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A mindblowing new technique makes making the two dimensional, three dimensional as easy as 1, 2, 3.

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A new image editing method will have graphic designers cheering and weeping in equal measure. The new technique lets you take a two-dimensional image, and with as little as three strokes of the mouse, turn the image into a three dimensional object that you can spin, reshape and otherwise play with. The first two strokes mark out the object’s profile and the third marks the axis. The software then automatically determines and snaps to the outline of the object, as the object is manipulated the background is automatically filled.

The tool takes advantage of our human cognitive abilities to determine the dimensions of an object, leaving the computation of the task for the machine. It’s not a perfect system, if the shape of an object is not predictable the model fails to be realistic, but it will certainly (when it becomes available to the public) make amateur 3D designers out of us all.

Via Matt Wall

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