Text Handling
5 messages in this thread
Please concentrate on the text handling ability of R4. I am an old
Windows DTP guy who is spoiled about entering, choosing, placing,
figuring out what the placed font is, etc. Also, Being a new user, i
had a problem lofting some text today, where the error message said
something like "not the same number of vertices" . The text was the
same through out. I was lofting the text on the front of path in a
circular fashion (not path) to fit on top of some concentric circles
I had already lofted that was situated on the back of the path. The
text would not loft. Help.
>> The text would not loft. Help.
Be certain that all the shapes along your path have the same number of
vertices. Also, if you have a two-piece shape like an "O" (ie with a hole),
and your second shape has no hole, you may get unpredictable results.
– Dave
Thanks, Dave. The other shape at the back of the path were two concentric
circles which I had already lofted, and I was trying to get my text to loft by
themselves and there would a happy union in 3d Editor. Yes, the circles and
the text do not have the same # of vertices. I guess I should just reset the
2d Shapper and start a new path? The text revolves inside (to be placed on the
front face of) the circles along the local axis of the circles. I'm drawing a
logo. Thanks for your help. But don't you wish 3DS could handle text better,
sizing, shaping, showing what the font of existing text is? Thanks, Eric
Eric,
It sounds like you may be confusing several aspects of the shaper/lofter/editor
processes. I would encourage you to do the tutorials again – note that every
detail is significant.
If I understand you correctly, you are having difficulty getting the text and
circles to match correctly. Also, due to different numbers of vertices, the
shapes won't loft together. First, start simple… Try creating a "T" that
becomes a circle at the rear. In it's simplest form a "T" will have 8
vertices. Make a circle with 8 vertices. Put the "T" at the first step, and
the circle at the last. (Be sure to verify the location of the "first" vertex)
Once you get this to work, try some more complicated letters and shapes.
>> But don't you wish 3DS could handle text better, sizing, shaping,
>> showing what the font of existing text is?
Given all the features built into the program, I can't fault the designers for
not enriching the text handling. FWIW, I have seen tons of requests for
improved text handling, and the programmers are very responsive to wishlist
requests. (Cross your fingers for release 5!)
Hope this helps. Feel free to post more detailed questions as you work through
your project.
– Dave
David, thanks for your suggestion. I guess my experimenting was not working
out as neatly as I thought it should have. Yes, the Yost w/ the Most Group did
a great job with this program, which is why I like it so much. I suppose they
thought text would be better handled by a WordPerfect program. I am still
trying to work my way through R2,3,4 and a few IPAS routines and still have
time to earn money (self employed you know). Thanks for helping out. Eric