How can i create sprite sheet from 3d model (3D studio max)

Question

I built simple 3D model of a car, with simple animation in which it's wheels are turning.

Now i want to create a sprite sheet, the only way i know how to do it, is to render manually 20 frames from the from, then combine them to a strip manually, then rotate it by 10 degrees, render 20 frames of animation again and combine them to a strip...

Is there a way to do it automatically ? With out rotating the scene manually and render it and combining .. it's a lot of work, takes more time then the modelling itself...

Thanks

Answer 1

After spending a week searching the web and checking every related blog post, i found the solution. http://www.denysalmaral.com/2012/04/px-spritesrender-3ds-max-scripted.html

This script renders and names the images perfectly, after it i combine them using "GlueIT"

Works like a charm,

Hope it will help others.

Answer 2

Note: Was very nice finding an StackEnxchange answer pointing to my own script! ;)

I'll would like to extend the answer for the original question:

You can automate this task in 3ds Max with its built-in scripted language: Maxscript, using the bitmap render() function and node rotate(). This example code will render active frames range animation by each angle of 4 views :

for i=0 to 3 do
(
 MyBitmap = Render camera:$Camera01 framerange:#active OutPutfile:MyFileName
 Rotate MyModelRoot 90
)

render() function use the same settings from Render Setup dialog (F10), like file format, bitmap dimensions, etc.

Then, for combining the result images into one big spread sheet we have PasteBitmap() function.

My script impementation also supports Render Elements, so we can export more rendering buffers, like Shadow Maps, Diffuse Map, z-Buffer or Object ID. But it still don't have the ability to combine rendered images into a single one. (Will be implemented in next version)

You can try also similar tools from other authors: http://www.scriptspot.com/3ds-max/scripts/sprite-render-script