3D Photoshop: Imagine • Model • Create

14. Combining models with photographs

Creating 3D models in isolation is an essential part of the modeling process, as are adding texture and lighting. But models don’t need to exist just one at a time, or even just in conjunction with other 3D models. Images can be so much more expressive and lifelike when models are combined with photographs – and we are working in Photoshop, after all.

When you add photographs, though, several more considerations come into play. What happens about transparency? How is the view reflected and refracted by glass elements? Does the surface reflect the objects? What direction is the lighting coming from? Making 3D elements look like they belong in a scene is the most taxing part of 3D modeling, but it can also ...