Tutorial: a Tourneau Sportsgraph watch, by Gary Priester

This month's tutorial is ambitious and is not for the faint of heart or the new user. There are 44 steps and a good knowledge of Xara Xtreme is required. But the results will reward the time spent as we create a Tourneau Sportgraph Chronometer.

NOTE: You will notice from time to time I apply arbitrary colors to objects. I do this to make the objects easier to see. If I do not specify a fill for an object, you do not have to apply a fill or outline color.

When I show an ellipse or rectangle that has just been created, that has no fill, it is because I have set the fill to none before I exported the illustration. By default, all ellipses, rectangles and Quick Shapes have a black outline and a black fill. There is nothing wrong with your copy of Xara Xtreme.

Naming Conventions. I use bold face to indicate the names of tools, galleries, keyboard shortcuts, and dialogs. Items such as unnamed icons and drop down lists, which have names when you let your cursor rest over them for a moment, are displayed in italics.

The Infobar is the context sensitive menu at the top of the screen and changes to reflect the options for the selected tool.

We will be using Pixels as our units of measure. Right click on the screen and select Page Options... from the pop up menu. In the Units tabbed section, select Pixels for the Units and 0-255 for the Color Units. In the Grid and Ruler tabbed section set the Major Spacing to 100pix (key it in exactly like this please) and the Number of Subdivisions to 10. Press OK to close the dialog and apply the changes.

Using the Ellipse Tool, and holding down the Ctrl key to constrain the ellipse to a circle, create 4 circles to the sizes shown above. (I have given the circles different color fills to help you identify the individual circles). Drag a vertical and horizontal guideline through the center of the circles from the screen rulers (Ctrl L to display screen rulers).

Add 3 75 pixel circles and position the new circles as shown.

Select the 2 largest circles and from the Arrange menu, Combine Shapes... Subtract Shapes. This will produce an O shape.

Add a new 330 pixel circle and send it to the back. (The new circle is blue and shows through the opening we created in the last step.

Putting objects on different layers can simplify complex projects, of which this watch is a good example. Click the Layers Gallery icon on the Infobar. In the Layers Gallery dialog, click New... Name the new layer Tick Marks and press OK. Select the Tick Marks layer. Un-check both check boxes for Layer 1. This makes Layer 1 invisible and locks the objects on the layer from being edited.

On the Tick Marks layer add 3 new circles to the sizes shown. At the top of circles and between the two largest circles, using the Shape Editor Tool, add a 6.5 high vertical pixel line.

Click twice on the line to enable Rotate/Skew mode. Drag the Center of Rotation bulls eye to the intersection of the two guidelines. NOTE: Zoom in to the intersection of the guidelines and the line for greater accuracy. Clone the line (Ctrl k). In the Angle of Selection text entry box, enter –1.2 and press Enter. Clone the new line and repeat. Do this 4 times so you have a total of 5 lines. Select the first line and stretch it downward to the smallest circle.

Group the five tick marks (Ctrl g). Click twice on the group to enable Rotate/Skew mode and drag the center of rotation bulls eye to the intersection of the two guidelines. Clone the group (Ctrl k), enter –6 in the Angle of Selection text entry box, and press Enter. Repeat this step 4 times.

Group the new tick marks. Enable Rotate/Skew mode and drag the center of rotation bulls eye to the intersection of the two guidelines. Clone the group, enter -30 in the Angle of Selection text entry box and press Enter. Repeat this step until you have all the tick marks in place as shown.

Select the largest circle and resize it to 240 pixels. With the circle selected, from the Arrange menu, select Convert to Editable Shapes.

Select the Text Tool. On the Infobar, change the font to Arial, in the Size text entry box, key in 5 and press Enter. Select the circle, then click the Text Tool insertion cursor on the top of the circle on the vertical guideline. Key in the text shown. Click twice on the circle. Drag the center of rotation bulls eye to the intersection of the 2 guidelines and rotate the circle until the 60 is centered on the vertical guideline.

After the word TACHYMETER, press the Space bar until you reach the 6th large tick mark and key in 500. Continue to use the space bar and key in the numbers shown on the top half of the circle. Select the text and Arrange Convert to Editable Shapes. Ungroup the text.

Expand the circle to 250 pixels. Select the circle, then the Text Tool. Click on the top of the circle and key in 0. Right click on the circle and select Reverse Text on Curve . This will place the text on the inside of the circle. Key in the numbers shown on the bottom inside of the circle in the positions indicated.

Save your drawing and take a short break.

Create a small rectangle at the top of the circle. Clone and rotate the rectangle to place it at the 12, 3, 6, and 9 O'clock positions.

The large tick marks between 100 and 150 need to be reduced by 50%. One mark at a time, select the mark, click the Set Origin Position (right bottom for tick marks on the right side, left bottom for the left side), then enter 50 in the Width (or Height) text entry box and press Enter. Repeat this step until all large tick marks between 100 and 150 have been reduced.

Create a temporary 165 pixel circle. Create a vertical line and rotate and duplicate the line every 30 degrees. Add the numerals shown in 22pt Arial Bold . Position the numerals as shown. Delete the lines and temporary circle when you have the text in place.

Add two rectangles to the sizes and position shown. Key in MON and 1 in the rectangles in 12pt Arial Narrow.

Create a new layer called Small Dials, select the new layer and uncheck the Tick Marks layer.

Actually, check both boxes on Layer 1 to make it visible and unlocked. Select the 3 small circles and cut them to the clipboard (Ctrl x). Now make Layer 1 locked and invisible, and select the Small Dials layer. Paste the 3 dials using Shift Ctrl v.

TIP: Another method is to make Layer 1 visible and unlocked, select the 3 circles, select the Small Dials layer and press Move. This moves the selection to the new layer.

Using the same method used to create the large dial and tick marks, create small tick marks 6.6 pixels tall on the 3 dials as shown.

Add numerals in 8pt Arial. Create an 80 pixel circle centered over the bottom small dial. Convert the circle to editable shapes (Arrange menu). Select the Text Tool, select Arial, 5pt. and Center Justify. Select the circle, then select the Text Tool and click in the top center of the circle. Key in in all caps, AUTOMATIC.

Convert the text AUTOMATIC to editable shapes. Ungroup and delete the circular path.

Create a small 8 pixel circle and a 2 x 24 pixel rectangle. Center the rectangle over the circle and Combine Shapes... Add Shapes. Zoom in close and slightly taper the top of the dial using the Shape Editor Tool to nudge the control points towards the center. Make 2 duplicates and position the dials as shown above.

Create 2 squares to the sizes shown top left. Rotate each 45 degrees and reduce the widths as shown. Change the fill color to white and increase the outline Width to 1pt. Create 2 18 pixel circles, center the hands over the circles and group each hand and circle.

Create and center the various objects shown top left. Convert all to editable shapes. Taper the top of the rectangle. Rotate the 16 pixel square 45 degrees and reduce the width as indicated. Taper the top of the bottom rectangle. Select all the objects and Combine Shapes... Add Shapes. Create a black rectangle that covers the circular portion of the shape and the bottom portion. Select both objects and Arrange > Apply ClipView. NOTE: The pointer shape needs to be behind the rectangle for Apply ClipView to work.

In the Layers Gallery, make Layer 1 visible.

Arrange the hour, minute, and seconds hands as shown.

Create a small circle and apply a gold fill (RGB 204, 153, 0). Apply a Flat, Inner Bevel. Place this in the center of the dials.

Create a large 330 pixel circle and two tiny 3 pixel circles. Place the 2 tiny circles a distance apart. Select the Blend Tool, click on one of the tiny circles and drag to the other tiny circle to create a blend. Increase the Number of Blend Steps to 180 and press Enter to apply the changes. Select the new blend with the Blend Tool. Hold down the Shift key and then click on the 330 pixel circle. On the Infobar, click the Blend Along a Curve icon to distribute the blend around the circle. Select the circle and Convert to Editable Shapes. Ungroup and delete the large circle.

You now have all the dial elements.

Save your work and take a short break.

Create a small 34 x 30 pixel rectangle. Click the Curved Corners icon (with the Rectangle Tool). From the drop down list, select Curvature and reduce the amount to 0.1. Convert to Editable Shapes . Using the Shape Editor Tool, taper the top. Clone the shape and move it to the right. Create a new 72 x 20 pixel rectangle and center each of the tapered shapes along the ends of the rectangle. Select the tapered shapes and the rectangle and Combine Shapes... Add Shapes. Position this new object along the top of, and to the back of the watch face.

(We will rotate this shape in a few steps).

Create a new 50 x 30 pixel rectangle. Apply Curved Corners. Convert to Editable Shapes and using the Shape Editor Tool, drag the top and bottom to slightly round these sides.

Create two very small rectangles to the sizes shown, position them on the rounded rectangle, and create a 9-step blend.

Duplicate the rounded rectangle and scale the duplicate down to 75%. Add a smaller rectangle for a shaft and send it behind the button (Shift Ctrl b). Group the two shapes. Center the new shape at the top of the dial, click twice to enable Rotate/Skew mode and rotate 30 degrees to the left. Clone the shape, and rotate it 60 degrees to the right.

Select all the new elements, click again to enable Rotate/Skew mode, drag the center of rotation bulls eye to the center of the watch face, and rotate the selection clockwise, 45 degrees.

I have to confess to poor Layer management. I mean well, but in doing tutorials it is hard to keep the layers straight since each step is a separate illustration for me as opposed to doing all the steps in place as you are doing. So working with Layers is really not an option for me. As a result, I often forget which layer I am supposed to be on. As such you are pretty much on your own to turn the appropriate layers on and off if I forget to mention it.

At any rate, you might want to create a new layer for the Watch Band.

Create a rectangle with curved corners. Make 5 duplicates and arrange them as shown on the left. Clone the shapes shown in pink and light purple and drag the resizing control handles to flop the shapes. Select the light purple shapes and click twice to enable Rotate/Skew mode. Drag the outside skew handles to skew the sides downward 45 degrees as shown.

Make Layer 1 visible and unlocked for a moment. Copy the yellow O-shape to the clipboard, select the Watch Band layer and paste the O-shape on top using Shift Ctrl v which pastes the copy in the same place from which it was copied. Make all but the Watch Band layer visible and lock the other layers.

Group the link shapes. Select the O-shape and the grouped link shapes and Arrange > Combine Shapes... Subtract Shapes. The O-shape disappears leaving the band. Ungroup the link shapes. Select the bottom most shape, and Arrange > Break Shapes. Delete the bottom portion. Group the remaining shapes.

Clone the link objects and rotate the cloned group 180 degrees.

Make all the layers visible. Here are all the parts.

Save your drawing and take a short break. When you return we will color the objects.

We will be using a palette of 7 gray shades to color the watch. The gray shades will all have a very slight purple cast. Once we create the palette, you can use the Color Picker (the eyedropper) in the Color Editor (Ctrl e) to sample the colors. This will save you the task of entering the values each time we use one of the colors.

Create two small rectangles. Apply a fill of HSV 265, 10, 255 to the first rectangle and HSV 265, 50, 40 to the second rectangle. Create a 5-step Blend. Add the A-G text characters to help you identify the correct colors.

TIP: Another way to do this is to select each color, press the yellow tag icon in the Color Editor, and Name each of the colors A through G. The colors will appear on the screen palette. Your choice.

Delete the smaller light purple circle that was used as a guide for the tick marks.

Apply a diagonal Linear fill using colors C and B. Drag the ends of the fill path arrow as shown to make the fill diagonal.

Create a Conical fill for the watch case and the small dials. To add additional colors to the Conical fill path arrow, double click on the fill path. The watch is beginning to look like a watch!

Apply a Linear fill to the stop and start buttons and to the button shafts. For the bottom button and shaft, drag the ends of the fill path arrows until the fill looks like the example above. Colors A and F should be close together on the fill path arrow to create a shiny effect.

Select the shape that contains the winder. Apply a Circular fill. Center the fill over the center of the dial and drag the fill path arrow to middle of the winder. Add an additional color (E ) and end the fill with color A.

Duplicate the shaft from the top stop/start button. Stretch it a bit and put behind the winder.

Copy the fill from the stop/start button (Ctrl c). Select the winder shape and Paste Attributes (Ctrl Shift a). Drag the ends of the fill path arrows to make the fill vertical. Convert the small blended rectangles on the winder to editable shapes and ungroup them. Apply the flat colors shown above left.

Create a linear fill and apply it to one of the full rectangular link shapes (the link shapes are grouped so you will need to Ctrl click to select them individually. Copy the fill and Paste Attributes (Shift Ctrl a ) to the other link shapes. Adjust the fill path arrow on the modified link shapes as shown.

Make duplicates of the top and bottom link shapes. Change the fill for all shapes to 50% black. Ungroup the link shapes and apply a Rounded, Inner Bevel, Size: 5. Select the top link shapes and Arrange > Create Bitmap Copy... Leave all settings as is and press Create. Center the bitmap over the link shapes and apply a Flat, Brightness transparency. Group the bitmap and the link shapes. Repeat this step for the bottom link shapes.

We need to apply a bunch of additional bevels as indicated above. Add a 74 x 29 pixel rectangle around the day and date windows with no fill. Change the fill color behind the day and the date to white. The Light Angle (select Light Angle from the drop down list) for the bevels for the day date windows, and the three small dials changes to 125 degrees to create the appearance of the shape receding instead of protruding.

Select the three hands and apply a Wall Shadow with the Shadow Tool. Modify the Shadow Blur settings (4pix) and the Shadow Transparency settings (50%) and offset the shadow 5 and -5 as shown.

Create a new 284 pixel circle and apply a Circular fill. Offset the center of the fill up and left as shown and use the 2 colors shown.

Apply a Flat, Brightness, 20% transparency.

And that's all there is to it. Easy huh?

The only thing left to do is to add a Circular fill to the background. But if you have gotten this far, I don't have to tell you how to do that.

©2004 Gary Priester from the Xara Xone