Noob question: Modelling logo with several letters - Importing, making mesh

Support Modeling
1

I have just started working with Blender, so bare with me.

I thought I would try something easier for now and dimensionalize a logo that is all custom type and work with it in after effects. We can skip the after effects part for now. LOL…

I figured out how to make and svg file in illustrator and import into blender.

But at this point i am having trouble working with the multiple paths.

  • Do i need to “group” them somehow (don’t even know the correct nomenclature to search) so they all extrude at the same time?

  • will i have to turn the curves/paths into a mesh to begin working with them and modeling them? If so, how do i do this? I tried alt C with no result. I am sure i am doing it incorrectly.

Also a note on scale. When i bring a vector from illustrator into Blender it is really really tiny. I tested a block from sketchup that was exported as an obj file and it was huge. Is there any way to determine proper scale from app to app, at least generally? So you can get it close to accurate as if you were going to model a frog in a city and you were using Blender, After Effects, Illustrator, etc…

Thanks in advance.

2

I have relied a lot on google searches while learning blender… there are tons of tutorials out there. For this, try searching “blender logo tutorial”

  • Bill
3

Yes. I do heavily rely on google to find tuts.

Unfortunately, many leave out alot of middle steps.

None address importing svg’s with multiple paths (saved out of illustrator). If the logo is already in a vector format, i dont want to waste time and draw it again if i dont have to. But thanks anyway.

4

Attach or post a link to an example blend and show us exactly what you want to achieve

For objects scale check Scene settings for units and Scale value. When importing a .obj you could use the clamp setting in the import options http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Extensions:2.6/Py/Scripts/Import-Export/Wavefront_OBJ

5

Thanks, Richard.

As a noob, there seems to always be a couple of things that get overlooked by advanced users that make the tuts. Something so little can stop beginners in their tracks for hours. Maddeining…LOL…

But thanks again.

6

Scale import has changed in 2.65 so when I bring in a SVG I select all the curve and type S10ENTER to scale them up by 10. You don’t group curves, you join them. So select one curve to make it the active object then box select (B-KEY marquee select) the remaining curves. With all the curves selected type CTRL-J to join them into one curve (this can fail if all objects are not the same type in the selection, like a camera or light being selected as well so take care to select only curves). Then you can manage extrusion as a single object. Also, at this time, use the Origin button in the Tools panel to re-assign the pivot point to the center of the geometry for easier location/rotation/ and scale.

I rarely convert my SVG to mesh unless I know I am bending it along a curve or using it in a particle situation. In those cases I do convert to mesh and apply a remesh modifier to create a more even vertices distribution across the object.