Creating 3D Text with a Bump Map

Both Graffiti and RED allow you to apply reflection maps, bump maps and texture maps to 3D objects. In this exercise, you will animate text using the onscreen OpenGL interactors. Three sets of onscreen interactors allow you to position, scale and rotate tracks. After you animate the text, you will apply a bump map. You can complete this exercise in Boris RED or Boris Graffiti.

1. Launch the Red Engine or the Graffiti KeyFramer.

2. Create a new composition or setting:

• If you are using Boris Red, choose File > New Project.
• If you are using Boris Graffiti, choose File > New Settings.

3. Set the duration of the effect to two seconds by typing 200 into the Duration field in the Timeline window and pressing Return (Macintosh) or Enter(Windows).

Note: You can only use the Duration field when you work in the KeyFramer or RED Engine. When you use Boris in a host application, you set the duration in the host application so typing in this field has no affect. To complete this tutorial using the plug-in, apply Boris RED or Graffiti to a two-second clip in your timeline then follow the tutorial beginning at Step Five.

4. Press the Media icon on the bottom track and choose Movie File. Import the movie file "Water.mov.”

5. Double-click the top track (Graffiti) or press the Media icon on the top track and choose Text for the source media (RED). The Text window appears.

6. Click in the Text window and type "Boris.”

The illustrations use the word "Boris" with 132 point Denmark font but you can create whatever you want.

7. Select the text that you typed. Make sure that you have not added a shadow or a border to the text.

8. Click Update and close the Text window. The track is automatically renamed "Boris."

You don’t need to format the text, since you will convert it to a 3D Extrusion. But first you will animate your logo. Setting up the animation using Text media applied to a 3D Plane shape accelerates your previews.

9. Press the Quality button in the Composite window and choose Draft. This will allow you to work more quickly.

10. You should see red, green and blue OpenGL interactors in your Composite window. If you don’t, press the G key or choose Preview > OpenGL Interactors > Show Interactors.

In the onscreen interactor controls, red represents the X-axis, green represents the Y-axis and blue represents the Z-axis. When you click an interactor’s axis, movement, scaling and rotation are constrained to that axis.Clicking the image but not an interactor allows freeform positioning, scaling and rotation.

11. Press the E key or choose Preview > OpenGL Interactors > Rotate Interactor. The interactors should display spheres at their ends to indicate that you are in Rotate mode.

12. With the first keyframe in the text track selected, drag the red interactor in the Composite window until the Tumble X value is approximately -45 degrees.

The Tumble X, Spin Y and Rotate Z values update in the Controls window as you drag.

13. Press the W key or choose Preview > OpenGL Interactors > Translation Interactor. The interactors should display arrows at their ends to indicate that you are in Translation mode.

14. With the first keyframe in the text track still selected, drag the green interactor up in the Composite window until the text is not longer visible onscreen. The Position values update in the Controls window as you drag.

15. Click the Play button to preview the effect.

Part 2: Extruding the text >>