Creating a 2d look sprite sheet and textures out of 3d models

Question

I'm trying to make a 2d game (rpg top down), and I've got no 2d artists help me out making 2d characters and textures, but I have one who can make 3d stuff (using Blender and 3d Max), I was wondering if there's a way to make these 3d models look 2d so I can capture some poses to make a sprite sheet.

Is it possible to make 3d models look 2d?

Edit: Here are examples

Sly Crooper (Playstation 2 Game) http://static.gamesradar.com/images/mb/GamesRadar/us/Features/2009/02/Sneaky%20History%20of%20Stealth%20Games/Screens/slycooper3--article_image.jpg

Legend Of Zelda Wind Waker: http://www.zeldadungeon.net/images/News/Folder/10-05-06/Screen1-Large.jpg

I wish for sucha similar art.

How about rendering them? (Is that what you're asking? I'm unsure.) — Anko, Mar 09 '15 at 11:19
@Anko is there a way to render them so they look 2d ? because the idea I had in mind is just capturing poses instead of rendering (since it's a 2d game, I got to make a sprite sheet, but if rendering is necessary to make the 2d look, then I'd like to know if there's a way to make it look 2d) — Mohe TheDreamy, Mar 09 '15 at 13:14
Is your issue about exporting from a 3d engine to a 2d sprite, or really about making a 3d model look like 2d art? — Vaillancourt, Mar 09 '15 at 13:26
@AlexandreVaillancourt it's really making a 3d model LOOK LIKE 2D ART — Mohe TheDreamy, Mar 09 '15 at 13:36
Please add an example picture of how the end-result 2d art should look. — Kromster, Mar 09 '15 at 15:31

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 09 '15 at 14:37

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The first thing that comes to my mind would be to render your 3d graphics with a cel shader. I'm not too familiar with the technique, but basically, it makes your 3d models look cartoonish.

I think some game companies put a lot of effort in this kind of technique to really give a nice look to their game and they really make it part of the artistic process.

In any case, if you decide to go with that kind of technique, you'll have to work with your artists and give them tools to rapidly view the result of their work. You could do that with you writing the exporter/converter and giving it to them.

Another way you could get some results would be to render your models to images, then edit them manually in photoshop by applying filters. I know photoshop can be scripted so you could automate the process there.

answered Mar 09 '15 at 14:37

Vaillancourt

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That seems like what I'm looking for, I'd appreciate it even more if you could direct me to some good links about this Cel Shader or any other useful technique. And the photoshop things seems like a good idea too. – Mohe TheDreamy Mar 09 '15 at 21:11
Unfortunately, I have not implemented such a thing myself, so I cannot point you to the best resources. A google search hinted me that there seems to be ways to achieve it directly in blender; otherwise, there would be programmatic ways to do it with shaders, but that whole thing depends on the tools you use. – Vaillancourt Mar 09 '15 at 21:27
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Alright, this should be more than enough, I guess I can go my way from here to google more, thank body. – Mohe TheDreamy Mar 09 '15 at 22:22

Creating a 2d look sprite sheet and textures out of 3d models

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