If there is one aspect to criticize in most 3D design programs, it is their complexity of use. After all, they were not developed with the general consumer in mind, but with professionals who spend hours in front of their interfaces editing every last detail. The new Project Felix from Adobe wants to end that idea and present a program capable of creating 3D objects in very few steps, using artificial intelligence to assist the user.
“Learn AutoCAD in 48 hours and hand in two projects done there,” my technical drawing teacher told me. Of course, it was a trap. At just 16 years old and with a great desire to start my vacation, that subject went up in smoke. But that trap is not limited to high school teenagers looking for an easy shortcut. Thousands of people out there have legitimate reasons to learn drawing or computer design, and the most important programs on the market, well… let's say they don't think about beginners. Besides being prohibitively expensive, their learning curve shows no mercy. In the case of 3D, the situation is even more complex, because if we want to get the most out of a 3D printer, having a design foundation is ideal. The people at Adobe believe they have the answer to close that gap with Project Felix. Could it be?
Whether on a Mac or a Windows computer, the promise of Project Felix is that anyone can work with 3D models very easily, without advanced knowledge. Need a 3D bottle? Take one from the catalog, change the type of material, the liquid inside, and even the color of the cap in a couple of clicks, without having to deal with measurements, polygons, textures, or coordinates. How does Adobe manage to leave all those details in the background? Two words: Artificial intelligence. The monster that chews code under Felix's interface calculates precisely how light should reflect on an object, what kind of position it needs to occupy in relation to its background, and what the final look of the work would be (that is, before rendering) thanks to a small real-time preview window.
For now, let's call Project Felix a “prototype” or a “proof of concept.” It still needs optimizations in many aspects, starting with its links to Photoshop and Illustrator, GPU rendering, and the creation of abstract objects. Now, something tells me Project Felix will be part of the Creative Cloud like the rest of the tools, but if Adobe really manages to reduce the difficulty associated with 3D design and modeling without sacrificing robustness, it will make a lot of noise.
For more details, see the official announcement.
