A 3D surprise from Adobe?!

As usual, Adobe provides small bug fixes and updates throughout the year in addition to the “big” updates. In June, however, there was suddenly an innovation, that finally gives “non-3D artists” the opportunity to incorporate 3D models into compositing at a professional level.

Of course, it has long been possible to use 3D objects in After Effects via the implemented “cinema 4D Renderer”. But now you can also drag obj, Gltf and GLB data directly from your Explorer or Finder into the project window and thus into your composition. And they can even be animated. Gltf & GLB’s have the advantage that they already contain the textures.

However, you cannot create 3D models in After Effects, which means that you either have to resort to classic 3D solutions or you can find them on the various pages for 3D models on the Internet.

When you have finally brought your 3D object of choice into the composition, you end up at the next “permanent construction site” of After Effects – the lighting!

It was possible to work with different types of lighting so that models would fit in well with their surroundings, but as soon as you had reflective objects, for example, the whole thing was no longer convincing. In addition to point lights, spot lights and even environment lights, another environment light has been “smuggled in”. This supports so-called image-based lighting and finally offers After Effects the opportunity to integrate 3D objects cleanly and seamlessly into real shots, or to illuminate motion graphics in a much smarter way.

Mini-Workshop:

To test this out, I first took a picture of a street in the neighborhood. I now want to seamlessly integrate a 3D model into this picture. I decided on a model of a motorcycle. As I was able to download it as a Gltf file, I didn’t have to worry about the textures.

For the lighting, I have photographed a series of exposures with 5 different f-stops using a 360° camera. The HDR image needs to be dropped into your composition and then you create an environment light as well. You can then select the HDR as the exposure source. To adjust the light in the right direction, I also imported two simple 3D spheres, one of which has a medium gray material and the other has a completely mirrored one. By rotating the environmental light, I can now adjust the direction of the light to the background photo.

If you add the model, you can modify its size when inserting it. Of course, a (virtual) camera is still missing, which I have set up exactly like my physical camera. To provide a connection between the 3D model and the background, I need a 3D color plane that acts as a so-called “shadow catcher”. After a few more “compositing tasks” such as color adjustment, blurring and adding grain, I ended up with a pleasing result.

Conclusion:

Did Adobe pull off the surprise? In my opinion – yes! Of course, it’s not a 3D program and certainly has no ambitions to be, but the “door to the 3D world” has finally been opened and these small updates suddenly make so many new things possible. You should never forget how well the individual Adobe apps work together – I can see connections to Dimension, Photoshop, Premiere and Substance Painter. It remains to be seen with excitement whether the tiny little things for which you currently still have to make a workaround will be dealt with in the next major updates.