Creating sprites from 3DSMax

OK, so I'm working on a couple of sprites from EV Nova using models in 3DSMax. I must be doing something wrong, however, because I'm ending up with this when I try to make a RlëD in Mission Computer:
Screen_shot_2010_12_31_at_1.13.33_PM.png (56.31K)
Number of downloads: 25

The speckly mask I understand, it's a lighting issue, but the problem is the lines on the mask. They seem to be popping up every 100px or so, and do really effect the in-game sprite.

My process is this:

1. Render a 64 frame movie of the ship spinning around from 3DSMax.
2. Use the m2s utility to create a spritesheet and mask from the resulting movie. Note that the mask does not appear to have any lines at this point. I would try to create a mask myself by flattening the spritesheet, but GIMP cannot open '.16bit' format images, which is what m2s creates.
3. Use the built in RlëD creator of Mission Computer to create the sprite.

Where am I going wrong?

This post has been edited by Jalisurr : 31 December 2010 - 04:21 PM

Do not use the mask made by m2s. It does that for me as well. Make your own some other way.

To make your own, I'd suggest using Graphic Converter or Preview.

This post has been edited by EVWeb : 31 December 2010 - 04:27 PM

Fair enough, and problem solved. Thank you.

Just to clarify- since you're using 3ds you should have an easy time of it- make your mask the same way you make your sprite. Just slap a bright white texture on there and re-render it with a different name - that is the absolute most accurate way to render a mask. Any other way is sometimes going to give bad results.

@meaker-vi, on Jan 4 2011, 12:28 AM, said in What am I doing wrong?:

Just to clarify- since you're using 3ds you should have an easy time of it- make your mask the same way you make your sprite. Just slap a bright white texture on there and re-render it with a different name - that is the absolute most accurate way to render a mask. Any other way is sometimes going to give bad results.

Can really recommend this method. It's incredibly useful and quick, and far easier than touching up broken masks.