Virtual kiln-forming

[Hedda]

Hello
Lately, i'm combining part sheets with layers of powder and frits drawings done by using different techniques. Since my drawing skills are quite miserable, I'm not making an initial drawing and trying to reproduce it in glass, but i like to get my inspiration from the glass itself and to change the design at every working stage.
When i'm trying to do more complex works, i wonder if it would be possible to get an image that would show me the final picture of layers superposition before cutting the glass, in order to avoid sorrowful mistakes. Since, as a hobbist photograph, i am quite familiar to the Photoshop software, I'm trying to harness its abilities in order to get a mock picture of the final kiln-formed product. Until now i am quite frustrated by this virtual process that i'm trying to figure out, but i feel that it should work and could be very helpful if i knew how to do it properly. I also read that appropriate software exist for designing stained-glass patterns.
That's why, i would like to know if and how anyone here is using some graphic software as a scaffold in the design stage or if you think that's impossible to do it and that the only way to glory is to mind figure [and not virtual figure] the final glass work.
Thank you
Hedda

[Don Burt]

I do stained glass with fused elements Hedda. I like to draw and can usually pencil sketch simpler forms to help visualize ideas. Even so, I do most of my layout, design, and color work with computer software. I use Photoshop, Illustrator, and Turbocad. I don't really attempt to design 3D glassware forms with Turbocad, because I don't do 3D glassware forms, and I'm really slow with Turbocad 3D. But I've watch people good with Maya and Rhino, and its pretty impressive. But I'm good with photoshop. It's an amazing tool for simulating and experimenting with layering transparent glasses, as well as doing layer masks and simulating traditional glasspainting matting. If I understand your requirements, you want to understand the color of glass shapes and frit in layers. Nothing better than that than Photoshop. The key tools are layer masking, layer styles, and blend modes. Especially 'multiply' blend mode...thats the one I use to simulate stacks of transparent glass.

[Terry Gallentine]

I use Photoshop to do renderings of proposed pieces too. I use system 96, so I use a cd of the Spectrum glasses to give me what I need to do that. They have a cd that contains samples on jpegs of all of their glasses and they will send you that (or at least they used to). Together with those samples and a Photoshop knowledge of how to work with transparent layers, you can come up with a reasonable idea of what you might get.

[Hedda]

Don and Terry,
THANK YOU for your suggestions. Looking at your websites and magical glass drawings, I think I understood how Photoshop can help your design. Using the Multiply blending mode in order to mimick glass stacks is a fantastic idea. I will also try to get the 96 system CD because i'm using this type of glass, or i'll make my own stock of glass colours photos.
Since i understand from both of you that PS is a suitable software for my needs, i guess that the source of my frustration is that i am good with the functions used by photographs and less with those mainly used for graphics. I'll have to improve this skill and find a suitable workflow. I hoped that maybe someone here uses PS or other software also for 3D visualization, but it seems it's not the case. At instance, I wish i could check different shapes of slumping by providing the software with the parameters of the molds and of my flat design.
OR
instead of these software dreams, i'll work very hard, and get so much practical experience as to be able to imagine it all.