3D For Photoshop

3D Photoshop - 3D Filmstrip Collection In Production

2010-02-25T08:34:00.022-07:00

The next collection, 3D Filmstrips, is underway. I was having way too much fun with this as I started realizing how just 'one' 3D filmstrip can create hundreds of unique images.

All of these images came from the same 3D filmstrip model. I only changed the camera rotation for most of these images. The gold film strip was created by adding a yellow hue to the reflection image.

The frames and sprokets are in a Illustrator Smart Object so the size, shape and frequency can easily be customized.

I've seen dozens of tutorials that show how to distort images onto a filmstrip. The next version of this model will have a template to copy and paste your images directly on the filmstrip. Is 3D for Photoshop great or what?

Photoshop Turns 20

2010-02-22T09:00:00.000-07:00

From touching up photos to creating photoreal 3D objects, Photoshop has done it all.

Real 3D Photoshop Tutorial: Product Box

2010-02-19T23:22:00.000-07:00

Nice tutorial using real 3D objects in Photoshop to create a product box from scratch.

3D Inspiration: 20 Impressive 3D Graffiti Artworks

2010-01-25T15:13:00.008-07:00

Growing up in the hip hop / club scene has given me an appreciation for graffiti art. Check these 3D graffiti pieces. I plan on doing some 3D Photoshop models of 3D graffiti.

Photoshop 3D Effect Tutorial: Credit Card

2010-01-25T15:07:00.005-07:00

Great Photoshop tutorial on creating a realistic credit card. This will come in handy for creating a 3D image texture for my 3D Credit Card Model.

Real 3D Photoshop Tutorial: 3D Light Beams

2010-01-23T15:31:00.001-07:00

Very, very cool technique by Corey Barker, Executive Producer of PlanetPhotoshop.com. Using the New Volume From Layers command you create 3D visible light beams.

Doing volumetric light beams in 3D can really be time consuming. This is a great real time solution.

Illustrator Tutorial: Texture Techniques

2010-01-22T12:02:00.002-07:00

Although this tutorial is primarily Illustrator based, it brings up some good techniques which can be converted into repeating texture patterns for 3D texturing.

Strata 3D Tutorials: Mr Christopher's 3D Blog

2010-01-12T16:36:00.004-07:00

Chris is a veteran 3D artist with amazing skills for producing Photoreal 3D images. You'll find many tutorials for Strata 3D software on this blog.

A Basic Guide To Photoshop's 3D Tools

2010-01-11T13:53:00.001-07:00

Here's a great overview of Photoshop's 3D tools on PSDTUTS.

Quick Project: 3D Bottle Label

2009-08-02T17:51:00.024-06:00

The other night I was showing a friend some of the 3D Photoshop projects I've been working on. The next day he called and said he was designing a bottle label for a client's product. He had done the profile of the bottle and the label artwork in Illustrator.

20 minutes after receiving the files I sent him a Photoshop file with a 3D object; textured and ready to present to his client. The great thing about 3D technology is that you can grab the bottle and rotate it in real time, and save out an image from any angle of the bottle.

If you had done it the old fashioned way, you'd only have one angle of the bottle (the angle you drew).

Roll 'Em - 3D Dice

2009-03-20T01:08:00.013-06:00

I have a massive list of frequently used graphics which I've been randomly picking from. Tonight's random pick: 3D Dice.

I live 90 minutes from Vegas. Eventually I plan on creating a library of gambling and game objects.

Here's the basics of creating this shape.

- Create a cube in Strata 3D CX. Round the Edges with the Bevel Tool. Apply a SDS cage to increase the polygon resolution.

- Strata 3D CX doesn't have the greatest UV mapping tools so I'm going to work around it. I'm breaking each of the 6 cube faces into their own polygon mesh. I'll create a single image texture which contains all 6 sides of the cube and then shift the texture into place for each respective side.

- Use the "Burn UV" command for all the textures and "Send Model" to Photoshop. Tip about textures: draw them in Illustrator when possible. Although you apply bitmap versions of them in Strata, you can swap them out for the vector versions once you're in Photoshop. And they retain infinite resolution!

- Replace the bitmap textures with a Vector Smart Object version. I only have to replace the one image map which contains all 6 sides of the cube and it automatically updates all the faces. It is possible to make a different image file for each face of the cube but I used the above technique to keep it simple... and to see if I could pull it off. Plus, I can use 1 map for the bump map, reflection map, etc. - which are all based from the original Illustrator file.

- Tweak the texture and light settings.

Now that I have 1 die, I duplicate that 3D layer, and change the camera view for the second die. It's easy enough to customize the dice textures so I did a second version of white dice.

This is as lucky as I'll get tonight. Time for bed.

It All Started With Adobe CS3 Extended

2009-03-18T11:45:00.013-06:00

I had this idea in the Fall of 2007.

I had worked for Strata for a total of 15 years (on and off) and has some major changes in my personal life which required me to move to another company. Strata is still my family and I continue working closely with them.

Adobe CS3 Extended was released earlier that year. It contained the first version of Photoshop which had real 3D features. Strata was the first to release 3D Photoshop plug-ins; and up until very recently, the only plug-in that allowed 3D models to move back-and-forth.

The technology was in it's early stages and many people either didn't see the value nor understand the possibilities of using 3D in Photoshop.

I was working on DVD product shots for the online store of SigningTime.com. They had several new releases to their library but the packaging was being printed. This is a typical situation that keeps most designers in business: create an image of the product before it exsists.

It was easy for me to create a 3D model to use as a template for rendering packaging. Strata 3D CX made it very easy to load in a layered Photoshop file with each package design on a separate layer. I would 'show' the layer for volume 10, save the file, and it would automatically update in my 3D model. Render the model, repeat process. Not difficult but a lot of grunt work.

Photoshop CS3 Extended and the Strata 3D plug-ins changed that process to a fraction of the time. Going forward, it's as easy as a 'copy and paste' into a Photoshop file.

Fast forward to today. Everyone that has Adobe CS4 has the ability to do 3D. But the same question remains, "What is useful about 3D in Photoshop?"

My answer is, "It can save you time and make you more money. You get the benefit of using 3D without having to learn 3D."