovered what a lot of us have known for a long time. Xtreme runs circles around Illustrator and has much better transparency options than Illustrator. Illustrator is an excellent program. But in terms of results, we prefer Xtreme.

I deleted your two posts with the wrong image. We'll leave the Batman stuff to soquili. :)

Gary

Grenadi : Welcome to the TG Forum and especially to Xara. You'll soon find how versatile and easy it is.

Since one can't have too many perfume bottles, here is another :)

Sammy

Nice Perfume Bottle there Sammy.

That's amazing! So realistic!

With Xara I feel for the first time that I see a tool that can produce professional effects as seen in published work.

Here is another amazing perfume bottle example posted a while back.
- AF

http://www.talkgraphics.com/showthre...perfume+bottle

AF - Thanks a lot for the link. WOW! What a class drawing! Absolutely fantastic. Very well done Purrfeck.

John Rayner - Thanks for your words. Having seen Purrfeck's work makes me realise that there is a long long way to go before reaching that standard. But I am sure it will be fun to keep trying.

Sammy

Here is a piece that still makes me awe in wonder... Sarah X No... it is not one of my pieces. It is Valery's.

John : Hi Thanks for the link. WOW, what an awesome piece of work. You are right, it is absolutely fantastic, and to realise that, that is done in vector is even more amazing. How DID he do it ? Superb !

There are some seriously talented people out there and long may it continue.:)

Sammy

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Originally Posted by raynerj1

Here is a piece that still makes me awe in wonder... Sarah X No... it is not one of my pieces. It is Valery's.

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That truly is unbelievable.

Is there a gallery of masterpieces like that one on here anywhere (if not there should be)? I recall a drawing of a girl with a walkman on here some time back.

Also is there more details anywhere about how these amazing photorealistic creations are put together? I'm guessing lots of gradients and feathering, but I doubt I'm even scratching the surface.

Valery also created the girl with the walkman. For that image he limited himself to using ellipses. Valery has an amazing mind and skills.

http://www.talkgraphics.com/showthread.php?t=22693

Cool perfume bottles.
Here's my attempt.
I used the 3d extrude tool mainly- the mould tool for the text and the transparncy for the reflection.
Pretty simple bottle...
What do you think?

That's a very nice piece, Amitai.
Saludos,
Bob.

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Originally Posted by iamtheblues

That's a very nice piece, Amitai.
Saludos,
Bob.

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Thanks, Bob!

Amtai,

Good result on the perfume bottle. I like the highlights. Nice touch. Liked your Graphics tablet as well. Keep it up.

Sammy

Xara is proving to be so good at making complex 3D objects that I will find it useful if I am employed at 3D package design. I was going to buy a 3D graphics program such as Modo for this but Xara may well make that unnecessary .

I have become a Xarist, Xarian, Xarite, Xaraphile...:D

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Originally Posted by grenadi

Xara is proving to be so good at making complex 3D objects that I will find it useful if I am employed at 3D package design. I was going to buy a 3D graphics program such as Modo for this but Xara may well make that unnecessary .

I have become a Xarist, Xarian, Xarite, Xaraphile...:D

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grenadi- if you like 3d- either you can use Xara Xtreme 4.0's new 3d extrude tool- or you can use Xara 3d- which you can also use it with Xara Xtreme. I find Xara 3d avery useful program once you get to know it.:)

I have create, many years ago, this little bottle:

http://www.feminin.ch/xara/expression.jpg


I have testing to recreate your bottle

Xara might not be as powerful at technical stuff that industry wants, eg spot colours, but it is an awesome artistic program.

Best features of programs:

Xara: 3D extrusion tool
Illustrator: colour wheel
Inkscape: mathematical shape tools
Coreldraw: patterning tool [why it's popular in fashion/clothes industry]

Dominique, thank you for improving my bottle as well :D

BTW, how do you get that wire frame?

I dropped French in high school and learnt Chinese!

Merci :) [Only other French I know is Cest Lundi because my philosophy lecturer, the late Robert Pargetter at Monash Uni, once used that as an example and said that he knew no other French!]

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Originally Posted by grenadi

BTW, how do you get that wire frame?]

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Select the Set View Quality slider (see attached). You then need to go to the Arrange Menu and create a bitmap copy, returning the slider to full quality will show you a bitmap of the wireframe.
Saludos,
Bob.

And more... :)

Here's my quick and dirty example. Just a few shapes as you can see.

Eric

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Originally Posted by grenadi

I have become a Xarist, Xarian, Xarite, Xaraphile...:D

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"Xaran" is the term many of us oldtimers have been using. :D

Welcome aboard.