Hi Chipp, proof of concept worked, the result script is attached here as SelectIntersected.zip. To install it please refer to FAQ #1, How do I install a plug-in script?.

The script expects for you to have set up a grid of solids (can be any shapes, you'll want boxes I guess for your particular case, set this up by drawing one box and then using Transform > Array > Grid to repeat it), and then some closed 2D curves for the text, like this:



Then when you run the new SelectIntersected command, it will select all solids that either touched the 2D outline or were contained inside of it like this:


Or as seen from the Top view:



Since the selection will get anything even just slightly touching the curves it will expand quite a bit so I'd guess a bit slender and spaced text to start with would help keep the text a bit more recognizable, or bumping up the density of the grid too.

The script performs a boolean operation as part of how it works so it will take like 10 seconds or so to run, or longer with higher density grids.

I hope this helps! I've tried to do something similar before without success but just happened to have a good idea this time! :) Later I'll see if it's possible to do a 'strictly contained inside' variant.

Once you have the grid broken apart into 2 sets you can then scale up the inside set so it's taller and then maybe apply some random z movement to everything all in one go.

If it works out I'd love to see what your result looks like!

- Michael


EDIT: see here for a more generalized version that works on both curves and solids:
http://moi3d.com/forum/index.php?webtag=MOI&msg=11230.5
The one here only works on solids.