vector - Inkscape: Delete an anchor & maintain the handles of connected anchors

When I do any kind of point editing with Inkscape, I will have an object (A) and delete one of the points hoping to get C, but instead I get B. I understand why this happens, it's so curves can be made more optimal, but very often I don't want my handle types to change. It is tedious enough making sure points are no-handles corners without Inkscape continually messing them up. Is there a different way I can remove anchor points that will retain the handles of its connected anchors?

Answer

File > Inkscape Preferences
Then go to Tools > Node
Under Editing Preferences uncheck "Deleting nodes preserves shape"

screenwriting - Should you specify camera action in a film script?

Some scripts I read specify the exact camera angle of every shot-- where the camera starts, what we see, how it will move during the scene.

And some scripts are a little less specific.

Is this only because the former is the shooting script, a modification of an earlier script so as to include such specifics? Or is it just a difference in style?

While writing a script, or what will at the very least be the first version of a script, should you specify camera shots? Or should that be left for other people to add in and decide upon later?

Answer

Screenwriters don't specify shots or camera angles -- that's the job of the director and cinematographer. Since you know nothing about the actual production when you're writing the script, such information would be entirely hypothetical and largely useless.

As the screenwriter, you should specify the setting and time in the scene's slug line, using INT. or EXT. for interior or exterior, a brief description of the setting, and DAY or NIGHT for the time of day.

 INT. JOE'S GARAGE - NIGHT

Sometimes it might be necessary to include some additional information, i.e. if it's important that the scene be taking place at dawn, include that.

 EXT. ARIZONA DESERT - DAY (DAWN)

Or, if it's a flashback you might need to include some information to indicate the change in set (if it's not obvious from the dialogue or action).

EXT. NEW YORK CITY STREET (1933) - DAY 

Beyond those broad strokes, almost everything is a production decision, not a script decision.

creative writing - How to make good anti-heroes?

Dr.House, the God-Emperor of Mankind, Han Solo, and so on, and so forth. Something is appealing about anti-heroes, for instance:

Superman is bland, perfect and ultimately a bruh superhero, whose clones (like Captain Horrible Puns) are outright bad, whilst Tony Stark and Batman, who are basically the same "Rich guy with high-tech gadgets", manage to be interesting, because of their flaws.

But again, what is so appealing about these characters? I mean, the villains are flawed too, but we don't usually sympathize with them.

General tips and things to consider, when writing an anti-hero?

Answer

What makes anti-heroes interesting characters to read about?

To find that out, let's compare the morally flawed anti-hero with the cliché of the perfectly virtuous hero.

• They do things the audience wouldn't dare to do. Be mean to people who annoy you. Disrespect authority figures. Indulge in guilty pleasures like casual sex and recreational drugs. Give bad people the punishment they deserve. Ignore the traffic rules. These are things many people in your audience would like to do, but can't because they are nice and civilized people and society tells them it's wrong to do these things. Living out these fantasies through a sympathetic viewpoint character can be an enjoyable experience.



• They are in danger of moral failure. Offer Hero an immoral temptation, and he will laugh at you. It would be a gross violation of his moral code, so he won't be tempted for a second. The audience knows it, so this situation isn't exciting at all. Offer Anti-Hero a temptation, and she might seriously consider taking it. She will have an actual internal conflict and the audience can't be sure how she will resolve it.


• They have to live with the immoral decisions they make. The hero doesn't take moral missteps, so she can sleep at night. The only thing she can possibly be held accountable for is not being competent enough. But such critique can be easily dismissed as unreasonable, because after all she was doing as best as she could, and you really can't demand more of her. But because Anti-Hero is allowed to make morally wrong decisions, he also has to experience the consequences. He has to face the people he wronged. His critics can not be dismissed that easily, because they have a point. And even worse, the anti-hero has to face his own conscience.


• They have more room for character development. The hero is already a perfectly virtuous person. There is nothing he could learn or experience which would make him even better. Not so the anti-hero. Over the course of the story, she can overcome her vices and learn to be a better person.

adobe indesign - Are these Pantone colours all the same?

I have a Pantone colour that is supposedly the same, but seems to be showing up differently from 3 different sources.

The colour itself is Pantone 333 C

InDesign

Printing company (PDF proof from previous job)

Pantone website

These all show up looking completely differently onscreen and it makes me wonder if I'm using the correct colour (the colour has been specified by a client).

Should I just not worry about it and just go ahead with it?

Also, why does the Pantone website refer to it as PANTONE 333 CP instead of Pantone 333 C?

Answer

You're viewing different simulations of a custom ink. It's impossible to get an accurate representation of the actual ink so you're really seeing an approximation. On screen you're possibly seeing an RGB approximation, whilst InDesign and possibly a PDF may be showing you a CMYK conversion (which in itself is an RGB approximation of a CMYK color – since you're viewing it on an RGB screen).

In truth it doesn't matter what is on your screen or what is in your file – the printed color from a Pantone has nothing to do with your file but what ink the printer uses. You could really supply your file to the printers with any spot color and as long as you tell the printer to use the correct ink you're fine.

If the color has been specified to you then you're using the correct color, forget about what it looks like on screen (what you really need to see how it looks is a Pantone color book).

As for C vs CP, Pantone explains the different suffixes on their site:

C = coated paper, i.e., PANTONE 185 C

CP = coated paper, process simulation, i.e., PANTONE 185 CP (used in PANTONE+ COLOR BRIDGE COATED).

So they are (kind of — but not really) the same color; C is your actual spot color Pantone ink, wheras CP is a process (i.e. CMYK) simulation of that Pantone ink, so isn't a spot color and should be treated as any other CMYK color.

translation - Untranslated passages in translated works

I constantly find in translations of classic works untranslated passages. In English translations of Russian novels I find dialogue or narrative in French - as if the English-reading public, who clearly need the Russian translated, are expected to read French. Latin phrases are almost never translated. Do you people think we're all Latin scholars, do you think we don't care to know what's being said, do you just like leaving us in the dark, or are you too lazy to convey those passages?

stochastic calculus - Integral of Brownian motion w.r.t. time

Let

$$X_t = \int_0^t W_s \,\mathrm d s$$

where $W_s$ is our usual Brownian motion. My questions are the following:

1. Expectation?


2. Variance?


3. Is it a martingale?


4. Is it an Ito process or a Riemann integral?

Any reference for practicing tricky problems like this?

For the expectation, I know it's zero via Fubini. We can put the expectation inside the integral. Now, for the variance and the martingale questions, do we have any tricks? Thanks!

Preventing Illustrator CC vector objects distorting when scaled

I'm having some trouble resizing a group of vector objects in an illustration. These objects used to be lines until I expanded them into vector shapes, and before I scale them they look fine:

But as soon as I scale them the width of these "lines" completely distort:

These are the possible solutions I've already tried, but hasn't had any effect:

• 
  

  Checking align to pixel grid

  
  



• 
  

  Scaling after grouping objects

  
  


• 
  

  checking scale strokes & effects

  
  

If anyone has any idea what might be causing this, any help would be appreciated!

EDIT: Included a download link to my file if anyone's interested:

Get the .ai here

Answer

First...

Align to Pixel Grid is indeed checked in your file. Actually it is hyphenated indicating some objects are set to align to the pixel grid and some objects are not. Select all and then uncheck it on the Transform panel. If you don't see it on the Transform Panel, click the menu icon on the Transform Panel and choose "Show Options". You will then have to click the Align to Pixel Grid checkbox twice. Once to check it - removing the hyphen, then again to uncheck it. This will correct the issue with art being changed upon scaling.

In addition....

Looking at the file in Outline mode (View > Outline) shows areas of misalignment in the shapes. When you scale these areas of misalignment the inconsistencies in construction are merely easier to see.

This is caused by expanding overlapping shapes which don't line up precisely.

You can reduce many of these areas by locking the blue background, selecting the white areas and using the Merge button on the Pathfinder Panel (not the Pathfinder Effect menu item) to create solid shapes rather than overlapping pieces.

• Select the Blue



• Choose Object > Lock from the menu


• Select one white shape


• Choose Select > Same > Fill & Stroke from the menu


• Click the Merge button on the Pathfinder Panel (Window > Pathfinder - DO NOT use the menu item.)

After doing this the art will appear much less complex in Outline mode. However, there will be areas which have issues due to the uneven expanded strokes...

These areas will have to be fixed manually.