Adobe Photoshop CC 3D
Introduction
I examined the 3D components of Photoshop and Illustrator to add 3D effects to a recent logo. I found Illustrator difficult to achieve a perfect shape without visible surface lines and had symbol transformation performance issues. Photoshop 3D allowed smart object editable text, a timeline for light, camera and mesh animation, and GPU performance was configerable. I completed a variety of tutorials to familiarise myself with the engine and modelling techniques. Models can be exported for use in InDesign as 3D PDF, as Flash FL3 or Wavefront OBJ files, the Adobe Flex Builder platform, and directly into Adobe After Effects. A more specific platform is required for complex modelling and I began research into programs such as Blender and Unity.
Results
Development
Basic Model
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Basic Model with Panorama Scene
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Masking Texture Opacity
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Masking Texture Opacity with Panorama Scene
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Applying Images to a Texture
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Combining Illustrator / Photoshop 3D / Animator
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Terrain 1
Rotating Tie Fighter
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Camera Tracking Tie Fighter
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Terrain 2
Depth Map
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Initial Model
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Animation
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Road Construction
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Final Perspectives
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Terrain 3
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Discussion
| Development | -Basic Model |
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Paths for wing, axel and hub, deco added, 3D extrude wings and axel and rotated, hub applied to a 3D sphere, reflection and lights positioned, timeline points added for mesh rotation. |
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| -Basic Models with Panorama Scene | |
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Paths for table, table top, glass and wine added, 3D extrude, rotated, material set and duplicated, cameras centered and elliptical panorama added, camera timeline points named. |
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| -Masking Texture Opacity | |
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Added text, saved copy as inverse, applied to 3D sphere, material set and opacity set to text inverse. 3D sphere added, grouped, scaled, material set, lights and camera positioned, timeline mesh rotations one forward / one backward, and filter glow added. |
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| -Masking Texture Opacity with Panorama Scene | |
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Created stand using paths for base, curve and fasteners, added map to ground opacity mask and added water sphere, added panorama and positioned camera. |
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| -Applying Images to a Texture | |
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Added soda can object, applied UV material and set position, added camera points and light source. |
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| -Combining Illustrator / Photoshop / Animator | |
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Added Illustrator step text into Photoshop 3D and set inflation material, rendered 3 views of car, rendered a sequence of shadows, drew paths for head lights and a vector mask to blur, imported to animator and used the perspective tool for final animation. |
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| Terrain 1 | -Rotating Tie Fighter |
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Added 3D post cards for surface, background and environment. Generated pyramids and path for mountain profile, rotated and set UV texture. Added tie fighter and timeline mesh positions for movement. |
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| -Camera Tracking Tie Fighter | |
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Tracked object mesh position with camera. |
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| Terrain 2 | -Depth Map |
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Black brush to draw channel edges, grey to draw in roads, black / white gradient to draw terrain from each corner, gaussian blur then posterize. |
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| -Initial Model | |
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Terrain and road combined, no material properties set since depth map can't be altered. |
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| -Road Construction | |
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Top view paths for road and bridge, and profile of bridge. |
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| -Final Perspectives | |
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Two perspective views to showcase the road, bridge, and terrain height variations. |
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| -Animation | |
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Walkthrough animation highlighting perspective, above water and under bridge components. |
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| Terrain 3 | -Initial Plan |
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Set Photoshop grid and snap, created paths for required elements, exported outer island paths to Illustrator and made a blend to use as the Photoshop depth map. |
-Perspective |
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Extruded 2D plan elements and merged together, adjusted materials and required UV or Opacity mask settings, positioned camera and lights. |
-Blender Animation |
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Imported Photoshop 3D OBJ model, applied a track path constraint to the camera and set the path to the Photoshop SVG track, offset the car to turn before the camera, exported a top down / camera view into Photoshop video sequencer for a combined GIF. |
Conclusion
I set out to learn the 3D components of Photoshop for logo presentation and learnt a variety of techniques. There are many additional options such as UV painting covered in tutorials for painting faces on 3D models. Complex scenes slow down system performance significantly and it is recommended to use other more specific 3D modelling software. Logo design websites require designs in Illustrator format, an exercise with the pen tool highlighted the usability of vector based path designs. I covered the required tutorials and special effect examples and found the working environment, layers and appearance panel user friendly. This inspired me to attempt the same in Photoshop with named paths and vector masks, and has made this endeavour into 3D modelling and controllable content much easier.
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