3d font freak



You will learn how to find various fonts and a 3d modeling program to design your name in your chosen font and make it look 3D.


Assignment rules, requirements

Each student will work on their own project, no groups or partners.

This assignment you must:

-Choose 3 fonts that shows your personality in different ways, download and use the fonts.

-Design your name in 3D using Blender.

-Render the 3d text and save the image to your folder.




The assignment:

The goal is to learn how to use a downloaded font, learn some basics in 3d modeling and along the way learn about fonts and how they show different personalities.

Also we are learning how fonts help convey a certain mood, theme or emotion.





Timeline 2-3 days:

Day 1: Intro to project, choose your fonts, download & extract. *If finished with fonts early you can begin Blender but I will not assist that part of the project until day 2, so you can explore and learn some basics by yourself..

Day 2: Blender basics, designing, adding text, color...

Day 3:Blender basics, designing, adding text, color, lights, and at last render.




To Get Started...
Finding and choosing your fonts:

Step 1: Either of these websites has many fonts to choose from, look at lots before making a decision.

Find one that fits your personality in a soft way, in a hard way and in a wild or wacky way.

Fonts must be all filled in for best results, eroded or destroyed fonts wont look correct in 3D.

You need 3 fonts, soft, hard, wacky.



Step 2: Download the Windows font and then locate and go to the file.

Step 3: Right click on the zipped file and then click extract here.

Find all the font files usually extension .ttf and organize them into a fonts folder in your home folder.

BY the end of DAY 1 you should have 3 .ttf files in a folder called fonts.



DAY 2 Blender Beginnings:


Step 1: Launch the program
Blender, it is a graphics and editing program.

Step 2: Click "View > Camera" shortcut is numpad 0 to change to camera view. *Try the other numpad buttons to see what they do to the view.

Step 3: Click "Object > Delete" confirm deletion by clicking ok.



Blender text:
Step 1: Click add > text.


Step 2: Click "Mode > edit mode" or by pressing the tab key, then backspace the word text and type your name.

Step 3: Click the panels > editing button (it looks like a square with dots on the corners), then under the curve and surface options, extrude needs to be 0.10 or more, bevel if you want.

Step 4: Load your font that you downloaded by clicking "load" under the font panel, then find the font and click "select font".

**Finding it might be tricky use the "P" to go back in the folders and start at your username which would be the home folder, then the first initial of your first name, first initial of your last name, then your login.



Blender text position and size:

 Step 1: Click "Mode > object mode" or by pressing tab.

Step 2: Click "Object > Transform Properties" or by pressing the keyboard key N.

Step 3: Change the settings by clicking on the numbers or typing new numbers of the properties of each axis for rotation, scale and location.


Blender Color:

Step 1: Click the panel "Shading" which looks like a circle/sphere or the keyboard shortcut F5.

Step 2: Click "Add New"

Step 3: Click the medium grey rectangle to the right of "Col" which is short for color, then choose the color you want, click outside of the color chooser to apply the new color.

If you want to you can add "Ray Mirror" and pull the slider somewhere in the middle, this will make your text shiny.



Blender Add Lamp: a lamp is light b/c right now your scene only has 1 light and usually it's in the back.

Step 1: Click "Add > Lamp > Lamp".

Step 2: Move the lamp away to the front from the text so that it can light up all the letters. Move either using the red, green and blue arrows or by using the Transform properties.

You can and should also change your view to see where the light is in relation to the text.

To change your view either click view and the view you want, or click the "MOUSE WHEEL" and move the mouse around.



Blender Render:

Render means in this context to give a copy of, or to represent or give a performance of.

So to render is to tell the 3D computer modeling program that this is the finished product and to complete it as an artwork.

Step 1: Setup the render

settings: Click the panels button "Scene" (it looks like a moutain and sun) or press the keyboard key F10 to get to the render settings

Step 2: Under Format change the image file type from JPEG to PNG, and click RGBA so that the background will be clear and not blue.

Step 3: Click the large Render button, or press the keyboard key f12.

Step 3.1: You can close the render if it looks how you want it, if not then move the light around, change the color or position to how you want.

Step 4: Click file > save image, then choose your location to save it and click save PNG.



Here are some example of completed renderings, guess which one is wacky, soft and hard.




When finished with ALL THREE, you can do it again for extra credit and instead of your name type your friends name, or moms name, or something else significant or fun to see in a cool font 3D.


SAVE OFTEN, you don't want to lose all your work because you forgot to save every 5 minutes, quick save is shortcut key (ctrl+s) WHEN YOU NEED HELP ASK(raise your hand) but FIRST re-read the assignment guidelines.

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