Vectoring?

[Plume 922]

Hey guys!

 

So, I have absolutely no idea if this is where you're supposed to post a topic like this, but meh, I'm going to just go for it. [sorry admin/mod if I'm wrong and you have to move it ]

 

Alrighty tighty lighty. Onto business!

 

To those more seasoned artists out there: How do you vector? What sort of processes do you use and what programs are your choice items for vectoring? Do you aim to get it show style with perfect lines or not? And, probably most importantly, where's a good place to start for vectoring? I want to try it, but there are just so many things and I don't honestly know where to even begin. 

 

Any tips and advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[also, tutorials for complete newbs are good too (all the ones I've seen seem to be made for people with some idea of the language used for vectoring and also what to do)]

Edited January 3, 2015 by MiniKirby123

[Lisa 5,553]

You'd be better off going to YouTube and searching up "how to vector ponies" or something along those lines. It's easier to visually learn.

 

But I guess I'll tell you a few basic things about vectoring (atleast, my vectoring).

 

The program I use is Adobe Illustrator. Although it costs money and if you don't want to spend money - Inkscape is a perfectly fine, free alternative. When I vector, I don't really care for matching the show's style. I prefer seeing the lines' thickness and thinness dynamics, because seeing the different variations in stroke width can give your art your own style and subjectively look prettier. 

 

To get started, first you'll have to find out want you want to vector. If it's a pony, simple, find an image of that pony - or draw your own image of that pony (scan it/take a photo of it) and then start vectoring over the top of it.

 

As for the actual method of vectoring, that's pretty hard to explain for me. So as I said above, I recommend looking up YouTube tutorials.

 

Hope this helps some. C:

Edited January 3, 2015 by Couleur

[Plume 922]

@,

 

Thanks! Will begin the youtube surf now  

[Guest]

I use 'Photoshop' for my vectoring. It costs money outside of the trial but you can use 'Paint Tool Sai' for free. You can make vectors in both, but I prefer Photoshop for that and only use Sai for the amazing colouring/blending tools.

 

As a complete newb I recommend finding a reference picture of an existing vector. Then making a new layer ontop, use the 'Pen Tool' to drop an 'anchor point'. This is where you start your line. Then follow the line a bit, click and drag to drop the next anchor point. Clicking and dragging let's you make the line between the two anchor points straight or curved. Once you have finished a line, right click and use 'Stroke Path' or if you made a double line, right click and use 'Fill Path'. Double lines are the most precise, Paths are quicker.

Then once all the lines are done, on a layer underneath them, I colour it in with flat colours.

 

But yeah, 'how to vector' on Youtube is a good start.

[That One Pone 584]

GIMP is nice for vectoring, fairly easy to do as well.

[Naiya The Brony 483]

vectoring can be tricky on first try but it will get more easier if you always continue to vector

 

Like every vector arts, you need a base, either making your own or borrow one from the show/other sources. But IMO it is best if you make one on your own that way it would not only improve your artstyle and performance it will also give that "originality" aspect

 

the program I use is Inkscape. IMO it is one of the best vectoring program out there. Now for first timers inkscape is quite tricky to use but that's not a problem if you watch a vector tutorial on youtube.

 

for quality.. before, I to tried making it close to the show's artstyle but I felt guilty because the base I used wasn't "mine". I felt like I was just copying someone's art. I use my own art style now ( look at my avatar as an example) but for beginners I recommend you to stick with the show's quality that way you could experiment and improve

 

good luck at vectoring

Edited January 3, 2015 by Nihi The Brony

[Plume 922]

Thanks to all of your responses! 

 

Youtube holds all the answers I swear I feel like it made everything clearer and I just.

 

I'm definitely going to give it a shot  

Edited January 3, 2015 by MiniKirby123

[WindShear 543]

There are some tutorials on the MLP-VectorClub deviant art page that you might find useful. They are how I got started with vectors.

 

http://mlp-vectorclub.deviantart.com/

[Plume 922]

@@bronislav84, 

 

Based off what I've found, digital art is a branch name for any sort of computerised/technology based art, where-as vectors as a side-branch. But you're not wrong, saying vectors are more lines and stuff, cause they sort of are. They're made from lines, instead of pixels.

[Guest]

Might I ask a question please? What is the difference between vector and digital art? Is it that vectors are mostly lines while digital art is closer to paper sketching?

 

Vectors are indeed just lines. You can zoom up a vector infinitely and it will still be as sharp as it was. At least in theory.

[Lisa 5,553]

Might I ask a question please? What is the difference between vector and digital art? Is it that vectors are mostly lines while digital art is closer to paper sketching?

 

Regular rasterized images are created with pixels.

 

Vectors are created with mathematical equations between each of the points in the strokes. Meaning you can zoom in on them infinitely.

[Lisa 5,553]

Whoa that sounds complicated. Can a vector drawing not be done in like Photoshop?

 

Vectoring can be done in Photoshop.

 

P.S, you don't actually have to know any mathematics. You just draw and the computer does the maths for you. 

[Spacey 748]

I use gimp for my vectors. Its fairly easy to use and its free. I try to make all my vectors show style so I use a lot of bases to help guide me. To start off, a vector is simply a line with direction. When doing a vector drawing, its just a bunch of vectors put together to make a picture. If you would like to start messing around with vectoring I'd suggest simple things with straight lines first like a house, box, books, anything with sharp edges. Then slowly work your way to curved lines. This is how I started out. Hope that gives you some sort of help. I wish you success! 

[bambiki 10]

i use inkscape its quick  and works well with my tablet. also its free! vectoring isnt to hard once you start getting the hang of it which it sounds like you will seeing you found all the tutorials. one bit of advice i can give is not to get hung up trying to get every single thing perfect otherwise you can start messing it up or cluttering the whole project depending on how you deal with things.

[Admiral Regulus 2,769]

As it's been said before, vectors are digital art that is defined mathematically, so that it can be scaled to a number of resolitions and still maintain good quality.

 

You know how it is: when you take something small and scale it up, it looks like crap.

 

 

But if its a vector, that doesn't happen. You get a clear, crisp image, because the image is saved in a mathematical notation. It's all lines and shapes, instead of a series of pixels.