I am using entry and exit anchor points in my variable font.
The only axis I am working with goes from -100 to 0 to 100, and I am moving the exit anchor points vertically through the axis. On certain glyphs I need to refine the movement so I am attempting to use an intermediate layer to stop the anchor on the baseline between the variable values 0-38. The actual geometry of the font moves between that value range too.
Looking at the preview window along the bottom of the UI when toggling between the layers and masters everything looks correct and lines up as it should. But upon exporting the font and testing it in Font Goggles or Dinamo’s Font Gauntlet the anchor points added to the intermediate layer seem to have no effect. The geometry of the glyph does adhere to the intermediate layer though so I’m pretty sure I have applied the layers correctly.
Anyone got suggestions or explanations? Thanks in advance, and I hope the text above makes sense!
I don’t blame ya! It’s a bit of a wacko weirdo font…
I have the first working version of the font on my website: Max Mainio | Hedera
Safari has issues rendering it properly, and honestly sometimes so does Chrome, but I’d recommend viewing it on Chrome to really see what is going on.
Hopefully that gives you an understanding of how the font as a whole should work. In that version I didn’t use any intermediate layers for the interpolation, but now I’m making a slightly refined version in my free time after work.
From the offset axis value of 0 to the intermediate layer (set to the value of 38 which I calculated so the movement of the q would look smooth from 0 to 100) I want the bulk of the q letterform to begin shifting upwards but the connector / tail of the q should stay in place relative to the next glyph until it locks into place at the bottom of the q’s descender. Then until an offset value of 100, the entirety of the q should move up as far as possible.
What is happening:
In Glyphs everything looks to line up when viewing each layer separately, but upon export:
But at the intermediate layer range of the axis, the connector has shifted down to the bottom of the q descender as it should, but the exit anchor point that is also in the intermediate layer is being overlooked.
Instead the offset (meaning the vertical positioning of the exit anchor) is interpolating between the values 0 and 100 without taking into consideration it’s placement in the intermediate layer at the axis value 38.
I hope this shines some light on what exactly I’m going for.
I know font technology can often be “under developed,” so if this is just some kind of fundamental, “overlooked” flaw in how variable fonts are interpolated and or rendered I understand and I’ll figure out a work around.
I could brute force my way through this by adding a full master every time I run into a glyph that needs an intermediate layer, but you already understand why that would be a pain in the ass.
Thanks in advance for the help! And thanks again for the timely responses.
-Max Beidler
