Quick Tip: How to Use 3D Revolve to Make Sports Balls in Adobe Illustrator

Quick Tip: How to Use 3D Revolve to Make Sports Balls in Adobe Illustrator

on Nov 24th 2010 with 19 comments
Tutorial Details
  • Difficulty: Intermediate
  • Program: Illustrator CS4
  • Length: 4:10 min

Creating a sphere is super easy with Illustrator’s 3D Revolve effect. Understanding how artwork is mapped to a 3D object will allow you to create a variety of items for different sports.

Tags: Tips
 
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Cheryl Graham trained as a traditional artist in drawing and painting. These days she spends more time in front of the computer than the easel. She's been using Adobe Illustrator for over 15 years. Her Illustrator work has been featured in the "The Adobe Illustrator WOW! Book" and "Real World Illustrator."  

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  • 7

    I LOVE video tutorials!….

    Wait, no I don’t.

  • http://kishkoosh.com Ron

    Great tips, Cheryl.

  • http://www.darkhousemedia.com Adam Jackett

    I didn’t realize how easy it was to map spheres, especially the tennis ball, basketball, etc. Thanks for this.

    Also, contrary to the first comment, I do like video tutorials, especially nice and quick ones where you aren’t over-explaining everything. Thanks again.

  • w1sh

    Awesome tutorial Cheryl! “Map Art” opens up a world of possibilities I never thought of.

    Very well delivered too. Thanks so much for this. :)

  • http://iamscotty.com/ scotty

    Awesome tip:)

    I need to make some balls and this has saved me plenty of time.

  • http://www.chewedkandi.net Sharon Milne

    Great tutorial Cheryl, as per!

    I think this tip has so many uses.

  • Iaroslav Lazunov

    Tennis ball and basketball is a great idea! Thanks, Cheryl. And here is my collection of balls, which are created without the 3D effect http://vector.tutsplus.com/freebies/exclusive-freebie-pack-shiny-vector-sports-balls/

  • http://lichtzeichenanlage.blogspot.com/ lichtzeichenanlage

    Nice – I like it very much!

  • http://www.designioustimes.com Doink

    I’ve experimented a bit with the 3D tool applied on a circle and i shifted the rotation axis to obtain a torus. You can obtain some really cool results if you apply different shapes as map art on it :)

  • http://www.serbancosmin.com serban

    Really nice tips. Thanks for the screen-cast!

  • Ondray

    Cheers love, that’s well cool!

  • Jeff

    I didn’t realize it was that easy… Great tip!

  • http://was33m.daportfolio.com Waseem

    loved it, video tuts are just awesome

  • Rob

    Short and sweet, but very helpful.

  • rizalmovic

    nice tips… is it possible to adding some textures and bump on the ball? anyway, thx for the tips..

  • Adam

    Super simple and creates an awesome effect!

  • http://www.e11world.com e11world

    You made it seem so easy and I actually need to start using the map art more often for this stuff. Well done! Love the short and very useful video tutorial.

    • http://www.e11world.com e11world

      I would love to know how you can create a soccer ball with this technique. I will experiment!

  • wash

    very useful tutorial, thank you very much