Thread: Let It Snow(Days)! Board: Oblivion / Ship of Fools.


To visit this thread, use this URL:
http://forum.ship-of-fools.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=70;t=024064

---

Posted by Lyda*Rose (# 4544) on :
 
It is the time for making festive flakes, again. Although some of us cough:MegtheRed, mt, some others, myself:cough flake out of season without a license.

Here's the SnowDays site, and happy flaking to all.

[ 03. December 2012, 12:03: Message edited by: Ancient Mariner ]
 

---

Posted by lilBuddha (# 14333) on :
 
Am I the only person who was unaware of the right-click menu whilst creating flakes? And the progress bar beneath the flake itself?
 

---

Posted by Ariston (# 10894) on :
 
Also also, remember to add "SOF" as your location so we can track your flakes down!
 

---

Posted by Meg the Red (# 11838) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Lyda*Rose:
It is the time for making festive flakes, again. Although some of us cough:MegtheRed,mt,someothers,myself:cough flake out of season without a license.

---

Lyda*Rose, having seen the white stuff fall in every month (save July), I can tell you that around these parts there ain't no such thing as "out of season" when it comes to snow. You and mt are obviously Great White North wannabees.
 

---

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 
Meg, may I just say your stuff is amazing?
 

---

Posted by Lyda*Rose (# 4544) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by lilBuddha:
Am I the only person who was unaware of the right-click menu whilst creating flakes? And the progress bar beneath the flake itself?

---

It took me a while to catch on about the progress bar; my work doesn't challenge the Scissor Police too often. Frankly, as for the right-click, I knew it was there, but I mostly just go back and forth between "check polygon box" and "uncheck polygon box".

I generally use "polygon" alone or "freehand normal" (which takes up a lot of the progress bar) combined with "polygon". "Simplify" drives me nuts- I hate the program making decisions for me!

Thanks for sharing the tip on these for everyone.
 

---

Posted by Lyda*Rose (# 4544) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
Meg, may I just say your stuff is amazing?

---

This!
 

---

Posted by Meg the Red (# 11838) on :
 
Aw, shucks - right backa atcha

[ 02. December 2012, 10:57: Message edited by: Meg the Red ]
 

---

Posted by Pearl B4 Swine (# 11451) on :
 
Thanks Lyda ! (You're still the Best). It's amazing and still fun.
 

---

Posted by Dormouse (# 5954) on :
 
Oh dear! I can spend hours on here!
 

---

Posted by snowgoose (# 4394) on :
 
This is wayyyy too much fun!
 

---

Posted by Lyda*Rose (# 4544) on :
 
I just discovered the new "Make" button on the flake display. They have a deal with a site called Zazzle and you can get mugs, tees, necklaces, and stickers made of your designs.

I want me a necklace. Now not only a time waster but a money waster, too. Isn't the Net grand?
 

---

Posted by Lyda*Rose (# 4544) on :
 
But I'm not crazy about the new pop-up ads.

But then we've had years of free program and bandwidth use so I mustn't complain.
 

---

Posted by lilBuddha (# 14333) on :
 
My father is always asking how to remove adverts that appear on various free sites he uses. Upgrade to the pay version isn't deemed an acceptable answer.

says lilBuddha who complained about the orange and white arrow adverts we had here
Sorry about that.


but they were very annoying
 

---

Posted by Huia (# 3473) on :
 
Lyda*Rose that site could be addictive. I'm going to have to restrict myself to 3 a day if I'm to finish my shopping before Christmas.

Also it's perfect for someone like me who can't draw.

If i want to find other shipmates flakes do I search for SOF under location?

Huia
 

---

Posted by lilBuddha (# 14333) on :
 
That is correct, Huia. Though there are some shipmates who have created flakes without using that designation in the location field, IIRC.
 

---

Posted by Kyzyl (# 374) on :
 
I had lost this bookmark, thanks for the link. I have made several and have "located" myself at SOF. I am still Kyzyl on that site.
 

---

Posted by Lyda*Rose (# 4544) on :
 
Huia:

quote:

---

Lyda*Rose that site could be addictive.

---

Addictive? You jest. I think that I have flaked in every month this year but November. And in some months I cut more than one hundred designs!
 

---

Posted by Theophania (# 16647) on :
 
When I don't get anything useful done between now and summer, it's all your fault. I'd never seen this before and now I can't tear myself away...
 

---

Posted by mousethief (# 953) on :
 
I don't see a progress bar.

I also don't see GK (Golden Key) flaking this year -- her most recent one is from January.
 

---

Posted by lilBuddha (# 14333) on :
 
The progress bar is little dots underneath the flake preview. It is deceptive in that you can make many cuts and not see it move, or a few and see it fly across. My theory is the higher the resolution of your mouse, the more nodes created and the fewer lines allowed. This is negated in polygon mode.
 

---

Posted by Huia (# 3473) on :
 
Hi Mousethief - the first flake I caught in the random fall was one of yours with a L'Engle quote, I felt right at home

I'm going to have to play with the buttons a bit more for different effects, but a bettersurface on which to mouse might help.

Huia
 

---

Posted by mousethief (# 953) on :
 
Can anyone explain to me how people do the little dots that run around? I've tried my mightiest to get little dots to disappear but I always end up with scraps of leftover dot around the edges.

ETA: Indeed negative flaking completely eludes me. When I "flip" it to negative using the method on the misterX page, I can't make round dots or anything -- the only place that turns white is the space between the ends of my line after it crosses -- not what's inside the circle itself. I appear to be missing something vital but I can't figure out what it is. When I try flipping a lot of times everything just disappears, and doesn't always come back when I flip the other way. I've tried it in Foxpro and IE both, but no difference.

[ 08. December 2012, 18:27: Message edited by: mousethief ]
 

---

Posted by lilBuddha (# 14333) on :
 
If you show me the # of a particular flake so I understand what you are referencing, I will look when next at a computer.
 

---

Posted by mousethief (# 953) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by lilBuddha:
If you show me the # of a particular flake so I understand what you are referencing, I will look when next at a computer.

---

11313785 is a good place to start. Although if you can help me figure out negative flaking at all, I would be grateful.
 

---

Posted by lilBuddha (# 14333) on :
 
I'll be honest and tell you I've no clue at the moment. I can do simple inverses, but cannot get consistent control working in the negative. My drawing tablet makes it worse. If I work it out, I will let you know.
 

---

Posted by Lyda*Rose (# 4544) on :
 
The way I make negative flakes is to make one shape in the triangle then make sure the polygon function is unchecked. Then I start a line under and outside the triangle on the left, continue the line under the triangle, and when I get to the right end just past the right bottom corner, I make a loop at the end of the line and then click. It works for me most of the time. Then you can use both polygon and non-polygon as you like to make white cuts.

I've never figured out any rhyme or reason in this program why an action will work 90% of the time and squick out at others. I must lack a certain logic neuron. But I do know that when you have the flake in negative and a cut you make doesn't appear, I undo it and then try to make the cut from another direction. Like if I cut the failed shape from the top counterclockwise, I'll undo it (you have to undo it or it will invisibly screw up future cuts there) and try it from the bottom clockwise. It's another trick that usually works for me.
 

---

Posted by mousethief (# 953) on :
 
It's very frustrating. Positive flaking always works no matter what direction you draw in. Have you figured out how to make the dots move, i.e. how to erase a dot once you've drawn it, Lyda*Rose?
 

---

Posted by Lyda*Rose (# 4544) on :
 
'Fraid not, mt. I agree that negative flaking can be a pain in the butt sometimes. But somehow, the more I've done it, the more instinctively I've gotten it right. And when it's working I really like the results.

Mind you, I never have been able to get the flashy, animated thing going including disappearing dots. And I love those.

[ 09. December 2012, 08:20: Message edited by: Lyda*Rose ]
 

---

Posted by Ariston (# 10894) on :
 
Here's what I've figured out with the flashy animated thing: if you make a straight cut in polygon mode (curved cuts work too, of course; I just don't use them as often) that goes all the way across, the cuts you've made will inverse, assuming that the positive/negative values on both sides of the cut are the same. That is, if it's empty on both sides or full on both sides, it'll work; if it's one one way and the other the other, it'll just make a cut. This also works for cuts made inside the flake, or that don't go all the way across, I think; just watch where the vertices of your cut are, and things should work.

Do this often enough, and you'll get flashy flakes.
 

---

Posted by mousethief (# 953) on :
 
I've tried and tried to eliminate circles and can't do it without leaving slop around the edges. I have to think I'm not using the right method, but what that method might be, I have no idea.
 

---

Posted by Net Spinster (# 16058) on :
 
Mousethief, I just wanted to say how pretty and complex I found the flakes that you've made (even if you haven't figured out all the tricks).

BTW this is addictive.
 

---

Posted by mousethief (# 953) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Net Spinster:
Mousethief, I just wanted to say how pretty and complex I found the flakes that you've made (even if you haven't figured out all the tricks).

BTW this is addictive.

---

Thank you, and ain't it just!
 

---

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 


OK, who put the Dr. Bronner screed on one of my snowflakes?
 

---

Posted by lilBuddha (# 14333) on :
 
If it was someone here, I wish to thank them. I was only peripherally aware of Bronner's products and just read a bit about him What a delightfully crazy person.
My bet is Ariston. The clue is in the name.
 

---

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 
That was my guess, too. Although it could be Amazing Grace...

Just wanted to add-- there is such a warm and snuggly feeling you get when you search "SOF" and see your friend's names drifting by on pretty things. It's like getting a little bitty Christmas card.

[ 10. December 2012, 05:23: Message edited by: Kelly Alves ]
 

---

Posted by Ariston (# 10894) on :
 
While that sounds exactly like something I'd do, it wasn't me this time! Trust me, I would be taking credit for it if it were.
 

---

Posted by Haydee (# 14734) on :
 
Thank you - such a wonderful addition to my list of ways to procrastinate...
 

---

Posted by mousethief (# 953) on :
 
Has anybody else gotten any comments from Better Homes and Gardens this year? I haven't seen any.
 

---

Posted by Golden Key (# 1468) on :
 
Ok, finally got with the program and did one. (GK, from SOF)

Question: I can't make out people's names, because they're in red on a dark background. Is there anything I can do about that???

kthxbai
 

---

Posted by lilBuddha (# 14333) on :
 
Never noticed the colour scheme before. I've no issues with reading the names, could it be your monitor is set too dark?
 

---

Posted by Golden Key (# 1468) on :
 
Thanks! Brightening it helped. I usually keep the brightness way down, 'cause I'm sensitive to light. But maybe I can manage while I'm reading flakes.

 

---

Posted by lilBuddha (# 14333) on :
 
You've received comments from a magazine, MT?
 

---

Posted by mousethief (# 953) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by lilBuddha:
You've received comments from a magazine, MT?

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by lilBuddha:
Oooh. I do not give my e-mail to Snowdays, so do not know of comments unless I check a flake.

---

I get enough e-mail as it is. I just search my name for flakes from the last week so I can give my thanks to friendly critiquers. Actually I also enjoy the occasional anonymous adolescent who says something like "I hate your flake!"; I give rein to some G rated creativity in reply.
 

---

Posted by mousethief (# 953) on :
 
On a recent flake I made with a quote from Freddy Mercury, some young punk (I assume by the text-message spelling and lack of capitalization) asked me if I even knew who Freddy Mercury was. I replied, I've seen Freddy Mercury live in concert twice. Have you? The punk has not yet responded.
 

---

Posted by lilBuddha (# 14333) on :
 
Should have said, "He's a bloke what made American cars, innit? Dodge brothers, Henry Ford, Freddy Mercury..."
 

---

Posted by mousethief (# 953) on :
 
Well done.
 

---

Posted by Lyda*Rose (# 4544) on :
 
I've tried searching for SOF flakes during the last few hours and the sites search function seems to be down. Waw!
 

---

Posted by Belle Ringer (# 13379) on :
 
Mine is number eleven million something!
 

---

Posted by Lyda*Rose (# 4544) on :
 
The search function came back- praise the Lord! Now I can catch up with all the lovely flakes from the Shippies.
 

---

© Ship of Fools 2016


UBB.classic^TM 6.5.0