Yay me - first tutorial complete

[x_ACE_x]

My first official picture with Xara X(treme) and my first tutorial. I'm happy!! I may have messed up in some areas but overall I think it came out ok, shoot, being my first Xara artwork I think it came out pretty darn good (even following a tutorial) LOL . I know the shadow came out wrong but didn't know what else to do ...

[Koinonia]

Good first effort - the trick now is to see how to correct/enhance from here.
Keep working with Xara and the little things(shadows,etc,) find their solution.

Wayne D

[a4hire]

Looks pretty good to me for the first try. The shadow is off but you will learn.

[x_ACE_x]

any suggestions on how to work the shadow? The shadow tool in Xara is what I used, I even tried the Shadowlab part of EyeCandy 4000 and neither looked right. I tried grouping the whole champagne glass, duplicating, coloring 30-40% black, feathering, and adding a transparency but then I ran into the problem of positioning as I couldn't manipulate the group to give that skewed look ..

[John Rayner]

Hi Ace,

looks good for a first one. Now hold your mouse up to the light... Notice the mosey is lit on one side and dark on the opposite side... The shadow for the glass should be opposite the light...

To get the shadows just right. Take a glass glass and fill it half full o beer. Look at the shadow it casts. Drink the beer, repaet until the shadows are engraved in your brain... or you pass out. whichever comes first.

[x_ACE_x]

Thanks for the back pats . Shadow-wise - I can differentiate where the shadow 'should' go however getting it to go there is another thing :P LOL.. Like in this picture i would imagine a slight shadow over the base of the glass and a slight shadow of the base heading in the 40ish degree angle. The problem with the current shadow is the base has a funky shadow, there's no refracted shadow over the base then onto the wood, but the angle of the rest of the shadow goes pretty correct as 'I' can see it going. The problem I'm seeing with the Xara shadow tool for the floor selection is that it only goes +45° to -45° in the upper quadrants and leaves ya dry if the light source is coming from behind .. So, i ask is there a way to create a shadow not using the tools/plugins especially if the light source is coming from behind the object?

[sallybode]

Xara's shadows are ususally pretty good, however, there are times it does not have in mind what you do. You can separate the shadow from the object by making the objects editable, then ungrouping. This will let you move your shadow around indepedently of the object.

Interestingly enough, the drop shadow can now be used to cast its own drop shadow.

In real life lighting often has more than one source. Once source is primary, the second or third, not as strong, not always the same color. This difference in shadow color helps us to tell the time of day, even in the winter when the color of shadows is different, gives an indication of how cold it is.

[a4hire]

Hello X Ace X
I gave this a try. Trying to make the shadow for the glass using the shadow tool. First I grouped the the top part of the glass and the stem together, do not group the round base part with this. Then using the shadow tool use the floor shadow, then right click on the shadow and convert to editiable shapes. Then go to arrange and ungroup. Now you should be able to move the shadow without moving the glass and the stem.
Now you can use the shape editor tool and draw line with a little curve right where the shadow intersects the base.
Then select the line and the shadow then go to Arrange, Combine shapes, slice cut shapes. Now you have cut the shadow and can move the upper part slightly to make the refraction.

Then group the objects that make up the base of the glass and use the shadow tool , and floor shadow and you can and add a slight shadow for the base.
Maybe still not perfect but this might set you in the right direction. I will attach my attempt at the shadow onthe glass.
And a happy New Year and thanks again to Gary for the tutorial on the Champagne glass.

[x_ACE_x]

ahhh, i did not know/realize that you could use "editable shape" on the shadow..doh..thanks so much a4hire and Sally (just read your post even though it was before a4hire, 2 hours later eheh) for the tip! Learned yet another thing new today..On a roll..

[a4hire]

Your welcome. Give it a try and show us your update. You can do it!