Does any one use Adobe Illustator

[Phatthumb]

I was thinking about buying adobe illustrator to make my drawing easier. On AS I have to use "tracing images" to even get anywhere. My question is does Illustrator make drawing easier and does it work well with AS?

[jahnocli]

Look at Xara Xtreme first -- it's cheaper, faster...and better, in my opinion!

[heyvern]

When I first bought Moho (ASP) I used Adobe Illustrator to aid in the transition of learning the new drawing tools.

As far as using it with AS it depends on how you want to use it and how much "extra" work you want to do after importing.

I've used AI for many years and I had fewer issues using imported AI files in AS than many users did, but some point removal and clean up was still required. Many of the fill and stroke features in AI will not translate.

Will you use AI for more than just importing to AS? If so it might be worth the price. If the only reason for the purchase is using it with AS there might be cheaper solutions.

If you plan to import vector drawings for use in AS as vector layers just make sure whatever you get has the ability to save out in EPS format. Inkscape (http://www.inkscape.org/) is FREE and it exports AI and EPS format. It only opens SVG though.

EDIT:

The drawing tools are completely and totally different. AI will not help you very much learning to draw in AS.

-vern

[Farbklecks]

I don''t know Xara Xtreme.
I use Corel Draw, and I like to work with it.
I've got also Adobe Illustrator 10, and Freehand MX, which development is now stopped by Adobe.
All these vector software are in the principles the same, some different handlngs and some different effects.

In AS I've got problems to fill shapes and to create the outline I want, I think it's a kind of excercising. And yes, I do not like it to draw with AS.
But the fill and the outline has to be learned.

An alternative is also inkscape an open source vector software.
http://www.inkscape.org/

Edit:
oops Heyvern was faster with inkscape...

[ulrik]

Has anyone managed to import an eps file from Inkscape into AS? I can't get it to work, if anyone has managed it please tell me how to do it.
About exporting to ai from Inkscape, I can't find that option.
I'm using mac osx 10.4.10 and tried Inkscape version 0.45.1.

I don't know about Illustrator, I've never tried it, but I've used Expression which export to ai format but I can't get the transparency to show up in AS

[Genete]

I draw directly into inkscape then save it to AI format and the import to AS with no problem.
The shape was OK in color and points. I don't know if all the features of inkscape import properly to AS.

If you can import a EPS file into Inkscape why don't save it to AI and then import it to AS?

-G

[ulrik]

I draw directly into inkscape then save it to AI format and the import to AS with no problem.
The shape was OK in color and points. I don't know if all the features of inkscape import properly to AS.

If you can import a EPS file into Inkscape why don't save it to AI and then import it to AS?

-G

I don't have an option for saving to .ai, I have an option to save to .eps but AS don't import that file....hmm, when you save to .ai is there an option in the dialog for the .ai extension?
I must be doing something stupid I guess

[Genete]

This program works based into several plugins:
visit this page to know how to plug the one for export (save as) AI (8.0 or higher)
http://tavmjong.free.fr/INKSCAPE/MANUAL ... port-Other

It is usual that in linux all the available import and export formats are available if possible. Linux have not native formats (beyond the package system , the file system ext2 etc.) so all help to be connected to the rest of proprietary formats is needed.

-G

[ulrik]

Thanks Genete for the link, I'll look it up and see if it works in osx.
cheers!

[human]

My question is [a] does Illustrator make drawing easier and does it work well with AS?

[a (part one)] Yes, it does. Step back a second and consider the big picture. Illustrator is now more or less at Version 11 or 12 or something. Adobe backs it with enough finances, programmers, technical writers, and quality-control people to make it easy, powerful, and reliable. It WILL pay for itself in your time and your sanity. It really gives meaning to the term "enabling technology."

[a (part two)] You say you want an easier path (no pun intended) to vector art. Then don't forget about Illustrator's ability to vectorize raster images, whether these are photographs or digital paintings. You want to make drawing vectors easier? Then you need to be able to resort to a raster-to-vector solution at your own discretion.

[a (part three)] Corel Draw does a great job with raster to vector, too. Moreover, Inkscape is extremely good for freeware, and it has a highly limited, though still useful, ability to do raster to vector on black and white images. If you can simulate the parts of your color images using a series of black and white drawings, you can vectorize into .ai with Inkscape and import that into AS Pro.

The subject of importing Illustrator to Anime Studio Pro comes up in the forum about once every two months. Yes, you can definitely do it. No, your colors won't be retained with close accuracy. Yes, AS Pro gives .ai vectors a great many undesirable points which then have to be cleaned up. This is because AS Pro and Illustrator use different mathematical models for Bezier curves. (AS Pro, theoretically, has a more advanced approach that enables the user to reshape the curves more intuitively.)

[c] Because of , the pros on this forum (not me), have bitten the bullet and developed the discipline of drawing directly in AS Pro. It's probably safe to say that drawing in As Pro should be the goal of any 2D animator, but some of us don't have the luxury of devoting so much effort to learning such a tricky and arcane tool.

[slowtiger]

human sums it up correctly. However, in my experience learning vector stuff is done only once, and then modified to the habits of different programs. I come from Freehand, Illustrator feels strange to me, AS feels strange in another way, but I can comfortably draw in all of them.

[funksmaname]

Hey - i'll try to keep it brief. I use illustrator quite a lot and have done for a while for print work - but now i'm getting to grips with AS drawing i'm starting to prefer it - ESPECIALLY for using within AS... really fluid shapes possible without having to worry about point anchors...

for cartoon type work i find the gradient/shading tools to be superior in ease to illustrator in many ways... in illystrator you either create a shape and apply a gausian blur to it (which looks sort of pixelised for some reason) or create gradient meshes which are REALLY complicated to control... in AS, if you think and visualise the flows of lines it makes drawing really simple (especially with the modified tools and other scripts - i find them essential)

My recoomendation is spend the time learning AS if you primerily want to work with animation - its different but once you get your head around it it will seriously make your life easier - all the time chasing other vector programs for creating content for AS is better spent learning AS imho.

ofcourse if you want to work with graphic design more than animation then you might be better off looking at illustrator as a more rounded solution... but dont be mistaken in thinking it will make your life easier for AS content creation!

...so much for keeping it brief

[heyvern]

Since learning Moho/ASP I've nearly lost all my skills/love for Illustrator. I much prefer AS drawing tools to AI.



Try this in illustrator:

Create two filled shapes that share a common line. Can't be done. You need to line up two separate filled shapes really close.

I spent an hour recently trying to do that in Illustrator because I was so use to Moho I had completely forgotten you can't.

p.s. I can't stress enough how fantastic Fazek's drawing tools for AS are! Go to the scripting forum and get these tools!!!!! They are fantastic. They speed up the drawing process by 1000%.

viewtopic.php?t=3507

-vern

[Phatthumb]

Hey, I didn't think that many people would respond to that. Thank you very much. I'm going to try out inkscape and work more on my "AS" drawing and see if I can get some better results. I gotta protect my wallet for that 600 dollar Illustrator price tag ya know Thanks again for all of the help!

[LittleFenris]

I would say just learn AS and its drawing tools instead of doing double duty in Illustrator and AS. I (like a lot of others in here) started off doing characters in Illustrator, then imported them into AS because I was more comfortable w/ the Illustrator tools since I had been using them for years. I quickly figured out the AS tools are pretty easy to learn and at the end of the day were no slower than doing a character straight in AS. Not to mention I didn't have to take a bunch of time to cleanup a character that was imported from Illustrator that looked weird (curves were shaped different once imported) or had way too many control points, etc...The pain of importing then cleaning up was far worse than just using AS to do all the drawing from the start.

Unless you are also going to use Illustrator to do logo design and possibly illustrations, I would save that bundle of cash on something else.