F Have you ever considered making some 3D fonts? There are of courseFmany packadges available but should you really part with your cashFwhen there is a lot you can do yourself? The following article is aFset of three tutorials for Imagine 2.0, Caligari Broadcast 3.1 andFReal 3D Classic (This is the software we are using at bitmap
headquarters ;-)
ANote: Step 1 is only applicable to the users of Workbench 2.04 or
above.
Step 1
% First we need to create large fonts.> Open Fountain (located in System drawer on your System disk).@ Click on the "Modify Existing Typefaces..." button. You will beE presented with a list of Compugraphic fonts available on your systemF in a box on the left hand side of the window. Choose CGTimes and type> 150 in the "Size" box. Click "Add Size" and "Perform changes"E buttons. Confirm your decision when a requester pops up and when all
is finished quit Fountain.
Step 2
E Open Deluxe Paint, choose a HiRes 2 colour format and proceed to theE main screen. Click (using right mouse button) on the "Text" icon andF choose CGTimes font. Set the size to 150 and confirm your choice. Now? you can type capital "A". Cut it out and save as a brush. Quit
DPaint.
Step 3 (Imagine 2.0)
D Open Imagine and go to the Detail Editor. Choose the Object/ConvertF IFF/ILBM menu and click on "yes" when Imagine asks you if you want toB add faces to your object. Now select (click on its axis) your newF object and press Right Amiga + E. Click on Extrude and type 20 in theC "Length" box. Click on Perform and Imagine will create a new shinyE letter for you. If you want to bevel it you can either use a utilityC program like Pixel Professional or do it yourself in Imagine. JustD extrude the brush with Length set to 40 and Sections to 2 (or 3 for2 beveling of both sides) and edit separate points.
Step 3 (Caligari Broadcast 3.1)
E You will need Imagine to create the object and then read it straight= away into Caligari. Its easier than tracing over an image inE Extruder. Alternatively you can use Pixel Professional but beware ofC beveled objects. Pixel Professional will save the bevelled objectsE wrong way round i.e. if you bevel front of the object it will appearF in Caligari as if you bevelled the back of it. I think you can figure
out the solution for yourself.
Step 3 (Real 3D Classic)
E Use the Pixel2 tool (or Pixel tool for some "wacky" effects), defineB the size and away you go. One problem occured when I extruded theE brushmap though. A rectangular skirt was produced and I had to use a' boolean tool and a cube to cut it out.
Step 4
E You should know now how to create your own 3D fonts. They may not beD as good as the real thing but will certainly save you at times whenC you have to meet a deadline or when you want to enhance your sceneE without paying a large sum of money for a professional set of fonts.
CNote: We stated the versions of software as the upgrades are comingB out all the time and some features may change. The procedure= described in this article should work for any decent 3d
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