Sprite Maker - Convert 3D to 2D

Discussion in 'Assets and Asset Store' started by Zerano, Mar 4, 2014.

  1. Zerano

    Zerano

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    [​IMG]

    Sprite Maker is a simple tool that allows you to capture a 3D model and make a sprite of it. It also supports recording and capturing particle effects and animations and creates a sprite sheet for those.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Setup Guide

    Asset Store
     
  2. sefou

    sefou

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    Cool. In my future buy list. ;)
     
  3. p6r

    p6r

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    No video or tutorial ???
    For free version ? Does it need the Sprite packer from the pro version for different animations on one sheet ?
    I would like to SEE more about this...

    6R
     
  4. Zerano

    Zerano

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    I have a video without sound that i recorded for earlier version, a new one will come with how to capture.
    It does not require the unity pro Sprite Packer, but i am going to test it on unity free today, to be realy sure that i have not used any unity pro feature. If you want i can give you a link to try it out, before purchase.

     
  5. p6r

    p6r

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    Very nice !
    PM sent...
    6R
     
  6. Zerano

    Zerano

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    I sended you the link, please let me know what you think about it. Thank you for testing.
     
  7. p6r

    p6r

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    (Other PM sent ! I didn't see you replied here too !)

    GREAT !!! It seems to work fine under Unity free.
    We need a tutorial for the temp controller and mecanim animation following your .pdf file !?! But I could make my animation sheet without any issue without the temp controller !?! Is it normal ???

    I will try with other characters and shaders... and I'll come back...

    Thanks to allow me to be a beta-tester because it's very nice to convert files.

    6R
     
  8. p6r

    p6r

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    I just have tested with the free Minimini town characters with normal shader and a toon shader and it worked fine too... :)
    I like it because we can now make sprites from some nice and unique models from the asset store and because it's so easy to do !!!
    Great job !

    6R
     
  9. Zerano

    Zerano

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    Great that this worked, the temp controller is just if you have an Animator component on your prefab and if you use Automatic Framerate(gives better results in the animation loop). if you use legacy animation you do not need it at all.
     
  10. Zerano

    Zerano

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    Here is a simple tutorial with also some problems that you could face and how to fix them:

     
  11. casperjeff

    casperjeff

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    Very cool....
    I posted about my version of an almost identical asset a couple of weeks ago (almost ready for Beta)....(http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/23...D-Model-Animation-to-2D-Spritesheet-Converter)

    They are so similar it's almost scary!
    :)

    I'll bet we use a nearly identical technique (I saw flashes of black/white backgrounds in your vid - so I assume you are calculating the alpha that way just like me)....

    I'm guessing I'll finish up my version and get it published anyway....but nice to see the work validated.

    Kudos again.
     
  12. Zerano

    Zerano

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    Yes, but this was not realy my idea with a back and white camera,i got this idea from one of the unity threads. I am sure if you can fix the pivot probem, people will buy yours. I could not find a full automatic solution at the moment.
     
    Last edited: Mar 6, 2014
  13. casperjeff

    casperjeff

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    Zerano,

    Just bought your asset - amazing how similar yours is to mine (although there are only SO MANY ways you can capture the images).
    You've got a tighter integration with the unity 2d sprite elements - but mine had a slightly better UI and a different cropping technique (each resulting capture was same dimensions). I thought your pivot calculation stuff was pretty good, myself

    I think I will stop work on mine and let yours reign supreme on the Asset store.
    I would suggest that you add a 'delay' option (especially when not recording animation) so that if user is recording a particle effect, that the particle engine has time to 'get up to full power' before recording (although they could always strip out the frames they didn't want).

    Kudos again and I'll link to yours from my thread.
     
  14. Zerano

    Zerano

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    I have not worked a lot with sprites before, why is it better to get the same dimensions of the sprites? It is realy not much more work of implementing this, i just cut out transparency to save space, but if it is better to have same dimensions, when working with sprites i can implement it.
     
  15. Black Lodge Games

    Black Lodge Games

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    It's definitely better to have uniform sprite image dimensions, otherwise its easy to misalign them when placing them into the final spritesheet. I'll be buying your asset once I get these models to properly perform their animations.
     
  16. Black Lodge Games

    Black Lodge Games

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    I went ahead and bought this. It does work great, but yeah, the one thing that would really improve it is the option to have uniform sprite dimensions, otherwise this will add a bunch of manual work for myself, and future users of this fine product. Great job, I've been looking for something like this for a long time, so I'm happy!
     
  17. Zerano

    Zerano

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    Added uniform dimensions, currently optimizing it a little bit and will submit it to the asset store.
     
  18. Zerano

    Zerano

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    Submitted to the asset store with a new small feature:

     
  19. p6r

    p6r

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    At last news from you for this great plugin...
    Thanks !
    6R
     
  20. Zerano

    Zerano

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    Well it could take some time until unity accept it, i am already waiting over a week for my other 2 assets and they are still pending review.
     
  21. Black Lodge Games

    Black Lodge Games

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    Awesome! Thanks for the hard work and for implementing this feature!
     
  22. Zerano

    Zerano

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    Pretty cool news, i have worked on a 2d prototype and found out that calculating the center of mass of the sprite for the pivot gives much better results in the animation. So this will be coming in the next update.
     
  23. Zerano

    Zerano

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    Coming Soon:
     
  24. p6r

    p6r

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    WOW ! Fantastic improvement !!!
    These new features are perfect.
    Can't wait to test it...
    Thanks,
    6R
     
  25. Zerano

    Zerano

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    I submitted it already to the asset store. :D
     
  26. Zerano

    Zerano

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    Finaly the update was accepted.
     
  27. p6r

    p6r

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    It works perfectly !
    The new options like the Center of Mass and so on are wonderful.

    With a good Toon Shader we can have now a nice 2D character from a 3D character, from the asset store for example. So, the same character can be used for 3D AND 2D games. And all of this within Unity ! Fantastic !!!

    6R
     
  28. thedreamer

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    @p6r

    Can you recommend me a good toon Shader?
     
  29. p6r

    p6r

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    Good for me is it good for you !?! :)

    You can use the free Toony Colors Shaders -> Toony Gooch RimOutline :
    Change the parameters -> Rim Power to 10 for example and modify the colors (shadow and so on !) ! Use the Toon Ramp 3 !
    Don't forget to add a directional light in your project (0.8 intensity)

    Or the Toony Colors Pro Shaders (not free) with a lot of parameters to test... (Here I use my own toon ramps !)

    6R
     
  30. thedreamer

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    @p6r
    thank you very much!!
     
  31. Zerano

    Zerano

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    Sounds good, i have worked on some texture tools, but i can not realy tell you if i am going to finish them or if they will be part of this package at all.

    This is the default sprite i used:
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    Contrast
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    Outline
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    Pixelate
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    Color Overlay
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    Greyscale
    [​IMG]

    Sepia
    [​IMG]
     
  32. osw1183

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    I'm currently using this tool to export particle FX to 2D, but for some reason anything with a blue coloration comes out in grey scale; things that are red look fine. Any ideas why this would be happening? I haven't changed any of the default settings.
     
  33. Zerano

    Zerano

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    I will check it.
     
  34. stevehearn

    stevehearn

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    i am thinking of using unity 3d assets to make 2d sprites for another platform. i need to know if
    1. the individual sprite images are stored as PNG
    2. the packed sprites can be saved as PNG
    then i can use them.
     
  35. schmosef

    schmosef

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    I was just thinking about where I could find a tool to do this and found your asset via a Google search.

    Before I found your asset, I was thinking I might want to make this myself.

    But for the price you are asking, there's no reason to roll my own.
     
  36. GarBenjamin

    GarBenjamin

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    This might be just what I need. The Asset Store has a ton of 3d models but a small supply of 2D animated characters (and other stuff) by comparison.

    What is the workflow to convert 3d animated models to 2D sprite sheets? Do I need to be familiar with Unity3D and setting up animations and so forth? Or is it simply plug n play like I can select a model, select view, select one of the animations and it just does it?
     
  37. Zerano

    Zerano

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    Take a look at the video, it shows how to make sprite sheets. You do not need advanced experience with unity, but you should know how to place a prefab/model to the scene view, how you can position prefabs in front of the camera and how you can edit properties in the inspector.
     
    GarBenjamin likes this.
  38. GarBenjamin

    GarBenjamin

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    Didn't notice the video before. Thanks. Will check it out tomorrow when I am on the computer. Be cool if it works straightforward. Means I can start buying 3d Models from the Asset Store and solve one of the biggest hurdles in 2D game development.