APPLICATION OF THE PIXEL ART CONCEPT IN A 3D ENVIRONMENT USING BLENDER

Abstract

This study examines the application of pixel art aesthetics in a 3D environment using Blender, aiming to produce a pipeline that is replicable, temporally stable, and consistent in pixel density. The highlighted gap is the lack of standardized technical references for achieving an authentic pixel look on 3D mesh surfaces (not merely billboarding 2D sprites or generic post-processing effects) that remain visually readable at various distances and camera movements. The proposed method includes: (1) designing a shader graph for color quantization and alignment of screen/UV coordinates to the pixel grid (pixel-grid snapping), (2) applying nearest-neighbor texture filtering and render scale control to maintain uniform pixel block sizes, (3) configuring the camera (orthographic/perspective) with fixed sensor/FOCAL settings, and (4) controlling temporal aliasing through TAA/FXAA adjustments or selective toggles accompanied by lightweight post-process sharpening. The evaluation was carried out across several 3D scene scenarios (indoor/outdoor) with varying camera distances, comparing the baseline (without the pixelation pipeline) and the proposed approach. Performance aspects were assessed through average frametime and inter-frame stability (frame difference/SSIM analysis), while perceptual aspects were evaluated based on user assessments of shape readability and aesthetic preference. The results show that the pipeline can maintain consistent pixel size, reduce shimmering on moving edges, and improve readability without significant performance overhead. The contribution of this paper is an open and well- documented pipeline, a simple yet rigorous evaluation protocol for temporal stability/pixel consistency, and practical design guidelines for developing interactive multimedia systems based on Blender.