Remember back in November I backed out the Hammer feature from 3DTin, which used to break the cubes into tiny subcubes that then can be deleted to create finer details in the sketch. It was pretty messy to code. So I removed it and that positively sped up progress on other features. But the ability to create finer details is really nice to have. With a new tool that I am releasing today that ability is restored to some extent.
Before I explain it, let me first thank Metin Seven of Sevensheaven for coming up with this idea. He is a great 3D artist and you should specifically check out his voxel art work here.
The solution is basically simple. If we cannot break a cube into 8 subcubes, just double the size of the sketch so that each cube will now be replaced by 8 cubes of same size. This way the overall shape of the sketch remains the same, but now you get 8 cubes for each cube and you delete some of them so that you can create finer detail.
This operation of doubling the size of an object is provided with an Inflate tool.
You will see this icon in the top left toolbar, alongside move/rotate/flip tools.
When you want to double the size of a particular object (contiguous group of cubes), you click on this tool and then click on the object. The object should double in size.
Here are some screenshots of how this can help make high-res sketch. I used the beautiful sketch of a Tank by cooldanielk. The first sketch is the original (only colors were changed) and the second one is after applying the inflate tool and adding more details to the tank.
As you can see the second sketch has more details than the first one.
[Note that, although both the sketches look the same size in above screenshot, the second one is twice the size of first one.]
Give it a shot and let me know what you think.
3DTin 