Re: [css3-background] vastly different takes on "blur"

On Jun 22, 2010, at 12:07 PM, "Tab Atkins Jr." <jackalmage@gmail.com>  
wrote:

> What we're all saying is that, when we're thinking about how much to
> blur, what we mentally care about is how much the blur extends out
> from the normal shadow.  The amount that the blur extends into the
> normal shadow isn't relevant to our decision on how much to blur.

That's the part that still seems indefensible. Whatever direction it  
extends, it is part of the blur for which the author provided a  
distance measure. How can that possibly be irrelevant to the blur  
value provided? If all you cared about was how far it how far it  
extended (and I know ghats nit the case), you wouldn't need blur. So  
when you say you are visually picking an attractive blur in  
conjunction with that decision, then you are just visually and  
concurrently picking a blurriness that can be represented by a number,  
regardless of which way it extends.

> So, please, fix your understanding of what we're saying,

I know what I'm saying.

> and then
> reevaluate.  We're not as stupid as you seem to be thinking we are.

I do not think that, so don't put words in _my_ mouth. Maybe I'm  
stupid for finding your position so inconceivabe  I just think you  
aren't thinking like designers, who are the type of people who most  
care about when, where, and how much to add this sort of decoration.  
If the designer wants the object to appear closer to the surface he  
can use a small blur (a big blur for the opposite effect). If he then  
wants it to appear as though the light is coming at at sharp angle, he  
can set long offsets (smaller offsets for a more overhead effect). If  
he wants the light to seem to be from a powerful, solitary light  
source, he can set the shadow color to opaque black (or a more  
transparent or reflective effect with other colors and opacities  
instead). Spread can be used for a more utilitarian effect of ensuring  
it extends out a proper distance for other design considerations. But  
when specifying a measure for the blur, it has to be the degree of  
blurriness desired (the distance covered by the effect) that factors  
first into the decision of what blur value to specify. This will be  
balanced against how it affects other decisions about how much of the  
shadow should show at the full specified opacity, and how far out it  
should extend. But the most important thing about the blurriness is  
the distance of the transition from specified color/opacity to fully  
transparent.

Received on Tuesday, 22 June 2010 20:43:19 UTC