I dug up this handy tool I created a few years ago. It solves the problem of needing to select Face / Bevel / Side for creating cool 3D text with shaders mapped to the different elements. To use, source the script and then enter the command ‘rg_bevelTextFaceTool_PassShader’
https://github.com/rynote/Maya_BevelTextSurfaceTool
Maybe I’ll add some images and info later.