How to Make 3-D Text in Motion
Make 3-D text in motion by using the text and animation commands of 3-D and 2-D imaging programs. A quick way of creating 3-D text in 3-D modeling programs like Blender is to extrude the text, which means to stretch a 2-D object into 3-D space. You can make 3-D text in 2-D painting programs by applying effects that add a shadow or embossed shading to a text object. Animation in some programs involves setting keyframes, which are animation frames at the start and end of an animation sequence that your program uses to compute the animation's in-between frames.
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Instructions
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Blender
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Click the "Add" menu's "Text" item, then press "Tab" to enter editing mode.
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Type the text you want the 3-D text to display, then click and drag right on the "Extrude" control in the "Geometry" heading to expand the text in 3-D space.
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Press "Tab" to exit editing mode, then press "I" to create an animation keyframe, from which Blender can create your animated text.
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Drag the vertical green bar in the window at the bottom of the application window until it reaches the "100" mark, which sets the current animation frame to 100.
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Press "G" to enter "Grab" mode, which lets you move Blender objects. Drag on the central window to move the 3-D text. Press "I" again to make another keyframe, then play the animation by pressing the ">" button at the bottom of the screen.
Photoshop
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Click the "T" icon from the tool palette to run the "Text" tool, then click the canvas where you want text to appear.
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Type some text, then click the "Fx" button at the bottom of the "Layers" palette. Click the "Bevel" check box to apply a 3-D effect to the text, then select "OK" to return to close the "Effects" dialog box.
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Right-click the highlighted layer in the "Layers" palette, then click "Duplicate" to duplicate the layer. Press "V" to enter "Move" mode, then drag on the canvas to move the duplicated layer a short distance from the original layer.
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Click the page icon in the "Animation" panel to create a new animation frame, then select the eye icon for the bottom layer in the "Layers" panel to make the original position of the text invisible.
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Select the ">" icon in the "Animation" panel to run the animation, which will display the 3-D text in motion.
GIMP
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Click the "A" icon from the tool palette to run the "Text" tool, then click the canvas at the place you want to place your 3-D text.
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Type some text, then click "Close" to finalize the text.
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Click the "Filter" menu's "Drop shadow" command to add a shadow to the text, making it appear 3-D.
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Select the "Layer" menu's "Merge all" command, then right-click the layer in the "Layers" palette and choose "Duplicate."
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Press "M" to enter "Move" mode, then drag on the canvas to move the duplicate a slight distance from the original text.
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Click the "File" menu's "Save" command, then type any filename for the "Name" text box that ends in "GIF." Click "Save." GIMP will ask if you want to save the file as an animated GIF. Click "OK" to do so.
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Open a Web browser, then click the "Open" command of its "File" menu. Navigate to and double-click the file you saved in the previous step to view the 3-D text in motion.
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References
- "Blender Foundations"; D. Roland Hess; 2010
- "Photoshop CS5 For Dummies"; Peter Bauer; 2010
- "GIMP Bible"; Jason van Gumster; 2010
