1: My Illustrator files won’t import, why?

Save Illustrator Files as Invigorator 10 files. Invigorator can’t read vector files saved out in newer Illustrator formats. So save your files as Illustrator 10 files to ensure they’ll come into 3D Invigorator. See the tutorial on Illustrator files:

http://digitalanarchy.com/3Dinvig/tutes.html#t6

2: My complex Illustrator file isn’t coming in correctly. Why?

Divide and Conquer: For complex objects, save out paths separately and import them separately. With lots of paths, Invigorator may not always figure out what you want to do. So breaking your logo (or art) into it’s component pieces and importing each of them will ensure you get exactly what you want.

3: How do I create a hole in my object?

Use Illustrator Groups to create holes. Group one path within another and 3D Invigorator will interpret the inner path as a hole. See the video tutorial on Illustrator files for more info:

http://digitalanarchy.com/3Dinvig/tutes.html#t6

4: I’ve created an object with several materials on it. Can I save all the materials together?

Save Object Styles so you can use them on other objects. Go to the Object Styles Swatches and select Save Object Style from the dropdown menu. It’s pretty easy. Take a look at our tutorial on materials for a bit longer explanation:

http://digitalanarchy.com/3Dinvig/tutes.html#t7

5: My text/logo looks ‘blocky’, and curves aren’t smooth. What’s wrong?

Use object Smoothness to get better looking Objects. Most computers/graphics cards can handle having Object Smoothness cranked all the way up to 100. If you have a lot of objects, Invigorator may slow down a bit, but usually you won’t see a performance hit. Check out this video tutorial for a bit more info on Smoothness and 3D objects:

http://digitalanarchy.com/3Dinvig/tutes.html#t3

6: I’ve created a complex logo in 3D Invigorator, how can I reuse it? / Can 3D Invigorator be used as a Smart Filter?

You can save anything you create in 3D Invigorator by going to File>Save Scene As… However, we recommend using Invigorator as a Smart Filter. It’ll allow you to make changes at any time, even a year later. This is a big deal because if you spend the time creating a logo in 3D Invigorator, if you just apply it as a regular filter… all that setup is lost. Invigorator renders out the logo to Photoshop layer, but the 3D geometry is not saved. So it’s important to either save the scene or use 3D Invigorator as a Smart Filter so you don’t have to re-setup the logo or artwork next time you want to use it. Here’s a tutorial on using Smart Filters:

http://digitalanarchy.com/primatte/tutes.html#t5

7: How do I use multiple materials on one object?

Using the Profile Viewer you can drag and drop materials on different parts of the object. The Profile Viewer shows the front, back, and sides of the object.  You can drag materials on to the front and back. The sides can be divided up into many different parts and each part can have a different material. Here’s a tutorial on the Profile Viewer:

http://digitalanarchy.com/3Dinvig/tutes.html#t5

8: How do I create textures like brick or concrete?

Use jpegs to create custom texture materials. Take a picture of Concrete and use it as the Color map and the Bump map. Click on the picture icons next to the Color parameter and the Bump parameter in the Material Editor. This will allow you to select and load the jpeg image into your material. Check out this tutorial on texture maps:

http://digitalanarchy.com/3Dinvig/tutes.html#t8

9: How do I make lighting adjustments?

Use the Light Editor to move lights or add them. You can also click on the Light icon at the top of the 3D Invigorator UI.

9 1/2: What’s the difference between Photoshop 3D capabilities and 3D Invigorator?

This is 9 1/2 because the question is really about Photoshop. There are lots of differences, but the main one is that 3D Invigorator is designed specifically for create 3D text and logos. So it’s much faster and easier to create high quality 3D logos with 3D Invigorator. We have a video tutorial that shows you a complete comparison between Photoshop’s 3D and 3D Invigorator. It’s here:

http://digitalanarchy.com/3Dinvig/tutes.html#t1

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The blog roundup lists 3D Invigorator, our 3D logo creator for Photoshop.This plugin gives instant 3D gratification by turning text and shapes and even Illustrator imports into extruded 3D graphics. Try out the demo here.

The list also includes Backdrop Designer (a personal favorite of mine) which digitally simulates muslin material backgrounds. It’s especially fun to use if you are posing a pretty girl in front of the digital drapery. Try out the demo here.

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Anyways, pick up the latest issue of Photoshop User to read the full review. In honor of the review, we’ve recreated their Hot Pick logo in 3D.

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http://money.cnn.com/2009/08/03/news/economy/happy.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2009080310

Smiley face courtesy of our 3D Photoshop plugin, called 3D Invigorator, which creates 3D objects and logos. Fun stuff.

This sort of goes along with my personal philosophy on success, which is some mixture of the following ingredients:

-Positive thinking and/or believing that whatever goal you’ve set can be accomplished
-Perseverance
-Creativity
-Laughter (or at least not taking yourself/work too seriously and stepping away from the computer occasionally to do something fun)

Equally impressive is the artwork that Ron creates for Albert Einstein Network. In response to a general call-out for artwork created with our 3D Photoshop plugin, 3D Invigorator, Ron emailed this wonderful piece.

Ron described his work: “Attached is an invitation cover I designed, that includes my Invigorator art. I created this piece using Invigorator in order to achieve an overall look of sophistication, and convey the high quality of Einstein staff who were honored at the event.”

Thanks Ron!

And a big callout to Philly, my hometown. (Yo!) I am now a long-term California transplant, but I will always appreciate the Einstein Network for the many things that hospital did in my youth.

regards -Debbie

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Let’s talk about how. Here’s the original image for Gomediazine.com:

Here’s some 3D text I whipped up in 3D Invigorator in about 15 minutes:

This isn’t a perfect recreation. I didn’t spend that much time on it. And, of course, if you want the explosion and lightning, you’ll need to go through the gomediazine.com tutorial as they teach you how to do that. I’m just here for the 3D text. I wanted to show some of the possibilities of 3D Invig and on a basic level how I created it.

In the 3D Invigorator tutorial sections, the basic video tutorials go over how to move and rotate text and lights, so I recommend checking those out. They’ll tell you everything you need to know about positioning the text as I have here.

The debris around the text is a little trickier. 3D Invigorator doesn’t really have a great way of generating random polygons for this purpose. So… enter Adobe Illustrator.

I used Illustrator to create some debris. Just by going in and scribbling with the wacom pen and creating some squares and triangles. Here are a couple debris files:

Since 3D Invigorator can accept Illustrator Files (you need to save them as Illustrator CS files though!), I just imported these, rotated and scaled them a bit and instant debris! Obviously with a little more effort you can create just as much debris as the original had.

So that’s a quick way of adding random elements to the text you create in 3D Invigorator. There’s no limit to the number of objects that can be added to an Invigorator scene. So feel free to whip up all sorts of cool shapes in Illustrator to accentuate your text.

HOT TIP: You can save your scenes! Go to File>Save Scene… If you’ve created a really big setup and spent a lot of time working on it, make sure you save it. If Photoshop crashes or the power goes out you’ll (as usual) lose everything if it’s not saved.

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We have also added a movie that talks between working in 3D Invigorator’s environment vs. making use of Photoshop’s new 3D capabilities? The difference is pretty vast and we explain it all in this video tutorial.

You can read a terrific review of the product on one of our favorite editorial venues, Digital Arts magazine. This review was posted in April 2009, just after the product was released, and it’s a great read. Neil Bennett gave the plugin 4.5/5 stars and a DigitalArts Best Buy rating. Thanks Neil!

An excerpt: “We were impressed by the quality of this plug-ins rendering – it’s not photorealistic, but it’s more than enough for most illustration projects and it can mimic a number of different lens types… 3D Invigorator really is a 3D tool for digital artists and illustrators who’ve never looked beyond Photoshop’s layers for compositing due to 3D’s complexity and painful initial curve, as it’s powerful and accessible and is capable of producing great results.

Another great review was podcast on Layers TV, episode #85, by Corey Barker. He’s the resident 3D slash Photoshop guru over at Layers magazine, and Corey talked about 3D Invigorator in May 2009, shortly after a preview at the NAB show in Vegas.

An excerpt: “One thing that I do like a lot about this particular plugin is how quick it is in Real Time… So I know exactly what is being placed and how it is being applied…. It looks like a nicely rendered object, and look how quick that was. One simple Illustrator object, brought into the Invigorator, applied a property, just made a couple of adjustments, and there we go.”

So.. whatcha waiting for? Download the free trial of 3D Invigorator from our Digital Anarchy demos page.

Enjoy this sunny Saturday! -debbie

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