Motion graphics is not an old term. In years past, animated elements were simple and to the point. But as technology has evolved, so has what you can do with your digital tool chest. When you hear the term “motion graphics,” it can mean anything from animated pictures to swirling flourishes to, of course, title and broadcast animations. For that reason, this chapter will demonstrate a tutorial that gives you the best of both worlds: animated graphic elements that you’ll create, as well as animated 3D fonts.
Animated text is the bread and butter of many 3D animators, and it’s also a good way to get started creating some of the most basic 3D models there are—animated letterforms. Although this basic 3D creation does not take an enormous amount of modeling skill, it will help you feel more comfortable with LightWave, and it’ll provide you with skills you can put to work right away for your clients. (Seeing their name, company slogan, or logo in glorious 3D never fails to impress.)
And not every 3D animation job is for broadcast television; a significant market exists for motion graphics in corporate and industrial video environments, in DVD production, and of course, on the Web. This chapter focuses on modeling text and graphical elements in LightWave Modeler that can be animated into broadcast-style animations. This chapter takes you full speed ahead into a complete broadcast-style animation that goes beyond the typical chrome flying logo of days gone by. LightWave 10’s new powerful rendering engine, layout visuals, and excellent texture tools will make your job easier, especially when developing motion graphics. Figure 7.1 (on the next page) shows a still from the finished animated logo that you will create.
Figure 7.1. The final logo you’ll create in this chapter.
This chapter instructs you on techniques you can use for top-quality work. You’ll put things in constant motion, not just in one tumbling animated element. This chapter gives you the knowledge to create stunning professional graphics and animations—and it will also get you excited about doing it! You’ll learn about the following:
• Working with Modeler’s font tools
• Modeling text
• Setting up a text-based scene
• Importing background animations
• Creating smooth, continuous motions
• Creating 3D text from EPS files
Take a look at any television news or entertainment show and you’ll see that they have one thing in common: text graphics and animations. Such graphics and animations are bold, colorful, and downright cool to look at. Creating graphics and animations for video can be fun and lucrative. Networks and TV stations in major markets pay well for animation packages for their news shows and for titles and “bumpers”—those short animations that appear when shows go into and out of commercial breaks. Animation packages must represent the feeling and style the broadcaster is trying to convey for the station—serious and strong, classy and cute, sharp and hip, and so on. Animated titles and logos are also used widely in corporate and industrial videos, professional wedding videos, and even home videos.
LightWave is all you need to create professional broadcast animations. You’ll see in this chapter how simple models put together with proper surfacing and lighting can create a cool and unique 3D look. You’ll take it a step further using top lighting techniques and slick reflections and glows.
Often, text and logo animation jobs are done in multiple passes and composited in programs like Adobe After Effects, in an editing application like Adobe Premiere Pro, or in a motion graphics application such as Apple’s Motion. But because those tools are not always available, this chapter will show you how you can model text, import moving backgrounds, and animate text using nothing but LightWave (and your growing modeling and animation skills).
For this project, you’ll start by working with text in Modeler. One thing you should remember when working through these tutorials is that text modeling is not just for titles and logos. You can use text to create shapes or various animation elements, such as using a 0 (zero) for a doughnut shape, or the letter I for an I-beam in a construction scene. Text shapes in 3D are just additional three-dimensional shapes. Think in those terms and you’ll have an easier time making the most of the toolset. Follow along to begin creating and surfacing text in Modeler.
Exercise 7.1. Setting Up Backdrop Images in Modeler
Start by creating the background elements. Your client has a design that was initially created flat for a print piece. You’ve been hired to make it in 3D, and you’ll use LightWave to bring this flat (and fairly dull) design to life.
Figure 7.2. Begin creating your titling package by using the Display Options panel to load a background image.
Here, you can import various images as background references to build from. This image is a circle within a circle that your client uses behind their main title font. They think it’s the next thing in brand identification. You just know it as a circle and consequently you’ll need to build this letter from the flat image.
You can load an image in any format that LightWave accepts, which includes common formats such as JPEG, TIFF, TGA, PNG, and even PSD (Adobe Photoshop’s native file format). If you can’t seem to load an image, there’s a chance that your input-output plug-ins are not properly loaded. You can load them by going to the Utilities tab, selecting Edit Plug-ins, and then choosing Scan Directory. Point the scan to your installed LightWave plug-ins folder and click OK.
After the image is loaded, you’ll see it appear in the bottom left viewport, as shown in Figure 7.3. Telling LightWave to use BottL for the viewport means that the loaded image is placed in that particular view.
Figure 7.3. Loading the background image instantly shows it in the bottom left viewport.
As you can see, the image is a bit smaller than the viewport. Creating in 3D is relative, and building a tiny logo or a large logo makes no difference when it comes to rendering. However, you’ll have an easier time flying a camera through the logo’s elements if you make it a bit larger than this default size. You might also notice some serious jagged edges around the image.
Figure 7.4. Increasing the size and resolution of the background image while decreasing the brightness and contrast gets the background image ready for modeling.
Changing the Image Resolution setting in the Display Options panel has nothing to do with the actual resolution of the image or your 3D model. This is a display option only. LightWave allows display resolutions up to 4096 pixels.
Figure 7.5. Save your backdrop to keep your settings for future use.
You’re now ready to begin creating the background blocks that your camera will fly through. Read on to create these elements.
Using 2D images in your 3D modeling process is not only a good idea but also a smart way to create accurate models. The following technique is something you might find yourself using often in Modeler. You can use it for characters, automobiles, and, in this case, a logo. Designers like to create cool print design elements, which often create nightmares for animators to set in motion. However, by placing an image in the background as you’ve done in the previous steps, it’s quick and easy to build 3D elements right over the image.
Exercise 7.2. Using Backdrop Images for Modeling
Figure 7.6. Use the Maximize Viewport button to make the bottom left view full screen.
Figure 7.7. Use the Pen tool to click around the outline of the OffsetCircle image; each click creates a point in a polygon.
Figure 7.8. Going back to a quad view shows the polygon you’ve created with the Pen tool.
If you don’t see your model in Perspective view, its visible, editable surface, or surface normal, is probably facing away from you, toward the negative Z-axis. Press f to flip the normal forward.
Figure 7.9. In a new layer, use the Pen tool to outline the center space in OffsetCircle.
Figure 7.10. Place the larger part of the circle object in a foreground layer and the center of the object in a background layer.
A cool feature in LightWave is the ability to save in increments. After you save an object or scene for the first time, each time you press Shift+S afterward, you’ll save an incremental, numbered version of your project. For safety’s sake, get in the habit of using Shift+S to make incremental saves. That way, even if you make a mistake in an editing session, you’ll have the previous version as a backup.
The Drill tool allows you to “drill” a flat (2D) shape in one layer through one or more objects or shapes in different layer(s). (The Solid Drill tool works similarly but uses a 3D object as the “drill.”)
Figure 7.11. Use the Drill tool’s Template Drill panel to create a hole in OffsetCircle.
Figure 7.12. Using a Tunnel operation takes the background layer and cuts it through the foreground layer.
You built these objects using the Back view, which faces down the Z-axis; choosing Z aligns the drill operation along that axis. The Tunnel operation works as its name implies, using the background shape to bore a tunnel through the foreground shape. If you choose the Drill function, it performs just like the Template Drill, except that it’s used for objects that have more than two sides—that is, objects that have more dimensionality.
Figure 7.13. Using the Drag tool, you can fine-tune the position of the object’s points.
You easily turn the backdrop image on and off. Press d to open Display Options and on the Backdrop tab of the Display Options panel that opens, click the BottL viewport. Change Image to None to remove the image from the background of the viewports. The image is still loaded in Modeler, but it is not displayed. You may find yourself turning the background image on and off a few times while you are modeling, for visual reference. The backdrop image is not part of the model, but it’s still loaded in Modeler whether it’s visible or not. You can delete it for good from Modeler through the Image Editor.
If you feel like your model needs a few more points in certain areas, you can first select the polygon (in Polygons mode) and then choose Add Points from the Subdivide category on the Multiply tab. Then, click with the Pen tool on the edge where you’d like to add a point.
This model is complete. This OffsetCircle object, looming large and semitransparent, will appear in the background of our final scene. You’ll call this object up later in Layout.
A few more things to know about using background images:
If you would like to completely remove the image from Modeler, open the Image Editor, found on the top left of the Modeler interface. Select the image in the panel and press Delete on your keyboard.
Pen isn’t the only tool you can use to trace background images. Try the Sketch, Bezier, and Spline Draw tools; you can even use a background image as a reference when creating full 3D primitives or other objects. You’re using the Pen tool in this project because it creates polygons as soon as the points are laid down. If you’d used the Bezier tool, you’d have been creating curves, which would have required an extra step to “freeze” the curves into polygonal faces. Remember, polygons are necessary to apply a surface and render. The Bezier or Spline Draw options will create a smoother edge and are very useful for more detailed objects. Be sure to watch the video on the book’s DVD to learn how to use this tool over backdrop images (3D_GarageVideosCH1CH1_SplinesInModeler.mov).
Exercise 7.3. Creating Text in Modeler
When you create text in LightWave Modeler, you don’t always have to use a backdrop image.
Figure 7.14. The Text tool active with the Numeric panel open, accessible from Modeler’s Create tab.
Figure 7.15. The Font drop-down list in the Numeric dialog box lists your installed fonts.
Figure 7.16. With the Text tool, you can add type to Modeler projects.
With the Text tool active, you can interactively adjust your font. You must do this before you deselect the tool, however. When you deselect the tool, the text object will become polygons, just like a box, a ball, or anything else you might create. You can then size, adjust, and change the shape as you like; however, turning the Text tool back on does not allow you to edit this text but rather creates new text. With the light blue text cursor still active, you can click and drag the top of the cursor to size the fonts. And you can click and drag the bottom vertical slash to adjust spacing between letters. Click and drag the lower-right corner of the cursor to position your text.
Figure 7.17. The Numeric panel for the Text tool allows you to change your fonts as well as set sizing options.
Figure 7.18. Once your text is sized, close the Text tool and press a to fit your logo to view.
Figure 7.19. To create depth for your text, use the Extrude tool.
If you’re on a Mac and the F2 command doesn’t work, you can go to System Preferences and, under the Keyboard & Mouse tab, select the “Use all F1, F2, etc. keys as standard function keys” check box.
You now have 3D text! Congratulations! OK, it’s not that great-looking—but it will be! You need surfaces, and more importantly, bevels!
Exercise 7.4. Surfacing and Beveling Text in Modeler
LightWave Modeler offers you a lot of control. You can build just about anything your brain can conjure. But when it comes to 3D text, you really have no reference. If you build a lamp, or a house, or even a dog, you can use the real thing for comparison, but huge flying letterforms are scarce, so how do you determine what they should look like? As a start, take a look at what major networks are doing with 3D text. You’ll see a lot of letters with slick, gleaming surfaces and beveled edges—and that’s what you’ll be using in the logo you create.
Despite its name, the Change Surface dialog box is used to create surfaces—identify them and assign colors to them. In case that’s not confusing enough, if you try to use it to change the color of an existing surface, you’ll see an error message that says “Control Is Disabled.” The reason for this is that when you create or identify a surface and assign it a color, there’s no going back—at least within the Change Surface dialog box. To change the surface’s color settings, you must use the Surface Editor. So again, Change Surface is not really about changing surfaces; it’s about creating them. However, if you assign a color in the Change Surface dialog box, that color will be attached to the selected geometry and show up in Layout when you render. You can, of course, change this value later in the Surface Editor.
The Surface button at the bottom of the Modeler interface and the Surface Editor button at the top left of the interface do very different things. The Surface button at the bottom of the interface creates surfaces for your objects. The Surface Editor button at the top left of the interface changes your surface settings. Be sure to click the right button based on your task.
You just applied a surface name to your entire object. If no specific geometry is selected, actions you take in Modeler, including changing a surface, apply to your entire object. So why did you use “_Sides” in a name applied to all surfaces of every letter? Because it happens to be easier to select and rename the flat faces of the letters than it is to select all their side surfaces separately. If we select and rename the faces, everything left over will be assigned the correct “_Sides” surface name. Clever, huh? (In fact, before we name the letter surfaces, we’re going to use the same trick again to add and name a surface bevel.)
Figure 7.20. Select just the faces of the letters.
You’re probably wondering why you named the letter faces “WDMA_Bevel.” Good question. The Bevel tool adds new polygons to the current selection, and if a surface name has been assigned to that selection, it applies that name to the new geometry. So we’re temporarily naming the surface polygons “_Bevel” to apply that name to the new bevel geometry. When we’re done beveling, we’ll click those easy-to-select letter-face polygons one more time and finally give them their proper name.
Figure 7.21. Bevel the selected faces of the letters.
Beveling can be awkward unless you pay close attention to your mouse movements. Concentrate first on forward-backward motion, which controls the bevel’s shift, and then focus on just left-right motion, which controls inset. When you randomly click and drag, it’s difficult to bevel accurately. Also, be sure not to bevel so much that the polygons cross over each other. You want only a slight bevel for added depth.
Figure 7.22. With the newly beveled selection surfaced, you now have surfaces applied to the face, bevel, and sides of the text.
Figure 7.23. The text object is now in a background layer.
Since this element is being animated as one object, you can leave it all on the same layer. However, you might need to adjust the pivot point so that it can be animated properly.
Each layer in Modeler has its own X-Y-Z coordinate system, and when you create (or add) an object to a new layer, the object is centered by default on the layer’s origin point (coordinates 0, 0, 0). Modeler also uses that origin point as the object’s default pivot point, around which it will spin when rotated. This is fine for many things, but for precise animation, it can cause problems. This section shows you how to change objects’ pivot points.
Exercise 7.5. Setting New Pivot Points in Modeler
The default pivot point for this object will not cause too many issues when animating in Layout; however, it could be a little more precise.
Figure 7.24. Select the Pivot tool in the View tab to adjust pivots for any layer.
Figure 7.25. Manually move the pivot for Layer 1’s object.
You can set the pivots for any of the layers in a project, but you do not have to turn off the Pivot tool to change layers. Just change to the new layer, adjust the new pivot, and away you go.
You’ve now created all the base animation elements for the logo treatment. The next steps are to build the main logo and create the subtext that you’ll animate as individual letters.
LightWave also offers you the ability to import Adobe Illustrator files or EPS files. This is extremely handy for more complicated graphics designed out-of-house; as an animator, you’ll often be hired to animate a logo you haven’t designed. When you import a logo as an EPS file, Modeler automatically recognizes its outlines as spline curves you can scale, “freeze,” and surface. No tracing of a background image is required. This not only saves tons of time, it also allows you to create a more accurate 3D version of the original piece. To better explain how this feature works, there’s a cool tutorial video on the book’s DVD showing how to use this feature of Modeler.
Now that you have your base objects, it’s time to put it all together in Layout (Figure 7.26). Once in Layout, you can begin setting up your animation. First, you’ll set the placement, and then the lighting. After that’s in place, you’ll enhance the surfaces and set up camera moves. Are you ready? Good, then head to the book’s DVD for a great interactive movie on putting this full animation together. You’ll see how helpful LightWave’s VPR mode is for real-time previews right in Layout. The movie is called SceneSetup.mov.
Until now, you’ve seen the basic setup before lighting is in place. What you do next is totally up to you. Many people put everything in motion first, then light, then render. Others light first, then animate. Here, we’ll do a little of everything!
Lighting is important in any scene, even a relatively simple logo animation. You’ll learn how to set up lighting for your scene and how to animate the text you’ve built—including the pivot points you changed. From there, you’ll create a cool moving background that provides an interesting environment for your scene. Included on this book’s DVD is a video showing you how to light this motion graphics scene. You’ll learn first-hand by seeing the exact setup with a clear explanation and visual results. Go watch the video now! It’s called MotionLighting.mov and it’s in the CH7 folder of the book’s DVD.
Once you have a good working animation and lighting setup, you can use additional lights for added interest. And what will really make this project stand out is the surfacing and background. We have much more to cover with LightWave, and it’s time to move on.
This chapter took you through some of the most basic LightWave operations. But the tools used, and the process in which you use them, are always the same no matter how complex your project might be. The next step, after you watch the videos on the book’s DVD, is to move on to Chapter 8 and learn about modeling products. As for this logo project, it’s up to you to use these steps and procedures to create your own logo for your company, for your client, or just for fun. In this chapter you’ve learned how to build over background images and use the text-creation tools. The videos for this chapter will extend your learning even further. And remember that as you model and texture, you also have to tweak. Tweak, tweak, tweak! There’s always more you can do with a scene, so take some time and do it.
Any little changes you make to your models and scenes are what give your animations that extra something. You’ll take your modeling and layout skills a step further in the next chapter.
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