Engraved Text on a curved wall/family

[duguid]

Alright, so I'm trying to make a site gateway sign that has engraved lettering on it but is also curved. I know how to make it on a flat wall using the void and "join geometry" tool, however every time I try and do the same thing on the curved wall, it says I must unjoin the elements and it never cuts it. There are a few exceptions where it seems it will randomly join the wall, but I cant seem to figure out any pattern to accomplish this with all letters or strings of letters.

Heres a couple shots of what I'm trying. Thanks for any advice!

[dbaldacchino]

I would use model text if I were you. Yes, it's a little bit of a pain to place all the reference planes on a curved wall, but it works. Once your letters are in place and overlapping your wall, use the join geometry tool on the text and the wall. Now simply turn off the model text category and you're left with the engraved text.

Thanks to Mr. Spot for this tip on his blog! (his example set the material to 100% transparent, but that's not really necessary as turning off the model text category or overriding individual object visibility does the trick too).

http://revitrants.blogspot.com/2007/10/3d-engraved-model-text.html

[Dimitri Harvalias]

Neat trick indeed.
David,
Just to save the hassle of all those ref planes

create the model text deep enough to cut through the entire curve
copy the cut wall and paste in the same location
make sure the location line is the inside face of the wall
create a wall style to match the first wall but with reduced thickness (the difference should be the depth of the cut desired)
Join geometry on the two wallsYou can add color or surface pattern to the lettering by using the paint bucket on the back wall.

(OK, this will work only if you don't mind that the lettering won't cut the surface wall square but I'd rather save the time and effort so I can have a :beer:)

[dbaldacchino]

Ahhhh, the beer :)

Yep, that should work too. Depends on how meticulous one is I guess! Of course this ceases to work as elegantly with small radii, but for large ones the skewing should be negligible.

[duguid]

Thanks to both of you! Used the 2nd method and worked perfectly, client loved it!

[Dimitri Harvalias]

One more for you. If you want raised text to follow a curve you can use a similar approach.
Again, keep in mind that using this method will not create the edge faces of the raised lettering perpendicular to the face of the wall.

[rbaird.121112]

Sorry to be dense, but I am not figuring out how to do the raised text...i am missing a step I think? Can you clarify the steps in this approach for the raised lettering on a curved wall?

Thanks so much!

[Dimitri Harvalias]

rbaird,

Create the text.
Create the in-place wall family. The gap in the wall should be the desired depth of the text.
Do a join geometry on the text and the in-place wall, make sure you select the wall first.
Right click on the in-place wall and hide it in the view

[ghale]

Thanks Dimitri,
I got my answer right away on the search and it saved me a bit of time to figure out. It helps to give these questions a quick response as well so new users don't get discouraged doing some things even slightly out of the ordinary.