Better paint and fonts
15 messages in this thread
I'm searching for a new paint application for use with 3ds. I'm
looking at COREL DRAW 5 and PHOTOSHOP 3.0, with emphasis on fonts that can be
page-formatted before importing into 3ds. I'm open to other suggestions as
well.
Paul
Paul,
I regularly use Photoshop, Corel, and Picture Publisher for special effects,
fonts, 2D import, etc. If you haven't got any of these I would recommend
getting Corel first. They are all priced in the same price range, but Corel is
a complete package. You get one of the "standards" in 2D drawing packages, a
top rated paint program with most of the features of Photoshop and Picture
Publisher, a desktop publishing package (Ventura), and much more.
I use Corel Draw for 2D drawings into the Shaper. I have found that the best
translation from Corel to the Shaper is AI instead of DXF. I have also used
Corel Draw to translate TTF fonts to PFB for the Shaper. I have used Draw to
layout advertising, brochures, etc. Corel Paint has an excellent fractal
explorer that is very useful for texture maps. All the above support the
plug-ins like Power Tools.
Hope this helps.
byron
<<Photoshop, Corel, Picture Publisher>>
Thanks, Byron
You are obviously happy with Corel. I will probably try it first and I'm also
very interested in Photoshop 3.0 for imaging, but I understand that it doesn't
come packaged with fonts like Corel does.
Paul, If you want to be able to bring the files into 3DS then Photoshop isn't
going to work. You'll need Corel or Illustrator. You can export from Corel as
an .AI file and import that into the shaper. This is one feature 3DS is very
lacking in – working with text. I sure hope that R5 gives us some formatting
capabilities etc.
Dave Mennenoh
<<3ds lacking in font formatting>>
Thanks Dave
The font formatting problem is THE reason I'm looking. I will try using .AI
files for lofting 3d fonts. How do the Corel fonts look brought in as .BMP
maps? I need to avoid jaggy stuff; it won't sell.
Paul
Paul, If you output say an 8.5 x 11 inch page as a .TGA from Corel, I think the
text would certainly be of high enough quality to look nice mapped to an
object. Export as .AI and modeled would of course produce better results but
depending on your application, using it as a tex map may be just fine. Let me
know what kind of results you get.
Dave Mennenoh
Thanks David for the info. It seems like good news for Corel. I guess I'm not
familiar with the .AI extension. Is it exclusive to the publishing world?
Just curious.
Paul
Paul, Don't know much about the .AI format. I wouldn't really say it's
exclusive to publishing though. I mean Studio reads it right? Maybe someone
else could tell you more.
Dave Mennenoh
AI of course is the extension for Adobe Illustrator, which is the Draw
counterpart to Photoshop. Just like Corel Draw is the counterpart to Corel
Paint, and Designer is the counterpart to Picture Publisher. I think it may
have early roots in the MAC, before WIN was mature enough to handle anything.
byron
Byron,
Thanks for the info. I'm gonna go pick up Photoshop 3.0 and Illustrator 4.
They are bundled together right now for a good price.
Paul
Paul,
>> I'm gonna go pick up Photoshop 3.0 and Illustrator 4. They are bundled
>> together right now for a good price.
What's the price for this bundle? TIA,
Bob W.
Dave,
Thanks for taking the time to reply.
Paul
<<How do the Corel fonts look brought in as .BMP maps?>>
I usually model my fonts for use within 3DS. It is very convenient to move the
fonts around while you're composing the picture (instead of going back and
forth from 3DS to WIN). You also have the control of STEPS, if you need to
change the quality of your text. Sometimes (if I'm better planned) I use the
paint program to produce title screens with text, and save it as a 32b image
for alpha overlays in video post. This is one of those subjects where there
are a dozen ways to do it, and you need to know them all to match to the job.
I have found that I spend alot of time cleaning up the 2D drawings I bring into
the Shaper from Corel. As stated before, I have better luck with AI format.
If you import something into the Shaper with overlapping vertices, select ALL
and WELD SELECTED vertices. I have had luck translating TTF to PFB and logos
to PFB, and importing into the Shaper as text.
If you want to use the Shaper for formatting, don't forget the "Views/See
Backgrnd" command. I routinely use the background in the shaper to create,
clean things up, trace, align, etc.
Hope this helps.
byron
Thanks a lot Byron for the tips. I'll give them a try.
Paul
If you are using Corel 5 from CD-Rom the 2nd disk is loaded with .pfb fonts.
the same 428 fonts that show as ttf's under windows. You can call these from
the 2D shape by using create text. The only trick is figuring out which font
is which from the file names.
Good Luck.
P.S. if you have'nt purchased software and are looking at Corel find a copy of
Corel 3 and then up grade to Corel 5. I did that for $359.00 compared with
over $550.00 for the standard package.