The term “3D” gets thrown around a lot, and this can be really confusing because it has multiple meanings.

When you go to a “3D” movie and put on special glasses, you are watching a movie that has been created to give the sensation that you are actually IN the movie to some degree. The “3D” in this case refers to the fact that the movie appears to pop out of the screen.

When people use terms like “3D animation” or, in the case of Brandflow, “3D product photo and video,” this refers to the process of using special 3D software to create images and videos. Regular art programs like Photoshop are limited to working on a flat, two-dimensional workspace, just like a painting on a canvas. A talented artist can use perspective (near objects appear larger, far objects appear smaller) to give the illusion of depth, but it remains a flat work of art.

In 3D software, the process is very different. Rather than “drawing” pictures, you create whole objects just like an industrial designer would do in a CAD program. You then arrange these whole objects in a virtual 3D space provided by the software. Virtual lights are added to illuminate the objects, a virtual camera is added to frame the shot, and the software outputs the result as a standard image or video.

So let’s put this into context. Brandflow takes a physical sample of your product, and we use digital calipers to take careful measurements. We use these measurements to recreate your product within the 3D software. We then take your product label artwork and apply it to this 3D model. One key advantage of this process is that artistic license can be taken to create an idealized, more polished, refined product for closeup photography work.