Looking for....Signs

whispers65

I've been Googling and really searching quite a bit for signs and not able to find one.

Looking for something like:

Locker Room
Shower Room
Gym

Something along those lines. It can or not be Gender specific like "Girl's Locker Room" etc.

Also, I have a sign for an elevator but really need it to go the opposite direction. Is there an easy way to mirror a prop like this?

Herald of Fire

Sounds like something like that would be pretty easy to concoct yourself. You could just create a plane and assign it a custom texture with the details you want. If you're after something specific and don't trust your own skills to make it, either reply here or drop me a PM and I might be able to cook something up more tailored for your needs.

Chohole

I agree there, or if you need some thickness to the sign, use a primitive, cube and alter the dimension, squsih it almost flat on the z axis, and remember to make sure that it is UV mapped so will take the sign texture.

maclean

A few of my packs come with signs. For example, the Corridors pack. The templates are included, so all you'd need to do is add your own image.

http://www.daz3d.com/shop/interiors-corridors

I wouldn't normally recommend spending 10 bucks to get a sign, but by the sounds of what you're doing, there may be a lot of other useful stuff in the pack.

mac

maclean

I forgot to mention, there's an elevator in the pack too.

mac

Herald of Fire

Curses... Maclean's posting more awesome stuff. Those look incredibly useful for a lot of potential scenes. Want. Now. I just hope my wallet forgives me.

whispers65

Thanks for all of the replies....

It's funny...Actually I'm using the Interiors-Corridors pack for this project! But to be honest I've never "made" anything in my life when it comes to this stuff so while there maybe templates and so forth. I don't have a clue what to do with them so far but I want to learn how to make my own stuff eventually. I just don't have a good feel for the process to make it happen. I've been searching around and trying different things but so far it's been pretty hit or miss.

There are useful signs in the pack but they tend to be pointed in the opposite direction of how I have my stuff set up.

This could be a great learning process. I would just need a brief outline on the steps to take.

Oh btw Maclean, I love your stuff. I've bought lots. :)

Herald of Fire

You can easily select the arrow and point it in the opposite direction with any decent paint application. Save a copy out so you can use it any time without affecting the original.

whispers65

This is a scene I've created with Interiors-Corridors.

I'm just now trying to learn Uber lighting so it's not the greatest. This is the first test..honest!

whispers65

Thanks Heart! Tonight I'll see how "easily" I can do it.

Chohole

To make your own sign graphics you need a paint prgram that uses layers Gimp is free if you don't already own something like Paint shop Pro or Photshop.

Open one of Mac's sign images to give you a guide, than open the template he has included and start playing. Best way to learn is to play

whispers65

I'll give it a go when I get home from work tonight. Actually, I do have GIMP, Paint Shop Pro, Photoshop (from years ago), and Paint.net.

But I'm about as skilled in them as anything else. However, I am technical so as long as I can do it with a technical ability rather than an artistic one, then I can do it lol.

mjc1016

Since you are using the corridors pack, find the sign templates and open that in GIMP...then search Google for some signs (there's a ton of them that should be fine to use for personal use, but not to make into a pack to sell...even though the basic symbols for the signs are public domain, the actual final sign images are copyright to the respective sign company...so unless you start from scratch...) and simply create a new layer (which version of GIMP? because some things are a lot easier in the newest version...2.82) and then paste the sign, resizing to fit the template. Then save out the resized image, making the template invisible.

Then in DS, under the Surfaces, for the sign, replace the Diffuse image for the one you just created. Also check that there isn't a bump or displacement map assigned...if there is, remove them or you'll get the original sign showing through...

maclean

HeraldOfFire said:

Curses... Maclean's posting more awesome stuff. Those look incredibly useful for a lot of potential scenes. Want. Now. I just hope my wallet forgives me.

Heh! Sorry about that! But as a consolation, the pack's under $10 and has 58 items in it. That works out at less than 20 cents each, so I think your wallet won't be too mad.
mac

maclean

I can't add much to what others have posted. The basic idea is as follows.

Open the template in an image program.
Drag an image of a sign* into the template (or create your own).
Save it in .jpg format with a unique name.
Go to the Surfaces pane in DS and browse to find your texture.

* You can use any image from Google or elsewhere for personal use.

If the sign you want doesn't have a template, that means it's a square image. (I don't make templates when the image is square because there's nothing to see - just fill the frame).

Actually, you can see the tempate for anything in Daz Studio yourself. Select the object, then select the object's material in the surface pane (It would be 'sign' ). Now go to the camera menu and choose UV View and By Material to see the template. You can screenshot it and use it as the base for a new texture.

mac

whispers65

Thanks everyone! That was easier than I thought it would be. Really.

I tried two things:

1) For Stairs - The sign was opposite of what I wanted. I took a copy of the texture into paint program. There was a flip image horizontal option. I did that but wording "Stairs" was backward. Ok no problem. I reversed, selected word "Stairs", copied, flipped, pasted. Done. Put sign up, went into surfaces and changed. Easier than I thought.

2) For Custom Sign - I created a plane as suggested, and sized it. For the wording, I kind of cheated. I found an online street sign make. It had an official looking font that I liked. Background was green with white lettering and entire sign was outlined in white. Ok easy enough. I saved, took into paint. Grabbed the other sign, picked the color with color picker and changed green to blue. Saved and then merged the "sign" into my scene. Very pleased.

Actually all of this was very easy and fun. I had my doubts this morning though lol. But it was all pretty painless.

maclean

whispers65 said:

I found an online street sign make. It had an official looking font that I liked. Background was green with white lettering and entire sign was outlined in white.

Glad you got it done. Quite often, these things are much easier than you think, so it's always worth trying.

For future reference, that font is probably called 'Highway Gothic' and you can download it as a free font. I know because I researched the most common fonts used by UK & US highway departments, and that's one of them.

So if you need any more 'official' signs, that's always a good font to use, (assuming you have a program you can install i into, like GIMP or Photoshop).

mac

whispers65

Thanks. That is good to know. I'll look into downloading it tonight. I really do like it. And as far as programs I do have photoshop and gimp now as well as paint.net. Just need some practice. :)

Looking forward to buying more of your stuff :)

mjc1016

For signage, I'd probably use the Swansea font, because every thing I can find, it seems to be a Public Domain font. It's not a perfect match, but a pretty close one.

http://www.fontspace.com/roger-white/swansea

And the AIGA symbols are available from here...

http://www.aiga.org/symbol-signs/

or

http://thenounproject.com/collections/aiga/

There are also some additional collections there.

http://thenounproject.com/collections/

whispers65

Thanks MJC! I appreciate those links. I think since last night was so much fun, today I decided I was just going to make a bunch of signs and try and do everything from scratch....should give me lots of practice right?