Photoshop® CS3 Extended Video and 3D Bible

Chapter 4. Adding Layers to a 3D Object to Change Its Appearance

IN THIS CHAPTER

• Adding Smart Filters to a 3D object

• Converting a 3D file to a Smart Object

• Making changes to the Smart Layers

• Manipulating a Smart 3D Object

• Adding a faux texture to a 3D object

• Using Smart Filters on a selected area

• Editing existing Smart Filters

When you open a 3D file and select the Filter menu, almost the entire menu is grayed out. In fact, as you browse through Photoshop's regular menus, there doesn't seem to be a lot you can do. This may lead you to believe that you can't do much with a 3D object except for moving it around and changing the texture. Not so. Although you can't affect the pixels of a 3D object directly, you can change the look of the 3D object in countless different ways by adding sublayers that contain Smart Filters, layer styles, or fill and adjustment layers.

Smart Filters are new to Photoshop CS3, and they are one of the more exciting changes. A Smart Filter includes the filters found in the Filter menu and the Filter Gallery. It becomes a Smart Filter when it is added to your object on a separate sublayer. This gives you the capability to edit it, move it, or discard it at will without having to go back in your step history or change any of the other filters or effects you may have added to your object.

Note

Adding layers to a 3D object to change its look only changes the object in Photoshop. You can't port these changes back to the original 3D file as you could with the changes made ...