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Post by cmd_line_cody on Nov 27, 2023 20:49:30 GMT -9
Here is a prototype squad from a project I've been working on (off and on) for nearly two years; tactical androids designed with sci-fi skirmish gaming and customizability in mind: Since swapping weapon loadouts and otherwise modifying the minis in my art software of choice became increasingly tedious with each new component added, I've broken the artwork down into subcomponents that can be recombined and recolored using scripts and data files. The bases are slotted and made primarily out of cereal box chipboard and magnetic vinyl covered with rocks and basing grit.
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Post by creyates on Nov 28, 2023 5:52:02 GMT -9
These look awesome!
I am interested in hearing more about your process. I've been thinking about something similar lately. I know photoshop has some script functionality. Do you find it worth the time?
Very cool.
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Post by aleks on Nov 28, 2023 23:37:13 GMT -9
It's just me or someone else is unable to see anything?
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Post by Vermin King on Nov 29, 2023 5:40:07 GMT -9
I can see it. I will try to repost it
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Post by cmd_line_cody on Nov 29, 2023 22:00:03 GMT -9
Here's a general overview of my process (from right to left): I use Pixelmator Pro to build my vector art and a combination of Python, XML and AppleScript to combine SVG components into distinct figures. I then use Silhouette Studio to print and cut the figures. It took a while to set up the system since it was developed from scratch, but now I can create entire squads of figures in minutes and if I want to change something (pose, equipment, color scheme) all I have to do is make a few quick edits to an XML file and rerun. It's so much faster than creating the same figures manually in Pixelmator, which became a slog as the component count increased. And since the background has registration marks, I can easily add new components and ensure proper alignment without having to work in a single cumbersome file.
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Post by aleks on Nov 30, 2023 4:57:33 GMT -9
Now I see and they are great! By the way... back art?
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Post by creyates on Nov 30, 2023 5:55:34 GMT -9
Very cool! I appreciate the breakdown. I've been doing everything in photoshop. I don't have quite as many components as you do. I've been building units arranged in ranks of 5 figures standing shoulder to shoulder. I've been recoloring/redrawing by hand and using links to update the final sheets.
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Post by cmd_line_cody on Nov 30, 2023 17:15:38 GMT -9
Back art? But of course! To me, what makes a paper miniature a true miniature is the inclusion of front and back art. Anything else is a standee. Besides, how else am I going to show off cool backpacks? :) Please keep in mind that these are prototypes, so the alignment of the fronts and backs is a little off as I was primarily testing the slotted bases.
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Post by aleks on Nov 30, 2023 23:28:11 GMT -9
Really cool! I want them!
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Post by ignatious on Dec 15, 2023 19:13:42 GMT -9
Were you planning on making these available somewhere?
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Post by cmd_line_cody on Dec 20, 2023 11:58:39 GMT -9
I may make PDFs of them available on WargameVault at some point.
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Post by Vermin King on Mar 14, 2024 13:27:57 GMT -9
cmd_line_cody, have you made any progress on these? They are really nice
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Post by cmd_line_cody on Mar 17, 2024 9:19:53 GMT -9
I have been making progress, even if it's been a little slow. Of course there's life, work and all that getting in the way of hobby time, but I also am in the process of completely rebuilding / remastering the art and creating Tactical Android v2.0. I like the original 2d art, but found it to be a bit limiting. Creating alternate views of surprisingly complex shapes like the boots and kneepads was laborious and I wasn't 100% satisfied with the outcome. As a result, I decided to rebuild the entire base android body in Blender so I could have a 3d representation to reference, freeing me up to do any pose I want without having to spend hours figuring out how the kneepad looks from a rear 3/4 view. Of course, I haven't touched Blender in 20 years, so there was a steep learning curve and lots of trial and error involved. But now I have a fully rigged 3d model of my base android trooper: Using Blender also allowed me to add detail where none had previously existed and create joints that are a little more realistic: Of course, I still want the final figures to be drawn, not rendered, so the 3d model is used solely to make screenshots for reference. It is also somewhat light on detail, because I will add that in myself as I work on the vector art. It's really just a visual aid to help me get the perspective right when complex shapes are involved. The reference renders use orthographic perspective so that fronts and backs line up. Of course, all this work required a complete manual rebuild of the vector art, which is in progress. The colors are odd, ugly and garish because those are the default colors used by my scripts to build the final art files. Every component needs a distinct color so the script can find and replace the hex value with whatever color is specified in the data file. As with the original art, the weapon's plane is perpendicular to the "camera" so it can always be represented using flat, 2d art. I do not want to be drawing every single weapon in perspective. Besides, this allows me to port over the wide variety of weapons I created for Tactical Android 1.0. Backwards compatibility! Anyway, I realize that I wrote a bit of a novel, but I've been doing a lot of work on the project even if I've been quiet on the site and on the thread and wanted to bring the community up to speed. I know I enjoy reading about people's processes and workflows, so I figured the community might be interested in how I'm approaching this project.
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Post by Vermin King on Mar 17, 2024 15:57:05 GMT -9
I have never been good at the 3d modeling programs. Every time I think I have some time to gear up, life happens.
I really like the concept you have of creating screenshots to build your figures. Wishing you all the best
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Post by creyates on Mar 18, 2024 12:01:44 GMT -9
Great idea! I appreciate getting a sneak peek into the process like this. Good work.
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Post by ignatious on Mar 18, 2024 21:33:02 GMT -9
YES! Absolutely. To be truthful I have no idea what your talking about (other than you're making it so you can just piece figs together), but when I first started here, I had no idea what all these people were talking about with gimp, now I can mod stuff, and make my own models (how's this for a run on sentence?). Maybe one day, if you and others keep posting how you do things, I might start to catch on. If it weren't for the little things I picked up from conversations here, I wouldn't have been able to teach myself all of the other things I've figured out along the way. Teaching, even if inadvertently, is one of the greatest gifts. So, yeah, if you write a novel, I'll read it.
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