Mannequin - A 2D Character CG Generator

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helloar14
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Mannequin - A 2D Character CG Generator

#1 Post by helloar14 »

Hi there,

Are you a non-artist looking for a quick way to prototype/produce character CGs for your VNs?
Then you might be interested in my app Mannequin, which is currently available for early access on itch.io (demo available)

Mannequin is a 2D Character CG Generator aimed for VNs and DRPGs (or JRPGs in general) that enables you to create character CGs by mix and matching
templates.

The available components is still limited for now, but content updates are free and will be added in a rapid pace (since the core functionality of the app is mostly done).

Some screenshots:

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Let me know what you think.

Thanks!
Last edited by helloar14 on Tue Aug 16, 2016 9:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Mannequin - A 2D Character CG Generator

#2 Post by BáiYù »

Very impressive work! Of all the character generators I've seen, this is by far one of the best. I purchased a copy and can't wait for more templates to work with.
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Re: Mannequin - A 2D Character CG Generator

#3 Post by helloar14 »

BáiYù wrote:Very impressive work! Of all the character generators I've seen, this is by far one of the best. I purchased a copy and can't wait for more templates to work with.
Thank you very much! Don't forget that requests/suggestions are always open :wink:

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Re: Mannequin - A 2D Character CG Generator

#4 Post by Mama J »

OOOOOH THIS IS AMAZING, thank you for making this available!! I'm TERRIBLE with art and can't even draw a decent stick figure to save my life so this will definitely come in handy!

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Re: Mannequin - A 2D Character CG Generator

#5 Post by Shagwrath »

$3? Yah, will try it out. Looks good though tbh, and will definitely use it on my current project.

Something I thought of, and some other people may ask: Can the art generated in this program be used for commercial projects?
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Re: Mannequin - A 2D Character CG Generator

#6 Post by Dollysama »

This looks awesome, I'll definitely purchase it at some point.

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Re: Mannequin - A 2D Character CG Generator

#7 Post by helloar14 »

Shagwrath wrote:$3? Yah, will try it out. Looks good though tbh, and will definitely use it on my current project.

Something I thought of, and some other people may ask: Can the art generated in this program be used for commercial projects?
Yes (as stated on the store page).

The $3 price is for early access though. As the development progress, it will raise little by little until it reaches $19.99 projected final price at 1.0 release.

Hope you'll like it!

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Re: Mannequin - A 2D Character CG Generator

#8 Post by Shagwrath »

helloar14 wrote:
Shagwrath wrote:$3? Yah, will try it out. Looks good though tbh, and will definitely use it on my current project.

Something I thought of, and some other people may ask: Can the art generated in this program be used for commercial projects?
Yes (as stated on the store page).

The $3 price is for early access though. As the development progress, it will raise little by little until it reaches $19.99 projected final price at 1.0 release.

Hope you'll like it!
I checked it out and I'm not disappointed, it will be nice to see it develop and grow. Nice clean style, very easy to use and navigate, well worth the price to invest in a program that will be an amazing tool.
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Re: Mannequin - A 2D Character CG Generator

#9 Post by netravelr »

Picked it up myself as well. Looking forward to seeing new content being added, but in the meantime I'd be interested to see if it'd be possible to create new content for the system myself, or rather commission other artists to create content that would fit into the program, such as new poses, clothing, and/or hairstyles.

Cheers!
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Re: Mannequin - A 2D Character CG Generator

#10 Post by helloar14 »

netravelr wrote:Picked it up myself as well. Looking forward to seeing new content being added, but in the meantime I'd be interested to see if it'd be possible to create new content for the system myself, or rather commission other artists to create content that would fit into the program, such as new poses, clothing, and/or hairstyles.

Cheers!
User-generated content is something that we already planned, but it's still a far away milestone.

Before telling other people about how to make content for the app, first we have to be certain that our templating system (file structure, rendering method, etc)
works well; otherwise it will cause headache for creators if the specifications/guidelines changes frequently.

By working on various original content, we will try to discover if there's anything that can be improved/optimized in the system,
so creators can have it easy when user-generated content is fully implemented.

Thanks for your understanding!

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Re: Mannequin - A 2D Character CG Generator

#11 Post by lets_try_it »

Will you guys have a place to send request components (clothing and facial features, for instance)? I just purchased it, and it looks amazing. I am looking forward for different lip sizes and different hair textures (like afro hair)!

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Re: Mannequin - A 2D Character CG Generator

#12 Post by helloar14 »

lets_try_it wrote:Will you guys have a place to send request components (clothing and facial features, for instance)? I just purchased it, and it looks amazing. I am looking forward for different lip sizes and different hair textures (like afro hair)!
Yes, you can post it here: https://itch.io/t/28508/suggestionsrequests
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Re: Mannequin - A 2D Character CG Generator

#13 Post by PyTom »

Quite nice. I haven't gotten a chance to try this out, but it certainly looks good, and something that's likely to see lot of use in certain genres of games. (Solo NaNoRenO efforts come to mind.)

One visual novel related feature might be the ability to set up a character and a set of expressions, and then export them as a set of files named in the format Ren'Py accepts. (So like "jane sweater happy.png", "jane sweater mad.png", etc.) This way, people can just export (or copy the exported files) into Ren'Py's images directory, and be good to go.
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Re: Mannequin - A 2D Character CG Generator

#14 Post by helloar14 »

PyTom wrote:Quite nice. I haven't gotten a chance to try this out, but it certainly looks good, and something that's likely to see lot of use in certain genres of games. (Solo NaNoRenO efforts come to mind.)

One visual novel related feature might be the ability to set up a character and a set of expressions, and then export them as a set of files named in the format Ren'Py accepts. (So like "jane sweater happy.png", "jane sweater mad.png", etc.) This way, people can just export (or copy the exported files) into Ren'Py's images directory, and be good to go.
This is actually a very neat idea.

I'm also considering a feature where PNG export can output separate file for body and face layer. This seems to be used a lot in Japanese VNs.

Still quite a long way though! :D
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Re: Mannequin - A 2D Character CG Generator

#15 Post by helloar14 »

FYI, new version (0.1.1) is already live on Itch!

If you're using the Itch app, auto-update should start automatically.

View the changelog here: https://itch.io/t/28507/release-infochangelog

Looking forward for your feedbacks! :wink:
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