A feature that can save you a lot of time when making voxel art is the Mirror Tool in MagicaVoxel. This helps you complete symmetrical models twice as fast as opposed to doing it manually. In this tutorial we will show you how to use the mirror tool so that you can create voxel models in half the time.
After you start creating voxel models such as characters or vehicles you’ll notice that a large amount of time goes to duplicating voxels on one half of your model. You may have heard of a mirror tool that can help with this problem. However the question arises, how do I use the mirror tool in MagicaVoxel? Fortunately this Mirror tool exists in MagicaVoxel for this very purpose and can cut your work in half by implementing it into your workflow. We’ll show you how to use the Mirror tool below.
This tutorial supports 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.
Getting Started
When working with voxel models it is very similar to sculpting a model out of marble. For some models it might be necessary to manually edit all sides of the model in a different way. However there are several categories of models that the Mirror tool can significantly increase productivity and reduce unnecessary commands. Categories like cars, characters and even certain types of food models are all examples on models that the Mirror tool can be used on. Continue reading to see how to use the mirror tool in your workflow.
Open Your Model in MagicaVoxel
First let’s open up the MagicaVoxel Editor. For this tutorial we will use
the standard cube voxel model that ships with MagicaVoxel. However if you have your own model that you would like to try the Mirror tool on, feel free to open that file instead.
The reason for using this simple model is because it is perfect for
demonstrating how to use the Mirror tool in MagicaVoxel. Using this model we will show you how to mirror on the X,Y and Z axis.
How to Use the MagicaVoxel Mirror Tool
To use the Mirror Tool in MagicaVoxel, locate the Brush menu on the left side of the editor. Below the Tool options will be an icon with two arrow facing each other. Press the X, Y, or Z button to turn on the mirroring options inside of the editor.
Great! Before we begin we want to explain real quick how the mirror tool functions. While the mirror tool is activated you can add, remove or paint voxels. By default the Erase tool is selected. For this next section we will use the Erase tool to demonstrate how the changes we make to one half of the model automatically are applied to the other half.
First we will demonstrate how the X mirror option works. Go ahead and select the X button. The X mirror option replicates what you do on one side of the x axis onto the other side. Click and drag on one half. Notice how it automatically applies to the other side of the X axis.
Next we will show how this works with the Y axis. Go ahead and click the Y button. It does exactly the same thing except this time it replicates what you do across the Y axis instead.
Lastly we will demonstrate the Z mirror option. Click the Z button and now drag on your model. Notice how again it replicates, except it is along the Z axis which is the top and bottom.
Depending on what you are doing, you can choose which axis you want MagicaVoxel to work off of.
One last powerful feature that we wanted to share with you is the ability to enable mirror mode on multiple axis at the same time. Go ahead and click the X button and the Z button so that they are both highlighted. Now drag on. your model. Notice how whatever you change is reflected on both axis at the same time.
And there you go! You now know how to turn on mirroring options using the Mirror tool in MagicaVoxel.
Try Different Tools
Like we mentioned before, the mirror option don’t just work with the Erase tool. You can also use this in conjunction with the Add tool to add voxels to your model and the Paint tool to paint voxels on your model. Give it a try!
Wrap Up
You can now use the Mirror tool on the X, Y, and Z axis by using the Mirroring options built into MagicaVoxel. If you have any questions please let us know.
Thank you.
