learning path trace

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DawnStendin

DawnStendin

MGF, Master Grumble Framer
Joined
Sep 13, 2006
Posts
680
Loc
Spokane, WA
Hi, I've been working hard to learn all the little features of the Wizard and am now slowly working my way through the path trace tutorial...but then what? Im planning on attending Vegas for the first time this coming year...will there be classes there with regard to path trace and advanced designs? Is there a book or disc with more than the tutorial offers? I seem to recall mention of Brian's design book in an old thread but can't find it now. Advice on classes and other tidbits on learning all this would be appreciated.
 
Feel free to contact Dan in Marketing (888/855-3335) about PathTrace classes. He should be able to direct you to one that will suit your needs.
 
But best of all routes is stopping by and spending a bit of time with the amazing Dani, and Chuck, and Rob, and Steve and..... oh and there are a few things just hanging around on the wall....

I'd show you some pictures I snuck.... but then I'd have to kill you. :D
 
Actually, Dawn and I are planning a road trip soon (Honest, Dawn, I'll e-mail you soon, gotta get a flight plan) to Wizard University in WizardTown...Mukelteo (something like that) Washington. An afternoon or two, one-on-two (in our case) with the Wizards....maybe Dani, or Steve, or whoever has the courage to take us on! They are all awesome there, ready to answer and explain. Nothing like hands-on, what's-this-mean, Q & A. Mostly about Path Trace (I haven't even started yet.... Dawn, do we need to switch Grasshoppers?!). I need to be shown!

Don't worry Paul-the-First....we'll still take the class with ya in January.
 
Let me know when you're going Val, I'll come up. We'll rent a limo and go to Charlie's place for Chinese. Think of it as a Vegas refresher course on "how to go do Chinese dinner". :D

And if the lights are too bright......

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we'll dim some.

I know, I know.. I should have save that one for the joke contest. It's OK, I'll have another one in an half hour. :D
 
I have taken that course three times. I understand it perfectly while I am there, and take copious notes. But when I get home, the notes have turned to gibberish, and I have no clue how to do anything! But, I can't play sequence-learning video games either. I can't remember long chains of instructions.

I suggested to Wizard that they produce a Lab Book (Path Trace for Dummies would be a good title if the "for Dummies' wasn't already copyrighted) . I swear, I would pay $100 for it!
 
Oh Ellen, I feel your pain. I was in Chicago about two months ago and had the exact same problem! When I got back to the shop, and sat in front of the computer, I could get through a few of the steps in designing a specific special mat and then my brain would freeze up! And the notes? Gibberish as you say!

Put me down for your "Lab" book...........



"If I only had a brain." Scarecrow
 
Ahh all you little grasshoppers out there!~
Practice!~ Practice!~ Practice!~
As soon as you complete the course!~
You need to go back and design at least 10 -15 mats right away so it is fresh and then you need to do at least one or two a week to keep sharp!~

Putting together those first 10-20 frames was a challange at first now look at how easy it is. This is the same thing!~

I almost would rather design a good mat than than teach someone something & I love to teach!~
 
Baer...ahhh to pick your brain with chopsticks...a dweam come twue! :smiley:
Val...Really really looking forward to our Wiz trip...just was hoping to find a little mental stimulation (easy Baer!) in the mean time. No worries, you are still the master and I the grasshopper.
As for a lab book....my credit card is burning a hole in my hand!

What Vegas class are you talking about? Is it the same as Wiz U? Im confused! (again hee hee) Haircolor must be soaking in!
 
Dawn, you can pick my brain anytime.... not being used for much else these days. As for the Path Trace... my speed dial corresponds with the little light on Dani's phone that flashes when there is someone calling with "Special Needs and Comprehensive Issues".
 
Which class did you guys take? I've sent an employee to two rather expensive day long Brian Wolf classes with the understanding that he would come back knowing how to path-trace but he said that both times they left that till the end of the class and both times they ran out of time before getting to it. Dani just did a wonderful job for me in programming one, but they said the charge would be $35 and it was actually $75 so I took a loss on it. All in all I'm down several hundred bucks on my pathtrace quest with nothing gained. In my long love affair with Wizard this is the one thing that is a sore spot.
 
I don't understand why they don't just create a program that will convert a simple line drawing scanned into a computer into a cutable path? It's realy not that hard for a programer to create one. Why confuse us with a program about as advanced as one from the late 80s.
 
Okay, just to simplifiy...I wanna know how and where all these folks doing great path trace designs learned how to do it. I'm a smart girl...and stubborn...(more stubborn then smart) so I could eventually squeak out some simple stuff on my own but I want MORE! :D
 
DawnStendin said:
Okay, just to simplifiy...I wanna know how and where all these folks doing great path trace designs learned how to do it. I'm a smart girl...and stubborn...(more stubborn then smart) so I could eventually squeak out some simple stuff on my own but I want MORE! :D
Click to expand...

I think maybe we have to be Skull & Bones.
 
How about "Path Trace for Grasshoppers"?
 
Val...you just couldn't help yourself could you? :icon21:
 
No. :icon19:

But c'mon, isn't that better than "Path Trace for Dummies"???
 
Get real Val...dummies can't do path trace they can only crash cars. :icon21:
 
brian..k said:
I don't understand why they don't just create a program that will convert a simple line drawing scanned into a computer into a cutable path? It's realy not that hard for a programer to create one. Why confuse us with a program about as advanced as one from the late 80s.
Click to expand...

I'm not a programmer, but I have used a variety of Raster-to-Vector programs over the years, hoping for the same results you asked for. Many of them were merely a "good start" on a design, but nothing more. Arcs would come in as 3 million straight lines (I kid you not), often in pairs of 10's, trying to fill in the thickness of that drawn line with vector lines. The computer could only do so much with the information on the drawing, and tried to fill in the thickness of the actual lines as well.

More often than not, I would start a new layer in Cadd, and simply use this mess of a conversion as a basis of drawing the new design.

In that aspect, PathTrace is a lot simpler. Load the picture you want, tell it what size you want, then draw along the lines you actually want. Plus, you don't have to go through and delete the other 255 layers of the Cadd drawing so that it wouldn't accidentally get traced and try to cut.

AND, it is a lot easier than manually plotting out points on a drawing in order to enter it into Cadd. In the early days of Cadd (long before PathTrace), there wasn't any way to simply load a picture and draw on it. You had to manually measure out the points on the sketch outline the customer gave you, which meant a LOT of measuring if there were many arcs involved. I remember this dolphin puzzle I was trying to do the outline of.... by the time I was done, I was ready for a mahi-mahi steak!
 
When I first got my Wizard, I went to www.wizardint.com and printed out the tutorials to make my own "Wizard for Dummies/Grasshoppers" notebook. Some of them are clear as mud, and then some would just leave me like there were steps missing. The best experience is learn by doing. One of my first complex orders (complex for me at the time) was for two vertical collages of wedding proofs. The customer gave me the size limit (12 x 28) with 19 photos. With the customer's patience and understanding, it took me weeks working overtime to finally get all the overlapping windows to cut like I wanted. After accomplishing this, it became easier to set up other advanced designs. Just take lots of breaks to avoid shooting something or somebody.
 
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