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Vertigo HotTEXT
v1.5
by Troy
Paiva
Design
Shed
 Hot
TEXT 1.5 by Vertigo is a terrific new Photoshop plug-in filter.
It creates realistic 3D text in an almost unlimited range of
surface, lighting and angles.
It only took a few minutes to install
into my Photoshop plug-ins folder and after playing with it
for 10 minutes, I felt pretty confident with it's capabilities.
It's a very intuitive interface with all the tools laid out
in a palette similar to Photoshop's palettes. If you've spent
any time with any 3D programs at all, this plug-in will come
very easy for you.
 Simply
open a document that you wish to place your 3D text into, create
a new layer for it and go to the Vertigo3D / HotTEXT pop up
button under the Filters menu. Once HotTEXT launches, simply
highlight the words in the text field and type what you want
to say. Use any of your fonts and adjust your kerning to your
needs. To add lights simply select the tool and drop them where
you want. The type lights up in real time as you move the lights
around. The lights appear as white spheres and are hard to find
on a white background so I recommend that you use a dark color
for your background as a working color. Double clicking on the
lights will open a palette that allows you to set the lights
in any color you choose.
 Note
that the "Lightshow" image's type was white and I
used green, purple and red lights to make the colors on the
type. There are several type manipulation tools to adjust depth,
size and angle. The camera moves in a similar fashion to most
3D programs. Use the Camera view pop up menu at the bottom to
save the camera view when you get it to where you want it and
then you're free to move around and adjust your lights. When
you're done setting the lighting, you can go right back to your
saved position. Double click on any tool button to get numerical
sliders for more control.
 At
the top of the window are 5 folder tabs. Click on Bevel and
you get an overwhelming 27 different bevels that are all size
adjustable. This is how I made the girder bevels on the "Girders"
image. The Paths tab has paths that you can string the type
along. There are 8 preset paths including fully adjustable eclipses
and waves, there's even a helix! The bow in the type in the
"Afterglow" image was created this way. Under the
Surface tab is an unlimited color palette for both the front
and sides of the letters. This is how I put the stone texture
on the "Design Shed" type. There is also texture mapping
where you can apply any already created texture to the surfaces
of your letters. There is even a transparency setting so that
your type can disappear into your background. See "Just
Air". The Scene tab is where the ambient lighting is controlled.
I will usually turn this way down or off and light the type
myself. You get a much more realistic and interesting light
this way.
 Things
I'd like to see on future versions are texture application to
only the faces of the letters, a command-z undo feature, wireframes
around the lights so they can be seen with any background color,
the ability to stack text and the use of bump maps. That said,
this is is a very useful and fun type manipulation tool. Any
graphic designer worth his salt will have a field day using
HotTEXT. At $79, it's a real value too.
 The
product comes on an easy to install CD that's compatible with
both Mac and Windows systems. The system requirements are: Adobe
Photoshop 3.0.5 or later, Adobe PhotoDeluxe2.0, CorelPhoto-Paint
8, Windows 96 or Power Mac running OS7.5.1 or later, QuickDraw
3D 1.5.3 or later (QuickDraw3D 1.5.4 included with Quicktime
3 installer on CD), 16 MB RAM(32MB recommended)
Features: 8
Ease of use: 9.5
Performance: 8
Documentation: 9
Average:
8.6
 Vertigo
Web Site: http://www.vertigo3d.com
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