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What...

I apologise if this has been asked before (many times or seldom)

I apologise if this is the wrong forum

But what IS vector art? I see people doin stuff with it all the time and I'm like :confused:

Thanks for your time

Stu

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"I once knew a man who said death smiles at us all;
All a man can do is smile back."

-Gladiator

Vector art usually refers to digital art that is created primarily using mathematical vectors to create shapes that form the art piece, as opposed to using bit-mapped images to create the art piece.

Basically math art?

Stu

___________________

"I once knew a man who said death smiles at us all;
All a man can do is smile back."

-Gladiator

Basically, yes.

Vector art elements are created via mathematical algorithms, similar in that respect to the way 3d renderings are generated.

Conversly, rastorized art is pixel by pixel mapping, the artwork is created by mapping points on an x,y grid and they are thus fixed at that position. This is why raztorized images lose quality when you enlarge/reduce them. Wector images, where the algorithms allow for fluid scaling and resixing because the elements of the artwork aren't fixed in one specific, size-independant spot.

Vectors are used primarily for print this whole vector art craze that's hit the web is just a fad, really IMHO. It serves no advantages over bitmapped artwork as far as the web is concerned, unless you're talking flash of SVG's.

So, the reason vector art is used in printing is because, as mentioned above, it comes out much cleaner and isn't dependant on any one resolution. You can print it at 72dpi or 1200 dpi, at 1cm or 1ft and not lose any image quality.

Vector art never appears on screen truly as it is, it's always a little more grainy and a little less accurate, which is why I'm somewhat baffled at the "vector art but presented in an all digital medium" craze.

Another common myth is that all vector art is consistant of flat images and uses overlapping shapes to create the illusion of depth and shadow. This isn't true at all. Vector art can have as many shapes and gradations in it as a rastor picture can, if your software allows for it and you have the skills to create it. In fact, only about 1/10th of the vector art I do is "flat."

Attached is a couple pieces, both rasterized versions of vector illustrations that I've done, one flat, the other more 3d, with gradients and shading.

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Last edited by KelliShaver, August 15th, 2003 03:14 AM (Edited 1 times)

Dude, that review rocks

Again, I dont even know what vectors are, and I havent poked around the forums here *ashamed*, but what programs make vector art? Any? 3D Max and all that stuff?

Thanks for the in-depth description, Kelli

Stu

___________________

"I once knew a man who said death smiles at us all;
All a man can do is smile back."

-Gladiator

Quote:

KelliShaver said
...this whole vector art craze that's hit the web is just a fad, really IMHO.

I totally agree.

Quote:

Originally posted by GoM
Again, I dont even know what vectors are, and I havent poked around the forums here *ashamed*, but what programs make vector art?

The heavyweight of the vector graphics world seems to be Adobe's Illustrator program.

Macromedia makes a program called Freehand that many seem to like, as does Corel with their Draw program.

There are a couple of other programs but those seem to be the most widely used.

The reference I made to 3d work was that yes, 3d models are created in the same way that vector art is, with the exception of bitmapped texturing and such. So if you want to look at it that way, then any 3d program creates vector art... The final result that you get from it isnt' a vector based image file, though, it's a rasterized version of the vector-based models.

Illustrator is the vector program that I use most and prefer, mostly for its blending options and gradient meshes, and I prefer the adobe interface to Macromedia's.

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