MagicaVoxel supports creating models with a small amount of voxels, but it also supports combining smaller models to make bigger models with lots of voxels. In this tutorial, we will show you how to increase the size of your voxel model beyond the MagicaVoxel size limit.
You may have noticed that a lot of voxel art featured on Mega Voxels is a lot bigger than the max size limit supported by MagicaVoxel. You may be asking, how do I increase the MagicaVoxel size limit? As of this post, the stable version of MagicaVoxel only supports 126x126x126 sized models. Fortunately there is a great feature in MagicaVoxel called the World Editor. We’ll be going through the steps on how to create multiple voxel models in a single scene, and use the World editor to combine them together to make a bigger model.
What is the Maximum Model Size in MagicaVoxel
As of this writing, MagicaVoxel only supports creating models with a max size of 126x126x126. There is a beta version that was released a few days ago that allows models of 256x256x256 to be created but according to their website there is the possibility of bugs and thus might not be reliable.
But even with the size increase most scenes are much bigger than 256x256x256. So how do artists get around this limitation? Very simple, they use the World Editor to combine smaller models together thus making the a scene that is much larger than the max size.
This tutorial uses MagicaVoxel 0.99.6 or newer. If you need help installing MagicaVoxel, view our previous tutorial How to Install MagicaVoxel. There you can find a step by step tutorial on getting MagicaVoxel running on your computer.
Open the MagicaVoxel Editor
First let’s open up MagicaVoxel. For this example we will use the “monu1” sample file that ships with MagicaVoxel.
The reason we are using this one is because it is 126x126x118 in size. Like we mentioned before, the stable version of MagicaVoxel only supports 126x126x126, so realistically there is not much room left to add anything to this model. To illustrate how the world Editor works however, we will create a second monument with a different color inside the same scene.
How to Open the World Editor
To open the World Editor click the button towards the top-right of your screen that has two arrows facing opposite directions.
When you click the button you’ll notice the main editor window change.
The first thing is that there is now a white outlined box surrounding your monument model. When you create a new file in MagicaVoxel, it is creating a scene for you. This scene has the ability to store multiple models inside of it, kind of like a room has the ability to store multiple pieces of furniture inside of it.
The second thing that you’ll see is three arrows: a blue one, a green one and a red one. These represent the 3 axis inside your scene. You can use these arrows to adjust the position of a model inside of your scene.
The third thing well point out is that you might have noticed that your Brush window has been replaced with a World window. While you are in the World Editor you have a different set of tools you can use on your models, however you cannot modify the voxels on your model. That means no adding, deleting or coloring voxels. To do that you must first click the arrow button again to go back into the Model Editor.
Adding another Model to your Scene
To simulate that we are making a bigger model, we will create a duplicate of our monument inside of our scene. To do that first make sure that the monument model is selected. You’ll know if its selected if you see the arrows we mentioned before.
Now go into the Edit window and press Copy. Then press Paste. You can also use Cmd + C for copy and Cmd + V for paste as a shortcut.
When you do this the new model will automatically be selected. Simply move it back by clicking and dragging the red arrow. Feel free to zoom out using the wheel on your mouse or two fingers on a trackpad, so that you can see more of your scene.
Believe it or not, you just mastered how to make a scene bigger than the max size limit set by MagicaVoxel. This technique is used by advanced artists to create cities, villages and anything else that requires 10x the size or more of the max size limit in MV.
Adding Color to the New Model
When you create a new model you are able to modify it completely independent from other models. For this example we will do something very simple, we will paint the center building a different color.
So to begin make sure that the second model is selected and click on the arrow button at the top-right to go back to the Model Editor.
Now that we are in the Model Editor again, lets select a the Replace Voxel Color tool and a new color (make sure its not the same color).
Now click on the main sections of the monument to change the blue color to the new color you selected. You should see something like this.
You can start to see the end product now. However to get the best image its nice to add shadows and shading to our models. To preview your work with shading and lights, hit the Render button in the top left of the MagicaVoxel. This special mode activates the rendering engine inside of MagicaVoxel. You should end up with an image similar to this.
Wrap Up
This simple technique is the starting point for creating massive worlds with dozens of voxel models and still abiding by MagicaVoxel’s size limit. If you have any questions please ask below. Also if you found this tutorial helpful, please consider sharing.
