Creating/rendering in 3D for 2D sprites and backgrounds?

Eneyeseekay

So that's basically the question.

I took a peek at the threads and didn't find this question

Can anybody share some known/good methods of doing this? I keep thinking back to those Rare games for SNES. The Donkey Kong Country series and Killer Instinct are prime examples and the most inspiring to me. I was thinking of creating some 2D sprites rendered with modern 3D software, bang out some walk/whatever cycles, and doing some static, pre-rendered panoramic backgrounds for the would-be sprite(s) to move through. Just fairly basic stuff.

Thought I'd ask if anyone here is experienced in making anything like that, and if so, any tips or suggestions? Thanks in advance to anyone who can help!

arrangemonk

in 3dsmax the view cube is pretty helpful for that,
you can just click the commonly used perspectives for them spritegames

renderhjs

The question is extremely vague and has hardly any direction, please specify.


Some resources:

a buddy of me wrote this:
http://www.scriptspot.com/3ds-max/scripts/sprite-render-script

It does already many things that people often need for 2d sprites. You can also render for example normal maps, height maps and alike and mix them within the engine with some shaders or filters;

Some net tutorial found via google:
http://www.codedojo.com/?p=18


GlueIt is another great tool to stitch sprites into a spritesheet together while preserving PNG transparency:
http://sysimage.250free.com/


In max if you don't want the aliased matte borders, check in the preferences under the render tab for the 'dont anti alias against background' option:

Vrav

The max script looks cool! I'm working on a game that uses rendered sprites with a friend and told him I'd like to make something like that for Blender, which I assume is possible via Python, and would be very useful. Might still try to do that myself, though in our discussion he linked me to this program, which looks convenient (if $50):

http://www.envygames.com/content/?page_id=65

Eneyeseekay

renderhjs - Sorry if the question is a little vague. I was just looking for some modern/proven methods of creating 2D sprites from 3D art/animations. On the plus side, you've been a great help so far. I haven't used max yet (I'm new and have only used Maya), but the glueit program seems like something I could use at the moment. I'll have a look at the maya preferences to see if there's anything in there that resembles the non-aliasiang option. Thanks so much for the info you've been a great help!

Vrav - Thanks for the link, I'll keep it handy, seems worth the $50.00 as far as I can tell.

arrangemonk - I've only used Maya, but I know (2009 I think they added it) Maya 2009 has a "viewcube" that allows you to click on different angles while in the perpective pane. From the sounds of it they might actually be the same thing. Thanks a lot, that should help getting the angles to stay consistent (I guess camera bookmarks can work too).

kodde

This might be of interest if you are going for an "isometric" look.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_games_with_isometric_graphics

Make sure to use an orthographic camera if you are going for this.