[RedSlash]

[Nodtveidt]

The only 3D program that I know of that is both easy to use and powerful is Poser, but then again, it's designed to be a character designer, nothing else.
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If you play a Microsoft CD backwards you can hear demonic voices. The scary part is that if you play it forwards it installs Windows. - wallace

[RedSlash]

I've played with Poser before. It makes creating characters like child play. Never really liked their models though. Didn't really fit my style.

I believe Daz3D provides a free character creation program too, which is supposedly easy to use as well.

[Terry]

You're drawing sprites over a 3D model? That must take forever... How many directions do you do?
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[RedSlash]

Eight directions. Yeah, it is very time consuming. The model itself is textured initially to give its basic detail and colour. I could use that as it is (the 3D model), but it wouldn't nearly have the nice touch of hand drawn sprites. So basically, I frame capture the animation of the textured version, then tweak each frame individually with Photoshop.

[Terry]

Well, it seems like it's a worthwhile approach, judging from those screenshots! Hope this works out for you.
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[RedSlash]

No, I don't sit in front of my computer all day long. I sit in front of someone else's computer programming all day long, 5 days a week. It's called work. Now that sucks! :)

Shading with paint is annoying. I've got a tablet. Add that with Photoshop, makes a huge difference.

[Captain Vimes]

PhotoShop kicks Paint's ass. And those models look great. I wish I was that good (so I'm reading OPENGL GAME PROGRAMMING). About how long does it take to complete one direction of movement's animation?
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"Sometimes it is better to light a flamethrower than to curse the darkness."
- Terry Pratchett

[RedSlash]

You mean with the 3D model? That takes like less than 1 day to do. Once you've added the skeleton into the model, all you do is animate the bones like a puppet and create any poses you'd like.

Drawing the sprite on the other hand, takes forever. Cause now I have to draw all eight directions, at about 8 frames (out of 40 in the 3D model) each. So that's redrawing everything 64 times. Don't forget there's also jumping and attacking animations to consider. It will be a lengthy process.

[LeoDraco]

Not to be trollish, but why are you doing it that way? You already have a 3D system in place, so why not do something like cel-shading? Properly done, it would look just as hand drawn as what you are currently doing. You would probably spend less time toying around with your models than you would with manually doing the sprites. (Besides which, you would only have to design your animations about the skeletons, rather than about the sprites, which should translate to less work.)
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"...LeoDraco is a pompus git..." -- Mandrake

[RedSlash]

Actually, I have tried and the result was unsatisfactory. I was unable to get it to look exactly the way I wanted it. This is why I'm trying a hybrid approach. That is, build a textured 3D model (cel shaded), and then tweak the final results.

[Captain Vimes]

Well, the models look good. Could you post one with a fully finished sprite/model on there so we could see what a finished character looks like?
_________________
"Sometimes it is better to light a flamethrower than to curse the darkness."
- Terry Pratchett

[RedSlash]

[Captain Vimes]

Ah, okay.
_________________
"Sometimes it is better to light a flamethrower than to curse the darkness."
- Terry Pratchett

[Terry]

gebumpen. How's this project going?
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http://www.distractionware.com