Help:Isometric renders (Minecraft: Story Mode)

This article contains instructions for creating isometric renders of Minecraft: Story Mode models. The article would also provide instructions for flat-modeled items which would not be rendered in "isometric" perspective. The instructions describe only one way to render the desired view, individual authors may work differently. This guide would assume the user is already experienced in Blender, as there are many fine-tunings needed to be done to achieve the desired look of a render.

The renders are created using 3D graphics software. The process often involves multiple programs, some capable of producing renders on their own, while others may be required as support tools for different 3D software due to exclusive features.

Textures, meshes (models), and skeleton armatures can be extracted using third-party programs such as Telltale Inspector. These assets are found within the game's files, which use the .ttarch2 file extension.

• 👁 Opening TTArchives
  
  Opening TTArchives
• 👁 Opening D3DMeshes
  
  Opening D3DMeshes
• 👁 Opening T3Textures
  
  Opening T3Textures

Avoid using bugged textures, which appear mostly in The Order of the Stone but also in other episodes. Check other episodes for the same files or compare them in-game. If they are missing, extract them from pre-release builds (see unused and removed features). The Netflix version can be used for comparison as its textures are not bugged.

The assets for textures use the .d3dtx file extension and the meshes (models) use .d3dmesh extension. Both types can be found in "ttarch2" files suffixed with _txmesh.

• Some objects or mobs use multiple textures, one for the standard appearance and another in black and white. These black-and-white textures are emission maps, where the white areas represent parts of the model that emit light. The black areas remain unlit and are unaffected by the emission effect.

Skeleton armature assets use the .skl file extension. These assets are optional and should only be used on models that require poses such as humanoid mobs. Since humanoid models are typically in a T-pose by default, the armature files are necessary to adjust poses properly.

In some cases, the correct textures to apply to a mesh are not immediately apparent from their file names. Telltale Inspector can be used to identify the correct texture. Open the .d3dmesh file through Open > Open D3DMesh. Once the file is loaded, a list of textures will be displayed.

The extracted assets cannot be used in any 3D graphics software in their raw formats. They need to be converted first into usable formats.

For converting textures, a program that accurately converts the RGBA values into the intended appearance in the games must be used. Telltale Inspector can be used for this, other sofwares may convert the textures in wrong hues.

Models can be converted using two different methods, depending on their complexity:

• For simple models, such as items, objects, or simple mobs (e.g., slimes), Telltale Inspector is sufficient. It converts models into the .obj format, which is widely supported by 3D applications.
• For models with complex materials, such as the glitching prismarine colossus or charged creeper, Telltale Inspector may fail to convert the geometry properly, resulting in models with visible vertices but no faces. Also some models, mostly from Season One, have broken UVs. In these cases, Autodesk 3ds Max in combination with the RTB 3ds script is recommended.

The RTB 3ds script can also import .d3dmesh and .skl files together, allowing the model to be posable in 3D programs.

To use the script, it must be dragged and dropped into the 3ds Max viewport. Once imported, the model can be exported to formats that support skeleton armatures, such as .fbx.

Once the models and textures have been converted into compatible formats (such as .obj, or .fbx), they can be imported into Blender for rendering.

Lighting, camera placement, and rendering settings are all customizable in Blender depending on the intended result. The blend templates provided already have these.

The models for mobs and characters needs to be posed in their idle posing as how they are seen in the game. If the loaded model appears identically as their game appearance, posing them is unnecessary.

In Blender, materials often need to be recreated or adjusted manually. Imported models typically do not retain their original material setups, especially if converted from 3ds Max. Metallic, emissive, and transparent properties may require fine-tuning based on the appearance in the original game, this can be done in Shader editor.

• The materials for models converted using Telltale Inspector does not need any modifications aside from setting the Shadow Mode of the material into "None" and setting the interpolation of the Image Texture node to "Closest" instead of "Linear".
• Models converted using 3ds Max appear to be "graywashed" which needs to be changed. This can be done by replacing the Principled BSDF node of their materials with the same-named node of the provided models inside the templates (obj_bookOpenableBlue in isometric template and obj_swordIron in item template).

Firstly, you need to select the object, change the interpolation of the Image Texture node from "Linear" to "Closest", and set the material's Shadow Mode to "None".

For models that require special graphical effects, additional nodes must be added in the Shader Editor. Select the object first, and then delete its Principled BSDF. Add more nodes by hovering the cursor in the nodes window and press + . These nodes can be connected to each other to achieve different graphical effects.

Some elements from the games have special graphical effects like bloom, reflectiveness, and enchantment glint. These must be recreated as much as possible.

• Usually, emissive materials are accompanied with the bloom effect, however this is not always the case, like the icy ender creeper's eyes.
• Blender does not save the bloom effect on a transparent background.

After configuring the materials, the next step is to adjust the render resolution and camera scale. Render resolution should generally not exceed 1,000×1,000 pixels, unless the subject is particularly large and features small, highly detailed textures (e.g. wither storm, prismarine colossus). Higher resolutions in those cases help preserve texture clarity. The scale of the camera can be adjusted to properly frame the subject within the render view.

Saving a render can be done by selecting the "Render" option on the top-left of the rendering software, and then choosing "Save As" or "Save Image" from the file menu.

If the object has a bloom effect that extends to the transparent background, a separate render should be made with an opaque background to preserve the bloom effect. This extra render will later be used in post-processing to combine the bloom effect with the original transparent render.

1. Set the world's background to black in World Properties.
2. Disable the transparent background in Render Properties.

• 👁 Setting up simple materials.
  
  Setting up simple materials.
• 👁 A common node setup for emissive materials.
  
  A common node setup for emissive materials.
• 👁 Setting up bloom.
  
  Setting up bloom.
• 👁 Adjust the resolution and camera view.
  
  Adjust the resolution and camera view.
• 👁 Saving the render.
  
  Saving the render.
• 👁 Setting the background color to black.
  
  Setting the background color to black.
• 👁 Setting the background to opaque.
  
  Setting the background to opaque.

For post-processing, the unnecessary empty spaces of the render must be removed. Any image editing program can be used, but for the instructions, Paint.NET and a plugin will be used. The Make Transparent plugin removes a selected color from the image, making those areas fully transparent. Colors that are blended with the selected color become partially translucent.

To remove unnecessary spaces, use the magic wand tool to select the transparent areas, then invert the selection by going through the "Edit" in the ribbon or by pressing + . After it was inverted, the selection must be cropped using "Crop to Selection".

For the renders with bloom effects, you must add the render with the black background as a layer below the main render. After adding it, select whole layer of the render with black background and use the Make Transparent tool.

After making the background transparent, the layers must be merged. The final step would be to remove the unnecessary spaces again.

• 👁 Process of cropping renders
  
  Process of cropping renders
• 👁 Process of using Make Transparent
  
  Process of using Make Transparent
• 👁 Set the color to black
  
  Set the color to black
• 👁 Merge the layers
  
  Merge the layers
• 👁 The selection with the bloom effect included
  
  The selection with the bloom effect included

The processes above also apply to items with flat models. However, the renders should retain the original image resolution, meaning it should not be cropped. Resize the model so that it occupies the render space adequately without appearing too small or off-centered.