#Beveled Text in 3DS
5 messages in this thread
I'm having a little problem beveling the face of text in 3DS. I've had some
luck with the scale deformation, but not a lot. I remember something in the
tutorial, but have been unable to find it.
Any help will be appreciated.
Also – I have been having a problem when importing stuff from Corel Draw!
as AI files. Objects – especially text – have been coming in cut in half,
with segments connecting the middle of the objects horizontally. I have to
go through and delete the extra segments, and then weld all the verticies.
Any workarounds?
Thanks for the time!
Brian
Actually, beveling isn't that tough. The problem is that the scale is so
screwey…
We usually do a bevel deformation of about .25 for text that is 200 units
high. Does that make sense? If you upload a SHAPE to me in E-MAIL, I will
bevel it and send you back the LFT file so you can see how it was done. I
would sure like to see some QUICK KEYS for things like "take this shap and
bevel it.", wouldn't you? Hope I can help out…
In addition to Doug's comment, it's very important to read the "Important"
note on page 6-67 of the reference manual, and use the technique described
there. (it covers the use of the tape measure to pre-measure the exact
amount of the bevel)
Regarding importing stuff from Corel Draw… Corel Draw has a bug when
exporting text as curves. If you want to get fonts over to 3DS, the best
way is to just load them as .pfb files. Corel Draw really only works
correctly for exporting .AI files when you export curves that were drawn
within it.
– G
Brian,
In addition to what Doug and Gary have already mentioned, let me add some
information learned from my own experiences.
In order to properly bevel complicated (serifed) text from CorelDraw or any
where you might get it, try these steps:
1. Import or create the text within the Shaper.
2. If imported, Select all vertices and WELD SELECTED.
3. Use the OUTLINE command while noting the offset amount to create equal
outlines of each letter, and its inner polygon, if it has one.
4. CHECK shapes' vertices for "crossovers." When the shaper finds them you
can zoom in and move them so they no longer conflict with each other. You
may have to further adjust their positions a little to keep the integrity
of the typeface depending on the complexity of the shape and severity of
the bevel.
5. Use Display/first to see the polygons' first vertice and to change its
position. ALL first vertices have to occur in-line for the lofting process
to work correctly.
6. In the lofter, make a path that has three main vertices, one for the
back, front, and beveled sections of your text.
7. Back in the Shaper, Assign the larger, outside outlines (as well as the
smaller, inner outlines on those letters that have nested poloygons) as
shapes and import them as shapes for the "back" and "front" vertices of
your lofter path. Then, invert your shape assignments and import the
beveled face shapes to the "bevel" vertice in the lofter. Loft, and there
ya have it -any size bevel on any kind of typeface you like!
I realize this might seem a little complicated, but it has worked for me
every time, no matter how weird the typeface or size of the bevel. If the
rendering looks "inside-out" check your first-vertice placement in the
shaper — its usually the culprit.
The "segments connecting the middle" sounds suspiciously like the default
FILL setting in CorelDraw is NOT set to "none". Make sure there is NO fill
in the text before exporting as .AI! The text should now come in with a
minimum of vertices, like you would expect. Also, convert to curves before
exporting as curves. This seems to help, too.
Hope this is helpful.
Alan Iglesias