/vr/ - Retro Games

The graphics for Wolfenstein were drawn completely by Adrian Carmack, but for the Doom graphics, the Id team knew it was going to need help. It enlisted the aid of professional model designer.

The models are placed on a revolving tray where they are secured to the base. There are eight pegs in the tray that represent the eight points of view that are needed by the game engine to render the creatures. Next, the models are animated frame by frame by moving the model and then rotating it to each specific vantage point the engine uses to display it.

The images are digitized by a video camera hooked up to the NeXT machine. When each frame is captured, it is imported over the network into a PC running Electronic Arts’ Dpaint, where the photographic source is translated into the resolution of the game. The images are drawn at full brightness, and the game engine varies the contrast for light sourcing.

>Source: http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2009/01/the_game_developer_archives_mo.php

Also, here's a video which showcases some of the Doom 2 monsters being rotated while being mounted on the revolving tray (start at 2 mins)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P14iW91LNnw

The question that remains is, what kind of camera did they used to record the monster models?

More info regarding the model capturing process

http://rome.ro/wordpress/?p=3

>When we did video capture of our latex and clay models, the video camera was pointed at the model and a live video feed was plugged into the NeXTCUBE which, at any time, we could click a button to take a frame grab. This frame was then fed into our program Fuzzy Pumper Palette Shop which took it from 24-bit color down to a 256-color VGA paletted graphic. At that point it was saved on our network where Adrian and Kevin could load it into Deluxepaint II and clean it up.

I wonder if we can achieve better results with the tools we have at our disposal at this point in time. But the question is, which ones, and how?