Creating 3D Models from 2D Image with KenShape
(Making a 3D Scooter)
What is KenShape ?
KenShape is a tool for drawing simple 2D images and converting them into 3D models by providing depth to each pixel.
It is helpful in prototyping of small / basic objects or which are relatively flat in shape (2D) or objects which are symmetrical at least on one axis.
Where to get KenShape ?
It is developed by Kenney who is a legend in the game arts community for building and providing free game assets.
KenShape User Interface
- Select model size, in future updates there will be 64 X 64
2. KenShape UI
Basic Tools:
A. Pencil — Shortcut P, for drawing pixels
B. Line — Shortcut L, for drawing straight lines
C. Fill — Shortcut F, similar to paint bucket tool to color the pixel
Mirroring: This has 3 modes
D. Disable Mirror — By default there is no mirroring.
E. Horizontal Mirror — Replicates the pixels on x-axis along the center.
F. Vertical Mirror — Replicates the pixel on y-axis along the center.
Palette:
G. Load Palette — Palettes can be loaded by downloading locally and importing in KenShape.
H. Color Palette — The 16 color palette loaded by default, more palettes can be downloaded and loaded in KenShape. Lospec has palette lists, many of which are compatible with KenShape.
I. Shapes — Shape tool gives an option to select different shape which occupy 1 pixel space in the canvas. Mouse scroll wheel can be used to scroll over or rotate the shapes.
J. Drawing — For this particular drawing I selected a canvas of 32 X 32 pixels. From basic tools I selected the Pen Tool (A) and Disable Mirroring (D) as per the use case, feel free to select relevant mirroring as needed.
In Most of the cases the pixel shape is a square for drawing the scooter. Left click is used for drawing with the selected color and right click is used to erase the pixel. Personally I prefer to paint with the right color when I draw. For the joints of the scooter I utilized custom shapes from the options, to show intricacy but that is a personal choice.
The wheel is created by combining 4 pixels of quarter circles from the shapes.
K. Depth — We can add depth to each pixel to define how much a pixel will extrude from the Z-axis. The range of depth in the current version of KenShape ranges from 1 to 8.
The handle we will give an 8 as we want it to extrude out. For the deck we will give 3 as it should be slightly less than half the size of the handle. Rest of the things like wheels, steering columns etc. we will assign a 1.
L. Model — This option shows the render of the 3D Model.
M. Exporting — There are 4 output of export functionality.
- 3D exports can be done in .obj / .fbx / .dae / .gITF / .STL formats
- Voxel exports gives a .vox file which can be imported in a voxel software like MagicaVoxel.
- GIF exports is self explanatory, for those who don’t know .gif is a collection of images to give it basic animation.
- SVG export is a scalable vector graphics image which can be used in software like inkscape which utilize .svg files.
Conclusion — KenShape tool is based on a fantastic concept, so I will applaud the creativity of the developer. It is good for churning cute 3D objects from 2D drawings. Looking forward to future releases as it matures further.
Scope of Improvement — A limiting factor I feel is the object cannot be edited from Z-axis perspective for that the 3D Model has to be exported to another software for giving finishing touches.
