Changing the width factor of a text

[OLDandPR0UD]

Hi Guys, first post to the forum so please be gentle

 

I have just started dabbling with a trial version of 3ds max for lettering, basically I know you can adjust the width factor of text in AutoCad which is what I currently use but was wondering if you can do the same in 3ds max.

 

I will then 3d print the letters in reverse for concrete casting.

 

On another note when I exported a 60mm high letter E (Times new roman) from 3ds max to dwg & then dimensioned the height it is only 37.28mm.

 

Any help will be much appreciated.

[Cad64]

Welcome to the forum.

 

There is an option called "Kerning" in the text parameters rollout that will adjust the distance between letters. Type in the value you want and then hit the "Update" button.

 

 

As for the text height, if you check the height in your Studio Max file, I think you will find it is the same height as the text in your AutoCAD file. It's not a problem with the exporting, it's just the way text is handled in the program.

 

From the Studio Max Help files:

 

  Quote

Size: Sets the text height where the height measuring method is defined by the active font.

 

So, the height shown in the text size input box is not necessarily what you're going to get in the viewport. If you want your text to be a specific height, like 60mm, create a box that's 60mm tall, then create your text and scale it up until it's the same height as the box.

[OLDandPR0UD]

Hi Cad64, already looked at that command however that only spaces the lettering out, what I want to do is effectively squeeze the lettering, maybe just have to use the scale command also.

 

For the height issue, any idea why they would allow a text height if it wasn't to scale?

[Cad64]

Yeah, if you need to squeeze the lettering, just use the scale tool.

 

  OLDandPR0UD said:

For the height issue, any idea why they would allow a text height if it wasn't to scale?

 

I'm not sure how the text size is calculated, but it's apparently based on the font somehow. I've found that if I want text at a specific height I'll type in a size that is 1.5 times the size I want. If I want text that is 12" tall I type in 18" for the size. This gets me roughly what I want and then I can scale it from there if I need it to be precise.

[OLDandPR0UD]

Thanks for the reply Cad64....I now calculate the scale at 1:43 to get a near enough size....i.e. 90mm on 3ds max gives out a 62.93mm font height.

[BIGAL]

Old and proud you now have two posts basicly about the same thing see my other post for a suggestion, Autocad allows squishing of text.

 

As suggested in other post it would be good to add 3DS to you Autocad 2006 in your personal detials like others if you dont mention 3DS we will think its an Autocad question.

 

Again I think it would be good for you to look at TEXT2GEOMETRY by Seant.