Author Topic: drawing characters  (Read 11606 times)

bat

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drawing characters
« on: 2006-02-16, 07:14:27 PM »
blueM, how did you draw the 3D rolly guy?
~bat

durnurd

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Re: drawing characters
« Reply #1 on: 2006-02-16, 07:20:57 PM »
I can answer that.  It was rendered in 3D using a program called POV-RAY.  Modeler programs exist to define scenes in a semi-WYSIWYG environment, but some people do direct text-editing to create the scenes.  One such modeler is Moray, which is the one I use.  I believe BlueMonk uses (or used) this one also.

Older versions of POV-RAY didn't support translucency or transparency when exporting as PNG files, but now it does, so it is easier to create graphics for SGDK 2.0 now (as well as easier for 1.x, but much better support for translucent images vis-a-vis glass panes etc.)
Edward Dassmesser

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Re: drawing characters
« Reply #2 on: 2006-03-31, 07:15:55 AM »
I remember trying povray, almost 10 years ago... all text based, ack. I'm not well suited for that =] Movray makes it easier but it's still hard for me. Zbrush in an amazing tool I ran acorss thx to a short lived forum member, polaris. Its the closest thing to digital clay I know of, which is far more intuative for me. The price isn't bad but its still too much for me right now. You can't save your models with the demo but its amazing to work with non the less. I've been thinking about selling models to the poser community (renderosity.com) to recoup the purchase price. You have to bon the models with another program, however as I understand it that feature will be in the next version making it an all in compassing modeling tool.

Post goes off topic kinda but being the artistry forum I think it fits in.

bat

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Re: drawing characters
« Reply #3 on: 2006-07-28, 02:03:45 PM »
durnurd... are you blue m's bro?
~bat

durnurd

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Edward Dassmesser

bat

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Re: drawing characters
« Reply #5 on: 2006-07-28, 06:45:56 PM »
whoa!  :D
~bat

mccool

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Re: drawing characters
« Reply #6 on: 2007-04-04, 05:23:00 PM »
i just found a new 3d modeling  program called "Google Sketch Up" its eay to use, even if it isnt very complex i made a swimming pool in 60 seconds the 1st time i tried the program!
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sam

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Re: drawing characters
« Reply #7 on: 2007-04-07, 07:44:31 AM »
Google Sketch Up is just CAD software. I remember my dad downloaded it once...

Jam0864

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Re: drawing characters
« Reply #8 on: 2007-04-07, 08:02:27 AM »
I like how it is simple to use, although after a short while you crave more advanced features.  :(

SmartBoy16

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Re: drawing characters
« Reply #9 on: 2007-07-30, 01:41:15 PM »
what i've been using recently was trueSpace3.2. It's an old, free program, but it works pretty good. Rendering also goes quickly and shadows are very acurate.

I'm not sure where i got it, try google. you will need to register some where to get it. the worst it will do to you though is you will get annoying e-mails to buy their future versions for $500+ :o! but that's why they invented SPAM BLOCKERS. but hey, it's worth it for me.
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Richard Kain

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Re: drawing characters
« Reply #10 on: 2008-01-10, 04:09:38 PM »
If you are wanting to create animated 3D models to get sprites from, I'd recommend Blender. It's free, it has a crap-ton of features, and it supports high-poly modeling and animating. And on top of it all, it even has its own renderer. (although you do have the option of using a ray-trace renderer like Yafray) There are no restrictions on rendering (like there are in some trial versions of software packages) so you can go hog-wild. It will export to almost any image format, and it supports exporting alpha channels. (great for rendering sprites)

Deriving sprites from 3D models is not the best way to go about it, but it is certainly one of the fastest. Animating 3D models is much, much faster than animating 2D sprites.

v6v

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Re: drawing characters
« Reply #11 on: 2008-01-19, 02:43:38 PM »
You can use Anim8or too. If you use the prtScr key, and paste it into paint, you can get almost the same results. Or you can just export a model ino .jpg and edit it as .bmp in paint. It can make animated models too.

Jam0864

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Re: drawing characters
« Reply #12 on: 2008-01-19, 10:10:05 PM »
never ever do that.

the thing in the window is a low quality preview, you have to render it first for the full quality.

MadMath

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Re: drawing characters
« Reply #13 on: 2008-01-20, 06:43:46 PM »
I also recommend Blender if you want 3d looking sprites. And it is also great for quickly making large animations (large as in many frames). I have a friend who is working on a game and is making all of his sprites with Blender. I personally am going for more of a 2d look which Blender isn't that great for.

Richard Kain

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Re: drawing characters
« Reply #14 on: 2008-01-22, 02:29:34 PM »
I personally am going for more of a 2d look which Blender isn't that great for.

Yes, this is very true. If you want a traditional 2D illustrated sprite look, Blender, and 3D in general, is the wrong way to go. No matter how much you tweak 3D models, they will always have a bit of the "Donkey Kong Country" look to them when you make them into sprites. Some clever work with ramped shaders and outlines might help, but there will still be a disconnect. For the illustrative sprite look, there are no shortcuts, and you're just going to have to draw the buggers out.

Using 3D models for your sprites is for designers with less traditional art backgrounds, or who simply can't afford to draw all their sprites. The biggest advantage of 3D sourcing is the animation efficiency.