Overview

This guide explains how to use the official Drift Race Blender rendering template to create sprite sheets for your custom car. The template automatically generates 64 rotation angles for the diffuse, shadow, and headlight layers, making it simple to import your car model and get it ready for the game.

Note: This guide assumes you already have a car model created in Blender. If you need help modeling a car from scratch, check out Blender tutorials on vehicle modeling first. (Use low poly modeling)

What You'll Need

Software

  • Blender 3.0+ (Free)
  • Drift Race rendering template
  • Text editor for JSON files

Files

  • Your car model (.blend file)
  • Car properly centered at origin
  • Model scaled appropriately

Time Estimate

  • Template setup: 5 minutes
  • Rendering: 5 minutes
  • Game integration: 5 minutes

What the Template Generates

The Blender rendering template automatically produces:

  • 64 diffuse sprites - Full 360° rotation (5.625° per frame) of your car's main appearance
  • 64 shadow sprites - Matching shadow layer for realistic depth and ground contact
  • 64 headlight sprites - Light cone layer for nighttime driving effects
  • Organized output - Sprites automatically named and ready for game integration
  • Consistent quality - Pre-configured camera, lighting, and render settings

Template Features

The rendering template includes everything pre-configured:

  • Automated rotation script - Rotates your car and renders all 64 angles automatically
  • Layer separation - Separate render passes for diffuse, shadow, and headlights
  • Optimized settings - Camera angle, resolution, and output format already set up
  • Lighting setup - Pre-positioned lights for consistent, game-ready appearance
  • Easy import - Simple workflow to bring your car model into the template

Rendering Workflow

The process of rendering your car involves these main steps:

1

Download Template

Get the official Drift Race Blender rendering template

2

Import Your Car

Bring your car model into the template and position it correctly

3

Configure Layers

Set up diffuse, shadow, and headlight render layers

4

Render Sprites

Run the automated script to generate all 64 rotation angles

5

Add to Game

Copy the rendered sprites and create car specification files

Step 1

Scene Preparation

Requirements

  • Basic working knowledge of the Blender interface
  • Blender version 4.5 or newer
  • Drift Race Blender rendering template (download link coming soon)

Starting Scene

The template begins with a primitive car and headlights. You are free to modify these elements to suit your needs.

⚠️
CRITICAL: Only work within the collection named Work_Folder. Modifying other collections may corrupt the scene setup.
Template screen after launch

Template screen after launch

Folder structure

Folder structure in Outliner

Step 2

Integrating Your Asset

A. Export Your Model

First, prepare your car model for export from your working Blender file:

  1. Navigate to File → Export → [any model file type]
  2. Select and export your car model file

B. Importing the Model

Import your 3D car model directly into the designated Work_Folder collection:

  1. Select Work_Folder in the scene collection
  2. Navigate to File → Import → [Your Model File Type] (e.g., .fbx, .obj)
  3. Select and import your car model file
  4. Confirm that the imported asset is nested inside the Work_Folder collection in the Outliner
Work folder with imported car

Work_Folder with your imported car element

C. Scaling and Positioning

Accurate scaling and positioning relative to the existing scene geometry (primitive car, lights) is mandatory for correct rendering:

📏

Scaling: Adjust the size of your model to fit completely within the camera view.

Positioning: The center of your car model must be aligned with the scene's origin (0, 0, 0) and positioned correctly on the ground plane.

  • Middle X and Y at 0
  • Wheels on ground: Z = 0
⚠️
IMPORTANT: Ensure the car and its generated shadow do not clip out of the camera view.
Car orientation view 1

Front view - centered positioning

Car orientation view 2

Side view - ground alignment

Car orientation view 3

Top view - origin alignment

Step 3

Rendering and Output

Execution

To start the rendering process, execute the Python script included within the Blender file:

  1. Open the Scripting workspace in Blender
  2. Locate the included Python script in the text editor
  3. Click the Run Script button (▶️) to begin rendering
Script screen with run button

Script screen with the Run button highlighted

⏱️

Rendering Time: The script will render 64 frames × 3 layers (192 images total). This process typically takes less than 5 minutes depending on your hardware and model complexity.

Output Paths

The default output directory is set inside the GitHub repository's dev_assets folder. The outputs are saved to specific subfolders:

  • Diffuse: Diffuse color map (main car appearance)
  • Shadow_Map: Shadow layer sprites
  • Light_Spray: Headlight cone effects
Output folder structure

Output folder structure with rendered sprites

Advanced

Going Further

For advanced users who want to implement custom animations, drivers, or special elements like popup headlights or animated components:

Scene Index Property

The scene index is stored under the Main scene custom properties (SceneStatus). You can implement it in a driver for custom features such as:

  • Animated headlights
  • Back lights that activate at specific frames
  • Popup headlights synchronized with rotation
  • Custom animations tied to render frame
Scene index location

Location of the scene index in custom properties

Example: Accessing scene index in driver

scene.get("SceneStatus", 0)

Important Tips

�

Center Your Model: Car must be centered at origin (0,0,0) for proper rotation rendering

📏

Check Scale: Match the size of existing cars (AE86, M5) for consistent gameplay balance

🔄

Test First: Render a few frames first to verify positioning before full 64-sprite batch

💾

Save Often: Save your .blend file before rendering to avoid losing template configurations

🎨

Material Setup: Ensure materials are properly assigned for correct layer separation

⚡

Render Time: Full 64x3 sprite rendering can take 30-60 minutes depending on complexity

Additional Resources