How to convert font/text to surface (adaptive)?

[NWeigand]

I need a surface element which is formed by text, but with the surface text information adaptable to changes to the text.

This means I definitely can't use this way:

- create surface

- create sketch with text on it

- extrude text

- project text onto surface

- break links of projections (lose adaptility)

- cut surface (only works for single letters/loops, not words)

I can create the surface text by doing the following, but the resulting surface doesn't adapt to changes in the text:

- create sketch with text on it

- extrude text

- delete faces (select one by one)

Is there any obvious solution I'm missing - like converting sketches with text directly into surfaces?

Thanks.

[DRoam]

Can you post an example (picture or .ipt file) with the end result you're looking for? I'm having a hard time picturing what you want to do with the text.

[NWeigand]

The aim is to export the model and have the text there with the model, instead of a texture as the next program can't show textures.

Anyhow, about the attached file.. I did follow my version 2 up there to get this:

• Extrusion 5 can be ignored
• Extrusion 6 is based on Sketch 10 which is the text 'TEST' and can be modified
• Delete Face3 is deleting the 'side' and 'back' faces of the Letters 'S' & 'T'
• 'S' & 'T' have the desired features

problem is that 'Delete Face' works only by selecting single faces and when modifying the text one has to do it again.

It's not as adaptive as 'Extrude', where when you change the text it just adapts.

Disclaimer: I'm using Inventor Pro 2015 (student license)

[WHolzwarth]

How about this (2015 file)? For changes modify text in Sketch10 from "TEXT" to "TEST" (or "TOAST")

The thickens may need some manual work, depending on the number of characters.

Walter

[NWeigand]

Unfortunately this doesn't really help, the thickness of the text needs to be zero.. like a surface, it doesn't necessarily need to be a surface.

If there was an option to extrude a sketch to zero height, then I'd be done.

10-15 years ago I worked with 3DS Max and before that with 3D Studio. In those environments it was natural/common to work with vertices and faces. Building something as solid model hasn't been introduced until Max 2 or 3 I think. Never thought that one day I'd sit on the other side of the fence and would need just vertices with faces.

Surfaces in Inventor are 2 dimensional drawings with zero thickness and when exported become just vertices and faces.

Same with solid models, when one deletes faces from them, what I did with the sample ipt up there.

Problem is that changes to the text don't carry through to the 2D-zero-thickness-result.

If I project a sketch that contains text onto a surface, then the bounding box of that text is being projected, but not the text itself.

This points to the text being something different..

I'd either need:

• the surface trim modifier would need to accept text as cutting tool.

Or:

• an option to do zero height extrusions.

Or:

• a boolean operation that can intersect a surface with all solids that intersect it.

My stomach tells me that I can't do what I want in Inventor (yet).

I tried something along the lines of version 1 in the OP and got a modifiable text that is being carried through to the surface with one caveat.. to be able to cut the surface with the complete text the text itself needs to be a closed single loop, thus there is a rectangle in the sketch that connects all the letters for the extrusion.

Conclusio - the tools are there and work, just not the full yard

File for this is attached.

[NWeigand]

Been a couple of days since this has been posted and with no further reply I can file that one under 'really not possible now' uh?
Anyway, thanks for reading.

[Daniel248]

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@NWeigand wrote:

... the thickness of the text needs to be zero.. like a surface, it doesn't necessarily need to be a surface...

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Try this:

The 3D projected text on the curved surface will automatically adapt to the original text

If you need surfaces, patch the letters - that's not automatic.

(2015 model attached)