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3D AND PHOTOSHOP

TEXTURING AND MAPPING

A fairly typical workflow might to start with a

sketch, go into a 3D app and then do the post work

in Photoshop. Ifthikhar Abdul Nasser (www.

ifthikhar.com) certainly does something along

these lines, noting, “I then use textures as overlays

and also to create specific environments in

Photoshop to suit the mood/idea complimenting

the main render, transforming it into the way I

intended to create in the first place. Other editing

tasks like colour corrections, lighting, shadow/

highlight, toning etc are also involved.”

Mier Lee’s (www.miershine.com) main 3D tool is

Cinema 4D. He uses it to model “objects as basic

structures for my work. If there is any texture that I

need to put on, I edit it with Photoshop or Illustrator,

and then I save it onto Cinema. Therefore, I always go

back and forth during this process. Even though

Cinema 4D renders models, lights, textures and

colours for you, there are still a lot of things to be

finished up with Photoshop after you render out all

your frames. When I design style frames, I always

use Photoshop to retouch colours, to edit textures

and values, to exaggerate highlights and shadows,

and to mix with 2D images and 3D renders to make

them look more realistic.”

Staiger often starts by building a background

composition with Photoshop: “This will be used as a

scene that carries the 3D content. It could be a

carefully composed aerial shot from several

photographs of clouds and landscapes. Then I place

the already rendered 3D object onto that scene.” He

uses Cinema 4D to create his 3D, and Photoshop is

used in various ways: “I take psd files as 3D textures.

The good thing is that Cinema 4D supports the full

range of Photoshop psd, even typo, patterns and

correction layers. I can choose which layer I want to

assign to which texture channel. Later in the process,

I render in multipass mode. When I open the

Texture time: All your textures appear in the Layers panel,

and – just like working in 2D mode – you can apply them in different ways

Make a matte:with a background painting. It’s probably best not to do this Later on you can fill this part of the image

straightaway, because you might decide to change your camera angle

Line it up: Bringing your model into Photoshop and set the

Surface Style to Line (from the 3D Scene menu) so you can line it up with the grid however you want, is the method that

Juri Jablokov recommends

Paint it: Now you can paint. “Switch between 3D and 2D

views in difficult areas and remember to make new layers according to your needs,” says Jablokov

Move in 3D: Want to Rotate, Roll, Pan or Slide your shapes?

Those controls are accessible here

rendered file in Photoshop, all the lights, reflections,

speculars and shadows are on separate layers and,

very cool, all alpha channels are there already. Also, I

use Photoshop for building a general overall look.”

Texturing and mapping are where Photoshop can

really shine. Müller explains the different techniques

depending on the object: “I might have to map an

existing texture onto the flat UVs (for example leather,

wood, scratched metal images, etc) in Photoshop. In

this stage, Photoshop is a very important tool since it

THE POWER OF LIGHTING

JURI JABLOKOV SHOWS HOW ENVIRONMENT MAPPING POWERS UP LIGHTING

Juri Jablokov worked on the sculpt of this fantasy axe in 3D-Coat to create the basic shape and detailing of the weapon Then he brought it into Photoshop to map (maps used include Diffuse, Normal, Ambient Occlusion, Specular), texture and light

© Juri Jablokov

© Frédéric Müller

© Juri Jablokov