The liquify tools in Vectornation: warp, twirl and more
Tips for the liquify tools in Vectornation by Zaweba: warp, twirl, pucker, bloat, scallop, crystallise and wrinkle, for pushing vector shapes by hand.
Sometimes the quickest way to reshape artwork is to push it about with a brush, as if it were soft clay. That is what the liquify tools in Vectornation by Zaweba are for. There are seven: warp, twirl, pucker, bloat, scallop, crystallise and wrinkle. Each one deforms vector artwork under the brush as you drag or hold it in place.
They are freehand tools, so they suit organic, playful shapes more than exact geometry.
Warp and twirl
The warp tool pushes artwork in the direction you drag, like smudging wet paint with a finger. It is good for bending a stroke, nudging the outline of a character or giving a shape a gentle bulge.
Twirl spins the artwork under the brush into a swirl. A short burst makes a soft curl; holding it longer winds the shape round further. Twirl is useful for hair, smoke, waves and decorative flourishes.
Pinching and swelling by hand
Pucker pulls artwork in towards the centre of the brush, pinching it. Bloat pushes it outwards, swelling it. Used together they let you sculpt: bloat a cheek, pucker a waist, swell the end of a stroke into a drop. These are the tools that most feel like modelling.
Scallop, crystallise and wrinkle
These three add texture to edges. Scallop gives curved, scalloped edges that pull towards the centre of the brush, which can look like shells or petals. Crystallise gives spiky edges that point outwards, useful for splashes, stars and frost. Wrinkle roughens an edge into small folds, good for fabric, paper and anything that should look crumpled.
Getting good results
Start with simple shapes. The liquify tools work on the points of a path, so a shape with very few points may not have enough to deform smoothly, while one with a great many points can become messy. A moderate number of points gives the most natural results.
Use short drags and small bursts. It is easy to overdo a liquify edit, and harder to recover from a large one than to add a little more.
Select the artwork you want to change first. Liquify tools affect what they pass over, and limiting them to a selection stops them catching nearby shapes.
Zoom in for fine work and out for broad changes. The brush acts at the size you see it, so a large view gives finer control.
Where they fit
The liquify tools sit with the brushes in Vectornation, and they work well alongside them. Draw a stroke with the Paintbrush, then warp it into a better curve. Paint a shape with the Blob brush, then bloat one side to give it weight. Or start with a plain circle and turn it into a splash with crystallise.
They also complement the distort effects. The effects, such as pucker and bloat or roughen, apply evenly and stay live, which suits repeatable designs. The liquify tools are hands on and local, which suits one off illustration where you want to touch just one part.
Keeping liquify edits gentle
The most common problem is liquifying text and then finding it needs editing. Make a copy of the text first, or finish the wording before you start pushing shapes about.
Another is overworking a shape until it has a huge number of points. If an edge has become lumpy, it is often better to undo a few steps than to keep pushing.
Used lightly, the liquify tools give vector artwork a hand shaped quality that is hard to get by moving points one at a time.
