how would you go to create a 3d logo like this?

[musicfed]

I am new to both Affinity Designer and Photo but would be interested in what technique is required to create this type of 3d logo?

thanks

Fed

[v_kyr]

Well IMO real 3D tools like Blender, Maya, Renderman etc. are probably much better suited for creating these things than ADe/APh here.

[souacz]

@musicfed Yes, it's difficult to get such effect working in Affinity (without 3D rendering) but you can make semi-3D pictures using styles and perspective. For example:

 

[musicfed]

thank you very much guys. so the idea is you need a software that does 3D rendering. ok

[v_kyr]

2 hours ago, musicfed said:

thank you very much guys. so the idea is you need a software that does 3D rendering. ok

Not necessarily, but a 3D render software offers of course much more options and possibilities here. - You can also tweak simpler things (shapes) with a 3D effect in Designer, as @souacz said above. To do so you would make for your button example a rounded rect shape and apply some metal style to that, then apply a FX 3D effect and some embossed text or signs etc.

[musicfed]

thanks very interesting, and it really gets close. I will go and explore more of that for sure

 

those metal styles seem to deplete the battery of my iPad so clearly the graphic power needed to pull it off is substantial

[v_kyr]

3 minutes ago, musicfed said:

those metal styles seem to deplete the battery of my iPad so clearly the graphic power needed to pull it off is substantial

Honestly I don't know since I don't use the iPad versions, though those modern latest iPads have powerful RISC architecture processors in terms of CPU/GPU power. Well battery capacity might be another theme here and I can't tell. I've once created those metal styles from PNG bitmaps and didn't used so big images (smaller cropped) as sources for them. However maybe the Affinity iPad versions behave different here for styles, can't say (?).

[souacz]

@v_kyr I am glad that my "Pressed & Embossed" styles I converted from the asf file are useful to you

I used exactly the same styles to make an example picture

[v_kyr]

Yeah I remembered having seen those and thought it's probably the right thing for tryout and reusage here for embossed logo text, in order to do quickly the sort of button the OP is looking after.

[firstdefence]

Had a doodle on this...

Some serious blur and transparency effects going on here 

[musicfed]

Just so I understand. Software like Blender, Maya or Keyshot can render in 3D an image made with Affinity designer?

they start from a 2D vector design?

what is the workflow for creating a 3D design?

ive seen some amazing digital artist using a mix of tools, for example Zbrush, Keyshot and Affinity Photo/Designer 

[gdenby]

I know a little bit about Blender, Maya & Zbrush. They can accept 2d .svg files that Affinity exports. Looking around, it appears Keyshot is a renderer for 3D models made in other apps. 

3D apps handle nodes/vectors in x-y-z- space. 2D apps can only work in a set of 2 coordinates. When brought into a 3D app, those are typically extruded/projected into the missing 3rd dimension. Often there are scaling options as the 2D outline is projected into 3D. A common one is to add a front bevel to a typeface, and a shading routine creates a smooth gradient for every angle in perspective. Affinity offers a 2d approximation thru the bevel/emboss fx.

But this is just a way to move 2D data into 3D. 3D apps do not need to start from 2D, and there can be all sorts of problems. In my experience, some 3D software could only use 2D points as what are described in Affinity by sharp nodes. Others could use the curves data from smooth nodes. Some apps could deal w. series of curves composed of 3 control nodes each, others, 4 or more. The final 3D form could be not quite the same as the 2d.

When one gets into this sort of work, assembly line routines, a.k.a. "workflows" are hard to describe, unless one is using  specific hardware(s) to produce specific output. That is something like "Produce word (company  or product name) in specified font, along circular section arc of 30 degrees. Export as .svg. Open in (app), and accept default units. (Or, interactively scale imported object to .1 of default world size)  Rotate outlines from x/y axes to x/z. Extrude to depth of .5 of single character x size, adding 45 degree bevel of max .25 of z extrusion. Place camera 45- degree from object x/z center. Set object properties to "silver". Set camera position, set lens, set light(s)..."

 

[musicfed]

Thanks Gdenby for the long reply. Very interesting. So some software like Keyshot  only do the rendering which is the final stage but others do the “transition” from 2D to 3D 

it looks incredibly complicated but I was wondering if any of these programs are easy enough to set yourself a simple task like that famous button I started the thread with. 

I appreciate 3D design can take years to learn in itself.

 

[MEB]

Hi musicfed,
Welcome to Affinity Forums
There's no need to get into 3D if only you want is create some 3D effects. There some dedicated/accessible applications that can do this for you like Xara 3D Maker (Windows) or Art Text (Mac) just to mention a couple. They let you change materials, lights, 3d position etc with a few simple sliders.

[firstdefence]

Art Text is pretty swish especially for text.

Affinity, good enough to eat 

 

[Uncle Mez]

15 minutes ago, MEB said:

Hi musicfed,
Welcome to Affinity Forums
There's no need to get into 3D if only you want is create some 3D effects. There some dedicated/accessible applications that can do this for you like Xara 3D Maker (Windows) or Art Text (Mac) just to mention a couple. They let you change materials, lights, 3d position etc with a few simple sliders.

Thanks @MEB i have Art Text 3 on my Mac and was just about to remove it but will give it another try.
Well talking about external plugins or external apps as plugins to Affinity, Softwares like Art Text 3 would be of great help if they be included or added as plugin to help us create shiny 3D stuffs then get those back to Designer or Publisher or even Photo for further works.

will Serif make it possible for us to plug couples of apps to the Affinity line the same way some other guys here can make use of Nik collection or Luminar or other solutions to power their Photo works to another level?

[musicfed]

25 minutes ago, MEB said:

Hi musicfed,
Welcome to Affinity Forums
There's no need to get into 3D if only you want is create some 3D effects. There some dedicated/accessible applications that can do this for you like Xara 3D Maker (Windows) or Art Text (Mac) just to mention a couple. They let you change materials, lights, 3d position etc with a few simple sliders.

Thanks I’ll definitely check it out. But I’m also intrigued by how to create more complex designs. 

I stumbled into this guy’s work. Inspiring that you can create such intricate 3D stuff with lighting effects - mesmerising 

https://www.artstation.com/artwork/vgd9E

[MEB]

For images like the ones in the artstation link you have to go with a full/pro 3D app (Maya, Lightwave, 3D Studio etc).

[Medical Officer Bones]

Something as simple as that example takes at most 20 minutes to do in Blender. I'll see if I can whip up a quick example. Lunch first, though! :-)

[Uncle Mez]

2 minutes ago, Medical Officer Bones said:

Something as simple as that example takes at most 20 minutes to do in Blender. I'll see if I can whip up a quick example. Lunch first, though! :-)

So You recommend Blender ?

[Medical Officer Bones]

Yes. Free, open source, and the latest version (2.8) has real-time quality rendering. On par with commercial 3d apps. Ahead of the curve compare to some in most respects (such as Lightwave). And 2.8's GUI has seen remarkable progress, and is now arguably 'easier' than even some of the commercial offerings.

In short, no need to spend any money if you want to add a bit of 3d spice in your work! (But please do consider sponsoring the Blender Foundation for their hard work :-)

[Medical Officer Bones]

30 minutes ago, musicfed said:

Thanks I’ll definitely check it out. But I’m also intrigued by how to create more complex designs. 

I stumbled into this guy’s work. Inspiring that you can create such intricate 3D stuff with lighting effects - mesmerising 

https://www.artstation.com/artwork/vgd9E

Before you'll be able to pull off stuff like that it will take at least one year of intense learning and experience, if not more. Especially if you've never done anything related to 3d work before and have to learn the terminology. Creating good looking 3d art from scratch is hard to learn.

(but super fun!)

[JimmyJack]

I suspect that example is done in 3D with a very simple rounded box and a Normal (bump) map to imply the depth of the logo. Even less to "model" .

 

[firstdefence]

4 hours ago, JimmyJack said:

I suspect that example is done in 3D with a very simple rounded box and a Normal (bump) map to imply the depth of the logo. Even less to "model" .

 

That's perdy nice bump map angle Jimmy J

Mine above was all drawn in Affinity Designer.

[musicfed]

13 hours ago, JimmyJack said:

I suspect that example is done in 3D with a very simple rounded box and a Normal (bump) map to imply the depth of the logo. Even less to "model" .

 

Did you use Blender to do this?