Sponsored by TWIST - Tablet Weavers International Studies & Techniques
In a message dated 10/23/01 3:38:37 PM Central Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > - What should Tablet Weaving Software do for you? > - Should it help you create new patterns? That's primarily what I use software for, with my TW work. Most of my stuff is surface decoration - brocade and doubleface - so I use a software program to make graphs. You may wish to check out PatternMaker from Hobbyware - it's an excellent setup, fully Windows-operational, and I like it a lot for what I do. I realize that it won't do as much for someone working with threaded-in designs. It was originally designed for Cross Stitch. If anyone wants to see examples of how my graphs come out, I'd be happy to share; I've modified quite a few parameters to get what I want out of it. www.hobbyware.com > - Should it help you analyse existing patterns? I think this would be very difficult - the visual interface would be problematic. If you can do it, though, it'd be cool to see. > - Would you like to see an online archive of patterns? Sure! And I've got some to share, if they're wanted. > - Do you like to see brocading supported? It's my favorite technique, and the one I use most often. I probably wouldn't use a non-brocading program very much. > - Do you like to see pebble weave supported? I haven't done this one. I WOULD like to see double-faced weave supported - I think it has a lot of pattern potential. > - If you are a teacher would you use software in your teaching? Whenever I teach, I provide patterns, and tell my students a little about the software I use. I don't provide software, and (so far) haven't done any patterning classes... but it seems like a good possibility for a class. > - Who will be the user, novices, high end designers? >From my perspective, it'll be me. I'd say that I'm an experienced designer. If I were to teach with it, though, I'd be involving a novice. > - How much time are you willing to invest to learn a new tool? Some, but I get frustrated if things are too difficult to figure out. I don't have a huge amount of time for the weaving itself, let alone new tools... I love to figure out new software, but I really prefer packages that are fairly intuitive, without a lot that you have to figure out before you can get started. Things I particularly like about PatternMaker: <O> I can view the pattern as black and white "symbols" in a grid, or I can view in full color. This makes it easy to see what the band will look like, but also makes it easy to create a pattern that I can follow while weaving. <O> I can view the result at different magnifications. This way I can use the same pattern for a sewing-thread ribbon or a heavy cotton belt, and have a good idea about how big the actual piece will be, if the lettering will be legible, etc. This would be great if it recognized actual thread sizes, but I understand that the system for that is very complicated. <O> I can change the size of the "square" graph unit to be a rectangle of whatever proportion I like. So my double-face weave is 3:1, and my brocade is 1.5:1, and my patterns look exactly like my woven work. It takes out the worry of patterns "stretching" when I weave them up. <O> In the latest version, I can save my patterns as .jpg or other graphic files, so that I can print them out or share them with non-PatternMaker people, use for websites, etc. <O> The system is very intuitive, if you work with Windows much at all... capabilities like copy and paste, drag and drop, etc., are very helpful for designing. For example, when designing an alphabet, many letters have a similar "skeleton" - so I can copy and paste that, and it saves a lot of time in redrawing. All that said... I don't know if I would want to switch programs, for brocading... I can see that it would be a great advantage to have a program that would do plain-weave or threaded-in patterns, but I think that the brocade graphs produced by PatternMaker satisfy most of my needs at the current time. If you need help in testing, etc, I'm happy to help as much as I can - I think it's a very exciting project. I wish you all the best of luck! Michael Send private reply to [EMAIL PROTECTED] ----------------------------------------------------------- To stop receiving tabletweaving (not tabletweaving-digest), send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: unsubscribe tabletweaving. To stop receiving tabletweaving-digest, see the end of a digest.
