Improved 3D effects and Adobe Substance materials
We have introduced new and improved '3D and Materials' effects in 26.0 this year. These effects have been fully rebuilt using modern rendering technology and apart from being much more stable than classic 3D effects, they also allow you to:
* Apply and edit 3D effects conveniently through a non-blocking panel with real time preview.
* Texture artwork using Adobe Substance 3D materials that are highly adjustable. Choose from built-in materials in the panel or upload your own.
* Light up artwork with environment and directional light along with shadows.
* Create smooth and curvy extrusions using the new Inflate option.
* Rotate artwork more easily using the new on-canvas controls.
* Once you've setup your 3D object, render it using Ray tracing with adjustable quality options.
There are more features we're actively working on bringing to these effects. Please share your feedback and suggestions from your experience of using these new effects.

There are now several separate requests made, based on the feedback in this thread:
1. Regarding adjustable color and opacity for 3D shadows:
https://illustrator.uservoice.com/forums/333657/suggestions/47054086
2. Regarding presets for each tab in 3D and Materials panels: Object, Materials, Lighting:
http://illustrator.uservoice.com/forums/333657/suggestions/47350001
All those who commented on the topic until October 16, 2023, are already added as voters there. If this is something you want to have for 3D and Materials in Illustrator — please upvote it. If possible — create new requests and bug reports about 3D, rather than commenting here inside. This will help the team to better prioritize efforts on making the feature better. As always — thanks for the feedback! It helps.
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Sara Van Dyke commented
Hi, the old extrude and bevel tool in Adobe also allowed us to "expand appearance" and manipulate individual planes on the extruded object. I used this on a regular basis to create realistic mock-ups--especially toggling between Illustrator and Photoshop. The new version doesn't have this option; or at least it doesn't work the way it used to. I don't need textures and materials mapped on to my objects, but I DO need to be able to break my objects apart and manipulate the individual planes. Please bring this option back! If you do want to add additional materials/textures--glass, frosted acrylic, and smooth metal would be helpful.
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Onceupon akio sugizaki commented
レンダリング中の経過が表示されず、どこにその画像が格納されるのかが不明である。
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Mercé Culp commented
No wireframe function option in 3D anymore.... not cool....
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David B. Fisher commented
I have never seen the sensible depth of editable parameters for MATERIALS that actually make a visible - in the best way - difference in practice and I have used 3D systems since the late '80s.
Incredible how procedural MATERIALS have come and that y'all have implemented in Illustrator.
Impressed... -
David B. Fisher commented
I may have missed it but I cannot find a way to straightforwardly SAVE a tweaked MATERIAL and add it to A USER LIBRARY so that the MATERIAL would have a life beyond the file you created it in.
Please... -
David B. Fisher commented
The ancient but still pressing need for User control of UVs.
Unparameterized - ie many user created objects require UVs in order to able to be clad in map-based textures - creation of Normals..
Fine grain control of Normals is especially necessary for the Graphic Arts Context, as highlights, reflections and so on. -
Ryan Tiamat commented
needs the perspective feature from the old 3D tool
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SI-BONE GraphX commented
Will you possibly, maybe, perhaps, if you would not mind, if not too much trouble, add perspective to your 3D plugin? You know, like you used to have there, a perspective toggle and adjustment? That'll be just great. Thank you ever so much. AC
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Akshay Varshney commented
Hi All,
This is to inform you that Perspective Feature work is in progress, we are going to release this very soon. Thanks! -
Nigel commented
Where's the perspective control?
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Jason Roberson commented
Camera adjustments needed for Illustrator 3D - similar to Dimensions' "Field of View". Need to be able to control the perspective of 3D objects. How CRAZY COOL would it be if the "field of view/perspective" had the option of being controlled by the PERSPECTIVE GRID!!! Everyone is used to working with the perspective grid by now and we could easilly add 3D objects to our existing artwork!
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milomi commented
Perspective? Without this. it's slightly useless for me.
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Walter Verhoeve commented
Please add an perspective slider...
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Алина Навмятуллина commented
Hi! I think you need add color for shadow, it`s will be good.
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Joseph Lublink commented
Hello! For me, the properties menu under materials is not populating. The carrot shows a sub-panel is there but it is not accessible or visible.
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Sarah Joy commented
I can no longer find the option to turn off shading and display as wireframe, and expanding the 3d shape results in the production of an image, rather than expanding the shape into its component paths. This is quite a loss in terms of features.
I also don't see an option to map artwork to a 3d shape. This was extremely useful. -
Paul Milliman commented
The new 3D Ray Tracing render doesn't use the GPU.
I have an RTX 3060TI, a card that is made for Ray Tracing.
Blender can utilize both CPU & GPU and is much faster than just utilizing the CPU, But we are not given a choice in PhotoShop.
Please allow us to use the hardware we have invested in so that we can get our work completed faster.
Thank you! -
V commented
Please bring back the ability to expand appearance.
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Tess Hatton commented
The option to have no shading/lighting needs to be restored.
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Julie mader-meersman commented
Hi! Enjoying the new 3D Extrude tools being more like Dimension! BUT, but, I really miss the perspective feature that was in prior versions. I can no longer demo believable perspective to my class of design students, so we will choose other tools to render our package design comps. WISH LIST: Incorporate perspective into the Extrude Panel soon, or absorb Adobe Dimension into Illustrator so it has all of those capabilities. The new Illustrator panel is a lot like it anyway!
I also agree with the comments from others to allow vector image mapping if Dimension tools aren’t integrated.
Thanks!