What I see as the main benefit of using it as a Photoshop plugin is being able to easily use Photoshop to do your masking work, instead of using F3D's masking tools. You have the full suite of Photoshop editing tools to do the work.
It is also handy to be able to stack all of your images in one document and work n the m all at once, and to bring the 3D model with image map back to Photoshop for easy editing of the map/
In short, since Foto3D is based upon images, it is handy to start and end in photoshop, since it is the superior image editor.
Any idea on release/shipping date of 3d[in] apps? We spotted it on the Strata website a couple weeks ago thinking we could incorporate it into a project we are working on -- however, we were told it wasn't available yet.
We are announcing that the plug-ins will officially ship on Monday, July 23rd.
Just a heads up - if you're a CX 5.x user you can get the next upgrade to CX for free if you purchase the Design 3D[in] plug-in. These plug-in features will be incorporated in that next upgrade. Also - if you purchase before we ship (you only have this weekend) you save $50 on Design 3D[in] - or save $150 if you buy all three.