Exercise: Generating 3D text in Action
Click on the icon for a quick preview of the exercise and the final result.

Download an archive that contains the footage as well as the setups used in this exercise.
Put these files in your Flame system: for example under the /usr/tmp directory.

To learn how to load material into the Flame Library, see the exercise:
“Loading an archive”

Images courtesy of: Interface Media Group / PBS
Images are subject to copyright: please read the disclaimer at the end of this tutorial.

Start in Batch.
1. Drag an Action node to the Batch schematic.
2. Click the NodeSetup tab to the left of the interface to modify some of the Action settings.
Under the Rendering options, keep Z-Buffer ON.
Enable Shading.
Under the Miscellaneous options, change Auto Image to Auto Image OFF.
Turn AutoKey OFF to prevent animating values over time.

1. Swipe left to access the Batch Node Bin.
2. Drag the Library node to the Batch schematic to access the Library.
3. In the Library, select the clip “PBS_Nature_bg”.
4. Press Load.
5. Connect “PBS_Nature_bg” to the Action background tab.

We will create a 3D text in Action using the default system fonts.
Note that you can copy your own fonts in /usr/discreet/font.

1. Press ALT 2 to work with 2 view ports, Action schematic on the left, result on the right.
2. Double-Click the 3DText node in the Action tool bin.
Scroll the bin if needed.
3. Double-click the Geom node in the schematic to access the text menu.
4. Click in the text box and type: NATURE.
5. Click in the font box and choose Utopia Regular in the browser then press Load.
6. Set the text Size to 300.
7. Change the text Kerning to -10.
8. Set the text Depth to 20.
9. Move the bevel curve up a little bit.

Move and rotate the text slightly; enter the following axis values:
Position X 0
Position Y 95
Position Z -500
Rotation X 10°
Rotation Y -10°
Scale Y 120%
Note: Deactivate Prop Scale.

You can deform 3D text and other geometry objects with a deform mesh.
Here we want to warp the text in a semi-circular shape.

1. Select the text Geom node in the schematic.
2. Double-click the Deform node in the tool bin.
Note: You can add more control points by increasing the number of lattices.
3. Drag a selection box to include the points in the middle of the shape.
4. Drag the sliders to modify the following points values in the Deformation menu:
Position Y -15
Position Z -200
Note: You can also move the points in the result view or the top view.

In Action, a media layer can be used independently as an image surface, a texture, a projector or a displacement map. In this case, we want the layer to be used as a texture.

1. Select the layer in the Action Media menu.
2. Click on Add media – From Lib.
3. Select the clip “reflect5” in the Library and press Load.
Note: Auto Image should be OFF. If not an image is automatically added; delete that image in Action schematic.
4. Select the geometry node in Action schematic
5. Go to the Action node bin and switch from Objects to Maps.
6. With the layer selected, double-click the Diffuse Map icon in the Action image bin.
7. Keep the default texture options.

1. In the Action node bin, switch from Maps to Objects.
2. Double-click the Light in the tool bin.
3. Enter the following Light values:
Position X 400
Position Y 150
Position Z 800
Move the light to see how it affects the object.
Note: Shading option must be ON under NodeSetup.

1. Switch to the Media menu.
2. Select layer in the Action Media menu and click on Add Media.
3. Select “PBS_Nature_bg” as the front, hold CTRL and then select “grass_01” as the matte.
4. Press Load.
5. Double-click the Image icon to add the grass image to the scene.
6. Double-click the axis of “grass_01” in the Action schematic.
7. Set the following Axis values:
Position Y 6
You can look at the top view, press SHIFT F4.

1. Press Preview to preview the result.
2. To increase the Anti-Aliasing, select the NodeSetup tab and choose a higher sample rate in the Rendering section.
Note: If you want to render the scene, you need to add an Output node in the Batch schematic first.

If you want to know more about the interface and the functionalities covered in this exercise, watch the following overviews:

To continue practicing with the next exercise, click on the following link: