The internet is populated with so many incredible digital artists. Some of them are lucky enough to be involved in video game development, as asset artists.
Kenney Vleugels, known to most online as simply "Kenney", is an asset artist from the Netherlands that has been creating free-to-use video game assets for game developers everywhere for over a decade now.
While that's an incredible feat in it of itself, he just might have outdone himself with his newest release.
From 2D to 3D With a Few Clicks
On Wednesday, game asset artist Kenney Vleugels released KenShape, a new tool that turns your 2D pixel art into 3D models.
KenShape is out now! https://t.co/uaULooCYbm - $3.99 (DRM-free, free updates, one-time payment, Windows/Linux) #gamedev #gameassets #voxel pic.twitter.com/uBvwdIRMyZ
— Kenney (@KenneyNL) February 24, 2021
Download: Kenshape for Windows, Linux ($3.99)
It's as easy and groundbreaking as it sounds: you first create your 2D pixel artwork, then you set the depth for each pixel. KenShape will then generate an extruded 3D model based on your settings.
Never made pixel art before? Check out our ultimate beginner's guide to creating pixel art.
Vleugels took to Twitter in January with a video of a quick prototype of a new tool he was working on. At the time, he considered scrapping the idea—unsure if anyone would find it useful. To his delightful surprise, he was instead met with overwhelmingly positive reactions, and thus decided to continue development.
How KenShape Came to Be
In an interview with MUO, Vleugels revealed that he conceptualized KenShape while thinking about his usual creative process.
"When creating game assets I often start with simple geometric shapes and mold them into the objects they're supposed to represent. I felt like the initial stage of this would be something that anyone can do and [so I] started working on some prototypes," he explained.
Vleugels' first few prototypes were similar to other existing 3D modeling software, but he ultimately decided to take a step back and turn KenShape into something simpler for users that struggle with the third dimension.
When asked if KenShape will see any new features, Vleugels confirmed that he was already working on the most requested features, as well as some basic functionalities that the tool is currently missing:
"I'd like to improve accessibility and make sure everyone understands the software without any prior knowledge of 3D modeling or game development in general. I also want to expand on the exporting formats so people in other industries can use the software to their advantage."
Vleugels continued to explain that 3D file formats are "a mess," causing him the most trouble during development more than anything else. He said that before the addition of more exporting formats, KenShape is more likely to see support for 4K screens, or better yet: an undo/redo button.
3D Modeling Made Easy With KenShape
3D modeling is a lot harder than it looks. You may think that the jump from 2D to 3D is simply a matter of adding one more dimension, but more difficulties that come with that than most people will realize.
The game development community (especially indie developers) should be thrilled that we now have KenShape—a 3D modelling tool that makes asset creation a piece of cake. Of course, its initial release is fairly limited, but if development continues as planned, more folks are sure to pay attention.
