I’ve had a lot of fun exploring this software and found it pretty amazing to say the least (it got a 4-mice rating by Macworld standards) though some of the tools and interface were a little non-intuitive and you’re left with little resources to find out things on your own. It still produces some incredible models.

They have lots of gallery examples on their web site that really show off what the product can do, but I wanted to share with you what I did by exporting a model (as an OBJ file) and imported it into Photoshop as a 3D layer. I applied a texture and my own lighting to it and created this animation: Click Here to View

I also created a 3D Stereographic version (get out those Red/Blue 3D glasses) that really shows this incredible robo-organic model! Click image below to view the 3D movie

If you’d like to check out GroBoto yourself, go to their web site: groboto.com

This episode covers an exhaustive workflow that utilizes video clips (first stabilized in After Effects CS4) as both an animated surface map and bump map on a 3D sphere. Along with painted layers to create big exaggerated craters, the effect is pushed to the limit with dramatic lighting and finished off with a concave star field behind it.

Get your 3D Glasses!
The final step in this process is to convert the 3D objects in this animation to stereo anaglyph (red/cyan) – giving it incredible depth!

3-Minute Podcast – 3D Stereo in Photoshop CS4 from Jeff Foster on Vimeo.

**NOTE** You can also download a clean, hi-res version of this movie HERE!

Here is a still shot of the final stereo 3D composition:

Don’t have Red/Cyan 3D Glasses? Get ‘em here FREE!
Send me a self addressed stamped envelope (letter sized) and I will send you a pair!
(one pair per request)

Jeff Foster
PO Box 187
Ojai, CA 93024