today we are locked in we are starting to finish the 2D->3D collection of SCHIZODIO. we’ve decided to tackle the eyes then mouth as these are low hanging fruit. our weapon of choice is paint.net bc i’m b0gie lmao

The Plan

eyes → mouth → everything else. low hanging fruit first. smart. we got 42 days until deadline but who’s counting.

Session 1: The Base Eyes

went into paint.net thinking it’d be a chill texture session. nah. the UVs were wonky. the eye texture wasn’t sitting right on the mesh and the edge alignment was off.

pulled up blender’s UV editor. side-by-side comparison — grayscale reference on the left, full color on the right. this mesh uses radial topology (concentric rings from the pupil) so edge precision is everything. pulled the right-edge vertices out, tiny -0.037025m X nudge, and bam.

150 tris per eye. clean. symmetrical. both sitting pretty in viewport with the SAUCE character preview looking back at me.

UV fix before/after

UV fix in context

UV fix finished

The Pivot: Two Traits Go Full 3D

but here’s where it gets spicy. two traits — Ekubo Bionic Eyes#15 and Kano’s Bionic Eyes#15 — are too iconic to stay flat. they deserve geometry. they deserve volume. they just look better in 3D, simple as.

so we’re running a new pipeline, AI-augmented but not AI-slopped:

  1. original 2D trait — the source of truth
  2. gemini — redraw, refine concept, nail the gaze angle
  3. hunyuan3D — generate the base mesh from concept
  4. 3D studio retopo — clean topology, quads, proper edge flow
  5. blender — assembly, UV fix, integration back into SAUCE
  6. paint.NET — texture details, specs, roughness

this isn’t replacing skill — it’s skipping the boring blockout so the real work goes into finish. SAUCE deserves that.

The Results: Gemini Cooked

i let gemini cook and it dished. not just the two hero bionic eyes — but a whole sprite sheet of variants including confused eyes, visors, and mask styles.

gemini chat

honestly gassed. got enough material for multiple rarity tiers here. the confused eyes alone are going straight into the collection as 2D UV-sliding traits.

gemini eye sheet

The Lore: Corp vs. Underground

here’s why these two bionic traits hit different:

Ekubo Bionic Eyes#15 — the clean corporate look. that infinity symbol in the lens? that’s ekubo.org’s logo. this is branded cyberware from a legit (if dystopian) manufacturer. sleek, gold-bronze housing, that ∞ burned into your field of vision every time you blink. you paid premium for this.

ekubo mask with infinity lenses

Kano’s Bionic Eyes#15 — the street fighter special. if you know, you know. straight outta Mortal Kombat energy. red mechanical iris, silver housing, gold struts. this didn’t come from a showroom — this came from a back-alley mod clinic after a bad night in the fighting pits. probably scrapes together from parts that “fell off a truck.”

same function, totally different origin stories. collectors can pick their aesthetic — corp kid or underground brawler.

kano’s silver cyber eyes

3D Studio & Retopo

the pipeline is real. we’re not just talking — it’s in motion. pulled the gemini concept into 3D Studio for retopo, quads selected, targeting clean edge flow before baking down geometry.

3D studio retopo

3D studio bronze mask

Currently Cooking

both traits hit the hunyuan3D queue. results are in:

Kano’s came out CLEAN — 8122 quads, split into mask body + jaw/cheek components, swirling patterns, embossed details, curved horn. recognizable as facial armor. straight into retopo next.

hunyuan3D kano result

Ekubo’s got a lil mangled — came back as a 5099-quad sci-fi vehicle hull instead of a mask. happens. the concept was clean but the AI went its own way. easy fix though: back to gemini for a tighter prompt, or manual sculpt from this base.

hunyuan3D ekubo mangled

retopo target is still ~2870 quads once we get the right geometry. that’s the pipeline — generate fast, iterate fast, fix what’s broken. no sunk cost fallacy, just keep moving.

once both bases are clean it’s straight into 3D Studio for retopo, then blender for UV cleanup and integration back into SAUCE.

Paint.NET: The Real MVP

through all of this paint.NET stays open. it’s where the texture magic happens — where i separate mechanical housing from lens details for easy recoloring, where i paint specular highlights and roughness variation. layers are simple but fast. pixel-precise.

no bloated photoshop. no rental software. just a paint bucket, some patience, and the knowledge that simpler tools make you think harder about what actually matters.

Next

mouth. another low-hanging fruit. then the real trait climb begins. SAUCE is waiting. 🫙

Days until June 30 deadline: 42 | 90min sessions banked today: 1 | status: cooking