MagicaVoxel

Features and Review

• MagicaVoxel .

• It’s a free software built to create voxel art.

Features

• There’s no way to ‘import’ a 3D model or sprite into the app. It only opens .vox  files.

• It allows animation in some way, but it’s done like in Aseprite, that is, frame by frame, ~purely for gifs.

  • It’s not a style that’s even slightly pleasant or useful for games.

• Does not allow rigging.

• The app seems to support turning voxels into LEGO pieces.

Review (2024-06-21)

• There is support for "prefabs" (aka shaders / project templates). Shaders are used constantly to create complex and noisy objects, which I don’t like because it only feels like composition techniques, which I find boring and not very “intimate”.

• I hated how the app handles the color palette, being super weird and having a very saturated default color range.

  • The biggest issue I had with this was that the object by default associates itself with a coordinate in the palette, so if you change any color in the palette, the object also changes its color, making everything very strange.

  • For a 3D drawing and painting app, I think this is a major flaw.

  • There are some tips to improve the use of palettes, but they’re still clunky.

• Didn’t like the 3D navigation much, but it’s very hard for any app to satisfy me on that.

• I found the tool interface on the left side a bit strange, not very intuitive in terms of organization. Still, I managed to learn 90% of everything without watching videos, so it’s somewhat self-explanatory.

• My biggest criticisms are about making “high-res” and “low-res” voxels, which is annoying or simply limiting, like making a pixel art character that’s 16px tall. Overall, the app is great, except for my color palette criticisms.

Explanation

Usage

• Understanding the basics .

  • Good video.

• "Mastering MagicaVoxel" {Playlist} .

  • Haven’t watched any videos.

• Tips to improve the color palette experience .

  • Good tips. The palettes are still clunky, tho.

• Low-density: Table with chairs .

• Low-density: Crate .

• Low-density: Ugly Mario .

• Low-density: Hot chocolate .

• Low-density: Kitchen .

• Low-density: Desert .

• Low-density: Cube with glass and emission material .

  • Uses some interesting shortcuts, also shows the World View, etc.

• High-density: Tree via shaders .

Pattern

• Quick explanation (1) .

• Quick explanation (2) .

• *Review:

  • Don’t like the interface, etc.

  • The tool doesn’t allow any kind of snap, so it’s weird for creating a ‘tilemap’ for terrain.

  • The maximum world size is 256pb x 256pb, resulting in a maximum of 16x16 blocks (16x16 meters), which is quite small.

Rigging

• Making a Rig in Blender, after export {8:21 -> 16:32} .

Import and Export

• Export Options:

  • OBJ:  Export a 3D mesh using the .obj file format.

  • PLY:  Export a file using the PLY (Polygon File Format) format.

  • VOX:  Export a MagicaVoxel VOX file.

  • ISO:  Export an isometric pixel sprite (.png).

  • 2D:  Export a 2D sprite (.png).

  • MC:  Export a file using the MC (Marching Cubes) format.

  • XRAW:  Export an XRAW volume.

  • SLAB:  Export a SLAB6 vox volume.

  • QB:  Export a QB volume for use with Qubicle.

• MagicaVoxel to Blender, using .obj or .ply {00:00 -> 8:21} .

  • He uses .ply export, but first compares the differences between .obj and .ply export.

    • He discards the .obj version because it proves to be quite bad for Rigging, etc.

  • Using the .ply technique, he links the Vertex Color to Base Color in the Shading tab to display the colors again.

  • It’s also mentioned the Cube  export, which seems to be just a type of .ply export focusing on separating each voxel into individual objects; useful for ~particles, I guess.

• MagicaVoxel to Blender, using .obj or .ply or .vox .

  • .obj:

    • Keeps materials, but messes up geometry.

    • Although the object looks visually correct, it completely loses the voxel vertex characteristic, and it’s not possible to make any texture changes or rigging.

  • .ply:

    • Keeps geometry, but the material becomes ~confusing.

      • The material is saved as Vertex Color, which can be accessed and linked to Base Color in the Shading tab.

      • If you want to use this in a Game Engine, it may be necessary to bake these colors into a texture.

        • THO, I believe Godot allows using Vertex Color as Albedo without any baking.

    • Allows geometry modifications and rigging, but the material must be recreated from scratch.

  • .vox:

    • Must use the plugin MagicaVoxel-VOX-importer .

    • Keeps geometry and material.

    • Allows rigging without issues.

• MagicaVoxel to Godot, using .vox .

• Baking the Vertex Colors from .ply into a texture .

  • Good video, well explained.

  • Uses classic baking techniques with Emit; absolutely nothing different from a regular texture bake in Blender.