3d distorts graphic materials and symbols applied to cube

Hi! I'm quite new to using 3d in Illustrator. I want to make a cube that I can animate in After effects, so I learned I have to prepare using the new 3d and materials panel, not the classic 3d panel. The problem is that the mapped symbols get distorted very easily, and I don't know how to control this.

Every face of the cube has a word, and I need to be able to manipulate the cube, changing size, position.. until I get a nice looking storyboard and ideally the cube ready to use in AE. 

I made some tests and I could get the cube to AE and use it there, but the problem is that I can't freely manipulate the cube (in this version, not actually a cube) without getting all the faces to look crazy. In the example I'm attaching, I tried to resize the cube, and I got all kinds of distortions, including spirals. So I tried to add all the symbols again, and they keep getting randomly distorted, like in this print. 

In this version, the symbols are words added to the symbols panel.

Illustrator is version 29.8.1, on a macbook pro os 15.6.1.

Please, would anyone share tips on how to overcome this difficulty?