Archive notice: This article was originally published on June 18, 2019. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
SpriteStack is a voxel editor for any artist who feels like creating 3D pixel art with a retro look and animation functions. The tool by Rezoner is available in a free online version as well as a paid standalone version.
The SpriteStack Features
When you open SpriteStack.io, three main areas are available to you – the Editor (F2), Animator (F3) and an Exporter (F4). Here we take a look at what can be done with each of them. In principle, the tool uses a series of 2D slices that are placed on top of one another with 1-pixel spacing, as illustrated in this GIF.
The Editor
The models can be drawn individually with pixels and as multipart objects. You can switch between a 2D and 3D editing mode. Alongside simple color selection using the W/A/S/D keys to navigate through the palette), the mode has six main tools for editing the individual objects.
- Pixel Draw tool (C) for drawing and removing individual pixels
- Smart Fill (F), with which connected sides can be colored
- Paint Pixels (B) as a kind of paint brush that does not, however, add new pixels
- Earaser (E) for deleting created pixels.
- Extrude tool (T) extrudes the respective surface toward the camera.
- Move tool (M) to move objects.
At the bottom right is also a 3D viewer, as well as several arrows for rotating and moving the objects. You can see more about the basics here.
Animation?
The keyframe-based animator currently still has rather simple functions, but one or another interesting animation can already be carried out with them. Individual objects of the 3D model could be transformed via the tree view on the left using the timeline. You can create multiple animations and later also select them in the exporter under the corresponding name. You can see what such an animation can look like in this example HERE.
And… Export!
The Exporter tab is offers stylish retro renderings with many customizable options: Alongside camera angle, pixel doubling, outliner, outer and inner shadows, lights, colors, dithering and backgrounds can be configured. During export, spritesheets, slices and *.vox files can finally be output. To use the export options mentioned, as well as export as a sprite, an upgrade to the standalone version is, however, required.
Further Features
Alongside these main functions, there are other features such as symmetry painting (XY or only Y axis), as well as a Publish function with which you can upload your projects to a public gallery. For a look at work created so far, you can browse here.
Availability
SpriteStack is freely available here in the free version. The standalone variant currently costs 19.80 dollars with a 34% discount (until June 30) and is available here.
Further information: Go to the SpriteStack website
