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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Jeff Wine commented
This looks promising after only using it for a few minutes, but please include the perspective option to the rotation section. Unless you're doing something fairly academic like shown in the example, you really need to be able to have perspective to your objects.
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Mario commented
Please add the option to create our own materials, will be great...!
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Denis Landin commented
Great job! And a really promising tools.
But why is it so slow?
I have the GPU Performance on, my video card is RTX 2080Ti 12 GbI should be 150fps, but not rendering a simple extrude for 20 seconds.
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Alex York commented
This is a massive improvement from what the 3D capabilities were. But utilizing edge detection/ geometry to influence the material is needed for this to be a worthwhile tool (Smart Materials).
Maybe I'm missing this disclaimer somewhere, but I haven't seen where it states Smart Materials are not supported. However, I cannot import them into illustrator - only plain materials.
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Barry Hincks commented
Please bring back the "mapping" feature to the "Revolve" section of "3D and Materials." I can warp type with a gradient mesh (often with just a single row and a single column) but matching shadows across a surface, for package design and product design, is a royal pain. I tried to attach a ".ai" file, and then a ".pdf" version of a small example (a single object: a toy top) but just got a spinning cursor here. I'm trying to attach a ".jpg" of that file now. Thanks, Barry
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Akshay Varshney commented
@Mordy: Can you please provide the video of the issue. Thanks.
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Mordy Golding commented
When scaling an object, the 3D effect does not seem to scale, even when the Scale Strokes and Effects setting is activated. I don't seem to be able to resize any art with 3D effects applied.
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Rae commented
I tried adding in materials from the Adobe substance 3D community, but there was no way to import the ".spsm" file I downloaded from the site. The only option listed as "Enable: Sbsar Files (*.Sbsar)" and nothing else. Maybe I'm missing the trick to importing a 3D material to use in Illustrator?
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Abby Berke commented
I'm trying to create a 3D rendering of a logo using the inflate tool, and each vector within the logo inflates individually, even though they are grouped. I would love to see an option that lets you inflate groups as a whole, to give a puffy sticker look.
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Jarred Eberhardt commented
I'm in complete agreeance with Frank Bridges. After testing out the new features within the 3D options, the first thing to come to my attention was the removal of the perspective functionality. I see the link in the dropdown to utilize the "Classic" features of 3D, but the integration of the 2 would have the best output...However, I'm sure this idea is in the works
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Frank Bridges commented
After working with the 3D effects and Materials, my first suggestion would be to include perspective parameters within this effect. This would add another level of realism to the overall output. If this is already one of the additional features you are working on, then great.