On Star Wars Day (May the 4th be with you!), the Adobe Photoshop Facebook crew featured one of my latest 3D videos. This generated a ton of new subscribers and views on my YouTube page.
There are three videos total on this particular project. I had to split things up due to time limits on YouTube uploading. I got lots of positive response, but a few negatives which are to be expected. That being said, the ‘negatives’ were along the lines of “Why not use a camera, instead?”“3D in PS? Why not use a camera?”I LOVE that kind of response! It means that the result of using only Photoshop’s 3D tools can be considered worthy of falling into photorealism contexts. To be fair to these folks, they are right: why bother modeling something that can easily be shot with a decent camera and a little skill? The answer is “because you can”. In this case the demo shows how far you can take Photoshop’s tools in very little time. Though I don’t say so in the videos, part of the ‘trick’ is carefully choosing your subject and project to make best use of what’s available. Further, you can easily imagine situations where you may need something a little different than what you can get with a camera.
For example, note the text I use in the book. I got to choose the text, the font, and the paper texture. If I were shooting this, I’d either have a long search on my hands, a craft project to make the prop, or just settle for something different. But I got to set up the scene I wanted, the way I saw it in my head. I don’t really consider myself a photographer as much as a digital artist.
But what I’m really after in these particular projects is to show that 3D in PS is credible for more than simple text. In fact, I’d really like to get more photographers on board with the idea of integrating 3D into their work. The next few projects I’ll put up on video will get into blending 3D objects with photographs in realistic ways, sometimes with the intent of completely hiding the fact that there’s been any alteration at all!
