Move from 2D work to 3D design with Adobe's Project Neo

Project Neo is an intriguing new initiative from Adobe that could act as one of the first truly effective bridges between 2D apps and 3D design.

We've written about Project Neo before. It was one of the many highlights of Adobe's Adobe MAX conference in Florida in October last year, and at the just concluded Adobe MAX Japan Adobe said it was off the drawing board and into beta.

Essentially, Project Neo makes it easy to add dimensions and depth to designs, aiming to allow artists trained on 2D tools to move into 3D without having to relearn how to make the wheel. Adobe says it eliminates the need for manual calculations and empowers them to create and edit 3D, volumetric designs with flexibility, control, and precision — all without requiring any technical expertise in 3D creation tools.

What's this going to be good for? Brand and marketing graphics, icons, isometric illustrations and even 3D pixel art. Artists can now bring dimensional, geometric artwork from different perspectives into 2D designs using a familiar, intuitive web-based interface built for graphic designers and integrated into existing workflows.

3D typography can also be incorporated as Project Neo now includes access to over 30,000 fonts from the Adobe Font Library. And, of course, there's an AI angle to it too as Project Neo also allows designers to take control over the layout of images using Adobe’s new Scene to Image technology.

With the move to the public beta, the software has also added the ability to import 2D SVG files, so artists can easily work directly with Illustrator. This could be rather handy. Vector curves from Illustrator can be imported into Project Neo to be extruded or extended to a third dimension to create a 3D object, while artwork created in Project Neo can be opened in Illustrator as an editable vector file.

"For example, you could import an SVG logo from Illustrator to Project Neo to finalize the asset," writes Adobe. "Or you could create a wide variety of volumetric designs in Project Neo as options for a client’s brand identity and then bring them to Illustrator to refine them, so they can be used on signage, websites, apparel, and more."

You can find out more at projectneo.adobe.com. Just log in with an Adobe ID.

tl;dr

• Project Neo is a new Adobe initiative that bridges 2D design with 3D creation, moving from concept to beta after its debut at Adobe MAX last year.
• It allows artists to create and edit 3D designs easily, eliminating the need for technical expertise and manual calculations, thus facilitating a smooth transition for those familiar with 2D tools.  
• The platform supports brand graphics, isometric illustrations, and 3D typography, with access to over 30,000 fonts and integration of Adobe's Scene to Image technology for enhanced layouts.
• Artists can import 2D SVG files from Illustrator for 3D manipulations and bring volumetric designs back into Illustrator as editable vector files, streamlining the design process.