Vector Art of Vector Graphics

[weisshaupt]

Hi All,

Sorry if this is a dumb newbie question..  but has anyone created vector artwork of the actual vector graphics produced by the vector games like  Tempest, Asteroids, starwars etc?  Is there a simple way of getting this from the games themselves? 

I am starting to work on the CP art for my second attempt at an etched CP.  While my hand-etched vector art worked out okay on my first attempt (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=75411.0) , my new design is going to force me to have my CP panels laser cut, and while they are on the table anyway, I was going to have them etched.  I can of course take rasterized versions of the vector  graphics by doing screenshots, but I would much rather give the Laser ( a vector tool if there ever was one) a vectorized image to etch if that would be possible.

Any ideas how I might accomplish this ( besides getting a raster image of a vector graphic  and then trying to vectorize it :>) )
Does anyone know of a repository where someone has already done this?
 

[BASS!]

This is actually super easy. What you will need to do is load up whatever game you want the shapes from and get a screenshot. Import that into Adobe illustrator and trace them/run live trace. Vector shapes in the old vector games are really simple and would not take long. If you need a hand just take the screen shots of the shapes you want and send em to me and I'll do some work for ya.

[weisshaupt]

Thats for the offer uprightbass,

Hopefully I won't have to take you up on it.. (I am still working out what I really want this thing to look like... )

I don't have adobe illustrator,  but I have downloaded open office which has a vector drawing program in it..

It seems to have a convert bitmap "to polygon" function.. does that accomplish the same thing? Or is "to contour" the right tool? Or do neither do the "trace"? Will the trace deal with the intensity issues? (*sometimes the beam is brighter or darker, giving a diffent look to the image than if I just draw the line...- perhaps I don't really want this as a series of vector lines, but as a graphic vector image? (is there a difference?)

Is there a Freeware utility/program that you know of that will do this? (Sorry for all of the newbie questions.. I understand what a vector drawing is, I don't understand the difference between the formats and which will work best for this purpose...)

I also ran across this site : http://vectormagic.com - which seems to be reasonable and give me a good result.. in EPS, but I don't know if that is useful 

I admit I am a bit confused aout the file formats and tools I should be using... The company I plan to use for the engraving/cutting of the Acrylic can accept...

DXF compatible with AutoCAD version 2004 or earlier
DWG compatible with AutoCAD version 2004 or earlier
CDR version 12 or earlier
AI version CS or earlier
SVG
PDF

Any Suggestions ?

Thanks!


-Weiss

[FrizzleFried]

It's still not going to look like the actual game running on a vector monitor.  Raster monitors simply can not produce the brightness required to make the image look authentic regardless of if it's MAME running on a raster monitor or a vector image of a vector game being shown on a raster monitor.

[BASS!]

As far as free vector programs, I have heard quite a bit of buzz about inkscape, but I don't know anything about the open office drawing program. If you convert the shapes to polygon that should work out just fine. Just make sure that you check your edges so that you have nice sharp angles.

Once you are done with that you should be able to save as a pdf. Let me know what you can save as, as many formats that an image program creates will rasterize your artwork, making all your hard effort for nothing.

[ChadTower]

It's still not going to look like the actual game running on a vector monitor.  Raster monitors simply can not produce the brightness required to make the image look authentic regardless of if it's MAME running on a raster monitor or a vector image of a vector game being shown on a raster monitor.

Don't think that matters here.  He's going to vectorize it for reproduction in a completely different medium.  Brightness has no bearing on shape of the image which is what he is actually trying to reproduce.

[weisshaupt]

Don't think that matters here.  He's going to vectorize it for reproduction in a completely different medium.  Brightness has no bearing on shape of the image which is what he is actually trying to reproduce.

It might matter, but probably not a lot..  The Company I am using can vary the laser depth so that high intensity lines will show up brighter when I light them from the side. The same thing will happen with a Greyscale image..

The question really is which is better to use, easier to accomplish,  and if the results will be similar in the end...

[ChadTower]

It might matter, but probably not a lot..  The Company I am using can vary the laser depth so that high intensity lines will show up brighter when I light them from the side. The same thing will happen with a Greyscale image..

Hrm.  That would be awfully hard to reproduce exactly from a source image.  You could add it later as a step in the process, though, and get it close enough that it doesn't matter.  It's not as if a given screenshot is a static piece of artwork someone would recognize as being off when reproduced.

[bvicarious]

out of curiosity, why are you ruling out vectorizing a screenshot from mame? select line tool, click, click, click, click, done. amirite?

[weisshaupt]

out of curiosity, why are you ruling out vectorizing a screenshot from mame? select line tool, click, click, click, click, done. amirite?

1)When I tried to Trace some of these images on my first panel  with just my dremel etcher, I often found I had a hard time determining which line goes where.  It could be I am just an idiot, or not much of an artist.

2) The intensity of the lines is very difficult to duplicate/get right.  Some lines are brighter where they overlap etc

3) I am lazy 

As I said, I am confused about the "right" way to do this to produce the most authentic looking result.  It doesn't need to be perfect, but the more vector-monitor-like it looks the better.

[bvicarious]

1) I'm not quite sure what you're saying here, as it has nothing to do with what I asked.. You're going to have the acrylic laser cut, and you want to engrave the vector graphics, right? So you can grab a screenshot from the game, download a copy of inkscape, and use the pen or line tool to recreate the image. It takes about 10 clicks. Here's asteroids deluxe (attached image)

2) If I were laser cutting the acrylic myself, I would just set the depth of the cut to, for example, 1/16" and wherever the lines overlap would add another 1/16" to them, making them brighter. The company you're using will probably get it right if you explain what look you're going for.

3) So am I, but its easier to do it manually than tracing tools et c.


Your other arcade with the etched acrylic looks enough like a vector monitor that I wouldn't sweat it, the laser will make everything look extra nice. One thing I thought might help, is if you etched AND engraved. The engraved line would stand out most, and a slight etching around it might cause a little glow, simulating the intensity of a vector monitor. I'll see if I can try out my theory later and will post if I get good results.