How to get Realtime Text in Blender

I know many people keep asking how to make realtime text in Blender. The answer is quite simple.I will walk you through the steps of making text appear in realtime.

Step 1: Setting up the Scene

Start up Blender, and delete the default cube. Go into the front view (numpad 1) and set the orientation to orthographic (numpad 5 or View->Orthographic). Now insert a plane, and scale it down a little (if you want). Go into UV Face Select Mode (F), and select the face. Go to the editing mode (F9) and set the face as Alpha, Twoside, and Text. Be sure to set the draw-type to “texture” (Alt + Z), before going on, or you will see no results.

Step 2: Setting up the text

Download this file, and save it somewhere that you can easily find it. Go back into Blender and split the 3D screen into two (right-click the right-side of the 3D screen and choose “split screen“) Now change the screen type to UV/Image Editor. Image>Open to open a picture, then browse for your picture. Highlight it, and choose open. Now, press A in the UV/Image Editor to select all verticies. You should have something like this:

Scale it like so:

Step 3: Creating the Text

Now we are ready to make the text show. Go to the Logic Panel (F4) and click Add Property. Change the Prop Name to Text. There are different things you can show:

• Int – This will display an integer
• Float – shows any number with up to 3 decimal points
• Timer – Self explanatory
• Bool – Boolean (the value is either “true” or “false”
• String – A collection of Characters

For the property type, we will choose String. insert something (I put “Hello World!“). Compare yours to this:

Exit the UV/Face Select Mode, by pressing “F” again, and compare your screen with this one:

Now, all that is left is to test your work. It should look something similar to this:

If you have it working, then you are complete. If not, go back, and try to fix any issues you have. If it is still not working, then download the file below, and compare your file to mine.

.blend

Here is the completed example file: Download

Last Notes

If I have left something out, there is wrong information, or if the links are broken, feel free to e-mail me at: bgetutorials [at] live.com

I also accept requests for new tutorials.