REAL 3D Support Area
File: realtimes1.LHA
Size: 142462
Type: Real 3D fonts
Description:
REAL 3D EXAMPLE DISK #4
-----------------------
This disk, which is in public domain, contains the first part of the
3D font 'RealTimes'. The letter shapes include bevelings.
The rest of the font is contained in the example disk #5.
To install the font set to your system, create a drawer 'RealTimes' under
the 'Objects' drawer of your 'Real' directory. Then copy the drawers
of the disks #4 and #5 under the new 'Realtimes' directory.
Some hints
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If you have large reflective surfaces combined with several letters
in a scene, rendering may get slow. Sometimes remarkable speed-up can
be obtained by leaving part of the letters away from reflection
calculations. For example, it may be quite enough to take the front
surfaces of the letters into account in reflections.
The internal structure of the letters of this font set is such, that
the letters can be manipulated easily using wildcard modifications of
Real 3D. Each letter consists of three subobjects, which have the names
'front', 'body' and 'back'. Furthermore, 'front' and 'back' consist of
certain amount of polygons and some other surfaces.
This regular naming can be utilized in many ways. For example, if you
look at the letters so that the back bevelings are not at all visible,
those parts may be deleted in the following way:
- Collect all the letters under one hierarchy level (= 'word'), if they
are not yet organized that way, and activate that level.
- Select Modify->Wildard->Delete.
- Activate the NAME field and type 'back?*' to the corresponding
string field, and select OK.
If you want to make golden letters with plastic middle parts, do the
following:
- Activate the letter collection as in the previous example.
- Set the material of the letters to gold (Modify->Hierarchy->Material).
- Select Macro->Define.
- Set the material of the letters to plastic.
- Select Macro->End. Now you have defined a macro for changing the material
to plastic.
- Select Modify->Wildard->Macro.
- Activate the NAME field and type 'body?*' to the corresponding
string field, and select OK.
If you have letters floating above a wavy, reflective water surface and
the rendering seems to be too slow:
- Activate the letter collection as in the previous example.
- Select Macro->Define.
- Select Extras->Info and activate NOREFLECT field.
- Select Macro->End. Now you have defined a macro for activating the
NOREFLECT feature.
- Select Modify->Wildard->Macro.
- Activate the MATERIAL field and type the name of the material, which you
have selected for the letters ('default', etc.) to the corresponding
string field, and select OK.
- Now all primitives of the letters should have NOREFLECT property.
Nevertheless, the front and back surfaces should not have it. Therefore:
- Select Macro->Define.
- Select Extras->Info and make sure that NOREFLECT field is de-activated.
- Select Macro->End. Now you have defined a macro for deactivating the
NOREFLECT feature.
- Select Modify->Wildard->Macro.
- Activate the NAME field and type 'polyg*?' to the name string field,
and select OK.
Now all primitives but front and back polygons have NOREFLECT property.
Usually this means, that only about 5 % of surface elements of the letters
are reflected, which may give really astonishing increase in rendering speed.
Note, that the first Wildcard->Macro identification was made using material
property just to easily match all the primitives.
Submitted by: Bruce Brown - Genesis Digital Images
Date of submission: 7 June 1992
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