Monster Mash

What is Monster Mash?

Monster Mash is a sketch-based modeling and animation tool that simplifies 3D character creation. You sketch a character on a flat plane, turn the sketch into a 3D model, and animate it — all without traditional 3D manipulation. The tool offers three main modes: Draw, Inflate, and Animate.

The project was presented at SIGGRAPH Asia 2020, with research published in ACM Transactions on Graphics. It is free to use for evaluation and research purposes, and a user forum is available for support and feedback.

Who created Monster Mash?

Monster Mash was created by Daniel Sykora and his team at GeometryFactory, a research group at the Czech Technical University in Prague, in collaboration with Google Research.

What is Monster Mash used for?

Monster Mash supports workflows such as:

• Starting a new project
• Importing template images to work from
• Importing background images to set the scene
• Creating layers from masks to organize your work

Who is Monster Mash for?

The tool suits anyone working with 3D characters or visuals, including 3D modelers, animators, game developers, VFX artists, illustrators, character designers, product designers, architects, educators, and VR developers.

How to use Monster Mash

Requirements: A modern browser with WebAssembly and WebGL 1.0 support. It works best on tablets with larger screens, and can be controlled with a mouse, touch screen, or stylus.

Creation modes:

• Draw: Sketch your character part by part using strokes to outline regions and define their depth. New regions are created with a single stroke, and you can select, copy, or delete regions from the menu.
• Inflate: Preview the 3D model, rotating and panning around it with device-specific controls.
• Animate: Place and move control pins on the model to animate it. Pins can be created, moved, selected, and deleted as needed.

Detailed instructions are available inside the tool itself for a deeper understanding of each mode and feature.