C# Minecraft Pixel Art Generator
Good morning class, (see what I did there:P ?) Today we will discuss a very important subject: creating pixel art in Minecraft from a given image.
Ok guys, so I saw people creating pixel art in Minecraft (trying to render images in the game using blocks) and I really liked the idea. Unfortunately I’m not good at drawing but I’m a coder and this will suffice, for now - hopefully this will prove its usefulness for those of you who want to “decorate” their servers.
The program's idea is quite simple: it scans the image pixel by pixel and for each pixel places a block with a similar color in the game, by sending a command (/setblock X Y Z <block name>) to the server’s InputStream (no networking stuff, no delay, no headache).
Results
This is what I managed to obtain with this program using a palette of 16 colors. The coloring is not very accurate since I can’t produce all the colors in the photos with only 16 types of blocks - however this can be fixed by using more types of blocks.
Sample #1
Sample #2
Sample #3
Sample #4
Sample #5
Sample #6
Sample #7
1. Starting the server
In order to send commands to your server’s InputStream you need to tweak a few settings at process level. This means you’ll have to start the server from this program, using the Process class. Our goal is to make this process read inputs from a custom stream (Process.StandardInput) - this stream will be used by our console application to send the set of /setblock commands.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
// Process mcServerProc = new Process();
// this must be set to false or the application will throw an exception
mcServerProc.StartInfo.UseShellExecute = false;
// forcing cmd.exe to use Process.StandardInput as input stream
mcServerProc.StartInfo.RedirectStandardInput = true;
// same for these 2 lines - so we can see the server's output
mcServerProc.StartInfo.RedirectStandardOutput = true;
mcServerProc.StartInfo.RedirectStandardError = true;
After the input stream was changed, this method can be used to supply information to the process:
1
mcServerProc.StandardInput.WriteLine("command goes here");
If you want to display, in your console, any messages that the server sends, you’ll need 2 event handlers (1 for the outputstream and 1 for the errorstream). I wrote them as anonymous functions to keep this sourcecode as short as possible:
1
2
mcServerProc.OutputDataReceived += (sender, e) => { Console.WriteLine(e.Data); };
mcServerProc.ErrorDataReceived += (sender, e) => { Console.WriteLine(e.Data); };
After this, you’ll need to call these 2 functions:
1
2
mcServerProc.BeginOutputReadLine();
mcServerProc.BeginErrorReadLine();
Basically you’ll start cmd.exe from the C# application and from there launch the server by loading the jar file with a line like this:
java -Xmx1024M -Xms1024M -jar minecraft_server.1.8.8.jar nogui
What you need to be careful about is that once you start the server, your only way to communicate with it is the console - if you close the console, the server will keep running in the background (java.exe) and you’ll have to kill the process in order to stop it.
To avoid this make sure you send the command: stop before the console closes.
Until now we have something that looks like a primitive wrapper:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
using (Process mcServerProc = new Process())
{
// path to cmd.exe
mcServerProc.StartInfo.FileName = Path.Combine(Environment.SystemDirectory, "cmd.exe");
// path to your minecraft server
mcServerProc.StartInfo.WorkingDirectory = "D:\\mc server";
// bunch of settings, to allow redirection of stdin / stdout / stderr
mcServerProc.StartInfo.UseShellExecute = false; // don't use windows's shell to start this
mcServerProc.StartInfo.RedirectStandardInput = true;
mcServerProc.StartInfo.RedirectStandardOutput = true;
mcServerProc.StartInfo.RedirectStandardError = true;
mcServerProc.StartInfo.CreateNoWindow = true;
// events used to display stderr and stdout in our console
mcServerProc.OutputDataReceived += (sender, e) => { Console.WriteLine(e.Data); };
mcServerProc.ErrorDataReceived += (sender, e) => { Console.WriteLine(e.Data); };
// starting cmd.exe
mcServerProc.Start();
// starts reading form stdout & stderr
mcServerProc.BeginOutputReadLine();
mcServerProc.BeginErrorReadLine();
// launches the server by sending the line between quotes to cmd.exe
mcServerProc.StandardInput.WriteLine("java -Xmx1024M -Xms1024M -jar minecraft_server.1.8.8.jar nogui");
// keeps the command prompt alive until you type 'stop'
// otherwise your program will close but the server will keep running
// and can only be closed from task manager
while (true)
{
if (Console.ReadLine().Contains("stop"))
break;
}
mcServerProc.StandardInput.WriteLine("stop"); // stops the server
Thread.Sleep(3000);
}
2. Choosing the right block
Ok, that was the easy part, believe it or not. We’ll now have to create a list (it’s actually a Dictionary) that contains the name of the available blocks and their colors.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
static Dictionary<Color, string> colorsDictionary = new Dictionary<Color, string>();
static void populateDictionary()
{
colorsDictionary.Add(Color.FromArgb(238, 238, 238), "wool");
colorsDictionary.Add(Color.FromArgb(235, 131, 60), "wool 1");
colorsDictionary.Add(Color.FromArgb(184, 56, 195), "wool 2");
colorsDictionary.Add(Color.FromArgb(111, 144, 214), "wool 3");
colorsDictionary.Add(Color.FromArgb(222, 207, 42), "wool 4");
colorsDictionary.Add(Color.FromArgb(60, 195, 48), "wool 5");
colorsDictionary.Add(Color.FromArgb(219, 138, 160), "wool 6");
colorsDictionary.Add(Color.FromArgb(76, 76, 76), "wool 7");
colorsDictionary.Add(Color.FromArgb(163, 170, 170), "wool 8");
colorsDictionary.Add(Color.FromArgb(45, 134, 172), "wool 9");
colorsDictionary.Add(Color.FromArgb(148, 77, 210), "wool 10");
colorsDictionary.Add(Color.FromArgb(45, 59, 178), "wool 11");
colorsDictionary.Add(Color.FromArgb(90, 54, 29), "wool 12");
colorsDictionary.Add(Color.FromArgb(64, 89, 28), "wool 13");
colorsDictionary.Add(Color.FromArgb(171, 47, 42), "wool 14");
colorsDictionary.Add(Color.FromArgb(14, 14, 14), "wool 15");
}
The next step is to realize that these images contain more than 16 colors so we need a function that takes a pixel’s color and tells us which color (block) from the list above is the best match.
Our function is based on a method called k nearest neighbor: which compares 2 colors and returns an error. The lower the error is the closer the block’s color is to the original. In our case the formula looks like the euclidean distance between 2 points in a 3d space - but instead of coordinates (X, Y, Z) we use (R, G, B) and the points are actually the colors.
For example:
if we have a pixel of this color: P(R:100 G:100 B:100) and we have only 2 available blocks: BlackBlock(R:0 G:0 B:0) and WhiteBlock(R:255 G:255 B:255) we compute the errors for each one
- Comparing the pixel’s color to the BlackBlock:
\(error = \sqrt{(100-0)^2 + (100-0)^2 + (100-0)^2)} = 173.2\) - Now comparing it to the WhiteBlock:
\(error = \sqrt{(100-255)^2 + (100-255)^2 + (100-255)^2} = 268.46\)
This means the BlackBlock is a better choice as it matches the pixel’s color better.
The function will look like this (it returns the index of the block):
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
static int approximateColor(Color pixelColor)
{
double minError = 99999; double currentError = 0;
int bestColorIndex = 0;
for (int i = 0; i < colorsDictionary.Count; i++)
{
// gets the color of the block found at index 'i'
Color blockColor = colorsDictionary.ElementAt(i).Key;
// k nearest neighbor
currentError = Math.Sqrt(Math.Pow(pixelColor.R - blockColor.R, 2) + Math.Pow(pixelColor.G - blockColor.G, 2) + Math.Pow(pixelColor.B - blockColor.B, 2));
if (currentError < minError)
{
minError = currentError;
bestColorIndex = i;
}
}
return bestColorIndex;
}
3. Rendering the image in game
The last step is constructing the image using blocks; take each pixel of the image, get its color using GetPixel(x, y) and run it through the function above to obtain the block that matches the color.
Make sure you include this reference: System.Drowing.dll.
Once you have the index of the block, you’ll have to construct a /setblock command and send it to the server.
small note: you can use LockBits() and UnlockBits() for efficiency reasons but the server will still limit your speed. In my opinion, it’s not worth it here.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
static void renderImage(StreamWriter stdin, Image img)
{
Bitmap bmp = (Bitmap)img;
// coordinates - from where to start rendering the image (F3 in game)
int X = 335;
int Y = 4;
int Z = -567;
// rendering the image from the last row of pixels to the first
for (int i = bmp.Height-1; i > 0; i--)
{
for (int j = 0; j < bmp.Width; j++)
{
string cmdTemplate = String.Format("/setblock {0} {1} {2} ", X, Y, Z);
int bestColorIndex = approximateColor(bmp.GetPixel(j, i));
stdin.WriteLine(cmdTemplate + colorsDictionary.ElementAt(bestColorIndex).Value);
X++;
}
Y++;
X -= bmp.Width;
}
}
4. Complete Sourcecode
This is the complete sourcecode - it was made for fun, so don’t expect it to be really optimized.
Feel free to use / modify it and if you find it interesting or useful, consider sharing this page or dropping a backlink - it helps a lot xD
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
using System;
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.Drawing;
using System.IO;
using System.Linq;
using System.Threading;
namespace Minecraft_Drawer
{
class Program
{
static Dictionary<Color, string> colorsDictionary = new Dictionary<Color, string>();
static void populateDictionary()
{
colorsDictionary.Add(Color.FromArgb(238, 238, 238), "wool");
colorsDictionary.Add(Color.FromArgb(235, 131, 60), "wool 1");
colorsDictionary.Add(Color.FromArgb(184, 56, 195), "wool 2");
colorsDictionary.Add(Color.FromArgb(111, 144, 214), "wool 3");
colorsDictionary.Add(Color.FromArgb(222, 207, 42), "wool 4");
colorsDictionary.Add(Color.FromArgb(60, 195, 48), "wool 5");
colorsDictionary.Add(Color.FromArgb(219, 138, 160), "wool 6");
colorsDictionary.Add(Color.FromArgb(76, 76, 76), "wool 7");
colorsDictionary.Add(Color.FromArgb(163, 170, 170), "wool 8");
colorsDictionary.Add(Color.FromArgb(45, 134, 172), "wool 9");
colorsDictionary.Add(Color.FromArgb(148, 77, 210), "wool 10");
colorsDictionary.Add(Color.FromArgb(45, 59, 178), "wool 11");
colorsDictionary.Add(Color.FromArgb(90, 54, 29), "wool 12");
colorsDictionary.Add(Color.FromArgb(64, 89, 28), "wool 13");
colorsDictionary.Add(Color.FromArgb(171, 47, 42), "wool 14");
colorsDictionary.Add(Color.FromArgb(14, 14, 14), "wool 15");
}
// gets the closest available color (decides what block color should be used for a pixel)
static int approximateColor(Color pixelColor)
{
double minError = 99999; double currentError = 0;
int bestColorIndex = 0;
for (int i = 0; i < colorsDictionary.Count; i++)
{
Color blockColor = colorsDictionary.ElementAt(i).Key;
// k nearest neighbor
currentError = Math.Sqrt(Math.Pow(pixelColor.R - blockColor.R, 2) + Math.Pow(pixelColor.G - blockColor.G, 2) + Math.Pow(pixelColor.B - blockColor.B, 2));
if (currentError < minError)
{
minError = currentError;
bestColorIndex = i;
}
}
return bestColorIndex;
}
static void renderImage(StreamWriter stdin, Image img)
{
Bitmap bmp = (Bitmap)img;
// coordinates - from where to start rendering the image
int X = 335;
int Y = 4;
int Z = -567;
for (int i = bmp.Height-1; i > 0; i--)
{
for (int j = 0; j < bmp.Width; j++)
{
string cmdTemplate = String.Format("/setblock {0} {1} {2} ", X, Y, Z);
int bestColorIndex = approximateColor(bmp.GetPixel(j, i));
stdin.WriteLine(cmdTemplate + colorsDictionary.ElementAt(bestColorIndex).Value);
X++;
}
Y++;
X -= bmp.Width;
}
}
static void Main(string[] args)
{
using (Process mcServerProc = new Process())
{
// path to cmd.exe
mcServerProc.StartInfo.FileName = Path.Combine(Environment.SystemDirectory, "cmd.exe");
// path to your minecraft server
mcServerProc.StartInfo.WorkingDirectory = "D:\\mc server";
// bunch of settings, to allow redirection of stdin / stdout / stderr
mcServerProc.StartInfo.UseShellExecute = false;
mcServerProc.StartInfo.RedirectStandardInput = true;
mcServerProc.StartInfo.RedirectStandardOutput = true;
mcServerProc.StartInfo.RedirectStandardError = true;
mcServerProc.StartInfo.CreateNoWindow = true;
// displaying stderr and stdout in our console
mcServerProc.OutputDataReceived += (sender, e) => { Console.WriteLine(e.Data); };
mcServerProc.ErrorDataReceived += (sender, e) => { Console.WriteLine(e.Data); };
mcServerProc.Start();
// starts reading form stdout & stderr
mcServerProc.BeginOutputReadLine();
mcServerProc.BeginErrorReadLine();
// writes to the command prompt (cm d.exe) the line to execute the jar file (start the server)
mcServerProc.StandardInput.WriteLine("java -Xmx1024M -Xms1024M -jar minecraft_server.1.8.8.jar nogui");
Thread.Sleep(15000); // waiting for server to start
// adds available blocks and their colors to the dictionary
populateDictionary();
// renders an image in the game
renderImage(mcServerProc.StandardInput, Image.FromFile("randomPhoto.png"));
// keeps the command prompt alive until you type 'stop'
// otherwise this will close and the server keeps running
while (true)
{
if (Console.ReadLine().Contains("stop"))
break;
}
mcServerProc.StandardInput.WriteLine("stop"); // stops the server
Thread.Sleep(3000);
}
}
}
}
