Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
Note: You will get smoother meshes if you use a 16- or 32-bit depth for
your document. When possible, try to keep at least one dimension of the
document to a power of 2 (512, 1024, 2048). The document information
gets scaled during the conversion to prevent a huge poly count, which can
cause chunky results. Documents with dimensions of less than 512 pixels
get scaled in half. Documents with dimensions greater than 512 pixels get
scaled to 512 pixels.
1. Open a New Photoshop ile.
2. Create a new white background.
3. Click on the style icon in the Layers panel and choose Gradient Overlay.
4. Change the angle of the gradient to zero degrees.
5. Click the gradient bar to open the Gradient Editor.
6. In the gradient bar, create a gradient similar to that of Figure 6.10.
7. Set the Gradient Opacity to 10%.
8. From the New Mesh from 2D Grayscale Layer in the 3D menu, choose the
Plane shape.
9. The 2D layer is converted to a 3D plane and the layer content into a
texture map and bump texture using the grayscale of the gradient
(Figure 6.11).
In the next example, we will use the same idea with the brush painting to
create a bump texture, which will give a 3D plane a hilly surface. The idea
behind this example is that the whiter the circle becomes, the higher the
mountains are—similar to contour maps. Here's how to create this efect:
Figure 6.10
The curtain gradient in
the Gradient Editor.
