how do i make.....equalizer graphic

[LennyMontana]

i wonder if any of you guys can give me the bolt from the blue i'm looking for...

i'm making a couple of interfaces for mock music players for a job i am doing.

i am mostly happy with them but i have really struggled with finding a fast and simple way to make the graphic equaliser bars graphic. if you get what i mean..
ie a row of equal width parralel bars that are all different heights and also graduate as they would on a real spectrum anylyzer or graphic equalizer display.

i have done them by making a long rectangle then duplicating and resizing etc..
but i am sure i am missing one of those blindingly simple tricks... if not i wish i were!
i also tried making a dotted line which i then stretched upwards.. but then its hard to keep the tops flat when adjusting the heights..

i know thats a bit of a dodgy explaination but i'm sure someone here must have done this very thing before ... can any one enlighten me? :-)

with thanks..

also as this is my first topic posted i would just like to say how useful this forum has been to me over the months as i have dipped in and out and what a freindly 'flaming' free place this seems to be.
when you live in the middle of nowhere as i do, doing websites and graphics in a complete vacuum would be impossible if it were not for sites such as this one....

cheers all Théo... (lenny was my dog!)

[dcloud]

You mean something like this?




I made these for a client project I was working on. I made first two bars using the Rectangle shape tool, then I used the Pen Tool to add/delete points and make small squares or rectangles. Then I duplicated the paths and just deleted segments to make each bar a different height.

These were the three different versions I came up.

[Phil_The_Rodent]

They look great doug, but they shouldn't fade to black at the top. Yellow or red would be better. The peak information is really important for identifying if any of the frquencies are capping/distorting for setting your levels. That's is the important information. The bottom stuff is mostly irrelevant. Fade to yellow with a single red band on top would be very effective I think.

[dcloud]

These were just quick examples I threw together, Phil. I'm sure he'll be able to get the idea and then decide if this is what he was looking for or not. He can make all the changes he wants himself.

[Edited on 17-1-2004 by dcloud]

[Phil_The_Rodent]

Wasn't a crit doug. I think they're great. I was just letting you (and Lenny, more importantly) know. There's a lot of things to think about when you're designing...

[dcloud]

Lenny,

If you want I put the equalizer bar shapes I made in this file which you can download here:

Equalizer Bars

[LennyMontana]

yes doug... something exactly like that!

of course phil is right for a hi-fi replica.. but in my case a semi-opaque grey lcd look is whats needed..
and yes i can make the adjustments i need.

i was just wondering what techniques other people used to get the same effect,
what really swift and good responses... cheers guys :-)

[Phil_The_Rodent]

Simplest, quickest way to get the "look" I think is to define an inverted grid pattern, fill some space with it, and trim out what you don;t want. Have you made patterns yet?

[LennyMontana]

interesting you should say that...
i was toying with the idea of using a pattern but it did'nt really come out right or perhaps i should say it took more work to get it right than my first methods.

i did get a fairly pleasing result by defining a set of bars as a brush. then like you say editing out tops of some sets with selections..

in short yes i do use patterns... but...inverted grid?... can you ellaborate?

[dcloud]

Did you try downloading the equalizer bar shapes, Lenny? Let me know how these work for you. I find the pen tool offers more control and flexibility.

[Edited on 17-1-2004 by dcloud]