At this point, we’re used to AI-powered image tools that instantly pull off previously high-effort edits, like filling in the missing bits of a scene or erasing unwanted parts of a photo without affecting the background. But a new Adobe Illustrator tool demonstrated at this week’s Adobe MAX conference takes 2D image editing things in a literal different direction, letting artists instantly transform 2D vector images into 3D models that can be rotated around the axis of the screen itself.
“Project Turntable” is currently just a tightly controlled demo, part of a set of “Sneaks” that aren’t ready to roll out to the public just yet. But even the short early demo shown on stage has some intriguing time-saving implications for working 2D artists.
You spin me right round
In a quick five-minute stage presentation at the MAX conference, Adobe researcher Zhiqin Chen starts with a 2D, vectorized Illustrator scene of a warrior fighting a dragon. The warrior is staring directly out of the screen, though, and turning him to face the dragon on his left would usually require “redraw[ing] the entire shape, which is going to take a lot of time,” as Chen points out.