The Dink Network

Do any of the guys here render there graphics in 3ds max? I know that is what Justin Martin used. I do not know however if they used character studio or something along those lines for the modeling and animation. What my question is: does anyone know what the correct angle for lighting, and for dink's shadows. If you have any of that type of information it would be greatly appreciated.

Here is something from Justin about camera angles. Doesn't really answer your question... but I guess if you apply the trial and error method to shadows that he suggests you should be close. Me, I use the following rotational values in Blender RotX -15.26, RotY 12.24, RotZ -3.31 - That's with the camera angled with zero rotation on Y and Z, and with rotation in the X plane to simulate the bird's eye view perspective.

"I don't recall the exact camera details, but the key is to create graphics that are isometric (without perspective). So, the lens size doesn't matter, and you can fudge a little with the zoom and angle of the viewpoint.
Render a couple test shots of your graphics and do an approximate comparison to the actual graphics. The viewing angle is bird's eye view and the outcome should be close enough. Just remember, before rendering hundreds of your final graphics, do plenty of test renderings to setup and eyeball the approximate viewing angle... shouldn't take too much time and extreme accuracy isn't required for good results."

Thanks a ton, sorta what i was looking for. Also, I was wondering if there is a way to get the patterned shadow automatically without having to do it in a 2d editor.

I guess there is... if you know that the size you're rendering the graphics from the 3D program are final, but what with palettes and error diffusion I find it best to use a 2D program to do it.

Here's a link I found very helpful. Discusses steps to set up an isometric camera view in 3ds Max.

I tried this method out today and it seems to look great. Still needs some testing as I only dropped in a single frame sprite with no animation. It is the standard for isometric views in many games, i.e. Diablo, Civ III and ShadowFlare. Lines that are right-angles in plan recede away from you at 30 deg. from the screen's horizontal axis.

isometric - 1840, coined from Gk. isos "equal" + metron "measure."

{addendum}
Buildings and other sprites in Dink are not consistent and seem to have been created using various 'camera' angles.