Bouton's stuff, Volume 2

[Gare]

I knew that you also did some creative greenscreen video stuff! The fire of chi!

Awww, shucks, t'weren't nuthin' (scuffs sneakers together, hangs head and blushes).

Trivia about this short: the owner of the place actually had several franchises, lived in Florida (we shot here in Syracuse), but was persistently accused of improper fondling of employees. So he committed suicide.

I was thinking of changing the logo at the end.

Melissa, our volunteer from the place, is a black belt and took direction excellently. And we later found out that at the time we filmed she was three months pregnant.

Quite frequently, the backstory to something I create is a lot more interesting than the creation.

I'm not sure this is one of those moments or not.

P.S. The disco version of Bach's Toccata and Fugue was my arrangement and digital recording with the aid of synths and samplers.

ALSO a curious thing to do.

[Boy]

Quite frequently, the backstory to something I create is a lot more interesting than the creation.

Life outside the limelight is often more fascinating and telling than what people like to showcase.

[gray]

A very cool video, young man.

[Gare]

Sorry, but the MAGIX XDP tells me nothing, not the version number, not even a decent legible "X"!

I'm using rev 15 and rev 17, both XDP X. So my own icons.




—g

[Gare]

I confess that I use XD's Shadow tool when I'm in a rush to get something out the door that needs to look great.

Now, if you want to try this Shadow Jazz by hand, I've attached an XAR document that shows how to create shadows:



1.) You eyeball what a drop shadow would look like below the X here, create distinct, separate shapes, and then use the Feather feature in combination with shade of black and opacity to basically have more control than an automated routine.

2.) The "smear shadow", very popular with the talented artists who give away work on Vecteezy and similar places. Create a shape where you want the most dense of the shadow to appear. Right-drag a copy in this example down and to the left. Assign the original shape black at 100% opacity, and then assign the duplicate 0 Opacity. Use about 20 blend steps, then adjust the distance or the opacity to suit your taste.

3.) Finally, and again, I saw this on a trendy web site: to lift a drawing of a piece of paper off the page, create small shadows at the corners and perhaps one in the middle of an edge. Look at the piece, and deconstruct it if you like to better see what I did. Feather and a linear transparency working in combination with one another.

I'm seeing less and less reason for posting my work for the sake of showing off. I kinda like making a piece into a simple tutorial.

My Best,

Gary

[gray]

I enjoy seeing your work, Gary. You are a very talented artist in many forms and it's always interesting to see what you are up to. Your tuts are always first class.

[Boy]

Thanks, Gare! I never used the second option and will try that one.

[Gare]

I'm truly blushing right now from your post, Gray!

Again, until (or if) I can independently get a tutorial area going somewhere, it's what I most enjoy doing, and seeing a "student" outperform me.

My Best,

Gary

[Gare]

Thanks, Gare! I never used the second option and will try that one.

It produces a different effect from your standard drop shadow. You learn stuff by signing up for free graphics and fonts, and you never know when some fresh, new technique comes your way!



My Best,

Gary

[Boy]

You learn stuff by signing up for free graphics and fonts, and you never know when some fresh, new technique comes your way!

Or just hang around here at TG.... ;-)


You know, I'm a'tryin'. But the headwinds from above are testing my resolve.


Here's a piece that began with an extruded shape—we'd group traced a picture font years ago called "Burgeon's Ornaments" as a Xara Xone tute. I cleaned up the exrtude, added a shadow, and then moved the center of rotation to the center of the page, set the snap for rations on the General Options page to 36 degrees, and then Ctrl+drag and dropped 9 copies from the first one.



Download the file because why not?


My Best,

Gary