1 00:00:00.07 --> 00:00:01.05 - [Instructor] In this movie, 2 00:00:01.05 --> 00:00:02.09 we're going to take on the rocker panel 3 00:00:02.09 --> 00:00:04.09 down here underneath the doors. 4 00:00:04.09 --> 00:00:07.01 Or to be more exact, it's the piece of trim 5 00:00:07.01 --> 00:00:09.00 that's covering the rocker panel 6 00:00:09.00 --> 00:00:10.07 and it's going to present a special challenge 7 00:00:10.07 --> 00:00:13.00 because it bends. 8 00:00:13.00 --> 00:00:15.04 So notice that we have effectively two regions 9 00:00:15.04 --> 00:00:16.08 of this path outline. 10 00:00:16.08 --> 00:00:18.04 We have this area down here 11 00:00:18.04 --> 00:00:22.00 which is traveling at more or less a 45 degree direction, 12 00:00:22.00 --> 00:00:24.02 and then this region over on the left hand side 13 00:00:24.02 --> 00:00:26.08 is nearly vertical, 14 00:00:26.08 --> 00:00:29.00 and that means that the mesh is going to have to bend 15 00:00:29.00 --> 00:00:31.08 along with the path, which is not necessarily something 16 00:00:31.08 --> 00:00:35.06 that Illustrator deals with very effectively by default. 17 00:00:35.06 --> 00:00:37.02 Alright so I'll go ahead and switch over 18 00:00:37.02 --> 00:00:38.09 to our document in progress, 19 00:00:38.09 --> 00:00:42.03 and I will zoom in on that detail like so 20 00:00:42.03 --> 00:00:43.07 and then I'll click on it with the black arrow tool 21 00:00:43.07 --> 00:00:45.03 in order to select it. 22 00:00:45.03 --> 00:00:47.08 And I want you to notice how the anchor points are arranged. 23 00:00:47.08 --> 00:00:50.08 We've got three points along the bottom edge 24 00:00:50.08 --> 00:00:53.06 and then we have a couple of additional smooth points 25 00:00:53.06 --> 00:00:55.04 along that top edge, 26 00:00:55.04 --> 00:00:56.08 and that's going to make for a little bit 27 00:00:56.08 --> 00:01:00.04 of additional confusion on Illustrator's part, 28 00:01:00.04 --> 00:01:02.04 but there are ways to address the problem. 29 00:01:02.04 --> 00:01:04.07 So let's start things off by going up to the Object menu 30 00:01:04.07 --> 00:01:07.05 and choosing create gradient mesh, 31 00:01:07.05 --> 00:01:10.03 and notice that I've set the rows value to three 32 00:01:10.03 --> 00:01:13.04 and the columns value to four. 33 00:01:13.04 --> 00:01:15.01 And with the preview check box turned on, 34 00:01:15.01 --> 00:01:17.07 you can see that that gives us two row lines 35 00:01:17.07 --> 00:01:19.07 and three column lines, 36 00:01:19.07 --> 00:01:21.03 so you're always getting one less line 37 00:01:21.03 --> 00:01:23.02 than either of the values. 38 00:01:23.02 --> 00:01:24.05 And that's because, for example, 39 00:01:24.05 --> 00:01:28.09 two lines here breaks this path into three rows. 40 00:01:28.09 --> 00:01:30.01 Anyway, that's where we're going to start. 41 00:01:30.01 --> 00:01:32.00 So I'll go ahead and click okay, 42 00:01:32.00 --> 00:01:35.07 and then I'll zoom in on the path outline. 43 00:01:35.07 --> 00:01:38.07 And we might as well reinstate the stroke very first thing, 44 00:01:38.07 --> 00:01:41.01 and so I'll go ahead and switch over to the appearance panel 45 00:01:41.01 --> 00:01:43.01 and with the entire mesh selected, 46 00:01:43.01 --> 00:01:47.01 I'll drop down to the add new stroke icon and click on it 47 00:01:47.01 --> 00:01:49.09 and then I'll go ahead and change that weak black 48 00:01:49.09 --> 00:01:53.07 to a nice rich RGB black like so. 49 00:01:53.07 --> 00:01:55.00 Alright now what you want to do 50 00:01:55.00 --> 00:01:56.09 is select that delete anchor point tool 51 00:01:56.09 --> 00:01:58.08 from the pen tool fly out menu. 52 00:01:58.08 --> 00:02:01.02 Just so we can see if we have an extra points, 53 00:02:01.02 --> 00:02:03.03 like this guy right here, don't want him, 54 00:02:03.03 --> 00:02:06.03 so I'll just go ahead and click in order to get rid of it. 55 00:02:06.03 --> 00:02:10.02 And that's it, which is actually not too bad. 56 00:02:10.02 --> 00:02:11.03 Now you can see there's another 57 00:02:11.03 --> 00:02:13.08 weird little point right there that's been added, 58 00:02:13.08 --> 00:02:15.05 but if you click on it, 59 00:02:15.05 --> 00:02:17.05 you're going to reshape the path outline, 60 00:02:17.05 --> 00:02:20.01 which is not what we want, so I'll undo that change. 61 00:02:20.01 --> 00:02:22.02 Alright, now I'll go ahead and press the A key 62 00:02:22.02 --> 00:02:24.00 to switch to the white arrow tool 63 00:02:24.00 --> 00:02:26.01 and I'll select this mesh point right here, 64 00:02:26.01 --> 00:02:28.03 just so that we can see the control handles 65 00:02:28.03 --> 00:02:29.07 which are turning into something 66 00:02:29.07 --> 00:02:31.07 of a big jumbled mess here. 67 00:02:31.07 --> 00:02:33.06 And that's a function of the fact 68 00:02:33.06 --> 00:02:37.03 that this path is bending so dramatically at this location. 69 00:02:37.03 --> 00:02:39.08 And so I'm just going to grab a control handle here 70 00:02:39.08 --> 00:02:40.08 and hope for the best, 71 00:02:40.08 --> 00:02:42.05 and it turns out to be the right one. 72 00:02:42.05 --> 00:02:45.05 So just so you can follow along, it's this guy right here. 73 00:02:45.05 --> 00:02:49.02 So it's the one that is to the left of the big cluster, 74 00:02:49.02 --> 00:02:50.09 and so I'll go ahead and drag that down 75 00:02:50.09 --> 00:02:54.05 and I might drag this guy down as well. 76 00:02:54.05 --> 00:02:55.07 Alright now what I want to do 77 00:02:55.07 --> 00:02:57.08 is move this point a little higher 78 00:02:57.08 --> 00:02:59.07 and I'm going to do that by pressing the U key 79 00:02:59.07 --> 00:03:02.01 in order to switch to the mesh tool. 80 00:03:02.01 --> 00:03:05.03 And then I'll drag this guy upward 81 00:03:05.03 --> 00:03:07.05 while pressing the shift key. 82 00:03:07.05 --> 00:03:10.01 And that way I'm moving the mesh point up the column. 83 00:03:10.01 --> 00:03:13.05 So again, I don't end up reshaping the path outline. 84 00:03:13.05 --> 00:03:15.04 Because if you take a look at how things are structured 85 00:03:15.04 --> 00:03:16.07 here in the layers panel, 86 00:03:16.07 --> 00:03:18.04 you can see that this mesh's layer 87 00:03:18.04 --> 00:03:21.00 accounts for the body of the car, 88 00:03:21.00 --> 00:03:23.02 and well below that we have the wheels layer, 89 00:03:23.02 --> 00:03:25.02 so if I were to make a modification 90 00:03:25.02 --> 00:03:27.04 to the shape of this path outline, 91 00:03:27.04 --> 00:03:29.09 we would most assuredly see it. 92 00:03:29.09 --> 00:03:31.08 Alright so I'll go ahead and press control Z 93 00:03:31.08 --> 00:03:34.03 or command Z on the Mac to undo that change 94 00:03:34.03 --> 00:03:38.04 and I might drag this guy a little down as well. 95 00:03:38.04 --> 00:03:40.07 I'm going to leave this point where it is for the moment. 96 00:03:40.07 --> 00:03:42.01 But I am going to move this guy up. 97 00:03:42.01 --> 00:03:44.00 So I'll go ahead and click on it to select it. 98 00:03:44.00 --> 00:03:44.09 You have to be very careful 99 00:03:44.09 --> 00:03:48.02 that you don't accidentally add a row, like so. 100 00:03:48.02 --> 00:03:49.07 So make sure you click directly on the point 101 00:03:49.07 --> 00:03:52.02 and then drag it upwards 102 00:03:52.02 --> 00:03:54.06 while pressing the shift key as well 103 00:03:54.06 --> 00:03:56.09 and then just go ahead and drag this guy down. 104 00:03:56.09 --> 00:03:58.06 So again, very important, 105 00:03:58.06 --> 00:04:01.05 we're making all these modifications with the mesh tool. 106 00:04:01.05 --> 00:04:03.02 Alright I'm going to drag this guy down 107 00:04:03.02 --> 00:04:04.09 while pressing the shift key 108 00:04:04.09 --> 00:04:06.09 so that we're traveling along the column, 109 00:04:06.09 --> 00:04:10.01 and I'm going to drag this guy up while pressing shift, 110 00:04:10.01 --> 00:04:12.02 and let's see about these guys here, 111 00:04:12.02 --> 00:04:13.08 I'll just go ahead and drag this guy up 112 00:04:13.08 --> 00:04:15.05 while pressing the shift key. 113 00:04:15.05 --> 00:04:17.05 This guy, I'm just going to drag free form 114 00:04:17.05 --> 00:04:19.01 because I'm not very happy with the shape 115 00:04:19.01 --> 00:04:21.05 of this column line right here, 116 00:04:21.05 --> 00:04:23.08 and it is functioning as a column line by the way, 117 00:04:23.08 --> 00:04:26.05 even though it is more horizontal than vertical. 118 00:04:26.05 --> 00:04:28.05 And I'll go ahead and drag this guy down 119 00:04:28.05 --> 00:04:29.06 a little bit as well, 120 00:04:29.06 --> 00:04:33.00 and I might now drag this guy while pressing the shift key 121 00:04:33.00 --> 00:04:36.03 so that we're dragging the point along the row. 122 00:04:36.03 --> 00:04:37.08 Now I don't want this transition 123 00:04:37.08 --> 00:04:39.01 to be super harsh like this, 124 00:04:39.01 --> 00:04:41.01 so I'm going to move these control handles 125 00:04:41.01 --> 00:04:43.03 farther away from each other. 126 00:04:43.03 --> 00:04:46.00 And now this guy needs to be moved as well, 127 00:04:46.00 --> 00:04:48.05 so I'm just going to drag him free form 128 00:04:48.05 --> 00:04:51.06 to let's say, about here, 129 00:04:51.06 --> 00:04:53.01 and now we have some control handle problems 130 00:04:53.01 --> 00:04:54.04 as you're seeing there, 131 00:04:54.04 --> 00:04:56.02 but before I deal with them, 132 00:04:56.02 --> 00:04:58.04 I want to move this guy up like so 133 00:04:58.04 --> 00:05:00.08 and this time I am pressing the shift key, incidentally, 134 00:05:00.08 --> 00:05:05.02 in order to move the mesh point along this column line. 135 00:05:05.02 --> 00:05:06.04 And that has the added effect 136 00:05:06.04 --> 00:05:08.09 of moving these control handles farther away from each other 137 00:05:08.09 --> 00:05:10.04 which is great. 138 00:05:10.04 --> 00:05:11.09 Alright, now let's supply some color 139 00:05:11.09 --> 00:05:14.09 so that we can tell what's really going on here. 140 00:05:14.09 --> 00:05:15.09 Because I'll just press the A key 141 00:05:15.09 --> 00:05:18.03 to switch back to my white arrow tool 142 00:05:18.03 --> 00:05:20.08 and notice this point right there. 143 00:05:20.08 --> 00:05:22.06 If you take a look at the swatches panel, 144 00:05:22.06 --> 00:05:25.07 and I'll go ahead and click on a fill to select it, 145 00:05:25.07 --> 00:05:26.06 Illustrator's telling me 146 00:05:26.06 --> 00:05:29.03 that the color of this point is white. 147 00:05:29.03 --> 00:05:30.06 Which is not actually true. 148 00:05:30.06 --> 00:05:34.00 Notice if I try to change it to black, it has no effect. 149 00:05:34.00 --> 00:05:36.04 And so if this were an interior point 150 00:05:36.04 --> 00:05:37.07 I would press the minus key 151 00:05:37.07 --> 00:05:39.04 to get my delete anchor point tool 152 00:05:39.04 --> 00:05:41.05 and I would click on it to get rid of it. 153 00:05:41.05 --> 00:05:43.08 Now initially, it looks like everything's still fine, 154 00:05:43.08 --> 00:05:46.02 but if I press the B key to switch back 155 00:05:46.02 --> 00:05:47.06 to the black arrow tool, 156 00:05:47.06 --> 00:05:50.03 then Illustrator goes ahead and updates the screen preview 157 00:05:50.03 --> 00:05:52.02 at which point you can see 158 00:05:52.02 --> 00:05:54.02 that I've reshaped the path outline. 159 00:05:54.02 --> 00:05:56.01 Don't want to do that, so we'll just press control Z 160 00:05:56.01 --> 00:05:59.00 or command Z on the Mac to undo that change 161 00:05:59.00 --> 00:06:00.00 and I'll press the A key 162 00:06:00.00 --> 00:06:02.03 in order to switch back to my white arrow tool 163 00:06:02.03 --> 00:06:04.08 and I'll move over to this mesh point, 164 00:06:04.08 --> 00:06:07.01 which is a legitimate point by the way, 165 00:06:07.01 --> 00:06:09.05 and I will change it to blue four. 166 00:06:09.05 --> 00:06:10.05 So you need to make sure once again 167 00:06:10.05 --> 00:06:14.00 that your fill is selected up here in the swatches panel 168 00:06:14.00 --> 00:06:16.07 and then I'll go ahead and select these guys. 169 00:06:16.07 --> 00:06:19.04 So I'll click on this one, shift click on this, 170 00:06:19.04 --> 00:06:21.04 and you just want to select every point 171 00:06:21.04 --> 00:06:23.00 along the top edge here, 172 00:06:23.00 --> 00:06:25.03 so I'm just shift clicking on each one 173 00:06:25.03 --> 00:06:26.07 with the white arrow tool once again. 174 00:06:26.07 --> 00:06:30.00 You can't select multiple points with the mesh tool. 175 00:06:30.00 --> 00:06:33.06 And then I'll change all these guys to white, like so, 176 00:06:33.06 --> 00:06:36.08 and I am not changing this color, incidentally, 177 00:06:36.08 --> 00:06:40.01 this guy up here is still set to blue one. 178 00:06:40.01 --> 00:06:42.02 Alright but we've got some pretty harsh transitions 179 00:06:42.02 --> 00:06:45.03 and that's because this line right here, 180 00:06:45.03 --> 00:06:48.07 this column line, falls outside of the path outline. 181 00:06:48.07 --> 00:06:50.04 And so what that means is we need to move 182 00:06:50.04 --> 00:06:52.05 some points and control handles around. 183 00:06:52.05 --> 00:06:54.04 So I'll go ahead and drag that mesh point down there 184 00:06:54.04 --> 00:06:59.00 and I'll drag this control handle inward like so. 185 00:06:59.00 --> 00:07:01.04 We still have a very harsh transition going on 186 00:07:01.04 --> 00:07:03.03 and that's most likely because 187 00:07:03.03 --> 00:07:05.00 this control handle right here 188 00:07:05.00 --> 00:07:07.07 is crossing the neighboring column line, 189 00:07:07.07 --> 00:07:09.09 and so what I'm going to do is 190 00:07:09.09 --> 00:07:12.00 click on that line to select it, 191 00:07:12.00 --> 00:07:14.07 and I'll just drag out this control handle, the top one, 192 00:07:14.07 --> 00:07:17.02 and I'll drag this control handle out 193 00:07:17.02 --> 00:07:19.05 away from this guy as well, 194 00:07:19.05 --> 00:07:21.02 and so far that's not making a ton of difference, 195 00:07:21.02 --> 00:07:24.06 and so I'll just go ahead and move this guy in a little bit. 196 00:07:24.06 --> 00:07:27.07 And that's still going to give us something of a harsh edge, 197 00:07:27.07 --> 00:07:29.04 but I think it's looking better. 198 00:07:29.04 --> 00:07:31.09 And so now I'm going to select this point right here 199 00:07:31.09 --> 00:07:34.02 and I'll shift click on this one 200 00:07:34.02 --> 00:07:35.07 and I'll also go ahead and shift click 201 00:07:35.07 --> 00:07:37.03 on this guy down here. 202 00:07:37.03 --> 00:07:40.08 And I'm going to change these guys to blue three, 203 00:07:40.08 --> 00:07:43.02 and that's going to soften things a little bit as well, 204 00:07:43.02 --> 00:07:45.05 but now we have another sharp reflection over here, 205 00:07:45.05 --> 00:07:48.02 which I think is going to work out fine in the long run. 206 00:07:48.02 --> 00:07:50.06 Alright, so I'll go ahead and select this bottom point 207 00:07:50.06 --> 00:07:53.03 and I'll change it to blue four. 208 00:07:53.03 --> 00:07:55.02 And then I'll select this guy 209 00:07:55.02 --> 00:07:58.07 and I'll change him back to blue three. 210 00:07:58.07 --> 00:08:00.04 And I'll leave this final bottom point here, 211 00:08:00.04 --> 00:08:04.01 the bottom right point, set to blue one. 212 00:08:04.01 --> 00:08:05.00 And to see what that looks like, 213 00:08:05.00 --> 00:08:07.06 I'll just go ahead and click off the path outline for now 214 00:08:07.06 --> 00:08:09.08 and I'll press control minus a few times 215 00:08:09.08 --> 00:08:11.03 in order to zoom out, 216 00:08:11.03 --> 00:08:14.04 and the result is this effect right here. 217 00:08:14.04 --> 00:08:16.09 Alright now my only real problem with this 218 00:08:16.09 --> 00:08:18.07 is that these white points up here 219 00:08:18.07 --> 00:08:20.03 aren't showing up very well, 220 00:08:20.03 --> 00:08:21.05 and so what I need to do 221 00:08:21.05 --> 00:08:24.03 is move one of those row lines down a little bit, 222 00:08:24.03 --> 00:08:26.05 and so I'll go ahead and click on the top of the path 223 00:08:26.05 --> 00:08:30.00 to select it, and then I'll grab these to guys right here. 224 00:08:30.00 --> 00:08:31.06 So click on one, shift click on the other 225 00:08:31.06 --> 00:08:32.07 with the white arrow tool, 226 00:08:32.07 --> 00:08:34.07 and I'll just drag them down a little bit. 227 00:08:34.07 --> 00:08:36.04 And now, just so I can see what I've done, 228 00:08:36.04 --> 00:08:39.00 I'll press control H, or command H on the Mac 229 00:08:39.00 --> 00:08:41.00 to hide the selection edges. 230 00:08:41.00 --> 00:08:45.00 And to my eye, that looks pretty darn good. 231 00:08:45.00 --> 00:08:46.05 Alright so now I'll just press control H 232 00:08:46.05 --> 00:08:47.07 or command H on the Mac 233 00:08:47.07 --> 00:08:50.03 so I don't run the risk of saving the document 234 00:08:50.03 --> 00:08:52.05 with the selection edges hidden, 235 00:08:52.05 --> 00:08:54.08 which can make things pretty confusing over time. 236 00:08:54.08 --> 00:08:58.05 And then I'll just click off the path to deselect it. 237 00:08:58.05 --> 00:09:00.08 And that is how you apply a gradient mesh 238 00:09:00.08 --> 00:09:04.01 to a bendy path, one that curves around on itself, 239 00:09:04.01 --> 00:09:06.01 here inside Illustrator.