3D environment doesn't work on my 2012 MacPro

[LeonardOfQuirm]

I'm trying to open the 3D environment in Photoshop, but all it does is load (the bottle, in this case for testing).  I get no view in the auxiliary window, can't swap views and as soon as I try to manipulate the main window, the image breaks up into 4 or 5 different shapes seemingly unrelated to the bottle and becomes totally non-responsive.

Running PS 22.4.3 on  Mid 2012 MacPro5,1 with a 6-Core Intel Xeon Processor, Processor Speed: 3.33 GHz and 16 GB RAM running MacOS Mojave 10.14.6 and a Radeon RX 580 8 GB video card with a Cintiq 21UX Graphics Tablet. Yeah, it's old, but is this a hardware or video card problem?

This feature works on my old 2010 laptop with an older version of Photoshop and also on a PC with the latest version of Photoshop.

[Grant H]

Hi, its the hardware of MAC that does not like modern software, if that makes sense. I have seen this issue mith my macs for years. Older macs cannot even update to the latest operating system in a lot of cases. I myself and seriously considering switching to PC because of the CONSTANT hardware dating.

try toggle the "deactivate native canvas" in the preferences panel, see if that helps.

/G

[davescm · Accepted solution]

The issue is not Mac specific.

Adobe are updating the core graphics functions in Photoshop. This is driven by the operating systems of Apple and Microsoft in which the old Open GL/CL functions are being removed in the case of Apple, or deprecated in the case of Microsoft. This means that the graphics functions that have worked for years must be rewritten to use Metal and Direct X. At the same time, Adobe are sensibly updating those core functions to deliver the additional speed we require to handle the very large files of today.

Some functionality in Photoshop, such as 3D, still relies on the older Open GL graphics functions. To make these work, an additional preference Preferences>Technology previews>Deactivate Native Canvas has been added. This can be checked and Photoshop restarted to restore 3D and othe OpenGL functions to where they were in 22.3

Dave