Changing Character Axis Properties

You can change the axis properties of your 3D text string characters. This can be useful in offsetting your text from a 3D path.

(a) Cascade Alignment box (b) Vertical Pivot box (c) Horizontal Pivot box    

The Character Axis tab settings are described as follows.

Master Character field

Displays the number of the character in the text string that is considered to be the master. All other text characters follow this character in any character axis settings. Editable.

Cascade field

Displays the amount of frames to offset the animation of other characters from the master character. The animation that is offset includes all numeric fields in the Character Axis tab, as well as the Specular, Ambient, Diffuse, Transparency, and Shine fields in the Geometry tab. Editable.

For example, if Cascade is set to 0, all characters have the same animation as the master character. If Cascade is set to a positive number, all characters other than the master character have their animation offset forward in time.

Cascade Alignment box

Select the flow of the cascade offset, with respect to the master character.

X Position field

Displays the position of the offset along the X axis. Editable.

Y Position field

Displays the position of the offset along the Y axis. Editable.

Z Position field

Displays the position of the offset along the Z axis. Editable.

X Rotation field

Displays the rotation of the offset along the X axis. Editable.

Y Rotation field

Displays the rotation of the offset along the Y axis. Editable.

Z Rotation field

Displays the rotation of the offset along the Z axis. Editable.

X Scale field

Displays the scale of the offset along the X axis. Editable.

Y Scale field

Displays the scale of the offset along the Y axis. Editable.

Z Scale field

Displays the scale of the offset along the Z axis. Editable.

Proportional Scale button

Enable to scale the X, Y, and Z axes proportionally.

X Shear field

Displays the shear of the offset along the X axis. Editable.

Y Shear field

Displays the shear of the offset along the Y axis. Editable.

Z Shear field

Displays the shear of the offset along the Z axis. Editable.

X Centre field

Displays the centre of the offset along the X axis. Editable.

Y Centre field

Displays the centre of the offset along the Y axis. Editable.

Z Centre field

Displays the centre of the offset along the Z axis. Editable.

Vertical Pivot box

Select the vertical position of the pivot point for the selected text characters.

Horizontal Pivot box

Select the horizontal position of the pivot point for the selected text characters.

Show Pivots button

Enable to display the pivot point for each individual text character in the 3D text string, displayed in the image window in red. When disabled, only the master character pivot point is displayed (in green). This setting can also be found in the 3D Text tab.