OK, I admit it, I am as green as a bell pepper when it comes to Blender:D. But, I am very interested in developing my skills:yes: and I don’t intend to be a one and done participant in your community. So, on to the question…
I have figured out how to import an AI file, but when I try to extrude it only solidifies the object along the extruded faces. In other words it creates faces perpendicular to the paths from Illustrator and what should be the front face of the object is hollow.
Just as another bit of information for what I am experiencing, I should say that when I try to render the object nothing appears in the render window. Maybe its a zoom and/or image extents issue, but I thought it was worth mentioning.
I have a Logo already designed in photoshop and I have exported it to the AI format. I would prefer not to reinvent the wheel and have to recreate the inter object in Blender, so any suggestions on the subject would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance for everyones input!!!
Here is how I use AI files in Blender.
First off, it is rare for an import to come in 100% ready for use, so you will have to do some common fixup tasks.
Load your AI file into Illustrator and then SaveAs SVG file. Use the default settings.
Import the SVG file into Blender and you should see some lines appear. Depending upon the logo or file, you may see some or all of the logo.
Sometimes when it comes in there are a bunch of little circles near the top left portion of the logo. I simply delete all those.
Also I have seen things come in as a big solid rectangle. When this happens put the curve in edit mode and delete the four corner verticies of the rectangle/square and your logo should be underneath.
Also, curves are not automatically joined for you. Classic example. Type a lowercase “e” in Illustrator and export it as an SVG. Import the file into Blender and you will see that the hole for the lowercase “e” is mssing. It really is not missing, it is simply underneath the outer curve of the lowercase “e”. The way you fix this is to select both the outer curve and the inner curve (yes, click blindly to select it) then use CTRL-J to join the curves. Once the curves are joined, Blender will make the lower case “e” proper again with a hole in the middle.
Another “BAD” thing about Blender import is that it makes a new material for every freakin curve. God, this is annoying. Even if you check buttons on import to request better material generation, it always seems to make a gillion materials. So plan to spend some time reassigning materials in a logical manner.