The big change to the menu bar is the 3D menu. Here, it is plain to see all the options available to the 3D animator.
Depth of Options
Upon opening the 3D panel you will discover exactly how much Adobe has decided to invest in this option. The vast majority of the improvements made in the extended version of CS4 are in the area of 3D. Whereas in CS3, one could only import a 3D image and adjust the texture file associated with it, now in CS4 you have the ability to edit textures and skins on the 3D objects, export them as actual 3D models to other 3D programs and to After Effects to be able to interact with After Effects 3D camera, or even animate them and create video from the animation without leaving Photoshop.
Additionally, you even have some basic ability to create 3D models INSIDE of Photoshop (or to place 2D layers in 3D space for specialized depth of field effects or other After Effects-like tricks). To create 3D objects in Photoshop, you select the ‘New Shape From Layer’ option. This will transform a 2D image into any kind of basic shape one would need for modeling. Of course, keep in mind that this is designed to be a feature that will give you a rough idea of what your 2D image will look like in 3D. (For example, what does a label look like on the outside of a soup can.) Obviously, for the construction of intricate models you will still have to look outside Photoshop to originate them.
One of the most talked about features is the ability to paint on 3D objects. This object can also be exported into After Effects with all of the Photoshop edits saved.
Like CS3, CS4 also gives you basic video options. The changes we see in this area, again tie into the 3D features. Photoshop can give basic animation properties to your 3D object and export it as a short video clip. CS4 Extended is GPU aware, meaning it will offset certain operations to the graphics card for a more efficient workflow. This means that your photos will not have jagged edges when they are zoomed in at odd percentages, and you will also notice how smooth the pan, zoom, and rotate tools function. (GPU support also improves the look of square pixels, the preview ability with the clone tool and healing tools, dynamic brush previews, and a whole host of other things that I don’t have time to go into.)
Finally, for the last nifty improvement in Photoshop CS4, we look at a new piece of code that was announced at the last possible minute: Content Aware Scaling. It’s designed for anyone who’s ever needed to get photos or other still assets into a different aspect ratio and/or perspective. (Think of squeezing a picture to make it a narrow column for a newspaper sidebar or stretching out a picture to make a web banner.) Basically, this feature analyzes the image in the background while you adjust it and intelligently recomposes the scene to preserve the most visually interesting areas. Content-Aware Scaling can be set to automatically recognize skin tones to keep people from being squeezed out of the shot, and, for those who want fine-grained control, paintable alpha channels and adjustable selection tools let you define the most important areas (and the aggressiveness of the processing) before you begin scaling.
Another great 3D feature is the ability to manipulate 2D images in 3D space. This is a great way to make a 3D object from still images.
While there were some limits to how well it worked if you defined a large area as an alpha channel (such as a crowd of people), the overall performance was very impressive. I look forward to finding new ways to fit into my creative pursuits.
