3D text

Introduction

In a project, there may be times when text needs to be created as part of a 3D scene and not just in the HUD. Redot provides two methods to do this. The Label3D node and the text mesh for a MeshInstance node.

This page does not cover how to display a GUI scene in a 3D environment. For information on how to do that see this demo project.

Label3D

../../_images/label_3d.png

Label3D behaves like a label node but in a 3D space. Unlike label node this can not inherit properties of a GUI theme. However its look remains customizable and uses the same DynamicFont and BitmapFont subresources control nodes use.

Label3D has minimal interaction with a 3D environment, it can be lit up and shaded by light sources if the shaded flag is enabled, but it will not cast a shadow, even with cast shadow turned on under the nodes GeometryInstance3D settings. This is because the node is a quad mesh (one glyph per quad) with transparent textures and has the same limitations as Sprite3D. See this page for more information.

Text mesh

../../_images/text_mesh.png

Text meshes have similarities to Label3D. They display text in a 3D scene, and will use the same DynamicFont subresource. However text is 3D and has the properties of a mesh. A text mesh cast shadows onto the environment and can have a material applied to it. Here is an example of a texture and how it's applied to the mesh.

../../_images/text_mesh_texture.png ../../_images/text_mesh_textured.png

There are two limitations to text mesh. It can't use bitmap fonts, or fonts with self intersection.