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texture maps on extruded text – comparison
Hi everyone ! 🙂
I’ve had to cope a few times with issues about texture mapping on extruded text, and I’d like to share my overview with you. I hope you’ll have good ideas and maybe solutions I haven’t seen.
Here are 4 pictures :
1/ Extruded text with 3D ProAnimator from Zaxwerks :
2/ … with Maltaannon’s 3DExtruder Custom Effect :
3/ … with 40 layers :
4/ … with the Shatter fx :
I haven’t try the Boris Continuum extruded text plug-in, but for what I’ve seen, it reacts like ProAnimator, that is to say : texture mappings on the face and on the extrusion are separated.That’s the point : For the works I’ve done, I needed the mapping on the extrusion to follow the mapping on the faces. As if the letters were sculpted in one piece of material.
I could do this with all the bunch of layers, or fortunately with the Shatter fx, but neither with Maltaannon Custom Effect, nor with ProAnimator.
That means I could’nt use the most powerful tools !So, I’d like to know :
– Are there tips I don’t know about Maltaannon’s CE or about Zaxwerks’ plugin ?
– Are there other tools that make this mapping possible ?
– Do you think there could be a way to map properly Maltaannon’CE with a texture ?And now that I made those few images, other questions are arising also :
About the lights :
– Is there a way to make possible for the Shatter fx text to cast shadow ? (I’m using here the first light of comp.)
About Zaxwerks :
– The texture is applied on each letter or symbol separately, as we can see on “;-)”. How do you apply one single texture on all the faces together ? (I guess something is possible in 3DInvigorator, with the sets – apply a texture on a set/group ?- but anyway, sets don’t exist in ProAnimator, for what I’ve seen so far…)
– In 3D Invigorator or in ProAnimator, is there a way for ‘spreading’ the faces’ texture map on a choosen part of the sides ?
This question is linked to the main ones, about letters sculpted in one single material…If you have answers, or maybe questions too, about those issues, I’m very curious to know your opinions.
Thank you ! 🙂
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10 Replies
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Youshould add that Zaxwerks allows for different Bevel designs which is crucial in certain cases. I think that if someone is serious with working with 3D type in AE that the Zax products are the way to go.
HTH
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Zaxwerks is great for the bevels, that’s right, but here I’m only talking about the different texture mappings :
– either a map on the extrusion that has no link with the map on the faces,
– or the possibility for the map on the faces to be given a ‘depth’ on the extrusion. -
with bcc extruded text you can map any material you want to the sides, faces, bevels, whatever.
I’m finding that I’m using it more and more in my workflow. I do love invigorator, but BCC is gaining ground. Plus I love that you can animate the 3d orientation of the text without necessarily using a camera.
but it has it’s drawbacks as well. 1st off is jaggedy edges. they did just do an update which has a softening option, but if you are looking for really sharp 3d text for at least NTSC, it’s not stellar.
also i have issues with the text being too big for the layer and the sides getting cropped off. haven’t really found a workaround for that yet.
Joey -
Hi Joey,
Are you saying the BCC plugin enables the face mapping to be spread on the extrusion as though it was the depth of the faces ? That would be great ! 🙂
Though, sharp edges are very important for me, and that’s my main issue with the Shatter fx, with big letters impossible to get real sharp edges…
That’s the main reason why I was looking to give this depth with Zaxwerks plugins or with Maltaannon’s CE… -
– Is there a way to make possible for the Shatter fx text to cast shadow ? (I’m using here the first light of comp.)
If you Pre Compose the shatter layer and make the PreComp 3D it will cast shadows. You’ll need a light in both Comps. With a little expression trickery you can have the light in the Shatter Comp use the settings from the Master Comp.
None of these solutions is ideal, they’re just work-arounds. Even Zax won’t cast shadows properly on AFX layers, you need to create another plane in Zax to accept the shadow.
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In Zax you can make the sides have a completely different material from the faces. Texture, color, reflectivity…everything can be different. Is that what you’re asking? ‘Cause, if it is, yes you can with Zax. If not, I apologize.
– The Great Szalam
(The ‘Great’ stands for ‘Not So Great, in fact, Extremely Humble’)No trees were harmed in the creation of this message, but several thousand electrons were mildly inconvenienced.
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@ Michael Szalapski :
That’s what I want to do :
the face mapping spread on the extrusion as though it was the depth of the faces.@ Brian Charles :
If you Pre Compose the shatter layer and make the PreComp 3D it will cast shadows. You’ll need a light in both Comps. With a little expression trickery you can have the light in the Shatter Comp use the settings from the Master Comp.
I’m trying, but I can’t find out how to make it yet. Could you give me some details ?
– At the moment, I just made a copy of the light and of the camera. So now I have :
1/ A precomp, with the shattered text, 1 light, 1 camera (used inside the shatter fx), and also a white solid (made 3D) to figure a background.
2/ The main comp, with the precomp (made 3D), the same light, the same camera, the same white solid (made 3D).
I made some tweakings, but I can’t figure out yet how to do…what I know : I need a light and a camera with the right settings in the Precomp. The shatter fx settings must specify it uses the light and the camera of the composition. The shattered layer cannot be in 3D itself.
– Do you write the expression on the position ? Both on position and point of interest ?
I tried this one on the Camera position (in the precomp):comp(03-Main).layer(Cam).transform.position
but AE doesn’t accept it (it says : Class ‘Camera’doesn’t have a property or method named ‘Main’ !?)
Great thanks ! 🙂
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Yes. Zax can do that too.
– The Great Szalam
(The ‘Great’ stands for ‘Not So Great, in fact, Extremely Humble’)No trees were harmed in the creation of this message, but several thousand electrons were mildly inconvenienced.
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Could you tell me how ? Because I asked the same question on the Zaxwerks forum, and the answer there is negative so far
(or it is possible by using a 2nd texture for the sides, but I imagine how tedious it must be to make match the lines, and it means the texture can’t be a video for instance…)Thanks,
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Iforgot the link to the Zaxwerk forum :
https://forums.creativecow.net/thread/41/859824
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