
Introducing Vector Networks: Generalized path editing for graphics - dankohn1
https://medium.com/figma-design/introducing-vector-networks-3b877d2b864f
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idlemind
I've always felt like I was slightly fighting against the Pen tool in most
vector drawing apps, especially when drawing Bezier splines. The direct
manipulation looks like a massive improvement, and would also be more
intuitive with a touch or stylus interface.

Secondly, this is one of the best examples I've seen of genuine UX and HCI
research put into a tool that everyone else thought was "good enough".

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jakub_h
I got some vague VPRI-ish/Bret Victor-ish vibe when reading the article.
Direct manipulation and constraint solving definitely fits the bill here.

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alblue
Looks like a very intuitive way of connecting paths together in a more
powerful way than just having lines. I like the way you can draw part of a
segment and then go back and add more line segments afterwards: the line cap
for three meeting points is a lot more impressive than it looks.

The ability to fill sections and then punch out holes makes it really easy to
see what's happening as well.

The post has a number of animated gifs which show how these work: it's worth
reading to see them.

The only thing that sucks is the name. Essentially it's a tool that has more
impressive path editing functionality than I have seen in other vector
editors. The name of this post doesn't do it justice.

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zamalek
I Googled "Vector Networks" and it also seems to be a term that they invented.
Figma (their product) is sadly a UI mocking tool and not a vector graphics
editor. "Pathfinder" (the tool in Adobe products that calculates fills based
on winding order) is notoriously unusable. I'm sure that graphics designers
would gobble up tool that had sane path finding.

I'd love to see some literature on how these vector networks work.

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constexpr
Figma is not just a UI mocking tool. It's a full general-purpose vector
graphics editor. Vector networks work similar to meshes in 3D.

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kedean
That was my first thought. The way he describes vector networks sounds exactly
like how creating models in something like Sketchup works.

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zarify
Nice advert. Shame it's just more SaaS. Not sure if it's just because I'm in
.au and have laggier connections to all the fancy tools in the US, but I just
don't find web tools that fulfilling.

I've been having a great time with Serif's Affinity Designer lately. Same sort
of bezier tools as everyone else, but feels a lot nicer to use than say,
Illustrator.

Edit: downvote for calling it an advert? Or is disliking SaaS the unpopular
point of view? ;)

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theinternetman
Agreed, absolutely no interest in turning even more of my design tools into a
subscription cost.

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joelg
Reminds me a lot of Ivan Sutherland's Sketchpad
([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sketchpad](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sketchpad)),
which had a similar interface and an iterative constraint solver.

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Znak
Some of it seems to be transplanted from 3D software (multiple nodes
connecting to a single node), e.g. SketchUp:
[https://youtu.be/ejIIvrQk2tw](https://youtu.be/ejIIvrQk2tw)

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banach
> Vector Networks

You mean "graphs".

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programmer_dude
This was my initial reaction too! I wonder how is this different from graphs.

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constexpr
Graphs have a set of vertices and a set of edges, but vector networks also
have a set of faces.

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wlesieutre
Meshes then?

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constexpr
Meshes are closer but vector networks also attach specific attributes to edges
which is not usually the case with meshes. Examples: control handles (for
curves), stroke weight, dash pattern.

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wlesieutre
Not uncommon in mesh editors either. Off the top of my head, blender stores
edge splits, crease strength, and line styles for the freestyle renderer.

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jrcii
omg _Please_ let this make it to Adobe Illustrator!

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PinguTS
Sorry for that question: What is that different to Affinity Designer?

You can do pretty much the same in Affinity Designer. Even things like moving
curves around without the need to modify the handles of the curves.

I don't see anything innovative here.

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klum
I don't think Affinity Designer supports things like a path with, for example,
three or more edges connecting to the same node.

