> Raised Text and Logos from a SURFACE
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> I recently had to create a raised shape (logo) and some text on a
> curved surface.
> What I learned about manipulating surfaces was mainly achieved through
> asking questions and lots of trial and error.
> I decided to write it all down for reference at a later date because I
> know quite well that several weeks ( or even hours) from now, I won't
> have a clue how to repeat it.
> What I went through covered several complex techniques and so I
> thought that my experiences might be of interest to others.
> I got most of this knowledge from several people on this site, with
> special thanks to David Janes. I have used some of his quotes directly
> in this text.
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> The Project
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> To keep this simple I will say that the original surface was half of a
> sphere (5" dia) created on the FRONT plane using the revolve tool with
> a rotation of 180 degrees. Make the convex surface face the screen.
> Create a datum plane that is offset from the FRONT plane by about
> 3" (so that it clears the sphere) and is positioned towards the
> screen. Name this PROJECTION_PLANE.
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> The raised shape is a rectangle that is 1.0" high and 2" long. It is
> created as a sketch on the PROJECTION_PLANE.
> It is placed a little above center and somewhat to the left.
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> There will be text placed below the rectangle.
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> =
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> To create the raised (or sunken) shape:
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> Select the surfaces to raise the shape from; they'll turn salmon
> colored (click on the sphere).
> Click 'Edit>Offset'
> Get the Icon for 'Expand', not 'Standard Offset Feature' (in
> Dashboard).
> Set the expand distance and direction.
> Open the Options menu and click the Sketched Region radio button for
> the 'Expand Area'
> Define your sketch (rectangle)
> Make your "SIDE SURFACE NORMAL TO SURFACE" (last radio button).
> Depending on the complexity of your raised shape and the surface that
> it is raised from (and the amount that it is raised), it may fail when
> you click the spectacles at the bottom right. You may have to choose
> "SIDE SURFACE NORMAL TO SKETCH" instead.
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> You don't even need to project the curves onto the surface and you
> should
> get raised shapes based on your sketch.
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> To STEP the raised surface:
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> I also needed to STEP the curved rectangle surface to end up with
> different heights.
> To do this make the original offset(expand) as high as the total
> height (with step).
> Then offset another surface from the sphere to the distance that the
> bottom of the step will be.
> You can now extrude a cut of the required step shape, from the
> PROJECTION_PLANE down to the new surface. The sketch for the cut can
> overlap the edges of the rectangle.
> The extrusion will have to be created as a surface (not a solid) to
> be able to CUT the raised rectangle surface. This will leave a hole
> that can be covered by using points, curves and another surface (STYLE
> or BOUNDARY BLEND).
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> =
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> In my case, I had to SPLIT the front, curved, raised rectangle
> surfaces into more than one surface to have a finished surface with
> more than one color.
> If you want to do this, first decide on "NORMAL TO SURFACE" or "NORMAL
> TO SKETCH" and do not change it later or your sketched lines used to
> break the surface will probably fail.
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> I only wanted to SPLIT the raised, curved rectangle surface but I
> found out that it doesn't work unless the shape that was to be the
> new, split surface is completely contained inside the raised rectangle
> surface. The projection must not touch the edge of the raised
> surface.
> To have the new surface touch or extend past the raised surface, I had
> to included the raised sides and at least part of the original surface
> that it was raised from.
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> To SPLIT a curved rectangle surface into two (or more):
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> SKETCH a curve on the PROJECTION_DATUM plane using the rectangle in
> the background as a guide.
> Draw the required shape in the correct position, making sure the ends
> of the sketch are connected. It becomes a little awkward as the
> rectangle is shown as a raised object and its edges are visible. You
> can extend the lines off the rectangle and either join both ends
> together or run each line past the edge of the original surface
> (sphere). Joining both ends is usually neater and can help eliminate
> other problems with split surfaces that extend too far. Just keep the
> lines that extend off the edges of the rectangle close to the edge
> (but not too close).
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> Highlight the sketch and use EDIT>PROJECT.
> Click on the surface collector and then using CONTROL KEY, select all
> the surfaces that the sketch will project on to. As well as the curved
> surface of the rectangle, include the sides of the rectangle that
> should show the projection and the sphere surface. As you choose the
> surfaces, the projected portion of the sketch will appear on the
> surface. The projection should show as an unbroken loop on the chosen
> surfaces. If any section is not visible, then probably the sketch need
> to be tweaked to clear the edges of the rectangle.
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> Before the TRIM is allowed the surface must be chosen first.
> Click the sphere surface. It should highlight red around all its
> borders, including the rectangle (not the sides).
> Click EDIT>TRIM.
> Make sure that your quilt is listed in REFERENCES under TRIMMED
> QUILT.
> Click the TRIMMING OBJECT SELECTOR and pick the projected curve. When
> you click on the projected curve, the complete loop must highlight. If
> one leg fails, go back and find out why (probably the sketch).
> When you get the HATCHED surface and yellow direction arrow, click
> the direction selector until both sides of the curve have direction
> arrows AND ARE HATCHED. This means that it's splitting the surface and
> keeping both sides.
> If you get the arrows but no hatching, there is something wrong with
> the projection (usually the SKETCH).
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> Raised TEXT:
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> You can't create text when you go to define your sketch inside of
> EXPAND (icon is greyed out).
> So you have to first create the text with the SKETCH tool before you
> enter OFFSET (EXPAND).
> The font must be a vector font. FONT3D worked good and so do TTF
> types.
> Save the sketch.
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> Then when offsetting (expanding) the surface, select OPTIONS and
> define the sketch. Choose the PROJECTION_PLANE. Use SKETCH>DATA FROM
> FILE and choose the text sketch and position scale and rotate it.
> Then click SKETCH>EDGE>USE (to use the edge of the existing text).
> Choose one letter at a time and LOOP. Accept and repeat with remaining
> text.
> When you click the check mark, the text should be raised.
> Set the distance and direction etc.
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> If the original surface is made from curves, then crossing a curve
> with a shape or a text letter, could cause problems. Keep the text or
> shapes to either side of the surface curve.
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> If you split the surfaces as explained above, you can't expand text
> (or anything else) across two (or more) separate surfaces. Some of the
> text will be missing. This is a good reason for keeping the lines for
> the sketch (for surface splitting) close to the rectangles.
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> =
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> Text or logos produced this way will create a shape that protrudes
> from the surface in one direction and is hollow on the other side.
> Choose which side you want (raised or sunken) by FLIPPING.
> If you don't want the other side of the original surface to show the
> sunken or raised shape, first OFFSET the original surface by enough to
> cover the shape inside. This creates a second surface inside of the
> original. You can choose to cap the open edges between the offset and
> the original.
> I preferred to leave the inside exposed while I was working as I could
>see the other side while developing the shape.
> This was another reason for making the original curved surface just a
> half sphere.
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> The actual logo and text that I used are more complicated than the
> sphere and rectangle in this example and I found that after splitting
> the raised surface, I had a hard time ROUNDING the edges. Some worked
> and some didn't and some looked positively ragged and were unusable.
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> =
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> I hope that someone gets some use out of this.
> Thanks again to all who helped.
> Peter
Nice summary and the closest we've had to an actual tutorial posted =
orginally here. BTW, some of the issues with surface quality, inability =
to round or merge could have to do with accuracy issues. Try absolute =
accuracy, especially if this will be used down stream in molding, for =
merges, inheritance features, core/cavity cutouts. One proof that it can =
enhance geometry quality is the fact that I've eliminated many geom =
checks by bumping up the accuracy value.
David Janes
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