Chrono Cross Blender Models (PC battle models added)

[utunnels]

Well, finishing them is a long story. So I'll upload them periodically.

The models are in .blend format, so you'll need Blender to open them.
I'm still new to blender, so I can't answer advanced questions about it.


I've added some overworld models of several playable characters.
http://cid-a5879bd130717196.office.live.com/browse.aspx/.Public/Chrono/blender%20importer/blend/
The models are in the last frame +1 of their animations, so change the frame counter backward 1 step to reach the last frame.
I only did their default animations, so you won't find something like Serge's, for example, awakening animation. I'll do them later, eventually.

Advice on how to render them:
Assume you already know the basis of blender, you should turn off OSA, or else you'll see very funny edges.

[TheMage]

Oh wow these are awesome:


 im new to blender myself, but there are tons of tutorials out there that i've been using bwahaha.

[utunnels]

RMXP Walking Sprite Set Guide

1. Open a .blend file in blender

I'm using blender 2.49b, though it is not the newest version, but already enough for this task. Blender 2.5x might be different in UI.
You can download it here: http://www.blender.org/development/release-logs/blender-249/

In this guide I use Harle for example.

2. Change certain values in Render panel

I marked them in red boxes. The FSA option is the most important part, DON"T use OSA, or else the result would be extremely ugly.


3. Check your model, to find the walk frames

You can change the 3D View window to Textured, but its just optional, just for convenience.
Now change current frame to examine the model. I suggest you switch to Side View by pressing 3 in your Num pad.
You'll need the idle frame (frame 2) and 6 frame of her walking animation. For quick reference, Harle's walk animation begins at frame 28 and has totally 14 frames.


4. Copy the python script into the Text Editor and edit some lines

For those who don't know, here's where the Text Editor can be found.


Once it is opened, right click and then New to create a new Text. Then copy the script below to the Text Editor.

Code: [Select]

import Blender
from Blender import *
from Blender.Scene import Render
scn = Scene.GetCurrent()

scalefix = 9/8.0
mul=4
renderPath = "D:\\Chrono\\CC Models\\output\\temp"

camObj = scn.getCurrentCamera()
cam = camObj.getData()
cam.type = 'ortho'
cam.scale = 4.25*scalefix

context = scn.getRenderingContext()
context.enableRGBAColor()
context.enableOversampling(True)
context.OSALevel = 16
context.alphaMode = 1
context.enableGaussFilter(True)
context.gaussFilterSize(0.5)
context.imageType = Render.PNG
context.sizeX = int(32*mul*scalefix)
context.sizeY = int(48*mul*scalefix)
context.renderPath = renderPath

pi = 3.1415926535897932
frames = [2, 42, 44, 46, 48, 50, 52]

camObj.setLocation(-10.0, 0.0, 12.2)
camObj.setEuler(pi/4, 0, -pi/2)
for i in range(0, len(frames)):
    Blender.Set("curframe", frames[i])
    context.render()
    context.saveRenderedImage("2r" + str(i) + ".png")

camObj.setLocation(10.0, 0.0, 12.2)
camObj.setEuler(pi/4, 0, pi/2)
for i in range(0, len(frames)):
    Blender.Set("curframe", frames[i])
    context.render()
    context.saveRenderedImage("1l" + str(i) + ".png")

camObj.setLocation(0.0, 10.0, 12.2)
camObj.setEuler(pi/4, 0, pi)
for i in range(0, len(frames)):
    Blender.Set("curframe", frames[i])
    context.render()
    context.saveRenderedImage("3b" + str(i) + ".png")

camObj.setLocation(0.0, -10.0, 12.2)
camObj.setEuler(pi/4, 0, 0)
for i in range(0, len(frames)):
    Blender.Set("curframe", frames[i])
    context.render()
    context.saveRenderedImage("0f" + str(i) + ".png")

Here're the lines you might need to change:

Code: [Select]

scalefix = 9/8.0
mul=4
renderPath = "D:\\Chrono\\CC Models\\output\\temp\\"scalefix is the size modifier, if your find your character outside the image border just give it a greater value. But usually you won't need to, 9/8 should be fine for regular characters.
mul is the output multiple, for example, your final product is 36x54, and you set mul to 4, you get a 144x216 image. Higher value gives better result, but I thnk 4 is enough, at least I can't see the difference between 4 and 10.
renderPath is your output path, where your images will be saved. I suppose you are using windows, hmm. Don't forget the last '\\'.

Done? Congratulations, we are almost there, but we need to choose 7 frames (or whatever you like, you can use only 3 frames, or even all 14 walk frames plus the idle frame).

Code: [Select]

frames = [2, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38, 40]Edit this array according to your choices.

5. Render

Just right click inside the Text Editor and Execute Script. When blender is done, check your output folder, are your pretty images there?


6. Combine and Edit the frames

I used Graphics Gale to combine the frames. You can download the English version here: http://www.humanbalance.net/gale/us/download.html
The free version is enough for this task.

In your Gale, follow these steps:

File --> Import From Multiple Files --> Add --> (select all your images) --> OK --> File --> Export

In the Export window, choose "Combined Image", type 7 (or your frame count) in Columns. Then click OK, choose png as your output type, and don't forget to check "With alpha channel".

Now open the combined image. You can do that in photoshop, but Gale can do that task as well. Resize the image to 1/mul of its size.

You may want to check your final product. For example, I will shift the idle frame 1 or 2 pixels to match the offset of the walking frames to make the walking animation smoother.

Tip: You can check the animation in Gale, simply choose "Import From Combined Image". Edit the frames using 'Image-->Scroll' function and then Export the new combined image.
Tip 2: Actually using the idle frame for the 1st frame of the walking animation is quite tricky in RM, for example, Harle put her hands over waist while walking, so the idle frame looks so sudden. But a skilled RM user can fix that by adding an actually idle animation, not to be discussed further here.

Idle + walk (Scaled in photoshop)


walk only (Scaled in Graphics Gale)


BTW, you may notice Harle's pants are semi-transparent. So you can edit the texture (save it to png and edit it in PS or Gale) to make them look better.

[FaustWolf]

Oh man, it's stop-motion spriting! This is really exciting to see.

[TheMage]

This is awesome, I dont think i've been this excited since before Kajar labs went down and back up.

[Schala Zeal]

I'mma save these for RM!

[EgyLynx]

not bad... bad is i havnt rmxp, but nice Harle...

[utunnels]

http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Doc:Tutorials/Textures/Map_Input_Techniques#Single_sided_faces_.28Backface_Culling.29

Found a solution to the double sided faces problem here.
I'll update the models eventually.


Done updating the models.


Playable characters' battle models with their default animations has been added.

A preview video of Glenn's attack animations
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gESTZkiR7Qo

[TheMage]

That Glenn animation is fan Fu**ing tastic 

[utunnels]

A tip to render the weapons with correct shading.


1. Select the weapon material (should be that 3 Mat 3)
2. Turn on VCol Light
3. Turn off Shadeless
4. Give a proper value of that Tralu slide bar.

[tushantin]

Man, you're really movin scales with this! O.O"

[Lady Marle]

AWESOME!!!

[User Name]

Is it possible to lower the camera for the renders, so that you see the character directly from the front instead of seeing a bit of the top and a bit of the front?

[utunnels]

Yeah, I think you can right click the camera (which appears like a box if you are in the camera view) to select it, the press g to grab it. After than you can move your mouse to adjust the position. When done, left click to apply the change.

If you want further instruction on how the camera works I suggest you learn some basis of blender.

[User Name]

Well, that works for when I click the button "Render", but as soon as I do the "execute script", it renders them in the default top-down view position. Then when I check the camera, the position has been reset to what it was at first.