I am playing around with programming an isometric engine that I may someday use for an action game or RPG. It is actually nearing completion, but I have a problem. I am a programmer, not an artist. My attempts to draw characters for my game are laughable. What I want to know is what would be the best way for me to draw people? Would a low-poly 3d modeller be my best bet? I have Paintshop Pro 6 and access to numerous 3d modellers, including 3D Studio MAX (seems insanely difficult). I have seen much of the art from the artists that post on gamedev.net and I am very impressed. Any tips from you pros?

To draw people you''ll need to practice without a computer. If you''re really interested in art I suggest you get books on figure drawing (try amazon for Burne Hogarth). There are lots of tutorials on the web too (www.polykarbon.com)

Most people will tell you that creating 3D models and convert them to sprites really isnt the best way to go because 1st. it doesnt worth the effort (3D modelling is long, so is texturing and so is animating), 2nd. 3d isnt all that good for drawing low-res sprites and last it isnt *that* long to draw the keyframes by hand (faster than 3D)...

Good luck discovering the artist within
hahaha

Biere et punk

Yup, I agree in all points. Handmade is usually faster (except if you want a lot of frames) and looks better too. And if you taake the time to model, texture and animate them they still need a large amount of retouching...

Thanks for the replies, guys. Now I know not to waste time with 3D modelling. My main problem is being able to draw people from all eight compass directions (front, back, sides, angled). But hopefully I will be able to learn from some books and tutorials and whatnot. Eventually I''ll probably just replace it all with a real artist''s art anyways .

If you have the cash, try Poser. They have a demo available on their web site. It''s a great program if you suck at drawing. You can manipulate every part of the body.

You can get the demo at http://www.curiouslabs.com/

borngamer