Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
Extrude
ex
trude
v.
1.
To push or thrust out.
2.
To
shape by forcing through a die. (
The Ameri-
can Heritage Dictionary
)
If you're going to be doing any sort of “fly-
ing logos,” you're going to get real cozy
with Extrude. It's a quick way to add di-
mension to planar polys.
As shown in Figure 3-63, make some
text by clicking your Text tool in a viewport
showing a
back
view, and let's get started.
1.
Note
Modify | Rotate | Bend will bend your object
as if you were grabbing the end of a fencing
foil sticking straight out on the axis that you
are “looking” at. So, to bend an object
around
an axis, you must look at that axis
from the “side” and bend
straight up
or
straight down
.
With complex polys like text, Bend can
quickly create non-planars if you bend a
complex poly on any axis other than one
that will keep all its points still lying along a
single plane. (In the case of our text,
all
its
points
must
remain at Z=0.)
Having Grid Snap set to Standard will help
when mousing with the Bend tool.
Just to keep everything “tight,” I'm
going to make sure the text I've typed
is centered on all axes. To do this,
press <
F2
> and choose
Modify |
Translate | Center
.
Figure 3-63
I want to give the text a nice curve so it
doesn't look quite so boring. Enter the
Bend tool.
2.
Click at Y=0, Z=0 in a Side viewport,
and drag
straight down
along the Y axis.
This bends your text
around
the Z axis
(see Figure 3-64).
3.
Having bent your text, rotate it so that
it is level again (see Figure 3-65).
