thanks Roy,
I seem to be getting two layers in Inkscape - the bmp one and the path traced one, but it is only saving as a TIFF (a raster ?) ?
I’ll check it out again
thanks for that link !
Fist off, I must admit I know very little about Inkscape - or vectors for that matter. Must really study it someday. So far I’ve only used it for tracing outlines for further processing in Hex.
This is a simple cookie-cutter I quickly whipped up from a .png render of Genesis in Carrara. Did the trace in Inkscape, separated the trace fom the original, deleted the original and saved - not exported, as eps, converted to ai using Uniconverter. Imported to Hex, cleaned up the extra lines and extruded. After more cleaning up I’ll bridge to make a solid.
Thanks Roygee,
Yes I’m interested in converting line drawings to vector to import into carrara spline modeller.
Have you done this with inscape into carrara?
from memory Carrara wouldn’t read the files.
I’ve had success with Expression 3 - (free prog)
cheers from Oz
It has a really nice little built in Utility to convert images into vector shapes (Bitmap tracer)
nice sliders, and options to control what you end up with.
it creates the result as a “Group” of vector shapes, so you can move and scale it easily, but you can “ungroup” it if you want to edit the individual vector shapes, or delete what you don’t need.
30 day trail at Xara.co.uk,.... so it’s worth a play
Hi
I’ve got another question which relates to Vectorstyle 2
It looks as though like similar plugins I’ve seen you can control where lines show by using smoothing groups. Is there a way to change the smoothing groups on a model already in Carrara?
It has a really nice little built in Utility to convert images into vector shapes (Bitmap tracer)
nice sliders, and options to control what you end up with.
it creates the result as a “Group” of vector shapes, so you can move and scale it easily, but you can “ungroup” it if you want to edit the individual vector shapes, or delete what you don’t need.
30 day trail at Xara.co.uk,.... so it’s worth a play
I’m using Xara Designer Pro X here.
thanks 3DAGE
Ah yes, I have my eye on it thank you.
I have seen the good work you have done with it in the past and I will grab it one day .
Right now I have to keep hiding my credit card bills from my wife so “one day” may be “one day in the future”
But serously, I will look at it when I get time to do some pattern modelling that I have in mind with the spline modeller.
I want to do some 3d decorative work in the future and vectors with spline seems to be the way to go
Hi head wax - sorry I haven’t replied earlier - haven’t been able to get through for a few days. I suppose Daz does site maintenance while you guys sleep and I’m awake.
Yes, Uniconverter converts pretty much every vector format to pretty much every other one. It outputs ai5, which is perfectly compatible with Carrara.
I’m not an Illustrator pro, but… isn’t the goal of using vectors to have LESS detail and a simpler/cleaner image? What is the benefit of having a heavily mozaic’ed vector with hundreds of color zones? You lose any efficiency of file size, and those dense zones are not good for printing… There seem to be better ways to get that chunky polarized look, raster filters would be faster if that’s the goal, I think….
I’d like to hear more about what people are actually doing with vector art, and instances where vectors are the better solution.
the BIG advantage in vectors over raster is that there’s no pixels, just points and fills, so if you want a poster that 300ft, no problem.
the Blocky mosaic thing is just my Bad examples of how Low you can go,. and also,.. All of those shapes are editable,. so you can get down to outlines if you wanted by deleting what you don;t want and using boolean to join together shapes you do want,
Also, because you’re not using pixels,. the file size goes from MB down to kb, and the physical image size is irrelevant, since it can be scaled up or down without losing anything.
Hi
I’ve got another question which relates to Vectorstyle 2
It looks as though like similar plugins I’ve seen you can control where lines show by using smoothing groups. Is there a way to change the smoothing groups on a model already in Carrara?
VectorStyle has a parameter for edge detail that is controlled with an angles setting. The setting is universal so it works for all the export formats.
the BIG advantage in vectors over raster is that there’s no pixels, just points and fills, so if you want a poster that 300ft, no problem.
the Blocky mosaic thing is just my Bad examples of how Low you can go,. and also,.. All of those shapes are editable,. so you can get down to outlines if you wanted by deleting what you don;t want and using boolean to join together shapes you do want,
Also, because you’re not using pixels,. the file size goes from MB down to kb, and the physical image size is irrelevant, since it can be scaled up or down without losing anything.
Yes, I understand the value of vectors…. But you quickly lose any file size advantage when you crank up the “detail” to so many zones. (Also it looks like eyecrap. LOL)
Combining zones with booleans is a good way to correct some of VectorStyle’s transparency issues.
Since the op specifically said “people” and Illustrator” I am interested in seeing more examples of how PEOPLE are used in vector art (not just a push-button conversion from rastor to vector, that is probably never going to be very attractive…)
I’m with you on the eyecrap thing, but that’s because it’s converting a bitmap into vectors, the real art is in pure vectors.
conversion of bitmaps would be either a first step, ...or a last resort.
personally, I find overdrawing easier, especially in Xara, where you can grab an edge and pull it to fit a curve.
The vectors created in conversion usually have hard edges, and harsh colour differences, because of the way it defines the different areas, but those can be softened and refined. or deleted or replaced
vector areas can be feathered, so they blend together, or you can obviously have really sharp edges, and the fills can be multi-gradients with transparency,. so, like photoshop, you can build up complex multi layered images, with a mixture of sharp and blurry areas.
you also have instancing, which allows you to have one shape, copied multiple times and with different properties such as fill and outline, or shape adjustments,.. but it’s only one shape.
I’m not sure about illustrator,. haven’t used it since version 5 or 6.
Xara will do all that and more,. it can work with bitmaps and has photo editing capability, plus you can use bitmaps as vector fills or transparency. and you can make vector shapes into 3D with drop shadows.
or take a series of photos and auto stitch and blend them into a panorama.
You can also use Photoshop plug-ins like Eyecandy as “live effects”,. on vector shapes. so if you adjust the shape of the vector, the photoshop plugin updates to that change.
this is the same circle shape, cloned and feathered, and extruded 3D with drop shadow.
Anime Studio Pro has some useful features including
1) ability to autotrace bitmap images into raster images and vectors
2) import Poser scenes to create toon style animations or images (see post)
3) output to different formats including SWF
The “toon” style Poser output from Anime Studio is on the low quality side but works okay for certain scenes.
And if you are a Mac user and want a way to convert SWF animation output from Vectorstyle2 there is another software called ElMedia Pro that will take a SWF movie, and convert it to image sequences. You can then assemble those as Quicktimes in Motion5 or Quicktime Pro 7. This works generally better than the buggy Swiffy service from Google.
I’m not an Illustrator pro, but… isn’t the goal of using vectors to have LESS detail and a simpler/cleaner image? What is the benefit of having a heavily mozaic’ed vector with hundreds of color zones? You lose any efficiency of file size, and those dense zones are not good for printing… There seem to be better ways to get that chunky polarized look, raster filters would be faster if that’s the goal, I think….
