8 Replies Latest reply on Feb 4, 2015 4:09 PM by Chris Cox

Photoshop CC can't seem to handle complex/high poly count 3D Models. Will this be addressed?

rr55950286 Jan 28, 2015 12:10 PM

Hello all,

I am running Photoshop CC on 3 systems and having the relatively same problems on all. The source files are exported from ZBrush- .stl or .obj files that are complex and have high poly counts. The file sizes are into the hundreds of megabytes. These are not the simple files like they show when people are using the 3D features- a racecar or simple toy rocket.

Photoshop CC doesn't seem to be able to open all the files and even when it does, the structures facings or facets don't always appear correct. I've developed a partial workaround, by merging the objects and reducing the poly count (which creates a new set of problems).

If I do get a file open, my ultimate goal is to be able to color it, add light it and render it for 2d print purposes. Again Photoshop seems to be picky- When I apply color via the airbrush tool, it usually isn't smooth. It seems to apply color by facet or facing. Same thing when I try to manually add in texture from another source file. It appears to make the detail jagged and blurry from the source file.

The appeal of using Photoshop for this process is we have people here who can do it without too much of a learning curve. Otherwise everyone else has to learn ZBrush just to color and light the models.

I've pretty much done all the troubleshooting I can and exhausted all the tools at hand. I have tried both texture painting and projections painting and all the other options. I believe the meshes are just too complicated. And if there is something incorrect in the file, such as a reversed normal, Photoshop doesn't seem to know how to deal with it. My systems have more than enough to handle the files.

Does anyone have any similar issues and is Adobe working on them in the form of a new release?

Thanks!

1. Re: Photoshop CC can't seem to handle complex/high poly count 3D Models. Will this be addressed?

JJMack Jan 28, 2015 7:31 PM (in response to rr55950286)

Only Adobe can answer those question. This is an Adobe Photoshop User forum user here do no work for Adobe though some Adobe employee drop in here from time to time. They would most likely not be at liberty to divulge information like that here.
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2. Re: Photoshop CC can't seem to handle complex/high poly count 3D Models. Will this be addressed?

Chris Cox Jan 30, 2015 4:23 PM (in response to rr55950286)

That depends a lot on what you mean by "high poly count".
We have people using 10 million polygon models without too many problems (assuming their GPU is up to it).
Beyond 10 mil polygons, yes, Photoshop is a bit slow and we're trying to improve it.

If Photoshop can't open the files - then we need to get a copy of the files to see why.
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3. Re: Photoshop CC can't seem to handle complex/high poly count 3D Models. Will this be addressed?

Silkrooster Jan 30, 2015 4:28 PM (in response to rr55950286)

How much ram do you have? What video do you have and how much ram is on that card? Are you a mac or windows user? What version is your operating system?
These all can play a role on how well Photoshop or any other 3d app performs when accessing a 3d model and when rendering.
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4. Re: Photoshop CC can't seem to handle complex/high poly count 3D Models. Will this be addressed?

rr55950286 Feb 1, 2015 1:44 PM (in response to Silkrooster)

Hi Everyone. Thank you for writing back. I have two 2011 imacs running intel 2.93 ghz, one with 20gb or ram and one with 16gb, both have 1tb hard drives, 1gb vram, one running os 10.6 the other 10.9. I have a 3rd computer, a PC that notably handles the files more quickly, but still crashes if it doesn't like something from the original 3d model. This one has a 3.7ghz intel quadcore processor, 24gb of ram, 3tb hard drive, and a 4gb nvidia geforce video card, running Windows 8.1.

So the reason I make the statement about Photoshop and not about my computers, is that all the above computers can handle the original files in zbrush. All the above computers can handle the files in meshlab. With ease. But when I get to photoshop, I face long load times, crashing, and a lag using the tools within the 3d space. And sometimes it handles the models differently than it does in any other 3d program. It seems picky for lack of a better word.

When I say high poly count, I mean 4 million to 8 million. I am able to knock down the poly count in meshlab and that can help. But sometimes the files just don't want to open in Photoshop.

With all that said, it may be in something how some of the models were built, but again, Photoshop is the only one having an issue. And I have to add that I have been using Photoshop for 20 years and I absolutely love it. I am trying to make a case for my company to use it for coloring, lighting, and processing 3d models, but I just can't with the above issues.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Chris, if you need files, I can see about getting them to you. The only real issue is the work is highly proprietary and kept under wraps. So I would need to get approval and feel comfortable that is will be protected. Thanks!
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5. Re: Photoshop CC can't seem to handle complex/high poly count 3D Models. Will this be addressed?

Silkrooster Feb 1, 2015 1:53 PM (in response to rr55950286)

Thing is you can't really judge other apps against zbrush as zbrush was designed from the ground up to handle millions of polygons. Some of the high end 3d apps are just getting that ability.
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6. Re: Photoshop CC can't seem to handle complex/high poly count 3D Models. Will this be addressed?

Chris Cox Feb 2, 2015 1:00 PM (in response to rr55950286)

We handle proprietary files all the time. We use them to debug and verify fixes, then dispose of them as requested - but we do need a copy of the files to debug against.
ccox (at) adobe (dot) com
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7. Re: Photoshop CC can't seem to handle complex/high poly count 3D Models. Will this be addressed?

rr55950286 Feb 4, 2015 6:40 AM (in response to Chris Cox)

Chris, what is the best way to get you a couple of files? I believe they're a few hundred mb each. Thank you.
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8. Re: Photoshop CC can't seem to handle complex/high poly count 3D Models. Will this be addressed?

Chris Cox Feb 4, 2015 4:09 PM (in response to rr55950286)

Dropbox, Creative Cloud file sharing, etc.
(and zip them before copying them -- many will compress a bit)
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Photoshop CC can't seem to handle complex/high poly count 3D Models. Will this be addressed?

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