Professional Documents
Culture Documents
3D text is very popular in the advertising industry. 3D text effects are often used in print or
television campaigns, and are popular because they literally stand out on the page or screen.
Creating a realistic 3D text effect can be quite challenging to create, and often make use of
several applications. In this tutorial, we will use a combination of Modo, Photoshop, and
Illustrator to create a fruit textured text effect that resembles an orange. Let's get started!
Tutorial Assets
The following assets were used during the production of this tutorial. Please download
them before you begin. If they are not available, or if you don't want pay for them, you may
need to find alternatives.
Orange Leafs
Orange
Orange 2
1. Create Texture for Orange Leaf
Step 1
Step 2
Modo can read EPS files but only saved as Illustrator 8 or 3 file. So to be able to import
shapes to 3D application, open Illustrator and do the following:
Now open Modo and import EPS file that you created.
Now you will create rest of the letters. Using Modo's Pen Tool is fast and effective. You
will have great topology straight away and your text will look perfect after extrusion.
While the tool is active you can reposition each vertex to your needs. You don't have to
make dense geometry, just follow shape of the letters. Press Space Bar to drop the tool.
Step 7
Once you drop the Pen Tool there is no way to draw vertices on bottom side of the letter.
You can use different tool to start adding geometry there.
In Edge Mode (2) select edges that are opposite to each other.
In Modo tools go to Duplicate > Bridge and press on the screen.
Set Segments to 2.
Press Space Bar to drop the tool.
Step 10
Now draw rest of the letter "a". Use Pen Tool for that. This time draw in 3D viewport set to
Wireframe mode.
Step 14
Select vertices numbered 1 with Lasso Selection. (To activate it just press Right
Mouse Button and draw on the screen over the desired Vertices.)
In Tools go to Vertex > Join Averaged.
Repeat those steps for Vertices 2, 3, and 4.
Step 15
Select vertices numbered 1 with Lasso Selection. (To activate it just press Right
Mouse Button and draw on the screen over the desired Vertices.)
In Tools go to Vertex > Join Averaged.
Repeat those steps for Vertices numbered 2.
Step 17
Copy polygons of letter "a" and place them over the "g" letter.
Step 18
Straighten all vertices on vertical parts of the letters like in previous step.
Step 21
In Edge Mode (2) select outer ring (Double Click on edges to select connected.)
Scale it to match background.
Do the same for the inner ring.
Step 23
Now copy letter "n" polygons to another location like on the screen.
Step 27
Activate Element Move Tool (T) and move Vertices as on the screen. [1]
Activate Edge Slice Tool (C) [2] and add one edge in 30% of existing polygon.
Step 31
Straighten vertices relative position on X axis with Scale Tool (R) [1] and [2].
Step 35
Straighten vertices relative position on X axis with Scale Tool (R) [1] and [2].
Step 36
Well done! Your 2D letters should look like this. They are made of quads and they have
great topology.
Step 41
Now in UV space activate Move Tool (W) and move it to the -1.1 section of UV space.
Step 6
Right Click and drag over the geometry of letter "O" using Rectangle Selection
Mode.
Then activate Fit UVs and make sure that Keep Proportion is active.
Activate Scale Tool (R) and scale polygons to 95% on every axis.
With polygons of letter "O" selected press (H) to temporarily hide selection.
Step 7
Activate Scale Tool (R) and scale them for 95% on every axis.
With polygons of letter "F" selected press (H) to temporarily hide selection.
Step 9
Select first letter "r" and activate Fit UVs [1], than do the same for second letter "r". [2]
Step 11
Activate Scale Tool (R) and scale them for 95% on every axis.
With polygons of letter "r" selected press (H) to temporarily hide selection.
Step 12
Select first letter "a" and activate Fit UVs [1], than do the same for second letter
"a". [2]
Activate Scale Tool (R) and scale them for 95% on every axis.
With polygons of letter "a" selected press (H) to temporarily hide selection.
Step 13
To speed up next part of creating UVs it is best to use mARCH KIT for modo. It has
many very useful tools for creating Architectural Visualizations and other modeling tasks.
My favorite tool from that set is mARCH: UV Peeler Plus. It automates process of proper
scaling UV maps created with regular UV Peeler Tool. But you can do the same with
regular modo tools, it just makes it quicker. For installation and usage instructions visit
mARCH KIT site.
Now you need to scale polygons in UV space this way that they relative size to each other
will be the same as it is in 3D space.
Once more select the same edge that was used as UV seam. [1]
Press Get PATH (-Auto-Peel). [2]
Now select edge that is perpendicular/circumference to first selected edge. [3]
Press Get CROSS-SECTION (-Auto-Peel) [4] Note that script created Scale U
(%) Value.
Step 21
Once more select the same edge that was used as UV seam. [1]
Press Get PATH (-Auto-Peel). [2]
Now select edge that is perpendicular/circumference to first selected edge. [3]
Press Get CROSS-SECTION (-Auto-Peel) [4] Note that script created Scale U
(%) Value.
Step 26
Once more select the same edge that was used as UV seam. [1]
Press Get PATH (-Auto-Peel). [2]
Now select edge that is perpendicular/circumference to first selected edge. [3]
Press Get CROSS-SECTION (-Auto-Peel) [4] Note that script created Scale U
(%) Value.
Step 31
With all letters properly UV'ed you need to refine small details to have best possible texture
mapping.
With Rectangle Selection select all edges near front of the letters. [1]
Then Activate Scale Tool (R) and zero out U scale. [2]
Step 35
Well done! You have created great UV map for all letters! Press Tab to see letters in
Subdivision mode.
5. Model the Leaf
Step 1
In Bridge, locate orange leaf PNG that you created in the beginning of tutorial.
Grab file and Drag and Drop it onto 3D Front viewport of Modo. [1]
Press (N) to create new mesh. [2]
Change its name to: Leaf.
Step 2
Select both vertices and move them up with Move Tool (W).
Then in Vertex Tools activate Join Averaged command
.
Step 10
With Rectangle Selection select extra polygons on the base of the leaf and delete them.
Step 11
Activate Element Move Tool (T) and tweak vertex position to match Background
image.
Your finished leaf should look like on the image below.
Step 12
Refine vertices placing on edge of leaf. They must overlap bitmap slightly. This will help
stencil leaf later on.
Step 17
Activate Move Tool (W) and move leaf over letter "O".
Step 18
Scale down base of the stern with the Scale Tool. [1]
Select top polygon and activate Bevel Tool (B) and Extrude and Inset polygon the
same time. [2]
Next select polygons on the circumference of stern and activate Loop Slice Tool
(Alt-C). [3]
Step 23
In the Item List drag and put "Leaf" mesh inside "Stern" mesh. [1]
Then rotate it 90° [2]
Step 28
In Item Mode (5) choose Duplicate from the right click menu. [1]
Then move stern copy over the "e" letter. [2]
Step 31
In Item List press first column on the left side from "Leaf" mesh to change Origin
Point to that mesh Origin Point for a little while. [1]
Then scale leaf in Polygon Mode.
Step 33
Delete one extra leaf, and move the only one little bit lower.
Step 35
What is great about Modo is that you can change Bend Tool position while tool is live.
This way you can change shape of the leaf.
Step 39
Adjust shape of the upper leaf too. Play around with different Bend center positions.
Step 40
Rotate also second upper leaf. Use Scale Tool (R) and make this leaf smaller.
Step 42
Now after all those efforts you can finish your letters.
To add some live and funny feeling to orange text play around with Rotation of individual
letters.
In Item Mode (5) select each letter and in its properties channel change values as
you can see on the picture.
Remember to put stern mesh inside letter that is its base. This way stern will inherit
rotation of the parent letter.
Step 47
To truly match my artwork you must change image size to the same dimensions.
Group meshes in one folder and call it " Fresh orange". [1]
Select few polygons on sides of letters.
Then press (L) to select loops.
Step 2
Press (H) to hide this geometry. Your scene should look like this.
Step 3
After export you should have something like me. One EPS file for each letter.
7. Create High Resolution Orange Textures
Step 1
Now let's use Photoshop to create set of hires orange cut textures. Draw Path with Pen Tool
(P) to cut out orange from Background.
Step 2
Group (Command/Ctrl-G) all peel parts in to one folder and call it peel. Change this
folder color to red.
Step 7
After cutting orange to smaller parts you should have something like me. Small parts of
orange masked and grouped into one folder "orange cut". Save this files as base for texture
creation.
Step 11
Drag and Drop 2 groups that you have created to the new document.
Step 14
Use Transform Tool to move and place orange cuts over UV template.
Step 16
Activate Brush Tool (B) and uncover mask to blend in pieces together.
Step 18
Just to have great professional looking texture, select orange cut group and mask parts that
are inside.
Step 24
Duplicate "peel copy" layer and drag above all layers. [1]
Invert this layer by pressing (Command/Ctrl-I). [2]
Step 28
Select "peel copy 2" layer and clip it by the lower layer. [1]
Turn on "peel copy 2" and set it Blending Mode to Overlay for about 83%. [2]
You can save image as "O_SSS.jpg"
8. Create Texture for Letter "a"
Step 1
Drag and Drop the two groups that you have created to the new document.
Step 4
Use Transform Tool to move and place orange cuts over UV template.
Step 5
Activate Brush Tool (B) and uncover mask to blend in pieces together.
Step 6
With Brush Tool uncover layer mask to blend part of the fruits.
Step 8
Keep unmasking orange cuts until they merge into one organic surface.
Step 10
In letter "O" I have showed you how to use Liquify filter, but you can be more efficient
using Puppet Warp. One thing you need to remember, apply any layer mask before using
Puppet Warp on any layer, because it will be applied with lowest, settings.
In order to hold texture in place Place pins in 1, 2, 3, 4 on one side of the patch.
Step 12
When you finish moving pins, texture sits in place. Exactly where you want it.
Step 14
Use all pieces of peel to add variation to this albedo part. [1]
Move them and adjust position to match UV template. [2]
Step 15
You can dice peel parts to smaller pieces to fit to curvature little better.
When you finish, merge this "Peel" group together (Command/Ctrl-E)
Step 16
Use Puppet Warp again to bend orange peel the way you need it.
Step 17
Pay attention to placing of pins. This way bad distortion will be invisible.
Step 18
Duplicate "peel copy" layer and drag above all layers. [1]
Invert this layer by pressing (Command/Ctrl-I). [2]
Step 24
Select "layer 1" layer and clip it by the lower layer. [1]
Turn on "peel copy 2" and set it Blending Mode to Overlay for about 83%. [2]
You can save file as "a_SSS.jpg "
9. Review Letters
Step 1
Draw square selection on the middle of the fruit. Copy information clipboard.
Step 3
Go to Filter > Distort > Pinch. [1] Then set it Amount as on the screen. [2]
Step 5
Go to Filter > Other > Offset and set its values like on the screen.
Step 7
You can use patch tool to introduce more realism to your orange peel texture.
Now you will create a bump map from the color map.
In Modo content folder, you will find many useful resources. Among them is a special
object that will let you render shadows on transparent backgrounds. This great feature helps
to blend rendered images into photographs, or just change background in post processing in
Photoshop.
For now this ShadowCatcher hides part of the characters. let's fix it.
Step 3
As you can see now all letters are visible, and shadow is casting on ShadowCatcher.
Step 4
Step 5
Step 6
In Shader Tree go to Add layer > Processing > Constant.
In its properties change it Blend Mode to Multiply 70%.
Change it color to worm orange. This way ambient light around letters will be
slightly orange.
Step 7
Change Env_light Intensity to 2.0 w/srm2 and turn off Visible to Camera. [1]
Duplicate Env_light item and change its name to: Env_Cam.
Delete bitmap and Constant layer inside it. Set its Intensity to 1.0 w/srm2
Turn off Everything except Visible to Camera. [2]
Select Environment material and set its color to constant light orange.
Step 8
Now light the scene! Select directional light [1] and set its position to shown on the screen.
Type the same values in it Properties.
Step 9
In Item List go to Add Item > Lights > Area Lights. [1]
Set all its Properties as shown on the screen.
Step 10
In Item list create new mesh [1] and call it water. [2]
Activate Cube Tool and draw small box for about 1mm on every axis. [3]
Press Space Bar to drop the tool.
Step 2
In Polygon Mode (3) move all polygons down like on the screen. Bottom of the
drop must touch origin.
Press M to add Water Material
Step 6
In item mode select all letters except sterns and leafs. [1]
Press M to add orange peel group
Change it color to orange like on the screen. [2]
Select Material inside this group and set its parameters as shown on the screen. [3]
Step 2
In Shader Tree go to Add Layer > Special > Surface Generator [2].
Call it Surf 2. Leave its default settings for now.
Step 3
Now you will create material for the cut part of fruit text.
Step 4
Step 5
Open orange_peel material group and select Surf_2 Surface Generator. [1]
Set its parameters to shown on the screen. [1]
In item list go to Add item > Particles > Replicator.
Select this Replicator and set its parameters to shown on th screen. [2]
Be sure to select water mesh as Prototype and Surf_2 as Point Source.
Step 2
in Item list select all meshes of letters including sterns and leafs. [1]
Then select all polygons.
Then go to Select > Assign Selection Set. [2]
Name this selection set: TXT.
Step 3
You can check your outputs in preview. Just select them from drop down menu of preview
window.
Then go to Add layer > Special > Render Output and create new one.
Right click in it effect and change to Ambient Occlusion
Set it properties as shown on the screen.
Step 6
Step 10
Now refine orange materials. Select Orange_skin_BRDF and change all its parameters
Material Ref [1] and Material Trans [2] as shown on the screen.
Step 12
To show textures on each letter you will use Selection Sets that you have created earlier.
Step 2
Step 3
Step 4
Now break surface of orange peel.
Step 6
Go to Add layer > processing > Gradient.
Make sure that its properties are set to the same as shown on the screen. This should
be Reflection Amount. [1]
In Gradient Editor add 2 value keys. Fist 2% [2] and second 32% [3]
Now it is time to finalize leaf texture. Select Leaf_BRDF and set its parameters to shown
on the screen. [1] and [2]
Step 2
Select leaf image [1] and create 2 instances from it. Choose option from right click
menu
Then change one bitmap Effect to Bump. [2]
Change second instance Effect to Dissolve. [3]
Step 2
Locate layer "A: letters" Press (Command/Ctrl-A) to select all pixels. Copy them.
In Channels palette create new channel and paste there pixels.
Step 4
Create section from this channel, hold down Alt and press on channel icon. [1]
Mask "Final Color Output copy" layer. [2]
Create new layer in BG folder, and fill it with light orange color. [3]
Select "shadow only copy" and set its blending mode to Multiply
Step 6
Bring to front "Ambient Occlusion Output copy" and change it to Smart object. [1]
Double click on it and inside smart object add Gradient Ramp to remap colors to
worm orange. [2]
Save and close smart object.
Step 9
Now you will have nice soft shadows over the drops of water.
Set this layer to multiply and clip it onto "Final Color Output".
Duplicate this smart object 2 times.
Step 10
Select "Final Color Output" and with the Clone Stamp (C) retouch any imperfections from
render.
Step 11
In BG group create white circle (U) and create smart object from it. Adjust its size like on
the screen grabs.
Step 12
Create selection from channel R [1] and add Hue/Saturation adjustment layer to correct
color [2].
Step 18
Duplicate Hue/Saturation adjustment layer over the r letters and mask unwanted part with
brush.
Step 19
Make selection from R alpha channel [1] and add Brightness/Contrast adjustment layer to
balance letters "r" [2].
Step 20
For the final effect duplicate "Final Color Output" and mask it with drops alpha
channel [1]
Move this layer up in layer stack [2]
Step 21
As before create alpha channel for letter "n" and make a selection.
Step 22