Smooth transition between curves

[kufloyd]

Hi,

 

I have 2 curves in 2 different layers that have a pixel layer under each of them. What I would like to do is to have the transition between the dark curve (in layer2) and the light curve (in layer1) be smoother than it is right now - specifically, the part where the two curves intersect right now looks too artificial.

 

I tried transparency and fill tools but it's not quite giving the effect I'm looking for. Any ideas? I guess I could make it just one curve and use different shades of colors to create the same effect, but I'd like to learn other ways of doing it, if there are any :)

 

thanks!

mountains-example.afdesign

[gdenby]

Vectors are certainly "artificial." Not at all easy to work around that unless the vector boundaries are fractal complex.

 

So here's what I managed w. your file. Thinking it could be better. But for what its worth:

 

 

mountains-example_mod.afdesign

[kufloyd]

Vectors are certainly "artificial." Not at all easy to work around that unless the vector boundaries are fractal complex.

 

So here's what I managed w. your file. Thinking it could be better. But for what its worth:

 

 

mountains-example_mod.afdesign

Thanks for your input. It looks much better than my attempt!

[kufloyd]

Vectors are certainly "artificial." Not at all easy to work around that unless the vector boundaries are fractal complex.

 

So here's what I managed w. your file. Thinking it could be better. But for what its worth:

 

 

mountains-example_mod.afdesign

 

I have a question - how did you get the dark curve (on top) and light curve (on bottom) to get to align their intersection perfectly? When I lay them on, there's an overlap...trying to figure out how you got rid of that overlapping part.

[gdenby]

I couldn't figure out how to fade the section of the light curve that seemed to go around the back of the dark. Using the node tool, I moved the nodes. Then I started adding transparency gradients, and saw the overlap. With snapping on using the node tool, I added and tweaked nodes to get the lines to touch. That way as I faded towards the edge, there was no overlap band. Along the way I noticed there was a small stroke on both, so I got rid of that.

 

I suspect working on the pixel fills by adding light levels of pixel mask would have also been a good approach, but most of the stuff I do is vector work, so that was the direction I went in.

[kufloyd]

I couldn't figure out how to fade the section of the light curve that seemed to go around the back of the dark. Using the node tool, I moved the nodes. Then I started adding transparency gradients, and saw the overlap. With snapping on using the node tool, I added and tweaked nodes to get the lines to touch. That way as I faded towards the edge, there was no overlap band. Along the way I noticed there was a small stroke on both, so I got rid of that.

 

I suspect working on the pixel fills by adding light levels of pixel mask would have also been a good approach, but most of the stuff I do is vector work, so that was the direction I went in.

Good idea about using the transparency tool to finesse the overlap area in combination with just having to line the edges up manually as much as possible.