I just got the news that Strata released an upgrade to the Strata CX Suite. In a nutshell, the technology from Strata’s 3D[in] plug-ins for Photoshop CS3 Extended is now integrated into the Suite. I think that old & new Strata 3D CX users will be pleased with the back-and-forth between 3D CX and Photoshop CS3 extended.

As a Photoshop user looking to incorporate 3D into my projects I think that the Strata CX Suite is the missing link. Although Photoshop has the ability to view and rotate/transform 3D objects it lacks the creation and editing tools. The CX Suite provides the 3D and creation tools, as well as the output tools.

Cool Features:

• Send a 3D model to PS as a 3D layer
• Send a finished rendering to PS as separate layers (shadow layer, reflection layer, color layer, etc)
• Send a PS image to a 3D background for tracing or placement
• Send a 3D model direct from PS to PDF or HTML and it embeds the 3D object (you read that correctly)
• Link PS files as 3D textures - changes made are automatically updated in the 3D texture

I’ve been doing a lot of DVD product shots lately and have found it very useful to set up a template in 3D CX. I can easily replace the DVD artwork by hiding/showing different layers and exporting the 3D object to PS. I then export the PS document (including the 3D object) to a PDF file that anyone can view in Acrobat Reader.

Watch for an upcoming podcast on that project.