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3D rendering and saving

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Note:

In Photoshop CS6, 3D functionality was part of Photoshop Extended. All features in Photoshop Extended are part of Photoshop CC. Photoshop CC does not have a separate Extended offering.

Change 3D render settings

Render settings determine how 3D models are drawn. Photoshop installs several presets with common settings. Customize settings to create your own presets.

Note:

Render settings are layer-specific. If a document contains multiple 3D layers, specify separate render settings for each.

Select a render preset

The standard render preset is Default, which displays the visible surfaces of models. Wireframe and Vertices presets reveal the underlying structure. To combine solid and wireframe rendering, choose the Solid Wireframe preset. To view a model as a simple box reflecting its outermost dimensions, choose a Bounding Box preset.

  1. At the top of the 3D panel, click the Scene button .

  2. In the lower half of the panel, choose an option from the Preset menu.

Photoshop 3D render presets
Installed render presets

A. Default (Quality set to Interactive) B. Default (Quality set to Ray Traced and ground plane visible) C. Bounding Box D. Depth Map E. Hidden Wireframe F. Line Illustration G. Normals H. Paint mask I. Shaded Illustration J. Shaded Vertices K. Shaded Wireframe L. Solid Wireframe M. Transparent Bounding Box Outline N. Transparent Bounding Box O. Two-Sided P. Vertices Q. Wireframe 

Note:

The Two-Sided preset applies only to cross sections, displaying a solid model on one half of the section, and a wireframe on the other.

Customize render settings

  1. At the top of the 3D panel, click the Scene button .

  2. To the right of the Render Settings menu, click Edit.

  3. (Optional) To see the effect of new settings as you make changes, select Preview. Or, deselect this option to slightly improve performance.

    Note:

    To specify unique settings for each half of a cross section, click the cross section buttons   at the top of the dialog box.

  4. Enable Face, Edge, Vertex, Volume, or Stereo rendering by clicking the checkboxes on the left side of the dialog box. Then adjust the related settings below.

Note:

For information about Volume options, used primarily with DICOM images, see View the 3D volume in different render modes.

Face options

Face options determine how model surfaces appear.

Face Style

Draws surfaces using any of these methods:

Solid

Draws without shadows or reflections using the GPU on an OpenGL video card.

Unlit Texture

Draws without lighting, instead displaying only the selected Texture option. (Diffuse is selected by default.)

Flat

Applies the same surface normal for all vertices in a face, creating a faceted look.

Constant

Replaces textures with currently specified color.

Note:

To adjust face, edge, or vertex color, click the Color box.

Bounding Box

Displays boxes reflecting the outermost dimensions of each component.

Normals

Displays X, Y, and Z components for surface normals in different RGB colors.

Depth Map

Displays a gray model, using luminosity to reveal depth.

Paint Mask

Displays paintable regions as white, oversampled regions in red, and undersampled regions in blue. (See Identify paintable areas.)

Texture

When Face Style is set to Unlit Texture, specifies the texture map. (See 3D Materials settings.)

Render For Final Output

For exported video animations, produces smoother shadows and realistic color bleeds from reflected objects and environments. This option requires more processing time, however.

Reflections, Refractions, Shadows

Show or hide these Ray Traced rendering features.

Remove Backfaces

Hides surfaces on the back of two-sided components.

Edge options

Edge options determine how wireframe lines appear.

Edge Style

Reflects the Constant, Flat, Solid, and Bounding Box options described for Face Style above.

Crease Threshold

Adjusts the number of structural lines that appear in the model. A crease, or line, is formed when two polygons in a model come together at a particular angle. If edges meet at an angle below the Crease Threshold setting (0‑180), the line they form is removed. At a setting of 0, the entire wireframe is displayed.

Line Width

Specifies width in pixels.

Remove Backfaces

Hides edges on the back of two-sided components.

Remove Hidden Lines

Removes lines that foreground lines overlap.

Vertex options

Vertex options adjust the appearance of vertices (intersections of polygons that make up the wireframe model).

Vertex Style

Reflects the Constant, Flat, Solid, and Bounding Box options described for Face Style above.

Radius

Determines the pixel radius of each vertex.

Remove Backfaces

Hides vertices on the back of two-sided components.

Remove Hidden Vertices

Removes vertices that foreground vertices overlap.

Stereo options

Stereo options adjust settings for images that will either be viewed with red-blue glasses or printed to objects that include a lenticular lens.

Stereo Type

Specifies Red/Blue for images viewed with colored glasses or Vertical Interlaced for lenticular prints.

Parallax

Adjusts the distance between the two stereo cameras. Higher settings increase three-dimensional depth but reduce depth of field, making items ahead or behind the focal plane appear out of focus.

Lenticular Spacing

For vertically interlaced images, specifies how many lines per inch the lenticular lens has.

Focal Plane

Determines the position of the focal plane relative to the center of the model’s bounding box. Enter negative values to move the plane forward, and positive values to move it backward.

Save or delete a render preset

  1. At the top of the 3D panel, click the Scene button .

  2. Click Render Settings.

  3. Do either of the following:

    • To save a preset, customize settings, and click the Save button .

    • To delete a preset, select it from the Preset menu, and click the Delete button .

Render a 3D file for final output

When you’ve finished working with your 3D file, create a final render to produce the highest quality version for output to web, print, or animation. Final rendering uses ray tracing and a higher sampling rate to capture more realistic lighting and shadow effects.

Use final render mode to enhance the following effects in your 3D scene:

  • Image-based lighting and global ambient color.

  • Lighting from object reflectance (color bleed).

  • Reduced noise in soft shadows.

Note:

A final render can be time-consuming, depending on the model, lighting, and maps in your 3D scene.

  1. Make any necessary adjustments to your model, including lighting and shadow effects.

    Note:

    You don’t need to change Anti-Alias settings for the scene before rendering. By default, the Best setting is used.

  2. At the top of the 3D panel, click the Scene button , and then click the Scene entry in the list below.

  3. From the Quality menu in the lower half of the panel, select Ray Traced Final.

After the render is complete, you can flatten the 3D scene for output in anther format, composite the 3D scene with 2D content, or print directly from the 3D layer.

Note:

For exported video animations, Render For Final Output is available as an option in the 3D Render Settings dialog box. See Customize render settings.

Save and export 3D files

To preserve the 3D content in a file, save the file in Photoshop format or another supported image format. You can also export a 3D layer as a file in a supported 3D file format.

Export a 3D layer

You can export 3D layers in all supported 3D formats: Collada DAE, Wavefront/OBJ, U3D, and Google Earth 4 KMZ. When choosing an export format, consider the following factors:

  • Wavefront/OBJ format does not save camera settings, lights, or animation.

  • Only Collada DAE saves render settings.

To export a 3D layer, do the following:

  1. Choose 3D > Export 3D layer.

  2. Choose a format for exporting textures:

    • U3D and KMZ support JPEG or PNG as texture formats.

    • DAE and OBJ support all Photoshop-supported image formats for textures.

  3. (Optional) If exporting to U3D format, choose an encoding option. ECMA 1 is compatible with Acrobat 7.0; ECMA 3 is compatible with Acrobat 8.0 and later and provides some mesh compression.

  4. Click OK to export.

Limitations while exporting to the U3D format

Ensure that any 3D layers that you're exporting as U3D have only triangular object geometry. Additionally, while exporting 3D layers as U3D, keep the following limitations in mind:

  • Higher-level primitives, such as NURBS, splines, and curves, are not supported.
  • Texture mapping is limited to only one diffuse map per material. Ambient, specular, luminous, or opacity texture maps are not supported.
  • Material animation is not supported.

Save a 3D file

To preserve 3D model position, lighting, render mode, and cross sections, save files with 3D layers in PSD, PSB, TIFF, or PDF format.

  • Choose File > Save or File > Save As, select Photoshop (PSD), Photoshop PDF, or TIFF format, and click OK.

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