3-D images are more prevalent than ever. You see them on billboards, on TV, in the movies, in video and computer games and even in print publications. These images can be astonishing in theit photographic realism with incredible surface detail, realistic texture and subtle shadows. In the April 2009 issue of Sign and Digital Graphics, I wrote an article called “The Third Dimension,” which generally explored the new release of 3-D tools in Photoshop CS4 and various types of 3-D rendering.  

 

Figure 1: 3-D images use X, Y and Z coordinates to position the object in the picture plane—similar to the coordinates used to fly an airplane. Figure 2: The 3-D panel offers controls that modify various basic characteristics of a 3-D image.

It’s worthwhile revisiting the topic because the 3-D features in Photoshop CS5 have been improved to some extent, and there are some rather cool features that we didn’t have a chance to look at last time. I think that a more detailed explanation of the topic could be helpful in encouraging you to give 3-D a try.

 

Two preliminaries: 

• The 3-D features are only available in Photoshop CS5 Extended.

• You’ll need a video card installed in your computer that supports Open GL rendering.

 

Creating anaglyphic and lenticular 3-D effects that produce depth by fooling your brain with optical parallax tricks (and require special film or glasses) are possible in Photoshop, but the most common type of 3-D, images that appear as solid objects that can be rotated in space, are what we will be concerned about in this article. 

 

EASY AS XYZ

3-D models are composed of vertices. Imagine an object wrapped in a fabric grid that functions as an armature for the surface of the object. The grid describes the object’s form. When wrapped in a texture and rendered in a program like Autodesk Maya, or a variety of other vector-based 3-D animation software packages, produce objects that can be exported to Photoshop where they can be opened and manipulated. 

 

Thinking in 3-D is like flying an airplane. The pilot must control the direction that the plane is traveling (X coordinate), the angle of the plane (Y coordinate), and the plane’s distance from the ground (Z coordinate) as illustrated in Figure 1. 

 

3-D CONTROLS

The first step in creating a 3-D object is to convert layer content into a 3-D layer by choosing one of the options in the 3-D menu. Photoshop has automatically displayed features in the 3-D panel that control the four aspects of the 3-D image: Scene, Mesh, Materials and Lights (see Figure 2)

 

Figure 3 & 4: The Mesh is the underlying structure of a 3-D model. Figure 4: The 3-D Axis Widget rotates or swivels a model.

Figure 5: The New 3-D Postcard From Layer option creates a flat plane from a picture that can then be rotated or swiveled is space with the widget.

Figure 6: Layer content can be wrapped around simple predefined 3-D shapes such as a hat.

The Scene is the stage in which the 3-D model (or models) exists and consists of the entire 3-D image and all of its components. The Scene panel displays a list of the characteristics of the models including the Mesh, the Materials and the Lights.

 

The Mesh creates the underlying form of a 3-D model. In Photoshop, a mesh is an invisible skeletal structure built from a specific number of individual polygons, as in Figure 3. A 3-D model always has at least one mesh, and may combine multiple meshes. In Photoshop, meshes can be viewed in several render modes. The configuration of the polygons can’t be altered per se, but it can be transformed (scaled, rotated, dragged or slid) with the 3-D tools. For a mesh to be distorted it must first be converted to a Smart Object, which removes its status as a 3-D layer. After the distortion is performed it can be reconverted back to a 3-D layer.

 

3-D images are also composed of Materials. A mesh can have one or more material associated with it that control its surface appearance. A material can use a texture map—a 2-D image file that creates various visual qualities such as color, pattern, shininess, or topography.

 

A 3-D image is illuminated by Lights. There are three types of lights—Infinite, Spot and Point. Multiple light sources can be created and the color and intensity of lights can be adjusted. Lights can be positioned anywhere on the scene.

 

THE WIDGET

When the 3-D panel is opened (Window > 3-D) the 3-D Axis Widget appears in the upper left corner of the screen (see Figure 4). It controls the position of the object in space. The red arm on the widget represents the X plane, the green the Y plane, and the blue represents the Z plane. By dragging the elements on the arms of the widget, the position of the model relative to its coordinate is modified. 

 

The cone atop each of the red, green and blue arms of the widget are used to control the left, right, up and down position within the coordinate’s domain (depending upon its current position in the picture). The curved bar on each arm controls the rotation of the model, and the rectangular bar controls its distance from the picture plane. The entire widget can be repositioned with the white cube to affect the orientation of all three elements at once. As you drag each component of the widget, the model’s corresponding orientation is altered so that it can be positioned anywhere in space and still retain its proportions 

 

3-D FEATURES

Post Cards—The 3-D menu displays a list of commands that convert flat layer content into 3-D. Choose the New 3-D postcard From Layer option to create flat plane from a picture that can then be rotated or swiveled is space with the widget as in Figure 5. 

 

Shapes—Layer content can be wrapped around a simple predefined 3-D model such as a cube, a cone a cylinder or a sphere by choosing the New Shape from Layer option from the 3-D menu. 
Even more complex objects such as a hat, (see Figure 6) a pyramid and even a donut are also available from the menu. Like a postcard, a shape can be rotated or swiveled with the 3-D navigation tools found in the tools palette or the widget, and additional surfaces can be applied to it from a materials list as in Figure 7.

 

Figure 7: Additional surfaces from a materials list can be applied to the shape.

Grayscales—The New Mesh from grayscale feature extrudes a three dimensional object from grayscale shapes. The darkest grays will produce receded areas of the relief or the valleys and the lightest grays produce the highest areas or the peaks as in Figure 8. There are four shapes to choose from when warping the grayscale including a plane, a two-sided plane as in the Figure 8, a sphere and a cylinder. Each produces unique if not bizarre results.

 

Figure 8: The New Mesh from grayscale feature extrudes a three dimensional object from grayscale shapes.

Figure 9: The flat world map.

EASY STEPS

Finally, as a demonstration show how simple the process can be, here is the step-by-step process that I recently used to create a globe using the 3-D features in Photoshop. 

 

1) First I opened a copy of a flat world map (see Figure 9).

 

2) Next I chose the New Shape from Layer > Sphere option in the 3-D menu. Now the map is wrapped around a sphere that can be rotated. (see Figure 10)

 

3) I created a black background layer for my 3-D image called “Space”

 

4) From the 3-D menu I clicked the Lights icon and then clicked the Light Rotate tool and dragged on the image to reposition the lights on the globe, as in Figure 11. I adjusted the color and the intensity of the light and created new lights with specific characteristics in the same panel. 

 

5) Finally, I finished the image off with a few stars and the moon and an Outer Glow layer style, as in Figure 12. It is very easy to make a simple GIFF animation of the rotating earth by creating animation frames as you rotate the 3-D layer.

 

CONCLUSION

Although Photoshop doesn’t create 3-D models per se, it certainly offers enough features to manipulate pre-made objects to get you started in 3-D. I hope eventually new features will be added to and improved upon so that vector-based 3-D objects can be created directly in Photoshop. In the meantime you can access a command from the bottom of the 3-D menu, Browse 3-D Content Online, to display websites that offer vector-based 3-D models for free or for purchase so you can have some fun playing with the 3-D features in Photoshop.

Figure 10: The New Shape from Layer option can neatly wrap the map around a sphere.

Figure 11: Lights can be positioned with the Light Rotate tool.

Figure 12: The finished 3-D image with a few details added.