3D Gears

This will be a short tutorial to help get you started making 3D gears using the Star and Extrude (and optionally Brushed Metal) filters in Eye Candy. First, download the two settings from the links below. After downloading, just double click the settings to import them into Eye Candy.

For this example, I started with a canvas size of 750 X 500 pixels at 72 dpi. Choose a transparent background.

First, run the Eye Candy Textures: Super Star filter to create the initial gear shape. Select the tutorial star gear filter you imported. It will be in the custom setting pane below the factory settings.

Next, I added a metallic surface to the gear using Brushed Metal. This is an optional step. Use whatever surface look you want. You can also use the tutorial brushed metal setting you imported from the link below. Be sure to first  turn off the output in new layer option in the Basic tab. You should have something like the image below.

I then removed the center of the gear. All I did was make a circular selection using the Elliptical Marquee tool and pressed backspace (in Photoshop) to delete the center area. Hold the shift key while using the tool to draw a perfect circle.  I find it easier to center the selection using the arrow keys. I also shifted over the position of the gear to make room for the final extrusion step.

Finally, I ran the extrude filter with two different settings to demonstrate two different types of gears. Note, I copied the layer before running extrude to create two side by side gears. It is easy to experiment with the extrude tool to get the look you want.