How to Make a 3D Image From a 2D Image

The future of iPhone apps looks bright and, to be completely honest, it feels like... magic. Imagine being capable of totally interacting with your character in games just by touching the screen. Now it's possible!

Live2D created by CYBERNOIDS (Japan), is the world's first animation technology that makes a 3D image from a 2D image. This amazing rendering technology supports many smartphones and tables and is already being used in games that take advantage of the distinctive features of hand-drawn 2d artwork.

In 3D, the unique points of interest of 2D art like that in Japanese manga and anime can't be rendered effectively. But with Live2D, Cybernoids made smooth 3D animation using only the original 2D images! So, this rendering technology makes the images appear exactly as the graphic artist intended, which is really, really, awesome.

When the girl's face turns sideways, you can see how the eyelashes and eyes move at the same time. Developers can make use of the tools at their disposals to work more easily and efficiently. Making a 3D image from 2D images can be achieved with this near magic, which is really an extension of drawing, so it works best if the creator has a good artistic awareness.

The Live2D creation of 3D images from 2D images is available in two renderings, using either polygons or vectors. A 3D engine powers the polygon based version of Live2D, so it can achieve fast, smooth motion even on your iPhone.

Make 3D Image from 2D

So, to recap, Live2D is a Japanese drawing technology that can animate 2D characters from manga, anime, and other illustrations of course, without the need of 3D models. Such characters, incapable of faithful 3D rendering, can be animated much like hand-drawn animations while staying true to their original art. So you can say that Live2D is the world's first "expressive" technology that lets developers animate their art to their choosing. And here's how you make 3D image from 2D...

Right now, Live2D is used only in dialog-type games with, well, limited movement. However, in couple of years, Cybernoids will develop the tools that would enable 360 degrees character movement. Can you imagine that?

"We're aiming for this technology to be used worldwide, hopefully creating a market for revolving graphics in 2D, like with 3D. So, our goal is for this technology to become a de facto standard worldwide," concluded Tetsuya Nakajo, President of Cybernoids Co., Ltd. So, friend, rejoice; in a couple of years you won't be alone anymore. ;)

Who am I?

Hi! I'm Silviu, an experienced graphics artist from Romania. Want to know more about me? Check out Game Artist for Hire and send me an email if you believe we can achieve great things together. Have a very safe and productive day! ;)

©Copyright 2011-2019 Hire Freelance Artist. All rights reserved. Online Privacy.
how to make a 3d image from a 2d image - make 3d image from 2d - facial recognition in games