How to create 3D abstract circles in Photoshop CS4

This is the first of a new series of tutorials about Photoshop CS4 and its new features.
We will create abstract circles in real 3D. To complete this tutorial you need Photoshop CS4 (…), a good graphic card and 5 minutes.
The effect i want to recreate is the typical style of James White but in “3D mode” and in a quickest way.

The ball created in that tutorial is amazing but has two disadvantages:

1) You have to complete 15 steps to obtain a good result and you have to change a lot of blending modes.
2) The final image is flat. A normal 2D layer.

With my tutorial you’ll be able to achieve the same effect but in 5 steps, without playing with the blending options and the result will be a REAL 3D layer.

So…we can start.