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I am trying to find an easy methodology for creating tubular pipework - or spaghetti for want of better description. I know there are probably a number of ways of doing it in Affinity Designer - but wondered whether there was an efficient way of creating complex shapes with bends and corners - complete with 3D shading. Any help appreciated!

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I would use the pen tool.

Draw a shape. There are several modes to choose from; pen mode, smart mode, polygon mode. You can use different modes on the same stroke. Assign a brush (basic I think) and a colour.
Use the effect tab>3D
Use copy (cmd C) and edit> paste style on the next stroke(s).

Use the node tool to tidy up if you need to.

 

If you need a whole big bunch of spagetti, you can group them, copy the group, use the transform tool and so on.

- Affinity Photo 2.3.0
- Affinity Designer 2.3.0
-Affinity Publisher 2.3.0

 

MacBook Pro 16 GB
MacOS Sonoma 14.1.2

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I have been having a mess around with this - and for the benefit of those of you looking to draw parallel 3D shapes, a simple solution seems to be....

 

Draw a line with the pen tool

Put a stroke on it to the width of pipe or shape you require - and in any colour you wish

Go to the Layers menu and click on Expand Stroke

With the layer selected, click on fx

Tick the 3D option and modify as you wish

 

..it seems to work well - and is a very quick solution.

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To retain your sanity  :)...

You don't have to expand the stroke. The FX can be applied directly to the curve.... that way they remain much more edit friendly (in terms of shape) .

 

Also... for the edges on top of edges add a Outer Shadow FX (with offset) for a cast shadow on what's below. AND if the background is white, set the blending to Darker Color and the white will be unaffected.

 

BTW, do you have an image of the type/complexity of the "spaghetti" you're after?

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Not really Jimmy - not sure how to post images anyway. Yes your suggestion seems to work well - but I am having problems where the spaghetti intersects. Can you control which line lies on top of which? When you apply FX to intersecting lines - it puts them all on the level. I don't have a specific project here - just new to Affinity and trying to find my way around its capabilities!

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Well, I was going to say here's your chance to brush up on clipping layers.....

But I'm having A LOT of image issues saving this thing out in any format. 

So here's a screen grab so you can see what it should look like (sort of)....and the .afdesign to mess with.

 

I'm off to the the Bug threads with a laundry list  :wacko: .

 

Oh, and to attach a file go to More Reply Options. You'll see it...

weave test.afdesign

post-12544-0-41982800-1454625697_thumb.png

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spindrift26, I really like the looks of JimmyJack's design.  One problem I have run into is if you have to make a lot of pipework the 3D fx is really CPU intensive.  Even with the amount in this example if you zoom in you will probably see a fair amount of delay while the image is repainted.  So let me throw out a second idea that I have found is much less CPU intensive.  And depending on the use it might give you acceptable results.  Also if you are doing pipework you'll probably want a square cap so I changed a couple pipes to show this option.

 

 

post-2932-0-22864100-1454681969_thumb.jpg

 

weave test1.afdesign

iMac (27-inch, Late 2009) with macOS Sierra

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To retain your sanity  :)...

You don't have to expand the stroke. The FX can be applied directly to the curve.... that way they remain much more edit friendly (in terms of shape) .

 

Also... for the edges on top of edges add a Outer Shadow FX (with offset) for a cast shadow on what's below. AND if the background is white, set the blending to Darker Color and the white will be unaffected.

 

JimmyJack, Thanks, this works great but can you please clarify for me the blending to darker and white will be unaffected..

I'm at a loss of what to reach for here.

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You guys are probably way ahead of me technically on this! Jimmy - how did you create the clipping layer for the hoop (the set of circles which are all in one layer)? The help topics don't really cover it in any detail - and I can't seem to replicate it. Is it possible to create a series of shapes all in one layer? - I can't find a command that lets you do this - I always end up with a new layer if a try to create a second shape. I'm obviously missing something obvious! A comprehensive manual would be useful for those of us who are less than experienced with this or any other 'well known design software'!  :wacko: 

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