September 2014 Tips and Tricks - Creating illustrations With Only Extrudes

[Rik]

I think I like the one with the reflection, stygg.
The reflections appears to be in front of the lens, though.
So, you might want to select the lens and bring it to the front, (in front of the reflection).

Very nice job on all three, by the way.
Is the multi-coloured one for a specialised market?!

[stygg2003]

I think I like the one with the reflection, stygg.
The reflections appears to be in front of the lens, though.
So, you might want to select the lens and bring it to the front, (in front of the reflection).

Very nice job on all three, by the way.
Is the multi-coloured one for a specialised market?!

Thanks for the comments Rik and you were right, I had forgot to bring the Lens to the front The multi-coloured one, well it seems everybody wants colours and stand out in a crowd, no good for bird photography
Seriously though Rik I just wanted to try colours and masks to see the results, inquisitive! I do all tuts. and T&T to the best of my ability seriously and when done, see what else can be done. If you feel offended by the muti-coloured ones then please remove them.

Stygg

[Rik]

That is EXCELLENT, stygg.

Why on earth would I be offended by what you've done.

All I wanted to show was how you can make a very realistic lens, by just using the 3D tool.
I thin it's far easier than any other method, I think!

You've used the tutorial to make the lens.
The colours are entirely up to you (the creator).

In fact, there's nothing stopping you from designing your own lens, with as many or as few elements as you want.
And. Yes. In any colour you want!

[stygg2003]

Thanks for that Rik, I thought you thought I was being dis-respectful adding colours and detracting from a really great tips and tricks by you.

Stygg

[csehz]

by just using the 3D tool.
I thin it's far easier than any other method, I think!

For me the magic of the Extrude tool is the same that faster can create something than with other tools. Because no need to draw line segments one by one, 'just' extrude.

Probably a lot of experimenting yet which kind of 'materials' can be mixed out with the lights, that is sure metal or plastic possible, also wood and who knows what else yet. But without drawing around the shapes and applying bitmap fill, so in the spirit of With Only Extrudes and With Only Xara Fills & Transparencies

[stygg2003]

Totally agree with all you have said csehz, I like the all the combinations you can come up with using the extrude tool, applying shapes with bitmap fills and using the colour change and masks. It's the nearest thing to 3D without having to learn a completely new 3D programme at which I've tried and I'm useless at it.
Here's my Bird photograhers Camera and Lens, suitably camouflaged. A twitcher by the way is a bird watcher.

Stygg

[Rik]

Well, stygg. I'd have to say, that's different!
Though the camouflaged parts look rather flat.
I think the light and shading needs to be applied to those parts.

And having seen your different colours, I wondered what a red lens would look like?!

[stygg2003]

I agree Rik it does need light and shade, I'll work on that tomorrow. That red lens looks absolutely great Rik, will keep that with my lens collection, thanks for posting.

Stygg

[csehz]

That red edition probably was never released in the real world but looks really real.. Congratulations Rik.

Also interesting option can be to apply named colors at extrudes, dropping them to the lights, according to my experience it works however sometimes only if the objects are selected and the selected tool is the Extrude tool actually. Not sure on what that depends on

[Gare]

This is a little off-topic: In 1995, Adobe released a program they had acquired (IOW, Adobe's engineers didn't develop it, like they didn't develop Illustrator or Photoshop originally) called Dimensions. Adobe Dimensions could not only extrude a profile, it could also revolve it at any number orf degrees, so if you drew a half circle, and revolved the shape around the straight side by, say 270 degrees, you'd wind up with perhaps a fruit with a slice taken out.

I'm not soliciting a program that is no longer sold, nor am I recommending you buy Illustrator solely because they folded Dimensions into the program after removing it for stand-alone sale.

I'm asking you to take a careful look at how highlights and shading are accomplished through blends; I'm attaching three examples in a Xara file, you can ungroup and un clip the pieces and I'll just bet you:

1. That you can reproduce a dozen items at a time with a well-designed gradient, and

2. You'll get a better idea how to accomplish a look using vectors and extrude effects together.



I guarantee that if you experiment with these "drawings" for a little while, you'll learn something you can make your own and put in your work. Blends are a beautiful way to shade non-symmetrical shapes.

My Best,

Gary