# Simple JPG to a 3D image



## Psyco (Jul 21, 2007)

hello everyone, i hope this is the right section to post on...

i have a simple jpg image, much like the red circle with a line though but more complex, enough that its hard to recreate with my some what limited drawing skills, that i wish to convert into a 3D render, adding lighting, texture(metallic look) and shadows, then export into another jpg.

so my question is this, are there any programs out there that would aid in my goal in creating this 3D render? if so, witch? if not, can anyone give me any tips?

i suspect i might need a CAD/CAM program but so far i haven't come across anything that fits my needs.

thanks in advance, any comments welcome


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## koala (Mar 27, 2005)

Hi Psyco, welcoome to TSF

You could do it in an image editor like Photoshop using a lighting filter, imported texture and drop shadow. Or you could use a 3D rendering program like 3D Studio, but that's an expensive option for just one image and the learning curve is very steep.

Post your jpg and I'll see what our 3D expert can suggest. He's offline at the moment though.


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## Psyco (Jul 21, 2007)

thanks for the speedy reply and the welcome

but in photoshop it wouldn't be a genuine 3d image, would it?:/

ill check out 3D studio, thanks

and i cant post it yet, its within a jpg with more detail, and i havn't pulled it out yet cause i didn't really know it it was possible, but i could post the unedited jpg, i suppose...



btw, would scaling be a problem? like if i enlarged it would it get pixelated? or would it be fine using the 3d software?


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## Psyco (Jul 21, 2007)

wow, steep price but i found a trial version... would that do ok?

hehe it claimed to be easy to use, doesn't seem very easy from where im sitting


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## koala (Mar 27, 2005)

I don't know what the limitations are for the trial version. There may be features missing or it won't allow you to save your work. I'll get our 3D man, freddyhard, to take a look at this thread tomorrow. You're right, it's not easy. I've had a go and can't get much beyond simple shapes.

If it's just the black circle and dragon that you want extracted, I can do that for you now in Photoshop, then we can look at how you want to edit it later.

If you want to keep the final image looking the same as your posted image, meaning not rotated as a 3D object, Photoshop will do a good job with the texture, lighting effects and shadows, giving a 3D effect without actually being in true 3D (if that makes sense).

With it being a bitmap image rather than a vector, scaling up will always result in some pixelation around the edges. You could enlarge it to 200% without it being noticeable, but anything beyond that and you will see jaggies.


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## Psyco (Jul 21, 2007)

i did some very basic work with a program called total cad, i think, i really enjoyed it, and i got into some really advance 3d shapes, but that's as far as i got. no way could i make that, there's just 2 many corners and curves.

if you could, that would rock

i want to get rid of the yellow/red bits, but yeh, i kinda get what you meen

how would i/we go about converting it to a vector then? but i assumed once the 3d program translated it you could delete the actual jpg and just play about with it without scaling being a factor.


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## koala (Mar 27, 2005)

I'm really not the one to ask about editing in 3D Studio. I've emailed freddyhard, but it's nearly 2am here so it will probably have to wait til tomorrow. 

















If this is the kind of thing you mean, we can use Photoshop to import a metallic texture into the black area, then add lighting effects, etc.


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## Psyco (Jul 21, 2007)

how come the second one looks weird?

no, i want it to look genuinely 3d


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## koala (Mar 27, 2005)

The second one is just a quick mask to show the image in black and white. If I took more time I could make the edges smoother. This is only the first stage of creating a 3D-looking effect.

If you want a true 3D object, import this image into a 3D editor. The black area will be the 3D model and the white is transparent, so you can extrude and rotate it, bevel the edges, change the texture, play with lighting positions and viewpoints, etc.


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## Psyco (Jul 21, 2007)

yeh, thats what i thought, but thanks, looking forward to speaking to freddy in the morrow


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## koala (Mar 27, 2005)

Here's another quick sketch, the next stage in Photoshop.

Good luck. I'm sure he'll be able to help you. He does this kind of thing all the time.


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## Psyco (Jul 21, 2007)

*that* is amazing, i especially like the way the texture looks like scales. but i assume that it wont be so amazing full screen, right?


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## koala (Mar 27, 2005)

Full-screen wouldn't be so good. I'd need to start again and do a better job on the outline, create a vector selection and then reapply the effects. It won't take long now I know what settings to use, but not tonight :tongue:


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## Psyco (Jul 21, 2007)

whoa, calm down bro, lets see what freddy has to say before making any more awesome pics

ill be honest, i didn't even really expect a reply for at least 24 hours


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## koala (Mar 27, 2005)

:laugh: I'm on the Red Bull tonight


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## Psyco (Jul 21, 2007)

rofl, techs with a sense of humour, i love you guys already


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## Inactive (Apr 11, 2005)

what time is it? someone woke me up and it's not monday yet.
anyway, i was reading through this thread and i'm not so convinced that a dcc application such as 3dsutdio or blender is really needed. because the dragon (button) is only a 2d image, creating a 3d mesh might seem a little plain. anyway here is a link to a previous post. you probably already found the 3d studio download.

i'll have a go and see what i can create, because to learn 3d studio in 30 days - well my hat goes off to you sir if you can do it. although these days i see people learning 3d studio in 6 months and creating cinematics within a year :3-suspici


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## Psyco (Jul 21, 2007)

no, i hadn't found that website i found quite an old version... thanks ill wait for you before downloading though


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## Inactive (Apr 11, 2005)

sorry, i got distracted a bit and i think i've gone off the original idea. i did create this in 3d, but there isn't any real depth to it. so i attached an jpg that you will probably not use and a pdf file of the outline of the dragon. at least with the pdf file you can resize it without making it pixelated.


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## Psyco (Jul 21, 2007)

could you show me what you meen? and btw i wanted a stainless steal effect, kinda silvery if you know what i meen


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## Inactive (Apr 11, 2005)

if you look at the pdf file, you will see an outline. i used that outline and gave it a small thickness, about 4 units. so if you viewed it on it's edge it would be quite thin still. i can make it thicker, but it wouldn't look anymore detailed, just thicker. i can try steel effect, but there are a lot of different finishes to steel. can you supply a graphic example?


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## koala (Mar 27, 2005)

Freddyhard has now left TSF unfortunately, but he sent me this image before he left.


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## Psyco (Jul 21, 2007)

ok, thanks for the help


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## Psyco (Jul 21, 2007)

ive been very buzy with other things recently so ive not been able to follow up, however, ive got some spare time on my hands now... and i have a question, the pdf freddy made for me is a vector, right? but when i import it to photoshop and i enlarge it, it distorts, what is the solution for this, if any?


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## Delmarstio1991 (Aug 7, 2007)

Things seemed fine to me, but what did you mean by distorted? Anyway, if enlarging it is your problem just simply increase the pixels per inch resolution when opening the PDF, and you'll get a larger, and still crisp image. Hope that helps (because I don't think manually resizing it after opening is a great idea anyway :laugh.


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## Damion (Aug 16, 2005)

i dont no if its been said as i don't want to read all of this, but i would say blender, it is a free openGL modeling programm and is quite wonderful. goto www.blender.org then to get a good tutorial for making a 2D logo to a 3D logo go to google and type in blender noob to pro look through the list of the site it gives you and look for 3D logo. good luck !


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## Psyco (Jul 21, 2007)

@Delmarstio1991: i figured it out i had to open it in illustrator, copy and paste in photoshop

that way it understood the vector, it didn't distort it

@Damion: thanks ill take a look


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## Psyco (Jul 21, 2007)

ok, so this is the finished product, what do you think?


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## Go The Power (Mar 5, 2007)

I like it, i think it is good!


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## Delmarstio1991 (Aug 7, 2007)

Looks very cool. :smile:
Still, it's also quite large. Is it supposed to be a wallpaper or a poster or something? Just curious. :tongue:


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## Psyco (Jul 21, 2007)

Delmarstio1991 said:


> Looks very cool. :smile:
> Still, it's also quite large. Is it supposed to be a wallpaper or a poster or something? Just curious. :tongue:


wallpaper, and the reason its so large is cause that's my desktop resolution(terrible for finding decent wallpapers).

i would like it to have a more fun/exciting background scheme but that's all i could do, with my limited knowledge of photoshop, though i would never have been able to have done it without on-line tutorials.


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