March 2014 Video Tutorial - 3D Papercrafting in Xara

[stygg2003]

That's a great idea Francis, gives the leafs some depth, I wonder if you could apply this conical technique to an old parchment to give the torn effect

Stygg

[Gare]

Absolutely, Stygg. There is no reason to leave what we've learned from Mario Hugo's original concept and our adaptation to merely alphabetical characters.

Any drawing that suggests a lighting direction will support a 2D object that has been "cut and curled", as long as you have the two pieces divided properly and the curl's shadow matches the opposite direction of the light source in the scene.

My Best.

Gary

[wizard509]

I got to thinking that this technique could be used for more than just letters. The flowers and leaves in this piece use the conical fills shading. The vase and the stems I left as flat pieces of paper.

Very good idea Frances. I like it.

[Rik]

Excellent idea, Frances.
I was going to do a Mother's Day card - using this technique but, just got too busy at the weekend.
(And a bit too busy with work.)

So, well done indeed.

[Gare]

You know, as we discover and share all these techniques, it won't be long before we can start treating Xara Designer like Expressions was a decade ago. It began as a vector drawing program whose strokes looked like a paint program's, like ArtRage or Painter.

Wouldn't it be nice to visualize what's in your head exactly the way you imagine it without leaving Xara?

Right now it's like I have to drive downtown to my studio to use my airbrush, and then hike back uptown to use other art tool.

It is a wise programmer who creates a UI in which your creative process is never halted by a dialog box or for the lack of a way to accomplish a certain something.

-g

[angelize]

Thanks everyone for the kind comments

Rik, I am going to save my papercraft lilacs image for a mother's day card (We don't have it here until May).

Stygg: The scroll idea is a good one why not give it a go

[stygg2003]

Made an attempt at some different alphabet letters and using my own colours, not very successful but if you don't try you don't learn I had a problem with the letter G so I made my own and the K I gave two cuts just to see how it would look. The composition, aptly named A Greek Tragedy as I think that it turned out to be one. Ah well back to the drawing board.

Stygg

[Gare]

Before you go back to the drawing board, I think you deserve a pat on the back for this exercise, stygg. You did indeed learn from the tutorial.

I'm wondering what would happen in you put a Glow using the Shadow tool on the characters instead of the original drop-shadow idea?

I'm sure someone can do better than this!



-g

[stygg2003]

Thanks for the kind comment Gary. I've posted two images, one with glow shadow and another the same except I put a rectangle over the image and gave it a flat stained glass trans. just to ease the glare a bit I see from your post Gary the G I had a problem with - doh!

Stygg

[Gare]

@stygg, my solution for the legibility of the "G" isn't perfect, but it's workable. Please understand that I had to invent these characters in very little time. I wanted everyone to have a whole alphabet to work with, but some characters I imagined came out better than others.

Oh, well, it's just the end of March, and I have 8 more months this year to redeem myself.

Stygg, why don't you try making a bitmap copy of that and then adjusting the contrast view the photo and Live Effects plug-ins? It needs more contrast to improve legibility overall, and it's easier to adjust the contrast on a bitmap than 27,000 vector pieces.

-g