InkScape Study Group

[Vince]

I would like to be able to sketch things using 2D software. Although I find "paint" programs, like Paint.Net, very useful for creating or modifying textures, I don't find them useful for creating sketches. For example, if I draw a line, the line becomes a modification to the pixels in the image. I can't come back later and move or change the line easily. By comparison, in programs, like AutoCAD or PowerPoint, the things you "draw" are saved entities that you can move or modify later. For example, if I draw a circle in AutoCAD, I can come back later and move it. If I draw a circle in, say the GIMP, I cannot come back later and move it independent of other elements in the drawing. Also, in PowerPoint I can create a line of text and come back later and move it or change the font. If I create a line of text in Paint.Net, I can not come back later and modify it.

I'm not knocking paint programs, but am trying to point out a weakness when trying to create an easily modifiable sketch. I've found a free 2D graphics program where almost everything you create is saved in the program as a mathematical description of the object. What that means is you can come back later and move, scale, or otherwise modify it. The program is InkScape and it's free. It is a very powerful program and, since it works in a fundamentally different way than a raster based paint program, there is a lot to learn.

So far, I've used it enough to verify that it can do what I want. I created a 3 node Bezier curve. I then created a circle, went back and modified the Bezier curve to match a section of the circle. I then deleted the circle and moved and scaled the Bezier curve to be the cutting edge of an axe head. Although PhotoShop has some of these capabilities, it costs about $700 so isn't for everybody.

So, I'm proposing something that I don't think has been tried here at the TES Alliance: a study group. That is a group of people that want to learn some new software and can use the topic to exchange ideas, pose questions, and so forth. If this works out, I can imagine future study groups that want to learn other software. Xnormal for example.

I realize that learning a new software tool takes a lot of work. However, I think InkScape is worth it and learning it along with others is easier than going it alone.

Edited June 26, 2010 by Vince

[donnato]

Vince I for one will jump at this opportunity to participate.I`ll DL the InkScape now and goof with it to see how I can use it. I`ll try to keep an eye on this to see when it begins. Thank you Vince.

Edit: Ok that was a looong DL @ 56 MBs. this is a great looking app.Gotta go play with it now.

By the way I DLed the .exe to my vista 64 and it worked fine.I just let it go where it wanted(c:/program files(x86)) and it put a nice little shortcut on my desktop for me.

[Hanaisse]

Sounds interesting, I think I'll try it out too.

[Beana]

Ok forgive me if my question sounds dumb but by sketch do you mean using something like a Wacom tablet?

[donnato]

Ok forgive me if my question sounds dumb but by sketch do you mean using something like a Wacom tablet?

Ooh,I so need one of those.Are they real expensive?

[Vince]

Beana,

You can use InkScape with just a mouse and keyboard. However, it does support the Wacom tablet.

Vince

EDIT: I finished the first three tutorials with no significant issues. I also was able to make a sketch of an axe head then use it as a background image in Blender to create a 3D axe head. I've got a lot more to learn, but I'm convinced that InkScape is worth it. Unlike my experiences with the GIMP, the manual actually makes sense and at least 98% of it works the way the manual says. I don't take that for granted anymore.

Edited June 27, 2010 by Vince

[Hanaisse]

Nice Vince. That's exactly what I was thinking it would be a good use for - the background image to help model around in Blender. It sounds so much easier to design and edit in a sketch than fiddling around in Blender for that right look.

I have yet to install it and look/play around with it but I was curious; What file formats does it support? Basic image file types?

[Vince]

Nice Vince. That's exactly what I was thinking it would be a good use for - the background image to help model around in Blender. It sounds so much easier to design and edit in a sketch than fiddling around in Blender for that right look.

I have yet to install it and look/play around with it but I was curious; What file formats does it support? Basic image file types?

It can import a bitmap image in any of the common formats (.bmp, .jpg, .png, .gif, .tga, etc.) and export a bitmap as a .png file. Since it is not really a bit map editor like Paint.Net or the GIMP, it normally saves in vector formats like .svg, .dxf, .pdf, .wmf, etc.

Enough people have as about this that I am going to make a post explaining the fundamental difference between a bit map or pixel map editor like Paint.Net, the GIMP, and PhotoShop and a vector or object based editor like AutoCAD, Adobe Illustrator, or InkScape.

[Vince]

I've been taking a crash course in InkScape with some success. After doing some of the tutorials, I decided I needed to try something on my own. I decided to try a little pseudo 3D, like showing a page from my Blender2Oblivion tutorial as if it were lying on a table. It worked pretty well as you can see below. I'm not sure if it's possible to do that with a paint program--at least I don't know how. Now I've got to start working on creating scrollwork. 'Not easy without talent.

[DarkRider]

Looking great Vince!

[Vince]

As I mentioned before, my primary interest in learning InkScape is using it to create sketches of items I want to model. I can use the sketch as a background image in Blender. After seeing several weapons that members here say they modeled in 30 minutes or so, I decided to take a break from working on the Blender2Oblivion tutorials and make a short sword that will take a lot longer than 30 minutes. In fact, the sketch (below) took more than 30 minutes. Of course, I know I don't work very fast.

[Vince]

I've completed the initial design of the short sword based on the sketch. I'll start working on the textures next.

Edited July 12, 2010 by Vince

[donnato]

Vince how do you draw such smooth lines? Do you use a mouse,is there a constraint,did you mirror to get both sides to match so perfectly?My lines are all shakey and squiggely.I`ve only just now begun to read through the manual.I have to be on line to do that.Sort of a problem.I got sorta lucky today...being able to link in I mean.

[Vince]

Vince how do you draw such smooth lines? Do you use a mouse,is there a constraint,did you mirror to get both sides to match so perfectly?My lines are all shakey and squiggely.I`ve only just now begun to read through the manual.I have to be on line to do that.Sort of a problem.I got sorta lucky today...being able to link in I mean.

It's the familiar Bezier curves, referred to as paths in Inkscape. As you know, Blender has a very good implementation of Beziers. Inkscape does all that and a lot more, making smooth, editable lines easy. Almost everything in Inkscape can be converted to paths, including drawings made with the pencil or calligraphy tools, text, and shapes. You can do almost anything with paths: combine them, divide them, offset them, mirror them, perform boolean operations on them, and so forth.

[donnato]

It's the familiar Bezier curves, referred to as paths in Inkscape. As you know, Blender has a very good implementation of Beziers. Inkscape does all that and a lot more, making smooth, editable lines easy. Almost everything in Inkscape can be converted to paths, including drawings made with the pencil or calligraphy tools, text, and shapes. You can do almost anything with paths: combine them, divide them, offset them, mirror them, perform boolean operations on them, and so forth.

Oh, that IS good news Vince. Thank you. Now I can target my manual and torial searches.Still working my way through the basics though.

[WindmillTilter]

Love the lines on that shortsword Vince.

Nice to see a decent free vector art tool out there too, I hadn't run across one.

WT

[Vince]

Well, that's handy! I tried to import an inkscape drawing into Blender on my main computer (running Blender version 2.48) without success. On a hunch, I tried it on my new laptop running Blender 2.49b. With this latest version, Inkscape files import into Blender fine. It looks like all parts of a drawing, paths and shapes, come into Blender as curves, handles and all. I've got to investigate this further.

[Fearabbit]

I'm using InkScape in the institute I work as a student job. It's very easy to use and great for sketches, and if you use the snap-to-grid function, it's very easy to create symmetric sketches and the like.

For swords and stuff like that, the bezier curves / straight lines are probably the only tool you ever need, although circles do come in handy.

By the way, Vince, from your opening post it reads as if you were trying to create an arc or a section of a circle by using bezier curves - that's not necessary, you can do it directly with the circle tool. When you create a circle, there are three "editing points", one of them is round. If you move that one around, the circle either turns into an arc, into a "Pacman" or into a circle where one bit is chopped off, like a filled "C" where the ends are connected with a straight line (it all depends on whether your mouse is inside or outside the circle while moving the point around).

[Vince]

Fearabbit, you are, of course, correct. I wrote the original post after studying InkScape for a couple of hours. Relative to turning a circle or ellipse into a path, I used that combined with converting some text to paths to create my maker's mark for weapons. See the attached image. I still have a lot to learn, especially LPE's. But now I know whom to ask if I have an issue that I can't resolve with the online manuel.

[grond]

I haven't tried Inkscape yet but I have run across another program for it called Potrace. It converts any 2-colored bitmap image into a vector graphic file inside Inkscape. Heres a quick video-

Video

EDIT - Well it seems that Potrace is already bundled into Inkscape! I imported a drawing of the Jackhammer shotgun I made and traced the bitmap ( though it was a .jpg ) Path->trace bitmap, then saved the tracing as an Inkscape .svg.

Blender imported the trace excellently as a very awful set of curves that sort of resembled my shotgun. It was a rough first try, but the possibilities are completely amazing!

[StarX]

Downloading Inkscape right now. I needed a decent vector program for a while for some of the things that Photoshop is less suited for.

[Galvon]

I like the sound of this program! Dl'ing now but I was just thinking wouldnt this be good to create the artistic curves and etchings on weapons and armor?

[Vince]

I like the sound of this program! Dl'ing now but I was just thinking wouldnt this be good to create the artistic curves and etchings on weapons and armor?

I certainly hope so. If not, I'll be both surprised and disappointed.