Some designers stick to one specific graphic program working with it's limitations and when it comes to create something more advanced like a 3d looking image in 2d graphic application, they bite nails wondering how to make it.

The solution is mixing capabilities of a few programs. We have so many great 2d and 3d graphic
applications so why not to get the most from each of them and drop on one project?

Mixing 2d and 3d graphics can bring really outstanding effects to your artwork that will make viewers feelamazed and wondering how the image was done.

The nature of 3d programs is their ability to render realistic looking 3d scenes along
with lights and natural shadows.
2d programs like Photoshop for example are great for adjusting colors and giving final touches
to the still images in order to increase their visual appearance.

You can take the capabilities of both to your advantage.

Just use your favorite 3d graphic software and render a simple scene with a few lights
and shadows to the still image format. Open it in 2d graphic program and drop for instance a cut silhouette of yourself on the background. A Few color adjustments and you get ready to go with the image.

Using 2d graphic programs you can easily add fast and nicely looking effects to the 3d renderings such as:
textures, color changes, contrast or additional lighting that could take hours to get rendered in 3d application.

Summarizing 2d and 3d graphic applications can be powerful weapon in hands of designer. When capabilities of both are mixed the right way, the results may be amazing and imagination only a limit.

Example:

Open your favorite 3D graphic application.
In my case that's Blender a free and powerful 3D graphic program.

I added an extruded text using a text tool and extrude object tool.
This way I got a nice and simple 3D text object dropped on a plane (which serves as a floor).


Now it's time to render the picture.
If you're not happy with results you can always rearrange objects on the scene the way you want and ajdust the light to fit it better.
It takes some testing before getting good results.



I opened the rendered scene and photograph in Photoshop. Next I cut silhouette off the background of the photograph using polygonal lasso tool.
I pasted silhouette onto the rendered background and adjusted it's position.


Now it's time for a brush play:)
I created new layer and set the blending mode to OVERLAY and painted some colors overlayed on the numbers using simple brush.



After all I erased excessive parts of the color. Next I painted cracks using crack brushes set to give to the numbers an old stone feel.
Final touches like contrast increase a few more brushes here and there, erasing some parts of brushed colors along the edges in unwanted areas and design comes up like this:




Have a fun mixing 2D and 3D :)