[Updated] Creating Animated Sprite Sheets from 3D Models

Creating Animated Sprite Sheets from 3D Models

Rather than Spam the forums with an update blog... See the new images posted with the comments below. Now featuring new alpha correction and anti-aliasing enabled.

Here's a little side project that I put together over the holiday break, while Torque X 3.0 is in testing. SpriteWorks is a flexible application that takes 3D models in .X, .FBX, .XSI, and of course .DTS and turns them into 2D sprite textures. This can be used to produce very realistic sprites from well lit and normal mapped 3D models. You can also select any animation sequence attached to a DTS shape to create an animated sprite sheet.



SpriteWorks is based on XNA and, of course a running instance of the Torque X Engine - yet another tribute to the flexability of the engine. However, the images that are produced are translucent .png files that will work with any 2D graphics engine, including Torque X 2D and TGB. The sample sprite sheet here is a web-friendly, but non-transucent .jpg file. In the video above, SpriteWorks is used to take the Boombot sample DTS model that comes with Torque X, select an animation (in this case "run"), generate the animated sprite sheet, then import it into Torque X Builder 2D. But it will work with just about any DTS file, from Kork the sample player to the many buildings and vehicles sold as content packs. And with support for .X and .FBX, you can even look to resources, including TurboSquid.com for even more models that can become textures for your 2D game... and some of them are free ;)

SpriteWorks also features complete camera control so you can get the camera angle you want. It also has an auto-aiming feature that always points the camera to the model, regardless of the camera's position. You can also pick from a list of preset camera positions or define your own for quick and consistent rendering. The whole goal is to balance flexibility with ease of use. If you're planning an isometric game, or any 2D game that would benefit from some 3D graphics, this might be useful. Even though Torque X 2D supports 3D shapes within a 2D scene (with the help of the T2DShape3D), a sprite sheet is likely to take much less memory and have less performance impact on your game.

It's pretty close to completion, I just need to finish off a few core features. A few of the features that are not likely to make it for the initial release include surface shadowing, pathed camera, and custom lighting - but they probably wont be too much later. I'm really hoping to get this in some sort of beta version within the next couple of weeks. In the meantime, please check out the video and let me know what kind of suggestions or ideas for improvement you might have.

Best Regards,

John K.