Moho Forum

VERY well put, crsP! You stated it SO much better than I ever could have.

Yes, Painter and Photoshop ARE primarily raster tools, BUT, both possess rudimentary vector pen tools, WITH bezier handles, which perform quite admirably in creating paths, lines, and fills. I also own Illustrator and Flash, but do little with the more advanced tools both offer, as my history is more raster-based, hence I use vector tools for accuracy, and raster for "organic" color shading and manipulation...

I learned the value of bezier handles in extracting images, and am only now starting to appreciate the control as I learn to create and fill vector shapes in AS. It aggravates me to have to dance around trying to create a simple angle, for example, when I should be able to just create 3 points and have it, without needing to drag my mouse back and forth to then tweak a curve into shape and have it smooth, without the "stuck pin" look that you so accurately describe...
I also like bezier curves so that when I try to eliminate unneeded points in a path, I can more quickly and easily readjust the shape, which currently is so time consuming, I often just say "screw it," and move on, "ugly" as it may look (to my eye...).

Let us not forget that the more points in a path, the larger the file. AS files can already be quite large. The ability to use points more effectively would certainly help (in some cases) to reduce file size...

Interesting stuff...

thought I'd toss in that since asking this, I've come across a program called Vector Magic which does a MUCH better job of tracing than photoshop, or even illustrator. It's pretty amazing what it can do with complex photos as well.

I'm not sure about the steps necessary to import into AS, though.

Maybe eps into illustrator, and then AS? Dunno. It only does the trace anyway, so if you had stuff to clean up, you'd want to take it into illustrator or something else anyway.

Well AS has been added some amazing 3d features so i dont see the problem if they add beizer handles but like an option and not like something that would replace totally the current style.

There is an older software called Satori, which is a resolution independent vector painting software. If AS were to replace the current system, that would be the way to go.

Mozbo wrote:There is an older software called Satori, which is a resolution independent vector painting software. If AS were to replace the current system, that would be the way to go.

There is no need for a total replacement, we can have both, beizer and no beizer.

But we don't...

I am not a programmer, so don't shoot me!
But in some 3D program I can use the bezier curve to create a model and get the shape I want then freeze it to produce a model with all the necessary polygon to keep the same shape.

Is this something that could be use to create the line and then freeze it with automatically giving you all the points needed to keep that shape?

Is this an idea that could be use in a plug-in tool?

ruscular3d wrote:I am not a programmer, so don't shoot me!
But in some 3D program I can use the bezier curve to create a model and get the shape I want then freeze it to produce a model with all the necessary polygon to keep the same shape.

Is this something that could be use to create the line and then freeze it with automatically giving you all the points needed to keep that shape?

Is this an idea that could be use in a plug-in tool?

I guess that's effectively what you when you draw your shapes in Illustrator and import them into AS, so I guess it would be possible with a very high-level plugin. However, since AS is an animation program you would also want to use the bezier handles to move the points, and not just create them.

This might shed some light on the issue of Bezier curves:

Crisp Brush and Bezier Curve tool

Note the links in Fazek's last posts, where he describes AS's unique implementation of Bezier curves in AS (warning: math and programming heavy). If I infer correctly, adding handles would require recoding the way curves are handled in AS and, by extension, other tools in the process. A non-trivial task at best.

neeters_guy wrote:This might shed some light on the issue of Bezier curves:

Crisp Brush and Bezier Curve tool

Note the links in Fazek's last posts, where he describes AS's unique implementation of Bezier curves in AS (warning: math and programming heavy). If I infer correctly, adding handles would require recoding the way curves are handled in AS and, by extension, other tools in the process. A non-trivial task at best.

Actually, Fazek's post shows that AS uses Bezier curves at it's core, so it would be quite straight-forward to allow direct control of the Bezier handles as well as letting AS calculate them. This is why it was possible to totally change the way curves were calculated in AS7.

Wow, it's clear from those posts that Fazek was a really smart guy! I hope he comes back to AS one day!

Rudiger wrote: Wow, it's clear from those posts that Fazek was a really smart guy! I hope he comes back to AS one day!

Why did he leave the forum??

PARKER wrote:
Why did he leave the forum??

Just checked his post history and no reason was given. Actually he was only active here for less than a year. I suspect his studio, Firkafilm, was planning to use AS for a project and he created those tools to improve their work flow. I suspect he has just moved on to using other software. I did a quick Google and his named recently popped up on some Blender forums, so maybe he's doing more 3D animation work now.

Rudiger wrote: Just checked his post history and no reason was given. Actually he was only active here for less than a year. I suspect his studio, Firkafilm, was planning to use AS for a project and he created those tools to improve their work flow. I suspect he has just moved on to using other software. I did a quick Google and his named recently popped up on some Blender forums, so maybe he's doing more 3D animation work now.

Thanks for the info.

how do you make the image you are tracing in AS7 lighter, so that it's barely perceptible - just enough to trace?

lovebiscuit wrote:how do you make the image you are tracing in AS7 lighter, so that it's barely perceptible - just enough to trace?

Just create a new vector layer, make a big semitransparent white square and put it over the image layer.

Other option is to go to View>Select tracing image. It's faster but gives you less freedom. you can't change the position, scale, rotation and transparency level.