REVIEW
Electric Image Amorphium Pro 1.1
3D modeling, painting and animation software
I've mentioned before that for designers, particularly those who work in Flash, skill with 3D is rapidly becoming a prerequisite. Last year, the only tool on the market for bringing 3D content into the Flash format was Swift3D from Electric Rain. Now, however, it seems that every 3D publisher wants a piece of the Web, and they're all either offering Flash expansion modules or are developing export options for SWF animation.

As a subset of these publishers, there are those who are not just expanding existing applications to make them useable on the Web but are actually tailoring them for use by those whose skills tend more toward 2D design—print and the Web—but who are beginning to need 3D for things like spinning logos, flythroughs and character animation.

Enter Amorphium Pro from Electric Image.

VIDEO TUTORIAL
Video Tutorial: Dodge & Burn in Adobe Photoshop
If Photoshop's Toolbox were a "real" tool box, there are two tools that would probably be buried at the bottom of the box for many users: the Dodge and Burn tools. In this lesson from Total Photoshop 6, Deke McClelland gives a striking demonstration of these often neglected tools. Starting with an image of an approaching tornado, Deke uses Dodge and Burn to bring out details in dark areas of the image, and to heighten the dramatic effect of the overall scene. After watching this clip, we suspect these two tools will be promoted to the top of your toolbox!