Illustrator pattern brush help

[=guinness=]

So I've tried multiple times in the past and only been so frustrated that I give up completely and put it off.

SO how do you make an illustrator pattern brush that actually works? (see attached image).

Whenever I try, I get a wonky corner that is much bigger than my line.

Before you say google it, I have and followed the steps but it just doesn't seem to work for me.

I'm using CS3 and have set the correct parts of the line in the options but it just don't work... any helpful hints?

Thanks!

P.S. Also the reason I'm using this instead of a rounded rectangle with stroke is because I want the line to bend in different directions.

P.P.S. The shapes I'm trying to make into a pattern brush are outlines, not strokes.

[wes_design]

maybe try using random pressure

or you trying to just make a pattern
in which you can do that with that symbol box?
hmmm....

[=guinness=]

i don't want to use any pressure. I have a wacom but it's just overkill for what should be a simple solution... isn't the pattern brush supposed to simplify creating a decorative border or line?

could it be a metering issue? there has to be an answer.

i just want a pattern line that has that rounded corner so i don't have to do it manually and line up outlined objects (also i can just change entire scale with stroke width rather than editing all objects that try to resemble a stroke). the standard rounded corner rectangle is set and you can't bend it... and the corner options under stroke produce a rounded outer edge and a sharp inner edge, i need both to be rounded.

[wes_design]

^ok so your saying you want to make your own standard for the rounded corner shape then

hmm... why not edit the radius of the original rounded rectange

and sorry if I seem redundant, kind of late over here for me
might go to sleep soon

[=guinness=]

i dont want to apply it to just a rectangle. i will be a more complex shape, maybe not even a closed shape it could just be a line with 90degree changes in direction.

imagine the london underground map or the dc metro map where you have a transit system with branches coming off of a line, not closed shapes, open.

[wes_design]

^oh...ok

yeah hmm... I have to get back to you on that one, can't really think of answer right now..crap

[jimhere]

This 'wonky corner' thing has happened to me a lot in the past. What you should do is find some existing simple pattern (maybe one of Adobe's) that works, and drag it to your artboard. Then you can un-group it and see how they did it.

Even if you check your lines (shapes, strokes) in command-Y mode, sometimes strokes over-shoot their path, which causes this. So convert all strokes to shapes. Since I make these only once a year, I have to re-discover it over and over...