CREATING PICTURES
1. How can I create pictures for use in the games
or applications created with Adventure Maker?
2. What programs can I use to create the
pictures for my games or applications?
3. What is the best resolution (image size) for my
pictures?
4. When I import a picture, I can notice a
significant quality loss. How can I solve the problem?
5. My pictures are too large to fit the screen. How
can I resize them?
6. Where can I find FREE tools to create or modify
pictures, sounds, videos, icons, screenshots, help files, and more?
7. Where can I find links to 3D rendering
software, free models, texture archives, file conversion tools, 3D tutorials, 2D/3D
software plugins, filters, and more?
8. Where can I find tutorials, meshes and materials
for Bryce?
You will also find
tips for creating pictures on the Adventure Maker
forums.
1.
How can I create pictures for use in the games or applications created with Adventure
Maker?
There are several ways to create
pictures for use in your software. Here are some examples. They are listed from the easiest to the most advanced.
|
|
 Draw
pictures with MS Paint, which is a small drawing tool included in Windows (to
launch it, run Adventure Maker, load a project, click "External Programs", and
then click "MS Paint").
|
 Use
MS Paint in conjunction with Gradient Filler, which is a free tool included in
the Adventure Maker package, that allows to easily improve the pictures created with MS
Paint.
To launch Gradient Filler, run Adventure Maker, load a project, click
"External Programs", and then click "Gradient Filler".
To use it, simply load a picture created with MS Paint, and then click on the areas
that you want to improve. You can then save the picture as a BMP file. To convert the
picture to the JPG format, simply re-open it with MS Paint and re-save it in the new
format.
|
 Draw
pictures with Creative Painter, which is a free drawing tool included in the
Adventure Maker package.
To launch Creative Painter, run Adventure Maker, load a project, click
"External Programs", and then click "Creative Painter".
Help for this program can be found here.
|
 Use
Creative Painter in conjunction with "Lights Effects". "Lights
Effects" is a free tool included in the Adventure Maker package, that allows to
easily add lights effects to your pictures.
To launch Lights Effects, run Adventure Maker, load a project, click "External
Programs", and then click "Lights Effects".
To use it, simply click on the location where you want to create a light. You can
also specify the light color, and you can change the light parameters from the
"Options" window. For example, the picture on the right was created by enabling
the "Automatically adjust exposure to prevent over-exposure" option from the
"Options" window.
|
 Get
a pen tablet and use it in conjunction with a program such as Corel Painter.
Some affordable pen tablets are made by Wacom. The best ones have several levels of pressure and are tilt
sensitive.
It is important to note that some of them include a lite version of Corel Painter,
called "Painter Classic", which allows to take the most of the pen tablet.
|
|
|
 Create
advanced 3D renderings with programs like 3DStudio, Maya, Cinema4D, Blender,
AnimationMaster...
Those programs are less user-friendly than Bryce (see above), but they have many
more modeling features, allowing you to create almost any object that you can think of.
It is interesting to note that you can usually import/export 3D models from one
software to another, making it possible for example to import into 3DStudio some nice 3D
characters created with the software called "Poser", or to import into Bryce
some advanced models created with 3DStudio.
|
2.
What programs can I use to create the pictures for my games or applications?
2D programs included in the
Adventure Maker package: Creative Painter, Gradient Filler, Icon Editor, Lights Effects,
Batch Picture Resize & Compress.
Other 2D programs: Paint Shop Pro, Photoshop,
Painter, The Gimp, PhotoImpact.
3D programs:
3D Studio MAX, Anim8or, Animation:Master,
Blender3D, Bryce,
BodyPaint 3D, Cinema
4D XL, Deep Exploration, Leveller,
Maya, MilkShape 3D,
OpenFX, Poser,
POV-Ray, Rhino,
SketchUp,
Softimage XSI, Strata
3D, Terragen, trueSpace, Vue
d'Esprit, XenoDream, Xfrog.
Refer to the previous question
for suggestions on which program to use.
3.
What is the best resolution (image size) for my pictures?
640x480 is a good resolution,
because it provides at the same time good compatibility, full-screen graphics*, and small
file size. However, if you want better image quality, you should consider using 800x600
or 1024x768.
*the
end-user can go full-screen thanks to the "Change display resolution to
640x480 (or 800x600, or 104x768)" option that appears on the startup menu
("initial screen") of the games that you create. You can configure this
option from the "Options" tab of the "Project Properties" window.
Always make sure that the size of
your picture (in pixels) is the same as the "Frames size" that is under the
"Options" tab of the "Project Properties" window of Adventure Maker.
4.
When I import a picture, I can notice a significant quality loss. How can I solve the
problem?
The quality loss is probably due
to the "color depth" of your display being set too low. For best results, the
display color depth must be set to either 24-bits or 32-bits ("True Color"). To
check your current display color depth and to increase it if it is too low, you must go to
the Control Panel, click "Display", click "Settings", and then change
the "Colors" setting.
5. My pictures are too large to fit the screen. How can I resize them?
You can easily resize them by
using the free "Batch Picture Resize and Compress" tool that is included in
the Adventure Maker package. You will find it under the "Adventure Maker"
program group in the Start Menu.
6.
Where can I find FREE tools to create or modify pictures, sounds, videos, icons,
screenshots, help files, and more?
Most Internet software archives
that offer shareware or demo programs do also offer free software. For example, click here to visit the Freeware
directory of webattack.com. To search for free software at downloads.com, first use the "search" text
field at the top of the website, and then use the "filter by" option at the
bottom of the "search results" page to view only the programs that are free. You
can also find a lot of free software at SourceForge.net.
7.
Where can I find links to 3D rendering software, free models, texture archives, file
conversion tools, 3D tutorials, 2D/3D software plugins, filters, and more?
A comprehensive list of links is
available here.
8. Where can I find tutorials,
meshes, and materials for Bryce?
The following page has a lot of
nice tutorials for Bryce 5:
http://www.3dlinks.com/tutorials_bryce.cfm
Other tutorials can be found at:
http://www.petersharpe.com/Tutorials.htm
and
http://www.3dcafe.com/asp/tutbryce.asp
Some nice tutorials, meshes, and
materials can be downloaded from:
http://www.antialias.info/
A popular Bryce forum can be found at the following URL:
http://www.tek-tips.com/gthreadminder.cfm/lev2/4/lev3/31/pid/878
Another list of websites
dedicated to bryce is available here.
Note that Bryce comes with a nice
help document, which can be very helpful to take the most of the program, especially when
it comes to the hidden keyboard functions such as the possibility to hold down the SHIFT
key while clicking with the left mouse button. |
Take
photos with a digital camera. Save them as JPEG (JPG), and then import them into
Adventure Maker.
Create
amazing 3D renderings with Bryce, which is a 3D modeling and rendering software
that is very easy-to-use compared to the other 3D software packages. It allows to create
wonderful landscapes in minutes.