How do you make your own units?

[Ravenplucker]

I want to make my own tagset with its own units, but I don't want to use the myth sprites, how do I make my own animations for them? Any help would be awesome.

[Zeph]

1. Learn a 3d modelling program such as 3dstudio max, cinema 4d, maya, blender.
Blender is free, google it.

Learn how to use the program, get the program, read tutorials, practice [1-2 months]

2. Model your unit, texture your unit, animate your unit [ 1 month ]

come back when you're ready

Souly started like you, he had no idea how to do it, he got a 3d modelling application ( BLENDER) he learned it, took a few months and 1-2 years later he can make myth units... It's a very long process, I hope you were aware of that. Making a unit when you know how to do them takes a few weeks usually.

[vinylrake]

I want to make my own tagset with its own units, but I don't want to use the myth sprites, how do I make my own animations for them? Any help would be awesome.

you'll need a 3D program that can animate/render your units but assuming you have that, here are a couple how-to's to get you started. (some of the information may be outdated, but the basic info is sound as far as i know)

http://mything.org/index.php?a=article- ... 0000000746
http://mything.org/index.php?a=article- ... 0000000107
http://mything.org/index.php?a=article- ... 0000000404

http://mything.org/index.php?a=article- ... 0000000396

[Ravenplucker]

awesome, thanks! =)

[Zeph]

there used to be a great guide by strangelet, i wonder where its at!

[Ravenplucker]

Hmmm, this is alot more complicated than I thought it would be...

[Zeph]

there's a reason why people take 2-3 year class on 3d modelling

[Graydon]

Yea. Curious what made you think 3D Animation would be easier than you thought?

It's without question, one of the more advanced artistic fields artists can get into. Game's require 3D animators these days. Good ones get jobs working on big projects, but it takes them years and years to get there.

Keep truckin'

[haravikk]

I think everyone's seen units on screen in a game and thought "hey I could do that!". Heck, even old sprite platform games take quite a bit of work to make, but you just can't appreciate the work required until you've got something to compare it to (i.e - actually trying yourself).

I'm currently brushing up on Blender, I can do all the 3d design, and the animating, and the texturing, but I've always used three fairly bad programs to do it heh. I don't much like Blender's interface but it seems fairly typical, and it's long past time I got to grips with one such program

[Khadrelt]

Well, you don't have to use a 3D modeling program. You could hand-draw each and every iteration of every angle of every action of each unit...

[carlinho]

well you could use poser, that means you don't need to know how to use a 3D program, not do 3d at all
you just get poser 4, and it comes with basic human figures, you download some free poser props from the web, and then all you need to do is animate them....

and of course you need to get the tutorial doing units the strange way by strangelet
you can download that from my website


but still, it means you would not be able to do any unit but just limit yourself to elements you could find and add to a human body....

and .....yes, it's a pain in the arse!!!!!

[Ravenplucker]

I would like to announce... I have made a human-looking figure! His name is Jeffrey, and im going to try get him into Myth =D

[Zeph]

I really dislike the poser renderer

[vinylrake]

there used to be a great guide by strangelet, i wonder where its at!

Carlinho I think mentioned that it's available on his site, it's also at the Myth Graveyard at http://mything.org/index.php?a=article- ... 0000000404 - which is -(not suprisingly) one of the links I provided in my earlier post.

[Khadrelt]

I really dislike the poser renderer

Ditto. But one must admit that it's a handy way to crank out figures in a hurry. Quantity over quality, I suppose.

Speaking of such things, how were the original Bungie units made? Were they rendered from 3D programs or drawn 2D?