Fastest Way to Create a Cool 3D Icon!
Posted on 13. Jan, 2010 by DAS Team in Tutorials
Hello, digital artists! My name is Ali Rahmoun and i will guide you step by step on how to create a cool 3D Icon. Transforming 2D vector art into 3D can create magical work but you must know what you are doing. You must have a little experience using 3D Max & Illustrator to be able to follow this tutorial.
Let’s start,
1) You have to chose a symbol or a shape, in order to convert it to a 3D icon. The shape should be a vector based graphic in order to import it into 3D Studio Max. I’ve made a simple shape. You can do the same shape or simply create your own 
.
2) Start up 3D Studio Max and create a new scene.
3) Go to File –> Import, and chose the .ai file (Fig o1).
The .ai file should be exported in ‘Illustrator 8′ format in order to be readable in 3D Studio Max.
4) Choose ‘Merge object with current scene’, and then Import the Shape as ‘Single Object’ (Fig 02).
5) Now you can see the shape in the View-port. Convert the shape to ‘Editable Poly’ (Fig 03).
6) Now choose the polygons of the shape and extrude it. It doesn’t matter what number you use in the extrude modifier, it depends on the shape (Fig 04).
7) Using the editbale poly modifier, set (Edge) as the Selection tool and choose only the horizontal edges. We should do this step on both faces of the shape (Top & Bottom) (Fig 05).
Now you have a nice and clean 3D mesh of your 2D vector shape. You should find a nice pose in 3D in order to render it and vectorize it later.
9) After you find the proper pose, render it with a standard light. You should have results as seen below (Fig 06).
10) Import the rendered image to Illustrator or whatever vector based program you have. Use it as a guide to draw your vector version of the 3D render.
11) After vectorizing the 3D render you can adjust the gradients to give the shape a 3D look. You can also add some reflections for a shiny glossy style (Fig 07).
I hope you found this tutorial useful. I would love to see your results. This is my first tutorial so forgive the mistakes. Criticism/correction would be greatly appreciated. Below is another way you can go about following the same tutorial but with a different shape.
Ali Rahmoun aka “saltshaker911″ is a freelance graphic/web designer , he has worked on alot of web/graphic design projects through out the past 4 years. Rahmoun has won several awards on the web and his work has been featured on several design blogs.
For more information, you can contact Ali Rahmoun through:
DeviantArt: http://saltshaker911.deviantart.com/
E-mail: saltshaker911@gmail.com
