Models -> directional sprites - methods

CheapAlert

It's probably not the best way, but this is how I do it.



I split my viewports, try to give each one an equal zoom level and angle each view appropriately to the directions i want to capture. I take a screenshot of the screen, copy and paste each view with a turqoise background, convert to the game's pallete (if 8-bit color is absolutely necessary), and then go to the next animation frame and repeat until all sprites are finished and animated.

I currently have no problem with this way and i'm fine, just curious on how you guys would go about getting cgi models into directional sprites (ala DOOM, Duke, etc)

Disclaimer: the model seen here is out of date, so no critique on the mesh please. It's only provided as an example (I have no intentions on making fb's head a sprite )

KDR_11k

Well, I'd save time and rotate my cam around the model, render to animation as a sequence of TGAs.

MoP

I'd set up 8 equidistant cameras at 45 degree angles around the model, and just render each set of anims from each of those cameras, with antialiasing turned off, at low resolution. Probably have a low FoV on the cameras too so the perspective doesn't appear too forced. Although I wouldn't do orthographic, that'd look odd.
Set environment colour to 255,0,255 or whatever for transparency. Render. Could set up a Video Post thing to combine all the frames and save out. Although I've never felt the need for rendering out 3d models to sprites.

Eric Chadwick

Here's a thread from the old forum that I had stashed away.
http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~polycount/ubb/Forum8/HTML/002224.html
Pictures are dead, but there was a lot of good advice in it.

hawken

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Well, I'd save time and rotate my cam around the model, render to animation as a sequence of TGAs.

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this seems to be the simple way, why not do it like that?

(BTW I think pure PINK is the accepted standard for transparent, at least thats what I use when doing sprites for interactive tv and tile maps)

KDR_11k

Blender can output images with an alpha channel, you can probably tell your program to convert those alpha=0 areas to the transparency color.

CheapAlert

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Well, I'd save time and rotate my cam around the model, render to animation as a sequence of TGAs.

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this seems to be the simple way, why not do it like that?


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Because the sprite will look wobbily if the camera angles aren't exactly the way they were before, could cause alotta problems with the quarter-angles.

MoP

Does Blender not have a camera you can key-frame, or make multiple cameras and select them?

hawken

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Well, I'd save time and rotate my cam around the model, render to animation as a sequence of TGAs.

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this seems to be the simple way, why not do it like that?


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Because the sprite will look wobbily if the camera angles aren't exactly the way they were before, could cause alotta problems with the quarter-angles.

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circular spline, align camera to spline