Vizard 7 » Reference » 3D models » Text nodes » Text node basics
7.5

Text node basics

Vizard has several options for adding text objects. These are <node3D> objects that work with many of the standard node3D commands. In addition, they have text specific properties that can be changed such as the text message, font size, and font type.

Adding text

To add 3D text use the viz.addText3D command. For 2D text, use the viz.addText command and specify either viz.WORLD or viz.SCREEN for the parent argument:

import viz

viz.setMultiSample(4)
viz.fov(60)
viz.go()

gallery = viz.addChild('gallery.osgb')

#Add some 3D text in the world
text_3D = viz.addText3D('Art Gallery',pos=[-2.5,1.5,5])
#Add 2D text in the world
text_2D_world = viz.addText('Bench',pos=[2, 0.6, 3.5],parent=viz.WORLD)
#Add 2D text to the screen
text_2D_screen = viz.addText('On the screen',parent=viz.SCREEN)
#Parent 3D text to an object
plant = viz.addChild('plant.osgb',pos=[-4,0,7.9])
text_object = viz.addText3D( 'plant',parent=plant,pos=[0.4,0.2,0])

Text is just another node

Most of the commands you'll want to use are within the main body of the node3d library:

#Apply a couple node3d commands to the text objects.
text_3D.color(viz.BLUE)
text_2D_world.alpha(0.7)

#Change the position and orientation of the text.
text_2D_world.setPosition([2.7,0.6,5])
text_2D_world.setEuler([90,0,0])
text_2D_screen.setPosition(0.5,0) #screen text only needs x and y.

Changing the message

Use <node3d:text3d>.message( <message string> ) to change the message within a text object.

#Change the text itself.
text_3D.message('Something riveting')
#Get the current content of the text object.
print( text_3D.getMessage())

Changing thickness

Change the thickness of 3D text using the <node3D:text3D>.setThickness command:

slider = viz.addSlider(pos=[0.2,0.05,0])
slider.set(0.1)
vizact.onslider(slider,text_3D.setThickness)

Backdrop

Backdrops can be added to 2D text to give them a drop shadow effect making them more readable with various backgrounds. Backdrops can be applied in different positions, colors and offsets. Use one of the viz.BACKDROP_ flags with the <node3D:text3D>.setBackdrop command to add and position a backdrop:

text_2D_world.setBackdrop(viz.BACKDROP_RIGHT_BOTTOM)
text_2D_world.setBackdropColor([0.5,0.25,0])

Changing the font and alignment

Text objects have a few specific commands that help you tweak the style and appearance of the text:

#Set the font to anything from your Windows font directory. 
text_3D.font('Times New Roman') 
#Set text font size and resolution (from 0 to 1).
text_3D.fontSize(2) 
text_3D.resolution(1) 

#Align the text. Check out the viz.ALIGN_. flags for your options on alignment.
text_3D.alignment( viz.ALIGN_CENTER_BASE ) 
text_3D.setPosition([0,1.5,5])
text_3D.runAction(vizact.spin(0,1,0,15))

Example Scripts

\examples\nodes\text3d.py

\tutorials\3Dmodels\text.py

See also

In this section:

3D text command table

Other sections:

3D model command tables

User interface basics

3D Model basics

Displaying HTML pages

Example scripts:

3D text