Mask on a texture photo for a 3D font

I still recommend a Fixed Res 2D group. You can set it to any size you need, not just your project size. I will use incredibly large 2DFR groups for making textures for large text, like 8000x8000.

For the purpose of this discussion: a "texture" is any kind of image or video that is applied to a 3D Text character in Motion - it doesn't have to have "depth" or apply a "bump map" special effect.

Here's the deal (at least as far as I have noticed): Motion literally "snaps" a bounding box around the pixel boundaries of an image [and that bounding box is used as the size basis of the texture - whatever it is]. As soon as you start cutting away at the size with masks, the bounding box changes - in real time (try animating a mask and see what happens!). Therefore, you need a stable background and 2D FR groups will not change their boundaries — use the entire 2DFR group AS the texture!

Here's a green screen clip used as a "texture" [Substance Generic Image + Custom Specular w/surface blend "from surface" 100%]. This clip is 1280x720 in a 1920x1080 project. Its 2DFR group was set with the dimensions of 1280x720. The 3D character is a circle (like a bullet). The texture is applied to all surfaces (so the front and back look like reflections of each other), but you can use Multiple material to isolate it to the front of back surface. I set the Side Placement to Stretch from Edge for this one.

The other benefit of using the 2DFR group as the texture is you can layer in whatever else you want into the "scene", animate it, mix it, whatever, and you will still have a stable texture for your 3D Characters. Also: applying the texture and turning off Repeat should not result in a mad hunt for the single instance texture in a space you cannot see beyond the boundaries of the text. [I've also found it most helpful to always name a texture group to indicate its purpose.]

HTH

Last night I wrote this big long explanation for creating a stable texture. At the end, I was checking to make sure every bit of it was necessary and for the most part, this one fact seemed superfluous, so I left it out. It has become habit for me. In the ever present expectation that Apple improves the environment and fixes issues, I thought perhaps that this particular issue had been fixed. However, once you throw in this extra shape mask, everything goes back to the original problems. So I will here state that last part of *my* stabilization technique:

I always set up a texture with a background. It can be a Color Solid or any generator, but typically I'll use a Rectangle shape and size it to be the same size (or slightly larger) size as the group dimensions. Set the Opacity to somewhere around 1%. [Note: I **think** the opacity *can* be 0%... but a few % won't make much of a difference in the appearance. The color should be 0 saturation - grayscale - but again, it really won't matter.]

Once you add this last piece, you should get a rock solid texture... and I am very sorry I took it out of my original explanation. As I was double checking everything, I took the background rectangle out and it made no difference having it in there — without the shape mask.

I don't know at what point I started using this technique — it goes back quite a long way now. I don't generally think about it much, I just do it (and I started wondering if it were still necessary — apparently it is).