Creating/rendering in 3D for 2D sprites and backgrounds?
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!
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!
Replies
you can just click the commonly used perspectives for them spritegames
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:
http://www.envygames.com/content/?page_id=65
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).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_games_with_isometric_graphics
Make sure to use an orthographic camera if you are going for this.