Get Cineware for Illustrator and six free TurboSquid models
Maxon has released Cineware for Illustrator, a new free plugin that lets artists edit 3D objects inside Adobe Illustrator CC. The software, which is aimed at product visualisation, will be on show at Adobe MAX 2017.
The company has also partnered with online marketplace TurboSquid to curate a set of stock 3D product models for use with Cineware for Illustrator, six of them available to download for free.
Manipulate and render 3D models directly within Illustrator, using the Cinema 4D’s core engine
Like the Cineware bridge built into After Effects, Cineware for Illustrator provides users with a toolset based on the same core technology as Cinema 4D, Maxon’s 3D modelling and animation software.
With it, users can import and position 3D objects, change their visibility and simple materials and lighting properties, then generate renders with automatic alpha maps, all directly within After Effects.
The plugin is geared to graphic design work, particularly packaging design, so it’s a fairly simplified version of the full Cinema 4D toolset: the online documentation fits comfortably into four web pages.
Suggested use cases including rendering 3D logos, using 3D elements as perspective guides when creating 2D artwork, and applying vector images created inside Illustrator to 3D product mockups.
To help with the latter, Maxon has teamed up with online marketplace TurboSquid to curate a collection of readymade 3D assets including cans, boxes, bottles, cartons, DVDs, phones and laptops.
Most are commercial, but six – a book, a T-shirt, a cap, two boxes and a chart – can be downloaded free.
Pricing and availability
Cineware for Illustrator is free: to download it, you will need to register on Maxon’s website first.
Maxon recommends that you use the plugin with Illustrator CC 2017, running on Windows 10 or Mac OS X, but comments on YouTube suggest that it works with CC 2015+.
Download Cineware for Illustrator from Maxon’s website
Download six free accompanying 3D product and packaging models from TurboSquid