I know it's spam, but I'm desperate for feedback

[Vasiliy]

Hello,

I have designed an application to help with wood-engraving-like shading in vector graphics format. On paper it works great , but I was hoping to see, if there was any demand for such a program, before going any further into development.

I'm a graphic designer. This is my current project, but I can't force myself to fix mistakes I made in this work, because it is just too laborious. Instead I came up with an idea of how to comfortably generate and manipulate complex set of lines like this:

To make a long story short, I need a hundred of potential customers to convince myself.
http://dore.gnom.us - I set up a simple page to count people

Thank you.

edit: Moses is a woodcut by Gustave Doré

 

[Sam]

I'm not sure if this is something hand engravers can use, but it's intriguing just the same. I have a Photoshop plugin that does something similar. Is this a stand-alone application?

 

[Vasiliy]

I must say hand engravers are much more positive about it than computer graphics community.

As far as my research in Photoshop plug-ins goes, this is what they have to offer today

and this is how it should be

Cross-platfromness is not a big deal these days, so, mac - yes. As for plugin vs stand alone, to be honest, I haven't thought it through to this extent. I was so ecstatic of how simple it can be to arrange and to direct lines, that I went "spamming" right away, because my ecstasy evaporates quickly. For me appreciation from other people is a more reliable motivation in long term projects.

PS
Sorry for my English. Sequence of tenses is not my strong suit.
Admin, thank you for approving this post. Engravingforum banned me right away

 

[Andrew Biggs]

Hi Vasiliy

Your program looks great, but as Sam says, probabley not much good for engravers on a day to day basis.

But another very useful tool to the graphic art and design community. I should imagine a plugin would be the way to go.

Good luck with your venture and I wish you every success with it. I can only imagine the amount of work that you put into it so far!!

Cheers
Andrew

 

[yakob]

As Sam says " there are some Photoshop plugins that do something similar "

here is an example

http://www.alphaplugins.com/products/products.php?menu=get_prod_id&prod_id=2

 

[Vasiliy]

NO!

In Alpha Engraver there is a list of wavy patterns that you can choose from, but the problem is that their shape can correspond to the image only by accident.

A line should accentuate the underlying form, its texture, muscle structure, light distribution. In your example they just pushed the resolution to the point when lines became indistinguishable

 

[GertGraveur]

I would need more pics before I would buy it. So far it looks great! I guess most of us don't need the aid of a plug-in like that. Not when it comes to Bulino dots. If you can make it generate banknote quality (for pictures of animals, faces, buildings etc) it should sell. I would buy it to have a shading reference. I added a picture to show what I mean, if it can generate something like this, most of us would buy it ;-)

 

[Vasiliy]

I understand.
It's too early to boast. Never the less, it is my intention to make such quality more accessible and less time-consuming.

 

[j.c.]

Vasiliy,
This is not “spamâ€; merely a request to see if there is a “market†for a potential tool; no different than many other similar “requests†for “market analysisâ€. You are not trying to sell something as at present it does not exist.

That being said, this is by far the greatest“tool offering†I have seen being offered for hand engravers in a very long time. The potential for this tool as you describe it would have many uses for hand engravers, if “they†took the time to really consider its possible uses.

This “style†of engraving is the pinnacle of the hand engravers art.

I urge you to continue and make this tool available. It would certainly help speed up the process of a very exacting, painstaking layout process.

The results of this type of engraving, done properly, over the so-called “bulino†technique (which is simply a “half-tone†rendering) is in “my opinion†far superior for rendering “realismâ€.

The following is a printed picture and the hand engraved plate it was printed from.
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q17/burincloseups/lincoln.jpg

…………………..governments seem to agree on this technique!
j.c.

 

[Vasiliy]

My first post was in engravingforum. In 15 minutes I picked a quarrel with a mod. And five more minutes later the post was removed. Here, was my second post, hence the title.

Now, fourteen forum boards later, I can say that 25% of my posts do not survive no matter the title This week I learned a lot about engraving, and some about spamming, and my English has improved a bit. Armed with all that knowledge I will try again this friday. Then the fate of this app will be settled.

Thank you for support.

 

[monk]

i think it's a very cool concept. not too sure of how well it would sell-- considering pricing and such. i'd think maybe woodcarvers and pyrographers might find this interesting.

 

[Sam]

J.C. makes some good points. This style of engraving which we see on banknotes and occasionally on postage stamps is a wonderful line style and technique that few of us know much about. The other "engraver" type plugins do just as you have shown, which is to convert the image to some wavy lines to simulate engravings. While I've seen some artsy images done with them that are rather nice looking, they are not engravings by any means. What sets your software apart is that apparently it follows the contours in the photo correctly and makes lines going in the correct directions for more of an authentic engraving. Your image of Moses illustrates this beautifully in the folds and drapes of his garments. Based on this, an engraver could scan an image, convert it with your software, and then know how the lines should be placed for engraving in metal. I guess how well it works will determine how well it sells as well if hand engravers have a practical use for it. Please keep us updated.

 

[Chujybear]

If it works- Amazing! What platform?

 

[monk]

sam mentioned a fantastic resource-- the old postage stamps. there's a nearly infinite variety of work shown in these beautiful little images. perhaps you could derive something useful by giving these little works a more serious look. most of that work was strictly by hand. put a few under an opaque projector and blow them up to "wall size". quite interesting to do.

 

[Gargoyle]

It certainly looks interesting and I'd like to see how it develops.

 

[Vasiliy]

I am very sorry if I and my English confused any of you, but Moses is not a result of my work. It is a crop of an actual woodcut by Gustave Dore and was there only to illustrate my point about complexity. Although I see how this can be done on a computer, this program exists only on paper.

As for the updates, this morning I started another wave of spam in various forums. I will report the result this Monday.
So far, twenty four people have signed up. I hope, not only because of the confusion with Moses. Anyway, it is still not enough to outbalance my day-job.

 

[Vasiliy]

I reread my first post and now I see. Again, please, accept my apology.

 

[Tim Wells]

"My first post was in engravingforum. In 15 minutes I picked a quarrel with a mod. And five more minutes later the post was removed. Here, was my second post, hence the title.

Now, fourteen forum boards later, I can say that 25% of my posts do not survive no matter the title This week I learned a lot about engraving, and some about spamming, and my English has improved a bit. Armed with all that knowledge I will try again this friday. Then the fate of this app will be settled.

Thank you for support. "

Vasiliy,
I am the moderator on that forum and I don't recall seeing this at all, maybe the administrator removed it before I saw it but I can't see anything wrong with it. The admin hasn't said anything to me about it so at the risk of speaking out of turn, perhaps you could try again. Tim

 

[Vasiliy]

Well, that post was a bit different. As a mod, can you tell me please, why is it that my current thread there is visible only when I am logged in?

Updates: I am putting this project on hold. Subscriptions are dripping in as slow as two sign-ups a day, so I'll just wait. I put out some work-flow details at CGTalk. I don't cover the algorithms for the automated part of it there, though.

The good news is: your amazing art stays elitist, and the entry threshold stays as high

 

[mrthe]

Your post was deleted i think because the link taht you have put is for emails sign up only and don`t show anything more that this,and this is very dangerous for forum's users,i think the admin have done that to protect his users,because in this way many people makes mails database for resell to advertising company for spam or for sent viruses or malicious files,i don`t say that is your case,and it`s normal i think if a admin see that your first post is something like this ,delete it,maybe the right way before post it will be ask a authorization to the owner of the forum expecially if is a commercial project.
Good luck with your programm