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1. WHAT IS A SPRITE
2. WHAT IS A PIXEL?
3. HOW DO I SHADE?
4. WHAT ARE SPRITE STYLES?
5. HOW DO I ANIMATE?
6. WHAT IS A PIXEL ART?
7. TUTORIALS?
8. RESOURCES
9. WHAT TO DO AND NOT TO DO
1. WHAT IS A
SPRITE?
A
sprite is an image (usually not too big) made up of
many pixels.
-Sprites are
generally used in games. But, sometimes, they're used in
comics, hoaxes, animations, or signatures. They can be used
for many things, use your imagination!
-Always save your works as
PNG format if you're using MS Paint
-Edit. An edit is a sprite that was created by manipulating
a base sprite. An
actual "edit" of a sprite
is a change in the base sprite's shape, size, or color.
-Base. A base is a sprite
(usually official) that was/is/about to be manipulated into
a different sprite.
An example of a widely used base is Sonic or Megaman. They
are edited into many wondrous sprites you see
today.
Example:
Sonic
2. WHAT IS A
PIXEL?
The left one is a
pixel at normal size,
while the right one is a pixel blown up to 4 times its size.
-A pixel is what all images on a computer are made of.
3. HOW DO I
SHADE?
-Pick a lightsource. The ones
generally used are: Top, Top
Right, Right, Bottom Right, Bottom, Bottom Left, Left, Top
Left
-Place darker and lighter
pixels on the sprite
according to where the light would hit it. So, lighter
pixels toward the
light, and darker pixels
away form the light. Be sure to consider anything that
blocks light.
4. WHAT ARE
SPRITE STYLES?
A
sprite style is something that is found in a game.
-Some exmples of sprite
styles are: Sonic the Hedgehog 1 2, and Kuckles. (Genesis
style) Sonic Advance 1,2,3 (SAdv 1-3) Sonic Battle (SB),
Mario Party Advance (MPA), Fire Emblem (FE), Kingdom Hearts:
Chain of Memories (KH:CoM). These styles are one among many.
Just look at your favorite game, see how they sprite, and
try to imitate it.
-A custom sprite
style is a style that someone made up.
-Here are some examples work that were done in custom styles
below:
Sonic, Tails, Knux & Shadow
Sonic Adventure style
You may even be able to create your own style when you get
good enough at making custom
sprites.
-Please Refer to
Resources/Tutorials on how to learn a style.
This list
of Sonic Styled sprites goes by order of detail and shadings
Jay El & help from Kitamerby
High Definition
Genesis - This style is based off of Genesis Style, although
more shadings are involved in almost all parts of a sprite's
body. The legs, eyes, muzzle, quills, clothes, you get the
point. It usually has maybe more than 4-7 shadings. In this
style, most of the sprite's gloves are grayish, instead of
Gen.'s blue gloves. Here is an
example.
Rittz - Rittz Style is a very different style from the
others. The sprites on it are similar to Genesis, it has
similar shading to Genesis and the legs and head are
longer/larger. Here is an
example.
~Thanks, Kitamerby, for extra help.
Genesis (S3&K) - This style has 2 main shadings. There is a
third on the head, which makes a simple chunck, it's not
really another layer, and then a fourth which is only a dot
that appear in 1 or 2 places on the sprite's head. You don't
need the last one though. This style is also based off of
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 along with Sonic & Knuckles from the
Sega Genesis.
Here is an
example.
Genesis (S1&S2) - This
style is much the same to S3&K. Although it involves less
shape, and the darkest shade usually covers most of the
head. Its traits make it look smaller than S3&K but it
isn't, it's probably just the heads that do.
Here is an
example.
Advanced - This style always involves a darker outline on
the sprite, based on its general color, but this outline
depends on the sun's angle. This style is also thought as
aerodynamic.
Here is an
example.
Battle - This style is
similar to Advanced, but it has its differences. It seems
more chunky than Advanced, while the movement is based on
attacks and defense. This style comes from only 1 game, and
that is Sonic Battle.
Here is an
example.
GG 8 Bit - This style is similar to 8 Bit. Although it is
shaded similar to Genesis, but it's size does differ, quite
well, from it.
Here is an
example.
8 Bit - This style always has a black outline around it, and
is the only style that does. This style comes from SPA
(Sonic Pocket Adventure).
Here is an
example.
5. HOW DO I
ANIMATE?
-There are many free programs that
animate, but they're not too good, but they're decent. Just
do a search on
Google
for Free Animation Programs, and allot will show up.
-Some of the better Animation Programs tend to cost money.
But, most of them offer Free 30 Day Trials, so give them a
try.
-Please refer to Resources
for links to some Animation Programs.
6. WHAT IS A
PIXEL ART?
-A PA, or
PixelArt,
is a large image composed of many more pixels than a sprite.
-PAs are similar to a sprite, but much bigger.
-Shade PAs like you would a
sprite, but they generally use more shades, and are
shaded more drastically. That's so they look more realistic.
Example:
Awesome Vincent by Ryu
Keep in mind, this a WIP.
(Refer to Acronyms section)
7. TUTORIALS?
-Some of these Tutorials are for Game
styles, others are custom style.
-Kingdom
Hearts: Chain of Memories (By kybldmstr)
-RUST
Style (by Luminous_Reaver)
-Custom
Sprites (by kybldmstr)
-Sonic
Battle Pixel Art Tutorial (by MystE)
-Sonic
Battle Sprite (by Geo The Fox)
-The
BEST Isometric Tutorial
-PixelArt
and Isometric Tutorials
-It's in a different language, but just look at the images.
-SpriteArt
They have some of the best tutorials I've ever seen. They
cover AA, dithering and lots more. Use them all.
-Good examples of Pixel art from MFZ
Rouge
Pixel Art
Rouge Pixel Art2
8. RESOURCES
GraphicsGale
- Many advanced options. It's free.
EZToon-
A simple animation program that's good for sketching up
rough animations. Has flood fill dithering too. Free.
UnFREEz
-It's not the best, but it gets the
job done. Must be saved as .gif format.
Photobucket
-Upload Images here.
Imageshack
-Upload images here, also.
Gimp
-Exactly like Photoshop, but
free. Good for transparency.
Microsoft GIF Animator
Decent. The files must be saved as PNG or .gif format,
though. Free.
9. WHAT TO DO
AND NOT TO DO
-Pillow Shading: Shading a sprite by
going around the outline with increasingly lighter colors.
This is unrealistic, and can ruin a decent sprite. Try a
shading tutorial. Refer to
the Tutorials Section.
-Gradient shading: Use of the gradient or "3d effect" tools
to do a quick shade job. Better than pillow shading, but
horrible and cheap.
-Overuse of Paint Circles. Circles made in MS Paint can look
good if edited correctly, but don't use them for everything.
Yoshi heads are a good example: Noses can look good when
edited, but cheeks look horrible.
These are the rules of MFZ Sprite Teaching.
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