[Tutorial] Model Icons and Previews without Photoshop

[John2k4]

How to make icons for your models without Photoshop, using free & simple tools!

For the purpose of this guide, I will use models from Homeworld, previewed in 3D Exploration. This guide should work with any standard 3D viewer, however.


Necessary Tools:
Icon Maker V3
IrfanView
GIMP

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Icons

Step 1: Prepare for Screenshots
Simple enough: prepare for taking a good, clean screenshot of the 3D model. This means disabling all 3D axis, grids, and things that would get in the way of the model.



[Optional]:
Toggle the lighting so that the model is evenly lit from all over.
Set the background to a bright color that is not present in the models.



Step 2: The Screenshot
Rotate and pan around until the model is in a good position for the icon. Scale it up or down to a small size (whatever will look good for the icon preview).
Once that is taken care of, press your PrintScreen key.



Step 3: Cropping
Open Irfanview, and press paste (either Ctrl+V or Edit-> Paste). Holding down your left click button, drag a box around the model. Once you are satisfied with the box, select Cut (either Ctrl+X or Edit-> Cut).




Step 4: Pasting & Finishing
Open IconMaker, and start a new model sheet. You will have a blank icon. Paste in the cropped image (either Ctrl+V or Image-> Paste Image). The image should now be in the icon, with the background still around it.



Now open the "Image" menu, and navigate to the "Transparency -> Background" submenu. Choose "Top Left Pixel". Your image should now be transparent, with the 3D model on the proper tMR icon background. You can now move it around by left clicking & dragging your mouse.





Add the name of the model through the text menu, save your icon, and post it with your model!

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Previews

Follow the above guide to step 3, making sure to enlarge the model a decent bit.

Once you have the cropped image, start GIMP and open the standard tMR preview image (available below).





Paste in your cropped model image, and do the following key combination: Ctrl+Shift+N. This will create a new layer for your recently pasted image, allowing us to work with it.





Now navigate to the Toolbox window, and select the Magic Wand at the top. Make sure the threshold, in the lower part of the toolbox, is a low number (around 15).



Click anywhere on the background of the pasted image, and you should notice marching lines around the model. Press Ctrl+X (or navigate to Edit-> Cut) to remove the entire background at this point, leaving only the model resting on the tMR background.
(To get rid of the selection & marching lines [to make more edits], click anywhere outside the image, on the grey of the window with the wand tool.)

Save your image as a JPG (make sure to specify the extension, otherwise GIMP will use its own format), and upload this, too!