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MagicaVoxel: A free voxel art editor and path tracing renderer

ephtracy.github.io

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Re: MagicaVoxel: A free voxel art editor and path tracing renderer

#11

Post by ghusbands »

rpdillon wrote: post #7
nomel wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In this context, "8-bit" is a well understood name of an art style. In this context, it's well understood that this has nothing to do with the bus width of processor architecture or misc color/data bit widths. Think of it as a label like "modern art", which is art from 1860s to the 1970s.

The tag line is on the site says: > A free lightweight 8-bit voxel art editor and interactive path tracing renderer. Is the sentence in some way more clear with the modifier '8-bit'? What's being clarified?

That the voxels are each a solid color and are expected to be displayed at between 1x1 and 4x4 screen pixels per voxel. Definitely not minecraft-style, for example.

Re: MagicaVoxel: A free voxel art editor and path tracing renderer

#12

Post by emmanueloga_ »

Few Questions:

* Who's https://twitter.com/ephtracy? Why did you create this? How are you using it this days? Are you making any games with this?

* How do you produce images like this? [1] Is the Ray Tracer to do that built in or do you have to import the models in a second software?

* What kind of support is there for the vox file format? (where/how to render outside the app).

1: http://ephtracy.github.io/image/snap2016-07-02-17-16-08.png

2: https://github.com/ephtracy/voxel-model

Re: MagicaVoxel: A free voxel art editor and path tracing renderer

#13

Post by crazygringo »

sushisource wrote: post #2

Please, creators, if you're reading this: Stop labeling things 8-bit that are in no way 8-bit except there are some big squares/cubes involved.

"8-bit" is clearly and widely understood as meaning "intentionally pixelated for artistic effect with a limited color palette, with an overall aesthetic comparable to classic 8-bit game consoles", whether in 2D or 3D.

Obviously it's not meant to be taken literally.

You might as well complain that "modernism" isn't modern anymore or that "gothic" novels aren't from the same time period of gothic architecture... or that roman typefaces come from places other than Rome, or that italic typefaces aren't all from Italy.

Re: MagicaVoxel: A free voxel art editor and path tracing renderer

#15

Post by com2kid »

matt2000 wrote: post #10

I highly recommend people check this out if you're interested in voxel graphics, or a simple way to make 3D graphics if you're artistically challenged like me. We used it to make a whole game and it was great: https://www.larvalabs.com/project/roadtrip Here are some other awesome things made with it: https://twitter.com/HuntingFluff/status/1046417418459975681 https://twitter.com/Sir_carma/status/1051867299303440384 A…

Dead Android link? Aww. :( I think you missed out on 1/2 the possible publicity of having the top comment on a front page HN post!

Re: MagicaVoxel: A free voxel art editor and path tracing renderer

#17

Post by MattRix »

sushisource wrote: post #2

Please, creators, if you're reading this: Stop labeling things 8-bit that are in no way 8-bit except there are some big squares/cubes involved.

The real reason it's called 8-bit is because each model has a limit of 256 colours, NOT because of "8-bit" retro aesthetics. See: https://twitter.com/ephtracy/status/575207275985530880?s=20

Re: MagicaVoxel: A free voxel art editor and path tracing renderer

#18

Post by MattRix »

nomel wrote: post #3
sushisource wrote: post #2

Please, creators, if you're reading this: Stop labeling things 8-bit that are in no way 8-bit except there are some big squares/cubes involved.

In this context, "8-bit" is a well understood name of an art style. In this context, it's well understood that this has nothing to do with the bus width of processor architecture or misc color/data bit widths. Think of it as a label like "modern art", which is art from 1860s to the 1970s.

You are correct in general, but in this specific case the program is labelled "8-bit" because there is a palette limit of 256 different colors per model. Note: not output pixel colours, but rather colors that each voxel can be.

Re: MagicaVoxel: A free voxel art editor and path tracing renderer

#19

Post by frenchie14 »

MagicaVoxel is great! Even though the program is not open source, the file format is documented by the creator [0]. For a small game I'm working on I read in the vox files and reconstruct the meshes in-game. I can then create procedurally destructed variations by tweaking the vox data and re-generating the meshes in-game [1]

[0] https://github.com/ephtracy/voxel-model/blob/master/MagicaVo...

[1] https://twitter.com/MaxBize/status/1048717357319745538

Re: MagicaVoxel: A free voxel art editor and path tracing renderer

#20

Post by fsloth »

binarycrusader wrote: post #16

https://github.com/ephtracy/ephtracy.github.io/issues/108 I understand the reasons, but it's always disappointing to see a project on GitHub that doesn't actually plan on releasing source code.

Strongly disagree.

GitHub is among other things a platform for sharing.

Sharing should not be obligatory.

When someone shares something, if you like it, be grateful, and if you don't, just move along.

If you want to know how it's done just go and read some open source voxel library - there are ton's of them. If you are interested on the path rendering part there's lots of awesome didactic resources for that as well.

If you don't trust the author and are afraid that the code does something nasty - just don't use it.

If the author feels he is not contributing - or not willing to contribute - to the state of the art in voxel techniques or path rendering (both of which are totally fine stances) then there really is no value in showing the source.

If someone creates a free tool for making art, their contribution should be cherished, and their tool used for art, and appreciated for it's artistic merits. Don't give shit for the author for releasing the free tool on his own conditions. If you don't like those, move along. Or, if you are inspired, go make your own and open source it!

By the way, that discussion is just horrible. The author lays open the reasons why he does not want to release it and the other party just disagrees. "We could help you with the patches... I would like to read the code that I run".. Oh really? I wonder if he really has read through the entire codebase of the operating system and all of the drivers and all of the programs he runs.

"Helping out with the patches" without adult supervision can lead to this:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/9491391/Elderly-woma...

I totally understand why the author would not like to nanny the internet's eager contributors. An open source project needs a huge cultural effort to collect and coordinate technically savvy key contributors before it can work. That won't happen automatically. Not everybody yearns to be a benevolent dictator for life of this or that.

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