Chuck Taylor said:
Typically, channel letter sign designs are all done in 2D form, rarely 3D. 99% of channel letter sign projects are not worth the time required to model out in 3D. The front view is a given, maybe with both close-up "detail" front and side views of the sign and then front views of the sign on the building fascia. Many sign companies merely super-impose the letters over a photo of the building rather than actually draw out an accurate surveyed drawing of the building elevation. Short cuts.
Some cities will insist on real technical drawings of the sign placed on an accurate scale technical drawing (NOT photograph) of the building elevation, with plenty of dimension call-outs provided. And then a rapidly growing number of really anal-retentive city governments will demand section detail drawings showing a cross-section of all the electrical work inside the sign and running into the building. They want all of that before they will provide an installation permit. Still, all of this work is done in 2D form.
BTW, very little of this stuff can be done with stock art. The technical mumbo jumbo and template stuff for a company's sketch is about the only thing that can be treated and re-purposed in such a manner. Company logos and other assets are all pretty unique and often bring their own issues (like the company logo not even being in a useable format).
I've rarely had the need to create true 3D renderings of channel letter signs. Customers will certainly ask for that. But time is money and farting around in 3D modeling software is a luxury many of us can't waste time pursuing. If one of our clients insists on seeing a true 3D rendering of a sign on a building elevation they are going to pay for the labor involved in making that rendering happen. They will NOT get it for free. Importing assets into 3D modeling programs and then doing further manipulation is a real P.I.T.A. It is a time-suck with very few real benefits in the work flow. The artwork in most arc/line/spline-based 3D modeling applications doesn't translate well over into the Bezier curve environment where the vast majority of graphic design work is done. So any such work is done first in 2D form and then imported into 3D modeling software if that must happen. The shop drawings are done in 2D. This 3D stuff is just extra demands coming from a customer which would exist outside the normal work flow.
SketchUp is very popular with a lot of commercial and residential structure building firms. It's subscription-based software now though. Blender is also popular and free. Very often someone with a commercial building project will have a builder firm working on it and have some kind of model in 3D software. Collaborating with such a firm, providing them with 2D assets to import into their 3D model of the project, can be a real short cut.
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