How to do a 'highlight effect' on a sphere?

**Blobly** · 22 April 2007, 11:00 PM

Hi

I am trying to draw some icons.

If you look at the first picture, it has a white highlight on top of the circle and a blueish highlight at the bottom. I am trying to do an effect like this but I'm finding it difficult do with just a line because lines cannot have gradiated transparancy!

If I do it as a shape, I am finding it hard to to make the exact shape of a circle by hand.

Any suggestions?

Also, if you look at the last picture, have you got any suggestions about how to do a 'stamped' effect? I also tried with bevels but it didn't turn out so good.

Thanks.

**Soquili** · 22 April 2007, 11:28 PM

Hi Blobly,

Welcome to Talkgraphics.

If the information in the attachments doesn't answer your questions, please let us know.

**handrawn** · 22 April 2007, 11:32 PM

you can apply graduated transparency to a line if you convert it to shape first [arrange menu]
you can make a perfect circle if you hold down ctrl whilst dragging
these and many other useful things in help section

**gwpriester** · 22 April 2007, 11:39 PM

Apply a bevel to the X and reverse the light source (drag the arrow in the center of the bevel in the opposite direction.

Gary

**Blobly** · 23 April 2007, 12:36 AM

Wow, you guys were really fast in answering my questions!

These solutions look like just the right thing I needed!

Thanks for all the help.

**Bob Hahn** · 23 April 2007, 04:45 PM

I haven't made a video for a while, and this one turned out pretty good and it's easy to do.

I'll also post this video "how-to" as a separate thread.

-Bob.

**Merlinski** · 23 April 2007, 05:29 PM

3D'esque Buttons

I was working on a DJ program GUI for DigitalTurntables project before it was canned unfortunately, in amongst this shot of randomly thrown together buttons I've just taken from a Xara document of mine you can see all kinds of psuedo-3D shades and glosses for different shape buttons and materials, see the circular touch-screen jog wheel for example and around the screen. It's similar stuff to MP3 playing software like winamp. Take a look at some of the subtle ways of giving deapth to GUI controls in this...

http://www.digitopia.it/scrapbook/btns.png

...maybe there's something in there to help spark an idea or two?

**Soquili** · 23 April 2007, 06:03 PM

Bob that's a great video.

Chris beautiful GUI design.

**Egg Bramhill** · 24 April 2007, 02:38 AM

Bob, thanks for the video. I know they take some time and planing to produce but they create the best method of passing on information. Thanks again.

Merlinski, the GUI looks excellent. Often I find creating button etc. looks great until reduced to a practicle operational size. It's the same within the forums, where someone post a great looking button/icon but reduced to 32x32 pixels or 16x16 pixels it just doesn't work. Producing GUI at this size requires some extra thought/work.

**Merlinski** · 24 April 2007, 08:18 AM

Egg, absolutely! I found this many moons ago when designing skins and things. I found that this was where, in some ways, a simple pixel bitmap editing program was better.

Against that though I found I had better tools to hand with Xara, but like you everything went to pop when reduced to size.

Eventualy I learned a few key points to getting best results...

1. Work in whole pixel dimensions, if it helps set your grid to 1 pixel spaces and lock to grid (tip, work without outlines to shapes).

2. Work in scale - don't cram loads of detail into a larger graphic then reduce it to a button size, your hard efforts are usually lost in so few pixels at low resolution.

3. Work in scale - work on an actual sized graphic and zoom into/out of it to work on it using LESS detail than you usually might, you then find that the overall effect gives you exactly what you are looking for. Some things do work well though. This is similar to when you look at an icon or button and think it's wondeful, yet when you then zoom into it to have a look you can't see what all the fuss was about! lol.

Fortunately things are moving on now, and screen resolutions are increasing as well as icon/button size to match (so we won't end up needing magnifying glasses to see our high res desktops of the future!) so soon you can work to that critical detail level and you'll see it in all it's glory. A bit like Vista right now.

If I might be critical about Xara for one moment, I seem to remember a time when smaller text and objects had a little more clarity and less antialias artifacts to them when exported, I think before it became X1. Whenever it was people disagreed with me but I was adamant as I recall. Small work like this highlights it.

Does anyone else ever recall this?