Xara 2D drawings to 3D modeling program

[Psaumure]

I had to take a trip to car world to check out this shadow thing and this is what I came up with. I found a few with same angle and lighting.

Gary tells me that I'm Xara's rendering engine. No 3D software for me. He cut me offffffffffff. LOL I like the 3D software to give me a reference for these questions. The ones Gary recommended had a large startup cost. The free one was ok but cumbersome.

[stygg2003]

Gary the image you posted in #140 is an excellent reference for future drawings, never envisaged a rectangle from above and how it would relate to the plane below what ever one draws.

Stygg

[Gare]

Paul, I just checked out your reference website, and I found this.



It's a projection of a distorted rectangle, from the casting plane—the top of the car—with some variation from your car's viewing angle, which has a different sun illumination from the time of day and geographical location—onto the pavement.

Promise you—if you goof around with an italicized rectangle, you got your shadow in this instance.

-g

[stygg2003]

Excellent work in #141 Paul and I think you don't need 3D software, you are a rendering engine

Stygg

[Psaumure]

Thank you Stygg. That is very kind of you to say. This year I think I upgraded my rendering engine without knowing it. I have been surprising myself with some of the stuff that I have been doing. I sit back after I'm done and say, WOW!

Gary, that shadow and light are going in the wrong direction. The cars I'm looking at have a tighter shadow. Are you looking for something more like this?

[Gare]

Gary, that shadow and light are going in the wrong direction.

Paul, correct on that. I was trying to show you the shape of the shadow, and the approximate distance from the source blocking the light from an area.

Never mind; you got it in one, above left, GT3 Shadow 3.jpg.

Whenever you're challenged, you always come back with a winner, man!

My Best,

Gary

[Psaumure]

Ok, here are the finished cars. Laura wanted one in pink. See, we get to live vicariously through Xara. I don't care what color you use, this car looks good.
Gary. Since you're familiar with named colors, could you tell me Little more about linked to another color? I haven't figured that one out. Im not seeing how to use it. I would be greatly appreciative of any information that you can provide.

Thanks for all your help,

Paul

[Gare]

Aha, Paul! We're getting back to Xara...thanks! :)

Yes, choosing to link a shape's color to a parent shape/color offers more flexibility than a shade. A shade of a color means mixing white or (usually) black with an original color at the paint store. They're also called tints and tones when you alter a subtractive, real world color (such as paint or ink) and when you mix with white, you get a pastel, mix with black and you have a shade of the original color.

Now, for the moment, throw away all of Xara's color models except HSV...Hue Saturation and Value.

First with the Color Editor, mix up a color (in this example I've created Saguine), and then tag it as a named color.

Create a second object, and then on the Color Editor, assign it to be Linked to another color. Now, you have three Inherit check boxes, H, S, and V. You can check all three but the color linkage is sort of self-defeating, you might as well make the child color the same color as the named color! Here, I've checked Saturation and Value (AKA Brightness) and you can sort of see that the Hue slider is locked. I can't mess with the child color's Hue...because Hue isn't checked on the Inherit area.



Now, I personally use a default template that has about 150 predetermined colors on the color line, and my Options are set NOT to delete unused colors on exit; I disagree with this Xara default. It's like having to mix every damned color you envision instead of starting out with a full crayon box. The disadvantage working with named colors and a full color line—and the workaround is very easy—is that each new named color goes to the end, the far right side, of the color line, and if you have a scrolling full color line like I do, it's a pain to constantly scroll to the right to set a parent color for a shape!

What you do is open the Color Gallery, locate your parent color and then click+drag that bad boy all the way up tot the first position on the color line. Now, every time you want to set a parent color, linked or shade or whatever to a child shape, your saved color's at the far left, easy-to-get on the Color Editor because it will appear by default, of the color line.



And Paul, I hate the latest shadow :) ! Your highlights on the GX3 are tight, suggesting a sunny day, demanding a sharp cast shadow. And make it a shade of black, not pure black and toss some blue into the shadow because all shadows outdoors except for overcast days, bounce sky blue into the shadow.

A philosophical/artistic point: People question when there is no shadow in a photo, but not usually when the shape is slightly inaccurate. Perception-wise, you'll get the greatest argument over the color of the shadow. Download this is you like and eyedropper the shadow. The picture works, it's delighted viewers for over 20 years, and although the placement of the car is...um...inaccurate...the shadow is proper and fine. :)



My Best,

Gary

[Mike Bailey]

Another 2D to 3D experiment using Xara quick shapes and blends for modeling.

[csehz]

Mike that is very inspirating, could you please describe the method that after the Xara export how did you continue in your 3D program? I could find then the equivalent in Blender