3D Photoshop: Imagine • Model • Create

Introduction

Six years ago I hated 3D modeling. All that business with NURBS and B-splines, with projections and lofting and sweeping, seemed far from the business of creating illustrations. 3D modeling, I was convinced, was the province of technicians and mechanics.

Then, in 2007, Photoshop CS3 appeared, and with it came the ability to import, move, light and render 3D objects. You couldn’t create objects directly in the application, but you could import them from a variety of sources – including the free Google Sketchup. I played around with Sketchup for a while, using it to create items such as boxes and parallel shelf systems that would otherwise be tricky to draw directly in Photoshop, but I got no joy from it. Sketchup was then, and is ...