Tutorial 55: Mo Better Blobs

Joe Clay | Jan 27, 2017

This week we take a look at our previous Tutorial 3: Blobs and make it mo better. Now it's all shape based, so it's infinitely scalable and perfectly sharp!

Edit: YouTube user os cand alerted me to a very cool French tutorial from a couple of years ago that is a better mo better version of this tutorial. Thankfully I understand a little French, know how to use Google Translate, and realized this technique is similar to my older tutorial. I'm leaving this video up, since it still explains the idea behind the technique for English speakers, but here's an explanation of what needs to be done to improve it. Also note, the project file has been updated to add this technique.

Interestingly, this technique is actually closer to my original tutorial in approach. Forget the stroke, set matte, simple choker, and fill. We don't need them, so you can now color your shapes directly. After your merge paths, add an offset paths. Then we link it to a slider. Once that's done, we duplicate the offset paths and in the second one we multiply the expression linking to the slider by -1. So we end up back where we started. But since the effects are applied in a stack, rather than simultaneously, they expand and blob together. Then that blob is brought back to its original size. So depending upon how much you "stretch" it, it will attract at and stretch to farther distances. Again, check the project file for more information.

Sweet. I'm glad this community is growing enough that we can even pass the limits of what I know and find ways to improve my techniques! Workbench is all about helping you to work better and faster. And this improvement does just that. If you're a Francophone, check out Motion Café. They look to have some great content. I've come across them, but my French is limited to ordering food and finding my way around a city. Haha.

Hopefully this helps you, have a great day!

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