Valentine’s Day is right around the corner. In this tutorial, we will combine Filter Forge and Photoshop to create a wood textured 3D text effect with a simple red glass heart. Let’s get started!
Downloading Filter Forge and the Filters used
First, you need to download Filter Forge from the plugin’s website.
Once you download it, run the installation package. It will be added
inside Photoshop under the Filter menu. Super easy to install.
To
launch the plugin and start adding some filters, go to Filter >
Filter Forge > Filter Forge 3. You’ll find a couple of already
existing filters under a number of categories. You’ll also find a
“Filter Library: Download more filters” link to the top right side of
the plugin’s window. Click the link to start downloading filters.
The link will take you to the Filters page on the plugin’s website.
You
can search for almost any filter among the amazing 9000+ filters
available. Just type the keywords you want to find filters for, and
click the Search button.
Once you get your search results, click the filter’s name.
This
will open the filter’s page. Click the “Open this filter in Filter
Forge” button to install the filter. If you get a message asking you to
confirm, just click Yes or OK. The Filter will then be added to the
other filters you have.
You can search for the downloaded filters by typing their names or a related keyword in the plugin’s search box.
Make sure to download all the filters in the Tutorial Assets section before you continue with the tutorial.
Step 1
Create
a new 1270 x 915 px document, and fill the Background with Black. Then
create the text in All Caps using the font “Fengardo Neue Black”. The
font color is white, and the font size is 350 pt.
In this
tutorial, the word used is “LOVE”. So the letters L, V, and E will be
created separately, then a heart shape will be added instead of the
letter O.
If you don’t have a letter that you can replace with the heart shape, you can just add the heart separately to the text.
Step 2
To
create the heart, pick the Custom Shape Tool, then choose the default
heart shape in the Options bar. Press and hold the Shift key, then click
and drag to create a 276 x 240 px heart.
Next,
we are going to add a base to the heart. So pick the Rounded Rectangle
Tool, and in the Options bar, set the Radius to 10, and choose the
Combine Shapes option to add the rectangle to the heart in one shape
layer. Click and drag a 100 x 50 px rectangle as shown below.
If
you want to move the base, you can use the Direct Selection Tool to
Shift + Click each of the rounded rectangle’s anchor points, then move
them.
Once you’re satisfied with the result, click the Merge Shape Components icon down the “Path operations” menu in the Options bar.
Step 3
Select the text layer, then go to Type > Extrude to 3D. This will instantly convert the text into a 3D mesh.
To
access the 3D mesh settings and properties, you’ll need to open two
panels: The 3D panel, and the Properties panel (both found under the
Window menu).
The 3D panel has all the components of the 3D scene,
and when you click the name of any of those, you’ll be able to access
its settings in the Properties panel.
One
interesting thing about the new 3D environment in CS6, is the use of
the Move Tool in the 3D scene. So there are no special 3D Tools anymore.
If you check the Move Tool’s Option bar now, you’ll find a set of 3D
Modes for the tool to the right of the bar.
It is always important
to keep in mind that any modification you make in the 3D scene will be
applied to the selected element in the 3D panel. So if you find
selecting the elements by clicking them inside the 3D scene a bit
confusing, you can just click their names in the 3D panel instead.
Step 4
Click
the 3D Mesh name in the 3D panel to adjust some of its settings. Start
off by reducing the Extrusion Depth value to 55, and setting the Texture
Mapping to Tile.
You
can always use the Rotate 3D Object mode of the Move Tool to click
anywhere in the 3D scene, then drag to rotate the camera view. This will
help you check the changes from different angles
Click
the Mesh name again, then click the Cap icon at the top of the
Properties panel. Change the Sides to “Front and Back”, the Width to 5%,
and the Contour to Half Round.
The text will have rounded edges now.
Step 5
Create a new 500 x 500 px document.
Go
to Filter > Filter Forge > Filter Forge 3. Then, choose the
“Plywood Plus” filter under the “Building” category, and choose the
third preset under the Presets tab.
Click
the Settings tab, then check the Seamless Tiling box. Click the Apply
button to the bottom right corner to apply the filter.
This will create a nicely detailed wooden texture.
Go
to Image > Image Rotation > 90° CW to rotate the texture 90°
Clockwise. This will change the orientation of the texture from
horizontal to vertical.
Go to File > Save, and save the
document as a .psd file or an image file (.jpg). Then go to File >
Close to close the texture file and get back to the original 3D
document.
Step 6
Now,
we will create the wooden material that will be used to texture the 3D
text. So click the mesh’s Front Inflation Material in the 3D panel, and
change its settings in the Properties panel as below.
You’ll need
to change the Specular color to #fff7e5, the Shine value to 90%, the
Reflection to 20%, the Bump to 10%, and the Refraction to 1.600.
Click the Diffuse folder icon and choose Load Texture. Then load the wood texture that you created in the previous step.
This will apply the texture to the front side of the text.
The
texture is applied so that it covers the text in large blocks of
pattern. To make the pattern repeat vertically, click the Diffuse
texture icon, and choose Edit UV Properties.
In
the Texture Properties box, change the U Scale to 350%, and make sure
that the V Scale is set to 100%, and both the U Offset and V Offset
values are 0.
Step 7
The
texture looks so polished and shiny. To make the texture seem a bit
rougher, go ahead and click the Bump folder icon, choose Load Texture,
and use the same wood texture.
After you load the texture, click the Bump texture icon and choose Edit UV Properties.
Apply the same UV Properties used for the Diffuse previously.
You
might not be able to notice the effect now, but the bump will make a
difference when the scene is rendered. And what it basically does, is
create an illusion of bumps in the texture based on the loaded image,
after converting it to a grayscale map. So the lighter values create
raised surface areas and darker values create flatter surface areas.
Step 8
Click the material menu arrow, then click the pop-up menu icon, and choose New Material.
Type in a name for the wood material you created.
This
will add the material to the other materials, so that you can use it
again without the need to re-enter all the values each time.
Step 9
Now,
we are going to apply the saved material to all the remaining sides of
the mesh. So click each one in the 3D panel, then choose the wood
material from the menu to apply it.
Once you’re done, the whole text will have the same material.
Don’t forget to save your work after each step.
Step 10
Before
moving on to the heart shape, we are going to perform one last step.
We’re going to split the mesh, to be able to move each letter
separately.
To do so, go to 3D > Split Extrusion. A message
will appear telling you that you’ll lose the original extrusion, so
click OK to continue.
If
you check the 3D panel now, you’ll notice that you have three separate
meshes, one for each letter. So instead of creating each letter in a
separate layer, extruding it, then texturing it on its own, you can now
create all the letters in one mesh then split it. This is a great CS6 3D
feature.
Step 11
In the Layers panel, select the heart shape layer, then go to 3D > New 3D Extrusion from Selected Path.
Click the Mesh name in the 3D panel, then change its Depth to 55, and its Texture Mapping to Tile in the Properties panel.
Click the Cap icon in the Properties panel, then change the Width to 10, and the Contour to Cone.
This is how the heart should look.
Step 12
To make the heart stand out, we’re going to apply a shiny red glass material instead of using the same wood material.
Click the Front Inflation Material, then start changing the values as below.
Change
the Diffuse color to #8e010a, the Specular to #f3f3f3, the Illumination
to #1d0000, and the Ambient to #960000. Next, change the Shine value to
75%, the Reflection to 30%, the Opacity to 35%, and the Refraction to
1.800 (it might be auto-rounded to a very close value, so no problem if
that happens).
That’s it for the heart material. Follow the same steps of saving the material and applying it to the other sides of the mesh.
You
can use different colors if you like, or maybe make the sides less
transparent. Make sure to apply any changes before moving on, as we’re
not going back to the materials after this step.
Step 13
As
you might have noticed, the text and the heart are in separate 3D
layers, so they are in separate 3D scenes as well. The next step will be
merging them in one layer, and one scene.
Before merging the
layers, it is better to make sure that both layers’ camera angles are
the same. So select the heart 3D layer, click the Current View in the 3D
panel, then, choose the text layer’s name from the View drop down menu
in the Properties panel.
This will give all the meshes the same camera view.
Select both 3D layers (Command/Ctrl + Click each one), then go to 3D > Merge 3D Layers.
Step 14
Now that all the meshes are in the same scene, it’s time to reposition them using the Move Tool.
You
can select the mesh by clicking it, or by clicking its name in the 3D
Panel. When a mesh is selected, you can see the 3D Axis that can be used
to move the mesh, rotate it, and scale it. Click and drag the arrow
ends to move the meshes around.
Click and drag the parts below the arrow ends to rotate the meshes.
Click and drag the box in the middle of the 3D Axis to scale the mesh uniformly.
One
important step to keep in mind, especially after merging or scaling 3D
objects, is to make sure that they are still on the Ground Plane, not
floating over it. To do so, select the mesh you want to place on ground,
then go to 3D > Snap Object to Ground Plane. Do this every time you
add a new element or scale an existing one, unless you want the object
to not touch the ground.
Step 15
Moving
on to the Current View, or the camera angle. In this tutorial, the
camera is supposed to be placed above the meshes. If you want to place
the camera in front of the text, you’ll need to make a simple
modification that will be mentioned later.
You can move the camera manually, or you can click the Coordinates icon in the Properties panel and type in some values.
If you like the view, and want to save it, you can click the View drop down menu in the Properties panel, and choose Save.
Enter a name for the view and click OK.
The
view will be added to the drop down menu, as well as the bottom of the
3D panel. So whenever you change the view while working on the 3D
objects, you can go back to the saved view by clicking its name in the
3D panel, or choosing it from the View menu in the Properties panel.
Step 16
Time
to add a plane for the ground. You can use the Environment Ground
Plane, but a separate plane has more settings as a 3D object than the
Ground Plane.
Create a new layer on top of the 3D layer and call it “Ground”, then fill it with white.
Go
to 3D > New Mesh from Layer > Postcard. This will create a simple
plane. Go ahead and set the plane’s Current View to the 3D layer’s
View.
Click
the Ground Mesh name, then click the Coordinates icon in the Properties
panel. Change the X Rotation Angle to 90, so that the plane is placed
horizontally instead of verticallly.
Select both 3D layers, then merge them (3D > Merge 3D layers).
Step 17
Click
the Ground mesh, then go to 3D > Snap Object to Ground Plane. If you
notice that the other meshes are floating as well, go ahead and snap
them. Scale the plane until it covers the whole scene (canvas). This
will change according to the camera view, so make sure you scale the
plane in the final camera view that you’ll be using for the final
rendering.
Tip:
If you are not using the same camera angle as the one in the tutorial,
you might notice that one horizontal plane will not cover all the areas
of the scene, especially if you are using a more straight-forward view.
If that’s the case, you will need another vertical plane, that is
perpendicular to the ground. So follow the same steps to create one and
place it in the scene before getting to the next step.
If
you want to check out how a part of the scene will be rendered, you can
select that part using any selection tool (for example, the Rectangular
Marquee Tool is used here), then go to 3D > Render. If you do so, you
might notice some weird lines on the ground. This is caused by the
plane mesh being placed exactly on the Ground Plane.
To
solve that problem we need to move the plane mesh a fraction above or
below the ground plane. To do so, click the Ground Mesh name, then the
Coordinates icon in the Properties panel, and increase the Y Axis value
0.1. If that doesn’t work (or gets rounded back to the original value),
add another 0.1.
If you re-render the selection now, you should get a clean result.
Step 18
Time
to modify the plane material. We’re aiming for a simple reflective
surface. So we don’t need any Diffuse texture. Click the Diffuse texture
icon and choose Remove Texture to ba able to add simple colors instead.
Change
the Diffuse color to #d4cdbb, the Ambient to #363636, the Shine value
to 50%, the Reflection to 10%, and the Refraction to 1.850.
Step 19
Time
to modify the lighting of the scene. Start by clicking the Infinite
Light 1 down the 3D panel. Make sure that its Intensity is 90%, and set
its Shadow Softness to 30% in the Properties panel.
Click the “Add new Light to Scene” icon down the 3D panel, then choose New Point Light.
This
will create a new light. If you can’t see the light inside the scene,
click the “Move to view” icon down the Properties panel to move the
light to the center of the scene.
Go ahead and add another Point Light. You’ll notice that the lighting is pretty intense and harsh. We’ll work on that next.
Step 20
Select
the Point Light 1, then change its color to #c78c04 and its Intensity
to 30%. We don’t want all three light sources to cast shadows, because
this will create a mess of shadows everywhere. Infinite Light shadows
are enough, so un-check the Point Light 1 Shadow box.
Select the Point Light 2, change its Intensity to 20%, and un-check it Shadow box. The lighting should look better now.
Also, set the Environment Light color to #191919, its Intensity to 50%, and un-check it Shadow box as well.
Once
you’re done modifying the Light settings, you can start moving the
lights around in the scene (Click the light name, then move it using the
Move Tool). No numerical values of the coordinates will be posted in
the tutorial, as the numbers are just random and difficult to copy.
Instead, some images of the 3D scene from different angles will be added
next, so that you can position your lights accordingly.
This is the Infinite Light positioning. It should be pointing diagonally downwards on the text.
As
for the point Lights, Point Light 1 is the one to the left and Point
Light 2 is the one to the right. You’ll need to move them around
depending on the scene you have, and the letters’ location. So take your
time with this step, and keep in mind that you can render parts of the
scene to check how everything is working out.
You
can as well rotate the whole scene to check where the lights are
exactly placed, since it might be hard sometimes to figure that out by
looking through one angle only. And remember that you can go back to the
original view by clicking the view name you saved earlier in the
tutorial.
When
you’re happy with all the scene’s elements, go ahead and render it (3D
> Render). This might take a while, but you can stop the rendering
anytime by clicking anywhere inside the document. You can check the time
needed to complete rendering in the status bar at the bottom of the
Photoshop window.
When the rendering is finished, save the
document, then save the final result as an image. (You can rasterize the
3D layer, but you’ll lose the 3D scene, and you won’t be able to go
back to it or modify any of its components. So saving an image is way
better).
Step 21
Open the image you saved, then duplicate it.
Go
to Filter > Filter Forge > Filter Forge 3, and choose the LOMO
filter under the Photo category. Choose the preset shown below under the
Presets tab, then click Apply.
This filter will intensify the colors, and make them more vivid. But it’s a bit too strong.
To
reduce the filter’s effect, we’re going to fade this layer into the
original Background layer, by reducing the copy’s Opacity. The value
used here is 25%, but you can choose the value you like.
Step 22
Finally, click the “Create new fill or adjustment layer” icon down the Layers panel, and choose “Gradient Map”.
Change
the adjustment layer’s Blend Mode to Soft Light, and it’s Opacity to
30%. Then click the Gradient box to create the gradient.
The gradient uses five colors as follows (you need to click once below the gradient bar to add each color Stop):
Color – Location
- 1 – a08657 – 0
- 2 – b28f5a – 25
- 3 – bc9359 – 46
- 4 – cbb785 – 67
- 5 – edebbe – 100
Final Image
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