[1.8.0.526] some more vector brush with wacom issues

[narrationsd]

• Pressure sensitivity enabled on a vector paintbrush makes a mess if you hold or stop at either end of a stroke. The smoother paints on the attached screenshot only appear from smooth brush movement. Trying some dots will give you the best way to see the problem -- as the very ragged/jagged dots on the pic.  Or just stop a brush movement as or before you lift it. Either way, you can watch Design try to build a cap, and fail to do it nicely, as it also has on the ragged-ended lines where I stopped the brush or held it at starting. Turning off pressure sensitivity gives nice round caps. I had about 80% width control set on the pressure controller.
• The controller for vector paint brush is always reset to 'off'. Seems it should hold your current setting between tool selections -- and also when re-opening a drawing.
• The same stability/memory is needed for the size of the brush: setting several other things will revert it to 16px size.
• There are funny interactions (changed brush size, etc.) if you open the end caps tab and try to make adjustments -- only brush should work with brushed strokes. And if you set to brush, it doesn't change to a brush from a line tool, also.

 

Apologies for the stark look of the screenshot -- I took out opacity sensitivity to assure the simplest example, and same reason didn’t work in pleasant colors.

 

All the results are with the very latest Wacom driver, and my Intuos 4 tablet.  1.7 gives much the same results, while Illustrator CS6 gives nice and smooth variable strokes with the same level of pressure sensitivity.

[Sean P]

Hi narrationsd,

The first issue you mention is with development to be improved, however I'll pass your comments on. The second and third I couldn't reproduce - for me Brush Size and Controller is remembered when going from one tool to another and then back to the Vector Brush Tool. Are you able to grab a screen recording demonstrating this happening? Could you get a screen recording demonstrating the strange interactions you mentioned in point 4 please?

 

Thanks

[narrationsd]

Ok, here in the morning is a better version of replying with the proofs you asked. Late last night had been a little frustrating

 

This is the box score, also notes, and with luck, the videos in proper order afterwards.

1. I can't actually seem to duplicate the 'random' resetting of brush controller to None, if I am quite confident it happened, and multiple times. Perhaps I don't remember the triggering other actions before coming back to the brush and seeing this (or maybe I wasn't actually on the latest beta?). Selecting other tools, fooling with visible other settings, no luck. But there is something...
2. However, I can 100% duplicate another case of the brush controller resetting to None. It happens after closing and re-opening the drawing. One would expect the controller setting to be saved with the document, but it isn't.
3. For this, I made the requested film:  controller-back-to-none.mp4, attached.
4. Concluding with the more complicated item, I could certainly duplicate the troubles with multiple conflicting and improper settings of brush size, filmed in three-conflicting-brush-size-settings.mp4, attached, and with description(s) I'll put next.

Here are the steps in the film for the multiple conflicting settings:

• I first set a large sized by the Toolbar Width slider, then drew with it:  fat.
• Then I opened More on the Toolbar, and slightly changed the Size Variance. This caused the brush to go to the More window's Width setting. I drew with it: thin.
• Finally I moved the Width slider on the Stroke panel -- which should have absolutely no affect on a Brush...and found the brush following it, to extent of its range. I left it at medium and drew; got medium width on the brush.

And here are some things to note about the conflicts:

• The width from the stroke panel and the Toolbar track, sort of, but don't at all match: 186.6 toolbar vs 41.1 on stroke (anyway, this should go away).

• All three of the width inputs interact, improperly. Clearly strokewidth shouldn't affect a brush.
• If Toolbar and More width are going to interact, the current Toolbar setting should be pulled into the More panel when it opens. Then it will also always be possible to set it differently there if you also want to change the width.

Ok, a little editing for clarity, and now I try to add the movies at the end.

 

 

[narrationsd]

Hi Sean, 

Did you need me to put this additional report you requested in a separate bug item?

I  had a look at where the ticket on this set of posts goes, and indeed it leads to a group of similar complaints on pen drawing of strokes, which as you noted was only my first item...

Thanks,
Clive
gone until it's morning over here again

 

[Sean P]

Hi narrationsd,

Thank you very much for the videos, no need for a separate thread now - that is much clearer! 

I will put an improvement request in with development to see if it is possible to get the Brush Controller's current setting saved with the document, because as you say opening any new or existing document will set it back to None.

Regarding the other issue, it certainly does look like modified Brush Width isn't carrying through to the 'More' dialog. Again I will get this passed on to development as well! 

Thanks again for getting back to us!

[narrationsd]

Thank you, Sean

[narrationsd]

Now trying on fresh Beta 1.8.0.555:

• matters reported here feel to have improved...
• there's nice control, better than Adobe's it seems,
• but we're not there yet.

There's still a definite problem as you lift the brush at the end of a stroke.

I worked with Illustrator again, to see how they've done it.

• The key seems to be that whatever the highest pressure was at completion of the stroke (or I think, more subtly to the good, _near_ the end of the stroke), that brush size is kept, in Adobe.
• This leaves your end of stroke at worst a large circular blob, if you over-pressured there, but otherwise just a nice rounded end at the last intended pressure/size
• In Designer, you continue tracking pressure as we lift, and then try to draw an end cap at some intermediate pressure, which ends up as a bit of a train wreck

Attached two pics again to show the points. Note your nice control of fine pressure, but Adobe's comfortable solution for ending the stroke, even if over-pressured before lift

[narrationsd]

I was excited to see this item addressed in the Release notes for latest 1.8.3.641 today, so have made a first moment (after midnight...) to try it out.

My impressions are:

• definitely a big improvement where it mentions, on the _tail_ of lightening pressure pen strokes
• however, this kind of improvement needs to be also at the _beginning_ of a stroke that _starts_ light
• What I seem to get in the light-start case is the dithering, sometimes showing visible half circle at medium or more width,
• then after an inch or so of screen drawing with pen, there's a 'snap' -- and now the stroke reverts as if the start had been full pressure and full width, even though it wasn't at all originally
• they're both a bit weird, that initial dither and then snap, so it ought to be easy for you to see it for your self, with a Wacom or the like, using pressure sensitivy controller on Width (80-100%)

Anyway, definite forward movement, quite appreciated, thank you!

p.s. extra credit also, as your forum actually remembered and automatically brough up my draft when I sighed and tried to post again, after it failed to post due a badly timed moment of that recent Windows 10 invention of fully dropping internet at random.  No fix for that yet, so am thankful it only happens once late in the day or so here....

[mackleys]

following - have noticed this too.