TextMachine 3D Tutorials

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Basics
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In this tutorial you will learn how to:

 

Setup TextMachine 3D Output and Start Playback

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Control Description

Full Screen
Click this button to switch to full screen mode. Right click to list your Display Adapter (Graphic Card) capabilities.

Lock Output Resolution
Locks the output resolution to the specified value. 
Note: 
Output resolution is set per preset. 
If you want to have always the same resolution regardless of the definition for a specific preset, then lock output resolution.

Always on Top
Click this button to have the output window always on top (Useful on single monitor systems)

Output to Monitor - click to reload Monitor list
Select the output Monitor or Beamer. Configure this setting before you push the play button on toolbar.

Frame Limiter
Limit output to max. 24 frames per second. Enable FPS limiting for older beamer- or monitor models.
Note: If you experience distorted output please force your graphic card to wait for vertical synchronization.

 

How to Setup Resolution and Output Monitor

Resolution and monitor settings are setup in the "Main Control" section located in the main user interface as shown in the screenshot.

The "Resolution" drop down contains a set of standard resolutions. Custom resolutions can be achieved by entering them manually in format WidthXHeight.

Note: After playback is started the resolution can be changed to any desired value, the "base" resolution will be that defined before starting playback. The output will be resized accordingly.

The "Output Monitor" can be chosen from the provided drop down. The number of monitors listed depends on the Microsoft Windows Display Properties. Right click you desktop to enable multi-monitor output.

Select the desired output resolution and monitor then proceed to next step.

How to Start Playback

After you selected the output monitor and desired resolution, click the play button:

Play, Pause, Stop



Click the button 
near the monitor list in Main Control to open
The Output Setup lets you define multiple screens for your panorama projections.
In playback mode you can then simply drag and drop the output windows to the desited monitors.
Once completed, you can switch easily to full screen.

TextMachine 3D remembers your screen setup when the software is restarted.

Number of Outputs
Number of Projection Outputs, configure this before starting playback.

Reset Button
Reset output Setup

Identifiy
Identifies the output screens when TextMachine 3D is in playback mode for easier positioning.
0 Main Screen
#1 - #12

X Y Buttons
Flip selected output screen X Y
This functionality can be used to create mirrored projections on panorama screen setups.

 

Multiple Screen Output Example with Output #2 and #3 Mirrored in Y:

 

Add and Manipulate Text Objects

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Concept

TextMachine 3D works with text objects, on which many parameters such as font, picture, 3D mesh, rotation, position, color, particles etc. can be set. 

The playback performance is only limited by the hardware used. 

Most of the image processing of TextMachine 3D is done in the graphic card. Usage of a good graphic card is recommended.

How to Add Text Objects

To add a text object double click the design pane or click the "Add Text" button on the toolbar.
The default setting for a text object is a counter.

Once a text object is added, all other parameters can be set.  

Note:
You can add as many text objects as you like. Every text object has its own parameters that can be controlled independently.

 

 
How to Manipulate Text Objects
  • To activate a Text Object for manipulation (set font, color, etc) click on it.

  • To set the position of a text object drag and drop it with the mouse on the desired position or hold the CTRL key on your keyboard and use the arrow keys.

  • To center a Text on the screen right click on it.

  • To size the bounding box drag and drop the handles on the corners or sides of the bounding box.

Text Info and Control Box

The Text Info and Control Box Displays 3D/2D Status, Shape and Particle status of a text object.

[B] Sends text object to back
[F] Brings text object to front

Right Click Text Info and Control Box (Shortcut=F9) toggles the output of the text object (on/off):

 

 

Set Font and Color of Text Objects

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Controls

[Clip] Clip text to text object bounding box

[Random] Randomize font name

[Search] Open Font Search and Preview

[B]old, [I]talic, [U]nderline, [S]triketrough

[Vertical] Vertical Text

[ABC] all characters uppercase

[abc]  all characters lowercase

[AbC], [aBc] all characters mixed case 

How to Set the Font

To set the font name and font size of a text object select the "Font Name" and "Size" in the "Font Settings" section of the main user interface as shown in the screenshot.

To search for fonts installed on your PC click the "Font" button and proceed to the next step in this tutorial.

Notes:
With TextMachine 3D you can use each font installed on your PC. 
There are thousands of free and commercial fonts available on the internet that you can download.

If you want to install a new fonts, copy your font files to your Windows Font Directory (Usually for Windows XP and later C:\Windows\Fonts). You may need to restart TextMachine 3D after Windows Font installation

 

Note: Mesh, Shape and Video Buttons are treated in another tutorial.

How to Set Text Object Color
  • To set the text object foreground - and background color click on the color square as shown in the screenshot. The "Color Spectrum" Window is opened.

  • Hold down the left mouse button and move over the color spectrum to change the text object fore color or back color.

  • To show/hide the background colored bounding box of the text object toggle the "Blend" button.

You can also use the Red, Green and Blue sliders in the "Color Spectrum" window, to fine tune your color selection.

With the "Color" and "Grayscale" button in the "Color Spectrum" window you can switch between color spectrums for selection.

 

Font Search and Font Preview

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How to Search Fonts

With the "Font Search & Preview" functionality you can search your installed fonts by name.

Type your search criteria e.g. "flower" in the "Font Name" drop down box, then click the "Find / Add" button or press "Enter" on your keyboard.

The font found is displayed in the "Font Preview".

To search for another font with the same search criteria, subsequently press the "Find / Add" button or press "Enter" on your keyboard.

To display all characters of the font found, double click the "Font Preview" where single characters can be easily applied to the text object with just one click.

How to Preview and Quickly Access Fonts

The "Font Preview" window displays all characters for the selected font and enables you to quickly set a certain character or character sequence to a text object. This feature is very useful if you want to play with symbol fonts.

  • Left click the desired font characters to apply them subsequently to the text object.

  • Right click the desired character to apply it once to the text object.

 

Save and Load Presets

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How to Save and Load Presets

You have now learned the basic features of TextMachine 3D. 
As in any other software you can save your work to file for later usage. 
In TextMachine 3D the compositions you create are called Presets.

  • Click on [Presets] button located as shown on the left

  • Click the Button on Machine State Presets Window to capture current TextMachine 3D State as Preset.

  • Click Save button to Save your Preset to File

How to Organize more Presets

An important feature is the usage of the "Machine State Presets" window. 

The "Machine State Presets" window lets you capture different "States" of TextMachine 3D and save/ load/ playback selected presets in a quick way.

With this feature you can organize play lists of already created Presets and send them to output just with a click. You can also playback different Presets in a customizable order.

  • To add the current TextMachine 3D state as Preset click the "Capture" button.

  • To load saved presets click the Load or Load All button.

  • To save selected Presets click the Save or Save All button.

Important Note
Always save your captured and unsaved Presets before exiting TextMachine 3D!

 

 

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