QUICKSTART

1.) Create a section analysis plane parallel to the XZ plane in 20 mm or 1 inch from the origin.

TOOLS-> INSPECT->Section Analysis

2.) Open the add-in panel UTILITY -> CHANNELIER -> Font Channelier

3.) Turn on the preview (the eye icon). You should see the letter ‘A’ cut by the section analysis plane at the lower part of the body. Change the view to the axis Z pointing up if necessary.

4.) Try to change any of the parameters on the tabs and observe changes in the model.

5.) Hit the OK button if you are satisfied with the settings. A letter is created. Front faces are separate bodies and can be hidden to perform further modification on the channel hull.

USER MANUAL

This add-in automatically creates models of 3D channel letters with translucent front face with 3D printed bodies and illuminated with LEDs from inside.

It takes the 2D shape of the input letter and creates a front face, walls, and bottoms. Walls have a supporting console (CAPITAL) to hold the front face.

The user interface uses the following expressions:

Glass – the front face of the glyph, usually translucent from acrylic but can be 3D printed

Capital – the console around the walls which supports the glass. The basic shape should allow printing the channel without supports.

Wall – (returns) vertical part of the channel 

Bottom – (backer) the distant face of the glyph

There are 7 tabs:

At each tab, except the 'About' tab, a 'Preview' switch is available. Turn the preview off before changing values. Turn it on for the preview.

TEXT

The text field is an input for letters to process. Add-in can process multiple letters at once but the time to generate preview increases with the number of letters.

Users can select font parameters to define the shapes of the letters.  

Name: in this pull-down menu users can choose the font type. Add-in has access to 16 different fonts. Fonts are listed only if they are also available on the operating system. The default on Windows - Arial and Times New Roman among others.

Size of the glyph.

Bold and Italics might not be available for all fonts.

WALLS

Glyph depth - distance from the top of the GLASS to the bottom of the BOTTOM.

Wall thickness - thickness of the vertical walls.

GLASS

Glass thickness - front face thickness

Glass depth – is the distance, how deep the front faces will be dived into the glyph. If the glass depth is equal to the glass depth, the front plane of the glass will be aligned to the top of the walls.

Details:

   Make glass - if checked GLASS will be created 

   Show glass - turns the visibility of the GLASS on and off. Checked out, the glass will be created but hidden. You can unhide the part using the standard command later.

   Gap horizontal - defines space between horizontal connecting faces of the GLASS and CAPITAL.

   Gap vertical -  space between vertical faces of the GLASS and CAPITAL.

CAPITAL

Thickness – is the size of the vertical part of the cons

Depth – is the distance of the console extrusion into the channel space.

Angle -  of the support structure of the console. The default value of 45° degrees should be enough to print the glyph without supports.

Details:

   Make capital - CAPITAL will be created or not

   Weld capital - CAPITAL will be connected to the walls or will stay as a separate body. 

   Show capital - show or hide CAPITAL after creation.

   Do fillet - experimental feature - sharp angle of the glyph shape will be rounded.

   Fillet radius - radius of the arc to round sharp concave angles

   Weld depth - specifies overlapping of CAPITAL and WALLS - experimental - modeling parameter - have no impact on the final model

BOTTOM

Bottom type - There are four different types of bottom available.

Wall height and wall thickness are effective only for bottom type U and TT.

Details:

   Make bottom - create or not create the bottom part

   Show bottom - show or hide part after creation

   Gap horizontal - gaps between horizontal connecting faces of the BOTTOM and WALLS

   Gap vertical - gaps between vertical connecting faces of the BOTTOM and WALLS

COLORS

To simply assign a different color for each part, choose one of the color palettes.

Install:

The installer that ran when you downloaded this app/plug-in from Autodesk App Store has already installed the app/plug-in.

OR, simply double-click the MSI to install the app.

Uninstall:

You can unload the add-in without uninstalling it by clicking the "Stop" button when the add-in is selected in the list box on the "Add-Ins" tab of the "Scripts and Add-Ins" dialog.

Unchecking "Run on Startup" causes the add-in not to be loaded in future sessions of Autodesk® Fusion 360™.

To uninstall this plug-in, exit the Autodesk product if you are currently running it, simply rerun the installer, and select the "Uninstall" button.

OR, you can uninstall it from 'Control Panel\Programs\Programs and Features' (Windows 8.1/10/11), just as you would uninstall any other application from your system.

Add-in turns Capture History off. You must turn it on manually.

Basic units are metrics units, but values can be entered also in imperial units.

The glyphs are extruded in the Z-Axis direction.

If the preview is turned on, the model is regenerated after each user interaction with the user interface. It is recommended to turn off the preview (available at each tab) before changing the parameters of the model.