Text Transform: One word turning into another

[oirwin]

Hello, 

Ive been trying to model two names (ANNIE, JONATHAN) so that one lofts into the other. I know they are different lengths and # of vertices, but I wonder if there is a way to have the A extrude out so that it becomes J, and the N becomes ON, and the N becomes AT-- and so on, or partial letters. Im a begginner/intermediate with 3ds max, so any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

[jeff]

From my experience, that is actually a very tricky problem. For a morph or loft, you really need vertex - to - vertex (or spline knot - to - spline knot) correspondence.

[oirwin]

Thanks for your response. So now I am just trying to loft a A into a J. First i tried adding more verticies to the J so that there were the same number of verticies in A and J. That did not work, but what did work was removing the inner loop of the A (the triangular hole).

 So I do have a successful loft, where Ive used a straight line as the path, and then an A (with no hole) at 0% and the J at 80% but Im having 3 issues:

1. Strange twisting in the loft part. Is there a way I can change or relink the destination which originating vertice goes to?

2. Which face of the letter gets mapped on the loft. For example the J shape gets placed backwards if I do the J first. Rotating the original shape doesnt do anything. 

3. Once the above are solved, Id like to try to add in a hole for the A. I didnt see an easy way to add segments to the cap, or draw a triangular shape on the now flat face of the A. I was able to draw verticies on the face, but I forget how to connect them.

really apprecaite any thoughts, thanks!!

[Pyro777]

Do you have time to post a file of what you have so far? (zipped)

[oirwin]

Managed to get it uploaded here. There are three different tries, each with the same issues I numbered above.

Thanks all!

[oirwin]

was anyone able to open the file i uploaded and have a look?