AI Brushes equivalent in FH?
Mike McGill
answer is basically no. Nothing like that and I was hoping there would be
in Freehand 9. To me, that and the gradient mesh are two attractive
features in Illustrator that dampens my enthusiasm a bit for the upcoming
release of FH9. It advances Illustrator's "illustration" abilities
significantly in my opinion. I am wondering if Macromedia held back on
introducing features into Freehand which didn't translate well into Flash.
I'm suspecting they did but if they continue on that track, it will
ultimately be a mistake. Freehand is still a great tool for doing
illustrations but it can't afford to fall too far behind CorelDraw and
Illustrator in it's toolbox of goodies if it wants to remain competitive.
There are many other reasons to favor Freehand but I am so far underwhelmed
with the list of new features in the upcoming release. Many productivity
enhancements but precious few "sexy" new tools.
But back to your question. There is no equivalent to the "Art Brush" but
some of the other brush options (I believe one is called "scatter"?) are
similar to the graphics hose in Freehand. Try this one out. It can be
quite fun and it is actually more capable than the Illustrator version in
some ways because you have more control over randomness or size, rotation,
etc. and the objects are applied as discreet objects rather than being tied
to a stroke.
--
Mike McGill
digital artist
mg...@avana.net
Anne-Claire Tavares <ma...@studio224.com> wrote in message
news:38AD2288...@studio224.com...
> Hi,
>
> Like William, I am trying to choose between
> Illustrator and Freehand. I am a learning Web Designer
> and so far I have been using Corel Draw, but...
>
> Since my work is always displayed on screens, (be it
> Web work or CD interfaces) which application would you guys
> recommend for that. I know that asking that question here is almost
> already knowing the answer anyway I am evaluating FH 8 and AI8, and so
> far I like both. The Extras in FH are really a plus.
> There is however a feature of AI that I can't find in FH: what is the
> equivalent of the brushes of AI? I especially like the "Art Brush"
> option.
>
> I take it that the "Scatter" Brush would be the "Graphic Hose"?
> The "Pattern" Brushes would be the Stroke "pattern" option? (But how can
> I make my custom patterns???)
> The Art Brush would be...?
> The calligraphic Brush would be...?
>
> FH is a winner when we talk about transparency (in AI, we have to buy a
> Plugin for that). And in FH9 the perspective grid looks very
> interesting.
>
> Anne-Claire
>
> --
> AC Tavares
> http://www.studio224.com
> --
PropART
> Anne-Claire Tavares <ma...@studio224.com> wrote in message
> news:38AEEE3E...@studio224.com...
> > Oh, that's too bad, this art brush is really nice in AI. Maybe there is
> > some plugin that would help doing that effect? I 'll have to do some
> > research,
>
> Try picking up a copy of Metacreations' Expression. I was quietly lobbying
> for Macromedia to buy this product and incorporate it into Freehand so maybe
> you can add your voice if you find it and see how cool it is. It basically
> did what Illustrator did with the Art Brush but many years sooner and they
> did it better. It can turn any vector object into a "skeletal stroke". It
> was a very intriguing application but Metacreations just stopped developing
> it and of course we know where things stand with them now.
That sounds like a great idea. I bought Expression when it first came out, but
never really used it even though it seemed cool. What's the background on
Metacreations - are they selling off their end-user graphics apps and going into
back-end web software (I think I might have read that)?
-- William C.
Mike McGill
news:38AFED4D...@mediaone.net...
>
> That sounds like a great idea. I bought Expression when it first came out,
but
> never really used it even though it seemed cool. What's the background on
> Metacreations - are they selling off their end-user graphics apps and
going into
> back-end web software (I think I might have read that)?
>
> -- William C.
You've got it basically right. They decided to drop all of their graphics
apps (even their 3D creation apps) and instead concentrate on pushing their
3D object browser plug-in called MetaStream as a tool for "e-commerce
product visualization" or something like that. It has a lot of people upset
but I've read that they've found buyers for most of their products although
it hasn't been announced yet. As for Expression, they seemed to have
abandoned it long ago. Now that they're having a fire sale, I'd love for
Macromedia to buy the rights or the technology behind it.
Bringing stuff into Freehand from Expression usually works quite well using
copy and paste. You may find it necessary to use the "fewer points" Xtra on
objects brought in because they usually have way more than you need. A
technique which I stumbled across for using Expression to do "squash and
stretch" type of animation on any object created in Freehand seems like it
could be quite cool. All you do is create your object, import it into
Expression, make a skeletal stroke out of it and then move/copy your objects
and adjust each one for your keyframes. They can even then be copy and
pasted into Flash from Expression. I wish I could show you what I mean but
it seems like it would have a lot of uses to me.
PropART
> Bringing stuff into Freehand from Expression usually works quite well using
> copy and paste. You may find it necessary to use the "fewer points" Xtra on
> objects brought in because they usually have way more than you need. A
> technique which I stumbled across for using Expression to do "squash and
> stretch" type of animation on any object created in Freehand seems like it
> could be quite cool. All you do is create your object, import it into
> Expression, make a skeletal stroke out of it and then move/copy your objects
> and adjust each one for your keyframes. They can even then be copy and
> pasted into Flash from Expression. I wish I could show you what I mean but
> it seems like it would have a lot of uses to me.
Hmmm, I think I'll install Expression on my current machine and play around with
it while I'm evaluating FH.
I don't know why I never go into using it - it was probably just that where I
was working we hardly used any Draw type apps. It was mostly just 3D Studio and
Photoshop. Whenever there was a layout job I'd do it in Illustrator. I'd almost
forgotten that I even had Expression.
I'll let ya know how it turns out...
-- William C.
Gary Nunn
We use all three: Illustrator, FreeHand and
when we have to, CD8.
There are something in Illustrator I like better
than FreeHand and there are some thing in
FreeHand I like better that Illustrator. CD8
has some nifty features, but can cause problems
when printing film.
I've even had projects where I took graphics
back and forth from Illustrator to FreeHand
and visa versa.
It's a tough decision. Just get the one that has
the most things you need. Your best bet, if
your able to, is to get both. That way you are
prepared for the everything.
I've used AI for over 8 years and FH for about
the last 2-1/2. I like both.
Good Luck,
Gary Nunn
--
N Design Studio
Texas
nde...@mac.com
...........................................
Anne-Claire Tavares
e-commerce site in
Italy that sells it. At Metacreations site, they don't seem to sell it
anymore.
> Hmmm, I think I'll install Expression on my current machine and play around with
> it while I'm evaluating FH.
Meanwhile we'll be waiting for your opinion...
By the way, I remember seeing a catalogue with only plugins and graphic
tools in it,
there was a lot of a stuff for all major graphics software, but I can't
remember the name. There was a catalogue specialized in Print Graphics,
another in Web Graphics. Does it ring a bell to someone?
Kurt Ross
I just did a quick search on ebay.com for this item and came up with a
number of sellers for brand new Metacreations Expression packages. I seemed
to remember that www.egghead.com was auctioning off a lot of these a while
back at a give-a-way price, unfortunately they must have depleted their
supply.
Here is the link to get the complete list of Metacreations products being
auctioned on ebay. I found at least 4 Expressions packages for sale in this
list and the asking price is (can you believe it?) about $10. Good luck.
http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?MfcISAPICommand=GetResult&ht=1&quer
y=metacreations&SortProperty=MetaEndSort
Kurt Ross
Masterworks
www.kurtross.com
Anne-Claire Tavares
Thank you for being so thoughtful, I am going to try,
Anne-Claire
Steve
title and title it was called in the mags in 1997), this I did in June 1997
for my home workstation, and never got round to using it despite having
projects lined up for it before purchase, (just too busy on other work ).
After a PC rebuild I could not get it to run for long before a Kernel32
happened (general protection fault). I also tried loading it onto the Y2K
checking PC temporarily and again a Kernel32 within minutes. Has anyone
experienced this ? (I don't know if there was a time it ever ran ok as I
never used it up to the rebuild !)
'NOW HEAR THIS ' I remember reading something in a PC mag a week or so
ago here in the UK about the revival of 'Expressions' by a new company (I
remember thinking yippee, perhaps they can solve the Kernel32 thing !), it
may have been in Computer Arts, or possibly PC Pro ...but I DID read
something of this nature.
I am surprised Macromedia have failed to see a good thing and grabbed
at the chance to have an added edge over other apps, shame on you ! (unless
it is fundamentally unstable !). Is the concept copyright or could
Macromedia develop their own ?
Steve.
William C wrote:- Hmmm, I think I'll install Expression on my current
machine and play around with
it while I'm evaluating FH.
I don't know why I never go into using it - it was probably just that where
I
was working we hardly used any Draw type apps. It was mostly just 3D Studio
and
Photoshop. Whenever there was a layout job I'd do it in Illustrator. I'd
almost
forgotten that I even had Expression.
I'll let ya know how it turns out...
-- William C.
and
Kurt Ross <ku...@kurtross.com> wrote in message
news:88ror9$3l5$1...@misc.macromedia.com...
> Hi Anne-Claire,
>
> I just did a quick search on ebay.com for this item and came up with a
> number of sellers for brand new Metacreations Expression packages. I
seemed
> to remember that www.egghead.com was auctioning off a lot of these a while
> back at a give-a-way price, unfortunately they must have depleted their
> supply.
>
> Here is the link to get the complete list of Metacreations products being
> auctioned on ebay. I found at least 4 Expressions packages for sale in
this
> list and the asking price is (can you believe it?) about $10. Good luck.
>
>
http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?MfcISAPICommand=GetResult&ht=1&quer
> y=metacreations&SortProperty=MetaEndSort
>
> Kurt Ross
> Masterworks
> www.kurtross.com
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>