Text Object

Support Modeling
1

I want to create a text object - then turn it from a mesh into a curve object to do some more with it - easy enough to do.

The problem is - I want a single curve per letter (like as if you drew the letter with a pencil) - not the outline.

Is there any way to do this?

2

Hmmm, I’m wrapping my head around by what you actually want? By your description what you want is to make text then press alt+C and convert to curve and that’s it.

3

There is an extension for Inkscape ‘Hershey Font’ to create single line fonts.

4

Ohhh, I get it now. Dammit, I’m so slow. I’ll see what could be done. But just to clarify something, what purposes would that serve?

5

But as far as I can see I don’t think that It could be done with blender. You could try to export those letters as a .svg file from Inkscape to Blender.

6

I want to create a neon sign - so need a single curve from which to extrude a circle along.

I’ll look at the inkscape method - thanks.

7

If all else fails, you can make the letter by manually extruding a curve to match the flow of the letters.

8

Well quite…but considering pretty much anything can be achieved ‘manually’ I thought people would rightly assume I had already considered this as an option :wink:

9

Well, by now you could have done it manually without a problem. Guess you better start coding some add-ons for such problems in the future.

10

Already have…this was a “what if I need to do it again in the future - is there a faster way” type question.

Unless you ask - you never really know what is out there.

11

talking about 2D letters here not 3D!

use the grease pencil draw your letter then convert to curve

happy bl

12

Actually - I came up with a way of achieving exactly what I was looking for. It’s quite limited in scope due to the limited number of fonts it works with. Luckily for me - neon sign type fonts seem to work quite well :smiley: Fonts that seem to have a constant width throughout the typeface seem to work best.

  1. Add a text object.
  2. Choose a suitable font.
  3. Use the extrude and bevel options on the text object to try and make the centre of the text as thin as possible (see first screenshot).
  4. Convert the text object to a mesh.
  5. Edit the mesh and remove all vertices except the very thin ones in the middle (easy if you view the text side on and just box select).
  6. Select all remaining vertices - then use the remove doubles option increasing the value until you get just vertices connected by edges (see second screenshot). You may need to do a little manual cleanup here deleting the odd stray edge or vertex - but it should get you pretty close.
  7. Go back to object mode and convert the mesh back to curves.
  8. You now have your font as a thin curve object and can edit the curves, add a bevel object etc.

/uploads/default/original/4X/5/f/a/5fa85215dc81e6c4cfb753266dd4264984f3a103.pngstc=1
screen.png907×582 99.8 KB

/uploads/default/original/4X/2/6/4/26458995223d31b7f948887de721f58a72adda68.pngstc=1
screen2.png907×582 81.1 KB

Attachments

screen.png907×582 99.8 KB

screen2.png907×582 81.1 KB

13

Yep tried that too - it’s not easy to get accurate results using a mouse though. That method would work well for hand writing with a graphics tablet (assuming you have nice handwriting :D).

14

when you said neon are you talking about real Neon tubes or fake one in blender ?

real one are made with glass tubes so cannot do what ever you want
there are some physical limitations plus all the connectors ect.

hand writing can be weird and unreadable too LOL
and so many font available

drawing you own letters is more difficult
but no certain where your are going with this

if you found one way then problem solve

happy bl

15

Yep real neon tubes.

I know about overlaps, connectors etc.

The font solution I was after was to get a fairly good looking starting point from which I could build from. Adding additional curves or re-routing them to prevent self intersection and add connectors is easy once you have a basic design from which to work.

I was following the modelling concepts in this tutorial - but looking for a better way of creating the letters (in the tutorial they delete part of the letter outline which makes the letters a non-symmetrical - which is fine if that is the look you are after - but I wasn’t in this case.)

16

Idk, but as far as my ‘expertise’ goes… There are several aspects to consider: one, Curves do not branch. Which is good since neon lamps do the same: there are two electrodes on either end of the tube (let’s leave starting out) which make gas to glow on a whole length. Second, you can import letter shapes as an svg however in case of Inkscape these are outlines not the centreline and you’d need to manually clean the curves - tedious thing to do.
Suggested Hershey Text from Inkscape does not help either since it yields several splines in one letter - not good for a neon tubes.
So, if you plan on making 3d models of neon signs for the customers you could consider spending time on making assets of letters of different fonts.
Last, if this is a one time masterpiece - trace over ;).
GL

Edit: did not see your solution while tinkering with Hershey… Seems like a good one.

Btw, does someone know how to Copy /Paste curve Geometry section values en-mass? Like from Active to Selected?