I’ve been working through the CG Cookie course Sessions Vol. 1, (Thanks @theLuthier ) and this is my interpretation of the dice rolling macro project. I made my own D20 for this, after struggling quite a bit with the text object converting to mesh with a rounded geometry depth (it went all wacky with som eof the numbers and geometry inside the font meshes). Overall, I’m pretty happy with the way it came out, but I’m working on another version that will challenge me with some smoke simulation. I hope to post that soon!
Hey, these look amazing, congratulations! So impressive.
I’m trying to model a realistic D20 but I’m really struggling with the rounded geometry depth for the numbers. How did you achieve that? I tried to use a bevel on the edges (both before and after applying the boolean) but couldn’t get it to work.
I’m definitely a “post-donut” beginner though, I’ve probably logged less than 100h on Blender so that might be part of the issue haha.
But yeah, most D20 tutorials are for printing custom dies, so they all keep those perfectly square edges.
This video shows how to get a round bevel on dice imprints with the boolean brush tool. The key is the geometry of the text object, the use of the boolean brush tool, and the option “Exact” in the Solver of the boolean modifier on the object (the die being cut).
First, I found a font I liked for the numbers, created a text object, and aligned it with the surface of the die. Then I made sure it intersected the way I wanted it to for depth, and I edited the depth of the geometry option in the text object itself (tab in the side panel). Finally, I duplicated the object, used it as a brush boolean (bool tool addon required), and I edited the modifier to use the “Exact” solver.
Thank you so much, I never would have thought to keep the numbers as text objects, I had converted them to mesh right off the bat. I was able to follow your video, right until the very end when I switched the solver to “exact” and my dice disappeared. Looks like my normals are all over the place after I made the text geometry rounded (geometry intersecting etc.). I don’t know if I have the skill to fix that manually, if I can’t find an easy-fix add-on I will see if the same issue happens with a simpler font. Thank you so much anyway, I’m super happy to be learning from this!!
I’m glad you’re learning along the way! Blender is definitely a worth while software to learn, and it’s always getting better.
As for your dice disappearing, most often, when this happens to me, it simply takes some nudging of the boolean object (so in our case the text object) adjusting the Z, X, and Y axis a little at a time. I would nudge the text object on the local axis (by tapping G, then double tapping Z to lock the transformation to the local Z axis, for instance) until the object pops back into view.
I’m sure there is an obvious reason why this happens with the Exact solver, such as there being a hole in the mesh or something, but I like to go through the magic incantations on every such issue:
Apply scale to the object
Flip the normals (should be visible in the menu at the top)
Revert to the first frame if I’ve scrubbed down the timeline (sometimes for animation or simulations, etc)
Check all the modifiers on the object are in the correct order (make sure there are no other modifiers messing with your boolean)
For your text having intersecting geometry, maybe duplicate it, convert it to a mesh, and clean it up a bit? Manual is not fun work tho
After that I would post your file here on blenderartists.org and see if someone else can open it up and spot something to help!
Thanks again for all your help!!
I ended up having to switch to a less complex font and keep the boolean solver as “float”, and when after the prescribed nudging some issues kept occurring here and there the final fix was to make the “overlap threshold” 100 times smaller (under “float”).
The final result was pretty DIY and far from perfect but it served the purpose for this animation as I was running behind a tight deadline. The next dice will be better, and hopefully the one after that one too! And next time I will make sure I have time to make a proper post asking for support if needed.
You were the first internet stranger I asked for advice, thanks for your encouragement and all the information, it was super heartwarming The Blender community seems pretty awesome.
You are very welcome! I know there are a lot of different ways to use Blender and different meshes and files all make a difference when troubleshooting. I’m glad to have been a good representative of the Blender community, as we’re all pretty supportive here, I’ve found.
Best of luck in your endeavors in the future; looking forward to seeing your work here on BA!
The Blender community seems pretty awesome.