Maybe here can help me.
How to make beveled text, expecially that ones with holes like B letter.
I have been doing tests with Inset parameter in Polyextrude and Extrude Ops but the real problem is the double edge inside the face.When I do the bevel with the inset parameter face is non-continuous in that edge, and other thing, when using inset in corners produces crossing edges, how to fix it?
Anyone knows a formula to move points tangential to apply in Point OP?
Full Version: Bevels
I assume that you are using a bevel profile to give your font a nice profile.
First of all, you have to use the extrude SOP if you are creating bevelled text.
Here are my steps for getting good bevelled text out of Houdini:
Font SOP to have a pretty high level of detail to begin with and leave as polygons. Turn OFF Hole Faces. The Extrude SOP does this for you anyway.
I assume that you have the Extrude SOP in place so press the “Initialize” button with the Fuse Points option set to “Clamp minimal set”.
Next append a resample SOP after the Font SOP. In the resample SOP parms, turn on Resample by polygon edge then reduce the Length parameter for Maximum Segment Length to a small value while you preview the output from the Extrude SOP. With default values for both the font SOP and extrude SOP after the Initialize, I have a value of 0.01 for the Length for the Helvetica Bold font.
Now if you have a custom Type 1 or TrueType font, you may have to tweak or remove some points on the curves after the Font SOP. I have found that any curves that meet at a point sometimes have 10's or 100's of points in those areas. Have to get rid of them. The Resample SOP does a pretty good job but only if the initial point distribution is decent. You can also try a fit SOP to rebuild the curves instead of removing some of the points.
A few years back I cleaned up a nasty font for a customer. The person who created the font (typographer is used loosely in this case) must have been on crack for there was 100's of bezier segments per letter. That reminds me, in the font SOP, you can see the bezier curves by turning on that option, clean up the beziers, then convert to polys before you extrude.
First of all, you have to use the extrude SOP if you are creating bevelled text.
Here are my steps for getting good bevelled text out of Houdini:
Font SOP to have a pretty high level of detail to begin with and leave as polygons. Turn OFF Hole Faces. The Extrude SOP does this for you anyway.
I assume that you have the Extrude SOP in place so press the “Initialize” button with the Fuse Points option set to “Clamp minimal set”.
Next append a resample SOP after the Font SOP. In the resample SOP parms, turn on Resample by polygon edge then reduce the Length parameter for Maximum Segment Length to a small value while you preview the output from the Extrude SOP. With default values for both the font SOP and extrude SOP after the Initialize, I have a value of 0.01 for the Length for the Helvetica Bold font.
Now if you have a custom Type 1 or TrueType font, you may have to tweak or remove some points on the curves after the Font SOP. I have found that any curves that meet at a point sometimes have 10's or 100's of points in those areas. Have to get rid of them. The Resample SOP does a pretty good job but only if the initial point distribution is decent. You can also try a fit SOP to rebuild the curves instead of removing some of the points.
A few years back I cleaned up a nasty font for a customer. The person who created the font (typographer is used loosely in this case) must have been on crack for there was 100's of bezier segments per letter. That reminds me, in the font SOP, you can see the bezier curves by turning on that option, clean up the beziers, then convert to polys before you extrude.
ok, but seriously now. Is there ever going to be a bevel in Houdini? Any one of the hundreds of 20-step workarounds to get a good bevel are never good enough. There's always some issue to be addressed and in the end you may as well build each poly by hand.
Not only for fonts, but for all types of geometry. I can't tell you how many times I dearly wished for a nice bevel tool in my last model. Its a pain in the ass having to do a buncha polysplits and dissolves to mimic what a nice bevel will give you.
Please? c'mon now…… pretty please? pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease?
Marc
P.S. This isn't directed at you jeff, but writing a bevel can't be that much of a rocket science… Its gotta be pretty easy.
Not only for fonts, but for all types of geometry. I can't tell you how many times I dearly wished for a nice bevel tool in my last model. Its a pain in the ass having to do a buncha polysplits and dissolves to mimic what a nice bevel will give you.
Please? c'mon now…… pretty please? pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease?
Marc
P.S. This isn't directed at you jeff, but writing a bevel can't be that much of a rocket science… Its gotta be pretty easy.
Heh, I'm almost CERTAIN there will be Bevel SOP in 6.5. I mean, there's gotta be with all the bitching and begging we've been doing. 
hmmm… haven't heard of it yet. Thats why I'm bitching some more 