Also supports
3D Layers:
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| Photoshop CS4 supports 3D
layers. You can load 3D model files in
various formats, including the omnipresent Wavefront OBJ files(*.obj
for the object's geometry, and optional Material files, *.mtl). Curvy 3D is a very cost-effective solution to add a tool you can easily use to make such 3D content. While PS has its own very basic primitives, such as cube, sphere and donuts, when you want real complex 3D models in that 3D layer, you often are pointed towards high-end 3D tools such as Maya or Lightwave, Cinema and 3D STudio Max, to name a few. However, these may not be in your price range, let alone in the realm of what you're willing to spend months to learn. Some of the tools cover much more than the creation of models, they also cover animation and rendering. Clearly, if you're a 2D artist focused on Photoshop, a little adventure into 3D is highly suggested, but you should not go broke on it or spend nearly as much money and time as you did for your 2D tools, as long as your main focus is indeed 2D. If you dream in color, you're still a 2D artist. If you dream in 3D, you're hopelessly in need of a high end tool. Until that happens, you may want to take a look at 3D through Curvy 3D. Especially if you're an illustrative graphic artist: if you have a 2D mind, and see things through their curves, contours, sections and similar constraints. In this short walk-through tutorial, we'll explore the very basics of using Photoshop 3D layers to load 3D content that was created in Curvy. |
| Beginner
Tutorials |
| Getting Started |
| New 3D Layer |
| Painting on 3D Models |
| Taking it even Further |
| Probing
Further |
|
Layers Magazine |
| Steve Burns' Tutorials: |
| hot! 3d object painting |
| hot! 3d bump maps |
| hot!
editing
uv maps |
Other 3D tools:
| HOT! Archipelis for iPhone 3D sculpting on the iPhone  and iPad too! |
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 The perfect marriage: |
| Getting
Started: Photoshop CS4 Alright, so we've saved a 3D creation from Curvy as a Wavefront OBJ file, and we want to load it into Photoshop. For example, here's a starting point after creating a new document in PS, with 640x480 pixels of 8-bit RGB. Nothing spectacular, yet.  Notice that we've selected the Advanced 3D Theme, and already have taken care of enabling OpenGL acceleration in PS CS4 (look for options in Preferences or 3D menu, I forgot where it was). Essnetially, we're ready for 3D work in Photoshop CS4.  The layers show just a single background layer, plain white initially.  Take
notice that on the main tools panel to the left side, thre are a few
tools that will greatly enhance your 3D experience, as they allow you
to interactively manipulate the loaded 3D content found in the 3D
layer, once you're done with that. This is where you'll go to
meticulously position, rotate, zoom in and otherwise transform the 3D
geometry as a whole. For example, if you load a 3D elephant that
initially shows you his hind, you can use these tools to orbit the
camera in your 3D view, or to turn the elephant around to look at you.Changing the Background Image It may be easier to recognize if your 3D model loaded properly into the 3D layer if you have something recognizeable in the background. If the 3D model shows in front, you'll see some parts of the background disappear. If the 3D model is supposed to have a partially transparent surface, you'd exect to still see part of the background. Easier to see that it works than if the background is plain white. For starters, let's change the background image. 
If you've got a digital
photo, a painting or a scanned image, whatever it is, use that as your
background. Or, use one of the Filters to render something new into the
current plain white background.For example, we'll use the Render menu in the Filters menu. We'll use one of the myriads of lightning effects. << click to enlarge  And here's an example of what we will use, you can easily create that too. << click to enlarge Next: Adding a 3D Layer |
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from
2D to 3D in just seconds! Just trace an outline and see it automagically turn into fully textured 3D shapes for Second Life, Google Sketchup / Google Earth, Direct X & Games, Wavefront OBJ and other popular 3D file formats! Archipelis Designer  New! now also for Mac and iPhone! |