| Lettering on models |
 Jock |
I'm not looking for a 'how to' as i'll do the work and find out for myself but i'm simply looking for a lead.
I have no idea how people put lettering onto models because they already have a texture then the wording goes on top. By this i mean like say numbers on the side of a tank, manufacturers names on electronic goods. Ones which are on the material with no thickness.
I once thought they made an object with like 0.1mm thickness but ive been told that isnt the case. I then thought you did a boolean and cut, which worked in one test i done, but any more than one set of words and it didnt work correctly.
Its just one of these things, like the ruags and artwork i asked about which i see all the time, and i just cant for the life of me work out. I've been right through all my books and also on the net, but the main issue is i dont know what you even call the process so its like looking for a needle in a haystack.
So as mentioned, i'm not looking for the cheap way out and be told how to do it, just what you call the process, then i'll research it from there on both the net and help files.
Thanks
read 2150 times
8/23/2007 4:01:27 AM (last edit: 8/23/2007 4:01:27 AM)
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| timpa |
They are likely textured on mate.
read 2148 times
8/23/2007 4:02:45 AM (last edit: 8/23/2007 4:02:45 AM)
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| Jock |
I see, i thought there was a specific 'thing' they do to produce lettering.
I'm still confused about the whole thing but if its simply 'texturing' i'll leave it till i am a bit more competent.
Ps. Nice curtain tutorial on your sig by the way. Far nicer than the ones i have found on the net so going to give it a bash for my room scene.
read 2140 times
8/23/2007 4:15:04 AM (last edit: 8/23/2007 4:15:04 AM)
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| Jock |
lol talking about your tutorials, doesnt the box one give me the answer i want?
In it you type the text then use shapemerge to then make it part of the object, the you could just use a multi texture?
read 2133 times
8/23/2007 4:21:15 AM (last edit: 8/23/2007 4:21:15 AM)
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| nisio |
Hit F1 and search for 'decal'
I think that's what you're looking for.
read 2127 times
8/23/2007 4:34:01 AM (last edit: 8/23/2007 4:34:01 AM)
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| timpa |
it does produce raised lettering.
Not all lettering is 3 dimensional though.
looking about my desk.
the wordsa "Sony Ericsson" on my phone are 2 dimensional
so is the model name on my monitor
the word "dell" on my mouse
the words canon on my camera.
So based on the tank example. I presumed you referred to painted letters on the side.
Otherwise I'd have suggested my tutorial.
read 2124 times
8/23/2007 4:36:08 AM (last edit: 8/23/2007 4:36:08 AM)
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| Jock |
Thanks nisio
@timpa
Yeah sorry i did mean 2D but when i seen your tutorial, i thought i could just miss out the extrude part. Then that would give me 2D letter which when i do 'select by polygon' i could give it a diff ID to the rest and texture it differently. It would help with insignia though like military markings, but would help me with text i thought.
read 2119 times
8/23/2007 4:46:40 AM (last edit: 8/23/2007 4:46:40 AM)
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| mrgrotey |
that would 'ok' if the surface was flat like in the tut but doing that to a curved suface would produce far too many surface errors for what its worth, just use textures, its the way its done, no-one would ever use the shapmerge for 2d lettering.
read 2097 times
8/23/2007 5:25:48 AM (last edit: 8/23/2007 5:25:48 AM)
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| Jock |
The thing i dont quite understand about using textures for it is the fact that it almost feels like it needs 2 textures adding to the same object. 1 for lettering and 1 for the material itself.
Because to have 1 texture with both would prove extremely difficult to get it mapped correctly and at the right scale.
I get the feeling like there is a specfic texture 'process' i need, and thats the name i'm after.
If its decal like nisio mentioned, theres nothing in help but i'll go check the net.
read 2089 times
8/23/2007 5:53:51 AM (last edit: 8/23/2007 5:53:51 AM)
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| timpa |
Don't think of the complexities. Think of the power.
http://www.3dtotal.com/team/tutorials/decal/decal.asp
Now imagine the texture is skin not carpaint.
You use the decal layer for a scar........
a tattoo........
freckles..........
Wow, seperate layer. Move them. Scale them.
Change them without redoing the entire model.
Hey i finished the tank you wanted boss?
What was that?
You need to mirror the shot so it comes in from the left?
No, not a problem at all.
Geez, if only these numbers were on a seperate texture layer instead of FUSED INTO THE MESH.
read 2074 times
8/23/2007 6:52:43 AM (last edit: 8/23/2007 6:52:43 AM)
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| Jock |
Cheers bud.
Yet another successfull case solved by maxforums :)
read 2067 times
8/23/2007 7:01:17 AM (last edit: 8/23/2007 7:01:17 AM)
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| Jock |
Well after a couple of hours worth of trial and error i'm getting somewhere albeit far from perfect.
I'm not sure why the lettering is black and white.
To get this far i have done the following:
Created a composite material and not touched the base material. Then went into the second material and made the diffuse green, and in the diffuse map placed a mask. In the mask ive attached a decal texture. copied it to the mask and told it to invert it. Ive also set the bitmap to channel 2. Lastly i set up a UVW and cahnge it to channel to 2, and this is what i get
read 2053 times
8/23/2007 8:55:51 AM (last edit: 8/23/2007 8:55:51 AM)
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| mrgrotey |
The reason it is black and white is because your mask map and diffuse map are not in the same place, if you look closely you can see panasonic spelt out in black.
there is however an easier way than the composite material, i dont like that material myself, but it has its uses.
if all you want is different diffuse maps(and/or different bump maps .etc) to show in the decal just stick a 'mix' map in the diffuse slor of the box material
then add a the black and white decal to the mix map slot, then what ever is white takes whatever is in the white slot and vice versa.
heres an example
mix map
render
i have a cellular map in the white slot of the mix map and a green flat colour in the black slot.
if you physically want two different materials in each part (not just two different diffuse maps) then id use a blend material. It works the same as the mix map but combines actual materials rather than maps, then you can have stuff like a raytrace material for the lettering and an ink and paint material for the box, or whatever :)
you can even use blend materials within blend materials so the letters or shapes are all individual material types, if thats what you want.
[edit] heres an example of the bland material, the box is ink'n'paint the circle is a second blend map containing a word mix between a standard red material and the raytrace mirror
blend map 1
blend map 2
render
read 2044 times
8/23/2007 9:16:25 AM (last edit: 8/23/2007 9:40:37 AM)
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| Jock |
Cheers for that, and ive worked through it and got it all working correctly apart from one issue. If i want to treat it as say, a badge or a logo, ill need it on one face and be able to move it into position as well as scale it. I cant quite figure that out...i think its to do with channels and uvw but cant quite get there.
read 2022 times
8/23/2007 9:48:44 AM (last edit: 8/23/2007 9:48:44 AM)
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| Jock |
Ok ive had a bit more of a play about and this is the result but ive got a couple of queries:
So although i can see it when i render, i cant see the typing in my normal view, which is something i was able to do with composite materials, is there a way round that?
Lastly, i have tested this and it does apear to work but just want to check im doing it correctly. I have 2 UVW's. one i have set for channel 1 and the other for channel 2. One does my timber, the other does my lettering. I can set the channel for the lettering through the bitmap options, but how does it know my wood is channel 1?
EDIT:
I think i get it now, the fact you cant see it is why you set the UVW to fit bitmpa, then although you cant see it itself, you will see the box it will fit into and can position it like so??
read 2013 times
8/23/2007 10:09:25 AM (last edit: 8/23/2007 10:13:48 AM)
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