Vector Basic Training by Von Glitschka/ VectorScribe Plug-in for Adobe Illustrator
On Saturday I attended Vector Basic Training in Lodon International Technology Show, held by Von Glitschka in association with Astute Graphics. Click ‘Continue Reading’ to find out more.
I was very lucky to get a free invitation to the show and Vector Basic Traning by Von Glitschka, the founder of Glitschka Studios and a great vector designer.
In the training Von Glitschka showed how you can easily achieve your design goals using Adobe Illustrator and Astute Graphics’ VectorScribe.
Even though the training was indeed quite basic, I still found many interesting things there. Von shared his own experince showing the way he works through the details of his images, and telling the theory of how to place anchor points/nodes correctly, so the lines look smooth and natural where needed. He also explained how to create real complex objects using just standard shapes and shaping effects such as Welding, Back Minus Front, etc.
During the training Von also presented VectorScribe Plug-in for Adobe Illustrator, which lets you edit and create your vectors faster, smarter and dynamically through an intuitive and fully integrated plugin system.
The plug-in features the Dynamic Shapes Tool, the Dynamic Corners Tool, the Path Scibe Tool and the Dynamic Measure Tool. I found quite a few similarities between these tools and some of the CorelDraw tools, which I find really comfortable to use, and which actually make me like CorelDraw more than Illustrator.
The PathScibe Tool is quite similar to the Shape Tool in CorelDraw, which allows you to edit the curve objects by manipulating anchor points or curves. The comfortable thing here is that you need only one tool to do all the tasks, like move the node, drag the curve, add the node, delete the node, move the handles of the node, create a sharp or a smooth angle, create symmetrical handles, convert lines to curves and curves to lines, reduce the number of unneded nodes and easily select needed nodes of a particular object. I find the Shape Tool really great, and as the PathScribe Tool seems to have these features as well, I will definitely use this plug-in in Illustrator to make my life easier there as well:)
Another tool that Von presented was Dynamic Corners Tool, which I think is great too, as it lets you smoothen any sharp corner in your image. In CorelDraw, as far as I know, you can do that only with standard shapes. So it seems to be cool to be able to do that with any corners I need through plug-in, not just manually.
(Editted. Thank you Adrian Juman):
In CorelDraw, you can actually smoothen any sharp corner of any shape not just standard shapes like a rectangle. Go to Windows>Dockers>Fillet/Scallop/Chamfer, and set the roundness/ hollowness you need:
Not too much attention was paid to the Dynamic Shapes Tool and Dynamic Measure Tool. As far as I understood the first one lets you change the properties of the standard shapes, such as the number of points and sides, and sharpness of the polygon or star, which is easy to do in CorelDraw in the properties of the standard shapes (and I thought it Illustrator as well?). Would be nice to find out more about these tools as well, as the plug in in general seems to make things easier.
In general, I was very pleased to visit the training and find out many new things. Thank you Von Glitschka and Astute Graphics for organizing this Training. :)
October 24th, 2011 at 18:55
you lucky girl!!
October 24th, 2011 at 19:26
Thank you Yannis:) I wish you were here too, so we can discuss things and stuff! By the way, which Vector programme do you use?
October 25th, 2011 at 12:45
Thanks for the lovely write-up and attending on Saturday, Anastasiia. It was a pleasure to have a group of vector users who wished to learn more from one the the great vector designers.
It was a pity that due to having to attend the Astute Graphics show stand that I couldn’t listen to Von’s talk myself and talk further to more invitees. But following some quick chats, I know others also benefitted, which was great.
Best wishes!
Nick
October 25th, 2011 at 12:48
Nothing to thank me for! As I said it was really cool to attend the training, so thank you Nick for organizing it:) And thank Von of course:)
October 25th, 2011 at 13:59
Hi Anastasiia,
I wish I’d have known you were there, I would have said Hi. The event was great and I was lucky enough to spend lots of time with Von and Nicholas throughout the day.
I bought VectorScribe Studio/Phantasm Designer while I was there and I’m slowly getting to grips with the amazing facilities it provides.
Regards,
Steve Smith
October 25th, 2011 at 14:47
Hi Steve!
I think I saw you there, sitting on the front row and asking questions?:)
I was a bit late for the afternoon session, so didn’t talk to people too much.. Unfortunately..
PS What a nice Zazzle store you have:)
October 25th, 2011 at 18:08
Yes, that was me at the front :-) And yes, asking questions. I wasn’t going to pass up an opportunity to understand Von’s techniques. I think I understand The Clockwork Method now!
October 25th, 2011 at 18:37
:) Well, as far as I understood there should be like a quarter (like 15 minutes on the clock) between the nodes, so the curves look smooth and nice? (if I explain correctly) or something else?
October 25th, 2011 at 20:58
It’s a plus for those who use Adobe Illustrator.
There was a discussion about Vector Scribe in a Private Group of Professionals that I belong to.
I will always favour CorelDRAW infront of Illustrator. This is already possible without the use of plugins. And it’s far easier and faster in Draw.
October 25th, 2011 at 21:05
As for the Shape Tool, I totally agree! Never found anything more comfortable:)
But VectorScribe has the DynamicCorners Tool, it’s like, you know when you draw a retangle in CorelDraw, you can change the roundness of the corners? so the Dynamic Corners Tool lets you do this with angles of any shape, not just a rectangle, but basically any sharp angle… I think it is also possible to do so with a star in CorelDraw. Do you know how to do that?
Can I also join your Private Group? ;)
October 25th, 2011 at 21:40
You can also achieve rounded corners on a shape by using the Fillet/Sacllot/Camfer docker (Windows > Dockers)
As for the Group, I cannot say much because I signed a NDA, just that it involves future development of CorelDRAW Graphics Suite Versions.
October 25th, 2011 at 21:41
Give it a try, Use the Freehand tool or Bezier tool and create several interconnected lines. And use the docker.
October 25th, 2011 at 21:44
Cooooooooooooooooooooooooool! Now I am more and more sure that for linear work and shapes Corel is more comfortable.
Not cool for the NDA though.. :)
October 25th, 2011 at 21:47
Adrian, you are a genious! That is SO helphul! the Fillet/S/C works perfectly!
October 25th, 2011 at 21:50
You’re welcome. And a Quick unlisted video for those who are interested in how it works: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YS2QM7Xh1Qk
October 25th, 2011 at 21:55
Oh, I already editted the post about round corners:) and thx again!
November 1st, 2011 at 12:31
[...] Blog post by Anastasiia Kucherenko [...]
November 5th, 2011 at 13:08
this plug in is great but still i prefer the simplicity of coreldraw :-)
November 5th, 2011 at 13:19
yay! I am happy we have a nice coreldraw community:)