HOW to EXPORT AC3D 3D-Models to 2D-ANIMATED-SPRITES

Steven · 24th October 2003, 09:00 PM

Hi I need some help to convert AC3D 3D models in 2D animated sprites!

In General: Suppose you have made a 3D model of a plane. How do you build 2D animated sprites (GIF) out of the 3D model?

Here is a representative example:
Say you want a 2D animated sprite of a plane to put in a game. Drawing a top, side, front view of a 2D plane is not that difficult. However, when you want to draw multiple image representing the plane tilting to the right (motion executed by the plane turning or "banking" to the right) from a top view, for example, it is alway difficult to draw. By using AC3D, I can build a plane with texture mapping. I know how to use the 3D view a little,
but how to say to AC3D:

- to give me the top view
- to tilt the plane right by say 15 degrees
- take a "snapshot" of the view
- tilt the plane by another 15 degrees
- take a "snapshot" of the new view
- etc
- until the plane is tilted say by 90 degrees to the right
(at this postion we see the left side view of the plane)

... and we end-up with a GIF animated file that contains the 7 sprites that when view in succession show a plane that bank to right from a top view (camera view). I only show a sample of 4 planes in the following picture.

First, doing this sample picture manually is very long and tedious and it is not very precise. As you can imagine, I must use [Print / Scrn] key to copy the complete piture of my desktop showing the plane in 3D view in AC3D. Paste it in a paint program. Crop the picture. Rotate the picture by 270 degrees (so it show pointing north). Paste the picture in a new window in the paint program that will receive also the other plane pictures. Tilt the plane to the right a little (by eye!) and repeat the process again until I get the four pictures. Finally, I must resize the complete picture - that contain the four planes - at a lower resolution...

Also notice that if I place the plane pointing the nose west or est in AC3D, it is because its the only way to make it bank up or down. By rotating each of the picture by 270 degrees. I get the wanted result... that is a plane banking right. I HAVE NOT FOUND A WAY OF DOING THIS BY SIMPLY POINTING THE NOSE PLANe TO THE NORTH (top screen). Since when it is in this positon, i dont see how I can make the plane bank left or right in the 3D view of AC3D!

Therefore,

How do I proceed to do that automatically? (tilting of the plane to the right by step of 15 degrees for 6 steps, starting with the plane in a top view - to finally get 7 GIF pictures showing the animation of the plane tilting to the right. So I can export it and use it as a sprite image for a game)

Do I need any other tools to be able to do this?

Does anyone have done this before?

Thanks very much

Steven

P.S. The 4-planes picture above are made with an AC3D model called "falcon.ac", provided as an example with AC3D. Very nice plane model!

24th October 2003, 09:00 PM	#1
Steven Junior Member Advanced member Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 27	HOW to EXPORT AC3D 3D-Models to 2D-ANIMATED-SPRITES Hi I need some help to convert AC3D 3D models in 2D animated sprites! In General: Suppose you have made a 3D model of a plane. How do you build 2D animated sprites (GIF) out of the 3D model? Here is a representative example: Say you want a 2D animated sprite of a plane to put in a game. Drawing a top, side, front view of a 2D plane is not that difficult. However, when you want to draw multiple image representing the plane tilting to the right (motion executed by the plane turning or "banking" to the right) from a top view, for example, it is alway difficult to draw. By using AC3D, I can build a plane with texture mapping. I know how to use the 3D view a little, but how to say to AC3D: - to give me the top view - to tilt the plane right by say 15 degrees - take a "snapshot" of the view - tilt the plane by another 15 degrees - take a "snapshot" of the new view - etc - until the plane is tilted say by 90 degrees to the right (at this postion we see the left side view of the plane) ... and we end-up with a GIF animated file that contains the 7 sprites that when view in succession show a plane that bank to right from a top view (camera view). I only show a sample of 4 planes in the following picture. First, doing this sample picture manually is very long and tedious and it is not very precise. As you can imagine, I must use [Print / Scrn] key to copy the complete piture of my desktop showing the plane in 3D view in AC3D. Paste it in a paint program. Crop the picture. Rotate the picture by 270 degrees (so it show pointing north). Paste the picture in a new window in the paint program that will receive also the other plane pictures. Tilt the plane to the right a little (by eye!) and repeat the process again until I get the four pictures. Finally, I must resize the complete picture - that contain the four planes - at a lower resolution... Also notice that if I place the plane pointing the nose west or est in AC3D, it is because its the only way to make it bank up or down. By rotating each of the picture by 270 degrees. I get the wanted result... that is a plane banking right. I HAVE NOT FOUND A WAY OF DOING THIS BY SIMPLY POINTING THE NOSE PLANe TO THE NORTH (top screen). Since when it is in this positon, i dont see how I can make the plane bank left or right in the 3D view of AC3D! Therefore, How do I proceed to do that automatically? (tilting of the plane to the right by step of 15 degrees for 6 steps, starting with the plane in a top view - to finally get 7 GIF pictures showing the animation of the plane tilting to the right. So I can export it and use it as a sprite image for a game) Do I need any other tools to be able to do this? Does anyone have done this before? Thanks very much Steven P.S. The 4-planes picture above are made with an AC3D model called "falcon.ac", provided as an example with AC3D. Very nice plane model!