Monster Mash

Core Features & Modes

Monster Mash offers three basic modes of creation:

1. Draw Mode: Sketch a character part by part using strokes that delineate boundaries of individual regions. The order of creation corresponds to their relative order in depth. Closed strokes delineate main body regions; opened strokes are used for regions smoothly attached to others (e.g., limbs). Double-click/tap to duplicate a region and place it behind already drawn regions.
2. Inflate Mode: Useful for a quick preview of the resulting 3D model. You can rotate/pan the model or click/tap on its parts and move them around to play with the model.
3. Animate Mode: Animate the model by placing control pins on it and moving them around. Activate recording to record the position of multiple control pins in time. The first pin motion recorded defines the length of the entire animation cycle (marked with green color). The system automatically starts the motion of a newly recorded pin at a frame corresponding to the currently played frame of the master pin. The relative position in time can be shifted using plus and minus keys.
4. Redraw Mode: Alter the shape of existing regions by re-sketching them without modifying their relative depth order. It is necessary to redraw the entire shape of the modified region.

Project Import/Export & Settings

• Project Operations: Start a new project, open an existing project, save, or load examples.
• Image Import: Import a template image to trace over (used as texture) or a background image. Create layers from a mask image (supports holes). Images not at 1000x800 resolution will be scaled to fit the canvas.
• Export to OBJ: Export the current animation frame to a Wavefront .obj file. If a template image is mapped, a material .mtl and texture .png are also exported.
• Export Animation to glTF: Export the entire textured animation to glTF format (.glb file) for import into software like Blender. Animation frames are exported as Morph Targets (Shape Keys in Blender). Warning: Exporting large animations may cause crashes; save the project before exporting.
• Other Settings: Enable/disable experimental armpit stitching algorithm and normal smoothing of the resulting 3D mesh.

Controls & Hotkeys

• Use 1/2/3 to switch modes, E for animation recording, Space for play/pause, Delete to remove selected parts/pins, Ctrl+C/V to copy/paste animation, +/- to offset pin animation in time.
• Depth movement: PgUp/PgDn/Home/End to move selected layers in depth.

Target Users & Requirements

• Requirements: Runs on any platform in a recent browser supporting WebAssembly & WebGL 1.0. Preferable to use on a tablet with a larger screen as the UI is not optimized for small screens. Best experience with a stylus on a tablet.
• Pricing & License: The demo is free to use for evaluation and research purposes. Source code is available under the Apache-2.0 license.