font effects in director

[azriel550]

Hi All

What I need to do is make text (which is entered by the user) appear as though it is engraved into a metallic surface. Does anyone know if this can be done with an Xtra or any other way of achieving this?

Thanks

 

[kennethkawamoto]

I can think of two options. The first one is to use graphic effects Xtra + imaging Lingo. There are few Xtras allows you to apply effects such as emboss on the fly:

http://www.cxtra.net/

http://www.medialab.com/

You'll need to combine these Xtras with imaging Lingo to achieve your goal.

The second option is to use pre-rendered letter graphics and display them as you type. You'll need to create all the letters, numbers, and symbols but coding wise this is easier than the first option.

Having said that, if you use certain font and place the text in 2 - 3 channels and tweaking the ink may do the trick: if so, then this is the easiest!

 

[azriel550]

Thanks for your reply. These are some great ideas.

I'm not familiar with how you would go about "placing the text in 2 - 3 channels and tweaking the ink". I haven't done really any of this type of work in the past. Do you know where I could find some basic information on doing something like this?

Thanks, really appreciate your help.

 

[kennethkawamoto]

Say you have a Field Cast Member for the text input. Place the Field Member in to Sprite channel 3 and 4. Then set the Sprite 3 Ink to Background Transparent and Sprite 4 to Reverse. Nudge Sprite 4 for a few pixels sideways and downwards. -- Basically this is what I meant. Play around with the Ink, the colour of the text, etc: you *may* get the effect you wanted.

 

[azriel550]

Anyone have any ideas on how to export a frame (or portion of a frame) from shockwave at runtime?