The definitive Minecraft thumbnail design modpack.
Crafted by a thumbnail designer, for thumbnail designers. This pack includes the essential tools needed to pose characters, build scenes, capture clean renders, and produce professional thumbnails with speed and consistency.
Features
| Tool | Purpose |
|---|---|
| NPC Studio | Spawn, pose, and animate NPCs for character setups. |
| Voxy | Load and render distant chunks for cinematic backgrounds. |
| Optimization Mods | Various performance mods to ensure a smooth experience. |
| Depth Map Shaders | Generate depth maps for realistic atmospheric fog, lens blur, and depth-based effects in post. |
| Normal Map Shaders | Render normal maps to efficiently shade characters in post. |
| White Entity Mask Shaders | Render white-masked entities to quickly cut out characters in post. |
| Better Default Shaders | Render shadows and ambient occlusion while keeping the default vanilla style intact. |
NPC Studio Guide
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/j3lGA7y5b9o" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>FAQ
How do I use NPC Studio?
Watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3lGA7y5b9oThe NPC Wand isn't working. How do I fix it?
Hold "alt" to bring up the axiom options menu, and ensure the "Tinker" option on the left of the menu is disabled. There may be other Axiom features in that menu that could also impact the NPC Studio tools. If that doesn't fix it, please join the MDH Discord: https://discord.gg/uE7gFcZ7QBCan I use this modpack to make commercial thumbnails?
Yes, commercial use is allowed. However, you may not reupload or redistribute the modpack by another name.How does this compare to software like Blender or Blockbench?
Blender is more powerful, but it comes with a steep learning curve and can be overkill for some Minecraft thumbnails. This modpack is optimized for speed and thumbnail-ready compositions directly in Minecraft, then finished in Photoshop. Furthermore, nearly every prominent thumbnail artist uses some variation of this workflow.I'm having issues with NPC Studio. Where do I get help?
NPC Mod's Discord: https://discord.gg/uE7gFcZ7QBI'm having issues with the modpack in general. Where do I get help?
For troubleshooting or setup questions, please join the Thumbnailers Discord (https://discord.gg/TTC7Uvm2N8), or DM @mangofx.Where can I get feedback on my designs?
Feel free to join Thumbnailers, the biggest Minecraft thumbnail design community: https://discord.gg/TTC7Uvm2N8Disclaimer: I don't own any mods provided in this pack. All credit goes to the original mod developers. I simply compiled these mods into one unified modpack for ease of use.
Want to commission a thumbnail?
Visit https://mangofx.art to learn more about me and my work.
This is BBS Mod's "Model Block" feature, which allows you to import Blockbench models directly in-game.
This is NPC Mod's menu, allowing you to edit the character's rotation, skin, model, pose, and inventory.
This scene combines multiple in-game screenshots captured using this modpack: the foreground character setup and a long-distance terrain render for the background. Final adjustments were done in Photoshop for composition and color.
The character was posed with NPC Mod, and the portal environments were created using Blooming Biosphere and Bobby to load distant structure silhouettes. Shadows and lighting were refined in Photoshop for dramatic contrast.
NPC Mod’s stamp feature was used to quickly populate a large crowd with consistent posing. Minor Photoshop cleanup and lighting adjustments were applied to unify the scene.
NPCs were posed in-game using NPC Mod, and atmospheric depth was created using Depth Map Shader (DMS). Photoshop was used for haze, bloom, and UI elements.
Custom models were imported and posed in-game using BBS Mod, allowing accurate perspective matching and natural interaction between characters. Photoshop was used for glow and color grading.