First of all, 3D inside of Illustrator is actual 3D rendering so it can sometimes be a little processor intensive depending on how complex your artwork is. The performance in Illustrator CS3 has been greatly enhanced, so you probably will not run into any problems. Also, if you're using a computer with multiple processors, the 3D inside of Illustrator will recognize that and speed things up even more.

There are two types of extrude effects in Illustrator:

•3D Extrude

•3D Revolve

 In this tutorial, we're going to cover the 3D Extrude Effect.

1) Create some text

  

2) Select Effect from the Menu Toolbar>3D>Extrude & Bevel...

                            

This dialogue box that pops up is essentially an entire 3D application squeezed into that box. When you open the dialogue box for the first time, you can select Fewer Options to turn on/off some options.

                                  

3) Check the “Preview” box to make your text 3D. By clicking and dragging on the cube, you can adjust how the text sits in 3D space. You can also adjust the extrude slider to add more depth to the 3D text. By holding the Shift key while adjusting the slider, you are able to see the extrusions in real-time.      

By moving the mouse over certain edges, they are highlighted with certain colors. Those colors actually correspond to the values to the right. Objects in 3D space have a X, Y, and Z axis. Each axis is represented by that color and value, so when you're adjusting you can actually only adjust a certain axis by highlighting that color or typing in a value.

          

You can also select options from the Position drop-down menu to preset views of that particular object. Off-Axis front is the default view.

                             

When you have your text in the desired position, you may also want to play with the Bevel options. The Bevel determines how the artwork gets extruded. If you were to mentally make the text 3D, you would duplicate the layer of text, move it back and to the side, and then connect the two layers with straight lines. Well, if you think about it this way, the Bevel lets you determine how whether those connecting lines are straight or something else.

               

Fox example, if I choose “classic,”  it looks like I have more of a chiseled edge rather than having a straight line coming from the front to the back. You can also adjust the height to a smaller pt size to get a smaller chisel.

                

            

4) Click Okay, and go back to your canvas.

Because this was applied as a live effect, it now appears in your appearance pallet, and can be editing by double-clicking. To remove the 3D effect, just drag the effect to the trashcan.

                                   

5) Apply a stroke to the 3D text.

When you apply a stroke to a 3D extruded object, the extrusion area becomes the color of that stroke.

                 

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While we're here, lets take a look at the shading options:

• Select the Rectangle tool and click on the canvas once to define the size. Set the width and height both to 2 in.
• apply 3D Extrude & Bevel
• Click on Preview button.
•  Since we have the ability to specify an exact extrude depth, we'll make this a perfect cube and set the dept to 2 in as well.
• By clicking on More Options, the shading options become visible.

The little square  over the sphere represents a light that is actually shining over the object to give it move “3D-ness.” The light is lighting the front of the object and some of the top and sides. By adjusting the light and moving it to opposite side, the lighted area and shadow area are switched. Also, by holding the SHIFT key down as you drag, you see the changes in realtime.

               

Illustrator also lets you apply multiple lights so you can light the object from more than one side.

                                 

It's also important to know that when you do apply shading within Illustrator, Illustrator uses blends to create that shading. You can specify the number of steps as well, but if you go to Object>Expand Appearance, you will see that you are left with objects that are not left with gradients but blends to shade. This will lead to larger file sizes and many objects when bringing your object into Flash or another program.

     

6) To avoid large file sizes, select no shading from the shading drop down.

                                        

7) Go to Object>Expand Appearance and you can fill the object sides with gradients. These gradients are also maintained with brought into Flash and that way your file size will stay rather small.

8) If all of your object's sides do not show when you go to move pieces around, switch your “no shading” value to “plastic shading” in the shading options drop down. Check “Draw Hidden Faces” and you should be good to go!