Jungle 3D contains the same plants as Jungle 2D. It's the design of the nozzles, tubes and lists that differs. The simplest description is that Jungle 2D uses automatic shadow and shading effects whereas Jungle 3D doesn't. It's more involved than that, however.

Jungle 2D,

Jungle 2D tubes and nozzles were originally designed for application in 2D, flat surface environments where close up detail is frequently involved. The nozzles employ shadows, shading and other designs that allow these nozzles to render with dimensional or spatial qualities that are otherwise labor intensive and difficult to create using traditional techniques. The flower image shows how the shading works to separate the flowers.

These shading effects are impractical when painting textures for 3D models or trees on a horizon. For example, the shadows beneath the bamboo example would have to be erased before the image could be used as a texture. Moreover, most trees and textures depict small foliage clusters. While it's easy to remove shadows from the edge of large leaves and flowers, erasing them from small leaf clusters is daunting.

As a product, Jungle 2D also contains assorted paper textures, tiling patterns, captured brushes and floater libraries. These additions offer useful additions to traditional 2D graphics, web and print applications not found in Jungle 3D.

Jungle 3D,

Jungle 3D is a hybrid version of Jungle 2D. It uses specialized "Texture" nozzles, tube or lists designed to paint with dimensional looking foliage clusters. These Texture nozzles differ Jungle 2D. They paint smaller and the leaves and grasses that are pre-assembled in cluster formations. Moreover, there are no shadows to erase.

Jungle 3D doesn't use drop shadows so plants silhouette nicely in textures, or as objects against a background sky. They're ideal for trees. The down side is that you have to control shading manually, as a part of the painting process. Nevertheless, because Jungle 3D paints with small, dimensional clusters, precise shading is less critical and easier to handle.

As a product, Jungle 3D contains bark texture brushes, assorted branch and limb nozzles and shadow brushes. These brushes and branch nozzles enhance the creation of realistic trees and tree structures, a common need for 3D artists.

Jungle 3D also comes with Shadowless "Mastering" nozzles. These are the same nozzles and tubes we used to create the smaller Texture Libraries. We include them because they let you create custom mapping nozzles of your own. That let's the product grow with you.

Which one is right for me?

In many ways the two products are complimentary. Many of the 3D nozzles and brushes have equal value as 2D paint tools. For example, Jungle 3D compliments Jungle 2D because it paints trees you can silhouette against a sky without having to erase an intricate shadow from one of the edges.

Jungle 2D uses shading and shadows that automatically create highly dimensional environments when illustrating larger, close up objects. Those same shadows sometimes need to be erased from the edge when a tree or leaf is silhouetted against a sky, but that's much easier to accomplish when the leaf or flower is large. Without them, you have to control shading yourself and that can take as long as erasing unwanted shadows.

Conclusion,

Each product has its respective strengths and weaknesses. In effect, one does what the other doesn't. Whereas Jungle 2D paints with sophisticated, dimensional shading automatically, Jungle 3D defines the crisp edges necessary for effective trees and foliage textures.

Jungle 2D and Jungle 3D are really a matched set. That's why we now offer them together at a $30 savings. Keeping them separate allows artists working on a tight budget to purchase only what they need.