3D Sphere PRO

3D Sphere PRO is an Adobe Photoshop plug-in that allows you to generate three-dimensional spheres and offers a complex set of tools for managing lighting, procedural mapping and more. It supports multi-threaded rendering, which can be very useful when working with high-resolution objects.
However, despite including a broad range of functions, the plug-in features a rather outdated and cluttered user interface.

Select mapping mode and customize lighting

When creating a sphere, you can use the image loaded into Photoshop for the object's texture and the plug-in also includes numerous procedural maps.
You can modify the intensity of the texture map, the number of tiles to be used for gradients, the position of the center line for two-color stripe patterns or the brightness of the background map.
Additionally, you can change the texture's horizontal and vertical scale or rotation, as well as flip it or create a tiled pattern.
3D Sphere PRO also allows you to determine the size and intensity of the specular hotspot, should you want the sphere to have a more glossy appearance.

Customize geometric properties

Various settings can be altered, to change the size, shape and position of the generated sphere. You can modify its radius, as well as horizontal and vertical placement.
Moreover, the object's ellipticity can be customized, stretching the sphere vertically or horizontally. Also, the plug-in includes modifiers that flatten the object or give it a cone-like appearance.
Any modifications can be viewed in real-time, as the plug-in displays a low-resolution version of the finalized object in the main window.

Unimpressive interface

3D Sphere PRO is relatively straightforward to work with, but its interface leaves a lot to be desired. Aside from being out-of-date, its menus and buttons are rather cluttered, and the main window cannot be resized or minimized.
All in all, this is a useful Photoshop plug-in that allows you to generate three-dimensional spheres and offers a broad range of editing tools. It is easy-to-use but features an outdated interface.