How To Make Flying 3D Text?

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Reminiscable
Joined: Tue Aug 23, 2011 4:42 pm
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How To Make Flying 3D Text?

Post by Reminiscable » Mon Mar 05, 2018 5:03 pm

There some some music videos and trailers that use flying 3D text. With 3D backgrounds. A friend told me that this software is very expensive but I forgot the name of the software and to make everything in vegas pro + photoshop would look 2D. I'm comfortable making 3D text borders but don't know how to make flying text! This is for the kickstarter trailer & launch trailer of the strategy game I am developing, so it's important to me that the text look good. I would like something like the Cascadathon credits, a tournament trailer, or even a guide to doing 2D transitions.

TreasonsBeta
Joined: Sun May 20, 2018 12:18 pm
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Re: How To Make Flying 3D Text?

Post by TreasonsBeta » Sun May 27, 2018 4:41 pm

Hey Reminiscable,

The Cascadathon credits look like they were just 2D text planes in After Effects with a moving camera, not 3D text.

There are several 3D programs out there that can do this. I know that for the motion graphics industry likes to use Cinema 4D.
C4D - https://www.maxonshop.com/us/ps/Products/1/s1/CAT243/
Unlike Autodesk Maya, it has a far easier learning curve. The great thing about it is that it has Cineware plugins that can easily work to merge together After Effects. If there is something slightly off with the 3D file in cinema just go back and edit in C4D, save, and it updates when you go back to After Effects. You can also bring in 3D tracking data from After Effects into Cinema 4D if you wanted the text to move seamlessly with the camera. Unfortunately, C4D's price tag starts at about 1k.

If you are looking for free, try out Blender.
Blender - https://www.blender.org/download/
It will not have the capabilities of C4D but all you really need is a 3D text layer, a camera, and knowledge about how to render out the moving text animation with an alpha layer (think .png transparent background files). Every standard 3D application should have these capabilities.
Rendering transparent backgrounds - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zukb9mlFtbk

Last, and looks to be the most simple option for you, is just a plugin. I have seen this plugin for After Effects for 3D text that is free. I've never used it but people seem to like it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBd25RKH-PI

Cheers,
Keth Treason

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