I then modified this relief by adding to it 0.15″ using the flat tool

I then applied a texture bitmap from the TEXTURE MAGIC collection. This one is called ‘checkerboard squiggles’  The key here was to enlarge the bitmap enough that my 1/8″ ball nose bit fit between the lines. Then I carefully centered the pattern on the circle before I hit the apply key.

I then modified the letter outline relief using the circle vector and the dome tool with the angle at the same value as when I created the plaque relief.

After nudging the letter outline relief into position vertically we could then MERGE HIGHEST to the base relief.

The ‘S’ letter sample is one I’ve done before. This would be a little larger upgrade. The file was built entirely in EnRoute. We started with a vector of the letter ‘S’.  But the background is to be some knarly driftwood and we wanted the ‘S’ to have a Pirates of the Carribean kind of feel.

The ‘S’ is the next task. I first created an outline 0.2″wide.

I then made a flat relief. The height is arbitrary but I used a value of 0.5″ tall. I created a separate relief and then modified it using a circle vector. The dome angle was the same as I used to create the woodgrain panel.

When I rendered the piece it was obvious that the letter border relief was a little low. I simply went to the front view and then adjusted things with the up/down keys until I was happy.

Then it was time to MERGE HIGHEST to make the two relief one.

The last step was to create the letter ‘S’ I used the bevel tool with a 15 degree angle and a 0.15 base. The jagged vectors I drew created a wonderful faceted look to the letting.

The Sign Magic Workshop is now just over two weeks away. This means the MultiCam is going full blast carving out small sample pieces. With the Sculpture Magic Workshop following a week later we need lots of samples for everyone to practice their dimensional painting skills on. This time I decided to redo all of the letter files, making them just a little larger and changing things up a little.

The first sample was the letter a on a ‘riveted plate’ panel. This panel used a variety of techniques to build and is a fun one to paint for the students. If you are following along and look close you will see I made a mistake on how the bottom two plates overlap. I had to back up a little and move the bottom rivet to the left and make the bottom left plate be on top of the one on the bottom right.

The entire file was created in EnRoute. The plate vectors were originally perfectly square but with the handy new distort tool (EnRoute 5) this was taken care of in a jiffy.

Each plate was treated as a separate relief – all the same height.

To bend the plates up a little and allow them to overlap I had previously created a bitmap called ‘uneven blend’ It’s on the TEXTURE MAGIC COLLECTION

 This was applied to each individual plate in sequence.

The plates were then nudged up or down as necessary in the front view using the up/down keys.

Once the plates were right I applied the SPLOTCHES bitmap to give a weathered and pitted texture to the plates.

The lettering outline was then created as a simple flat relief. I then went to the front view and nudged it upwards into position.

 I combined the reliefs by selecting the plate reliefs and then hitting the combine function. The lettering outline was then MERGED HIGHEST.

The letter ‘a’ was then added to the relief by modifying the new combined relief. It was at this point I realized that I had made a mistake in the relative elevation of the angled plates.

This is where the undo comes in handy. I backed things up to where the plates were separate and adjusted the heights in the front view.

 Then I redid the steps covered above to finish the piece.

 I was going to tool path and route the panels four at a time so I created a zero height relief and then merged the relief (and copies) to it.

The
file was now r
eady to tool path and send off to the MultiCam. It would be machined from 1″ thick 30 lb Precision Board.

 I’ll be going through two of the other samples we created as well. Stay tuned…

-dan

Don’s name plaque employs a variety of techniques.  I started with a dome relief, then modified it by adding a raised center. I used an enlarged sandblasted woodgrain bitmap from the TEXTURE MAGIC collection to add a cool texture to the piece.

To create the rope I used the extrude command to make a mesh file. I just followed the prompts.

I went into the front view and nudged the mesh vertically until it looked good. Then I selected both the mesh and relief which allowed me to access the menu at would merge the two types of files.

I then created a flat relief of the letter outlines. This relief was modified with a dome shape (to match the woodgrain relief) by using the circle vector I had used to create the relief.

Once gain I went to the front view to nudge the relief vertically and then MERGED HIGHEST to the base relief.

Then I raised the lettering by modifying the base relief.

I thought it looked a little plain and so I imported the splotches bitmap and added a little texture to just the letters.

 

I created a separate flat relief of the lettering border. Then I imported the splotches texture and applied it with a value of 0.1″  The Celtic weave looks so much better with a little texture to age it down a little.