How Two Dimensional Character Sprites Are Made?

[IiLuSiv]

What sort of process is undertaken to create these sprites featured in games such as Guilty Gear or Street Fighter?

Are all the frames of animation born on canvas originally and then scanned, edited and painted? How does it work?

Do you know of a website(s) that features an online faq, tutorial or "making the game" type piece on this subject?

[not just souLLy now]

http://tsugumo.swoo.net/tutorial/
good luck

[IiLuSiv]

Wow.

I had no idea mosaic color contrasts were so important. Really, it would have been my final idea.

The basis is more centrally located in the coloring rather than any actual drawing, which comes as a suprise.

It is also interesting that the basis for a 2d character is a wire frame. Something which is mostly associated with 3d models.

Does anyone have experience in custom-made sprites?

[not just souLLy now]

yeah if you're working at pixel level then you're gonna be doing stuff on a small scale, so whilst the lineart is important good colouring will make all the difference. It'll add the texture and life to the whole thing. Look around for some pixel art forums, theres a lot of really good ones around with very talented artists. Just examining existing sprites up close will help too, maybe start by editing one to get a feel for it.

[IiLuSiv]

yeah if you're working at pixel level then you're gonna be doing stuff on a small scale, so whilst the lineart is important good colouring will make all the difference. It'll add the texture and life to the whole thing. Look around for some pixel art forums, theres a lot of really good ones around with very talented artists. Just examining existing sprites up close will help too, maybe start by editing one to get a feel for it.

I just went over a few sprites in gif form from Metal Slug.

A smaller scale character but extremely colorful, its amazing how color is so important in those characters.

How do these artists get the knack for which colors to choose and which not to choose?

Their drawings are full of lighter colors and darker colors, is there a rule of thumb for how much to color contrast? That is: How much to color contrast for certain effects.

Of course, shading requires the use of color contrast for the effect.
But even in skintone on these sprites, the colors vary and that has nothing to do with shading.

[greay]

A smaller scale character but extremely colorful, its amazing how color is so important in those characters.

How do these artists get the knack for which colors to choose and which not to choose?

Practice. Lots and lots of practice. They've probably done innumerable still-lifes. That is, lots of paintings of fruit & flowers & other boring stuff.

Their drawings are full of lighter colors and darker colors, is there a rule of thumb for how much to color contrast? That is: How much to color contrast for certain effects.

Not really. Colors that are closer to each other in hue are going to need more value difference to be easily distinguished, and vice versa. But it's not just a question of which color to use to show contrast: you also need to pay attention to what colors are next the spot in question.

Of course, shading requires the use of color contrast for the effect.
But even in skintone on these sprites, the colors vary and that has nothing to do with shading.

Not true. Colors have two components: hue and value. In most of the examples in this thread, the hue stays the same and the value changes. That's basic shading. What you're describing (I think) when you say color contrast is having the hue change but the value stay the same -- you can use that for shading, but it isn't really demonstrated in any of these examples. However, used correctly, it can make the difference between a mundane piece & a really great one.

[IiLuSiv]

I am completely uninformed in the realm of coloring.

I mostly draw black and white pictures on paper.

Coloring and computer drawings are fairly new to me.

I was considering because of this to buy a stylus.

As for learning to color well, I suppose that just takes practice.

[impetus]

I was considering because of this to buy a stylus.

I love mine, but chances are you'll use it more for precision shading and coloring, pixel manipulation, special effects, and general maneuverability - but not so much for actually drawing, which is, IMO, difficult to do with a stylus.

Here's some stuff you might find handy.
http://www.screamcast.net/boards/viewtopic.php?t=6

I usually do sprites by drawing them on paper, scanning them, and then working over the drawing.

One thing I'll say for pixel artists is that they tend to be elitist and say that pixel art must be done a certain way - pixel by pixel, no shading or gradients. This also means no "cheating" by modeling objects in 3-D or from photographs. This is stupid. While I appreciate the aesthetic that drives this ideology, the fact is that it's far too limiting. Some of the best 2-D games around are based on 3-D objects, converted into flat sprites. Check out Mario vs Donkey Kong, or any number of other Nintendo games that use this method (The DK Country series is a good example). How about Blizzard's strategy games? They use the same method as well, and I don't think many people are going to claim it didn't work well.

Back in the old days, minimalism and color saving were necessary on the technical end of things, limited by hardware resources. With today's high end machines, you don't need to worry as much about saving 2 bytes of memory on a sprite, so do what you feel looks best.

[impetus]

on the technical end, be sure to have transparency in the negative space. Depending on the machine or game engine, partial transparency may or may not work (so keep that in mind).

[not just souLLy now]

heh, ken fejer's site was in your links impetus and it reminded me i posted in his isocity, http://www.kennethfejer.dk/isocity/ I did the easter island head

[impetus]

did you ever get a stylus/tablet?

[IiLuSiv]

hey i was just referring back to the second response's link, and the site has been taken down, does anyone know of anyother good tutorials?

Yes I do have a tablet, and it has been working quite well

[Christuserloeser]

I'd second that. I am curious about that tutorial souLLy linked to. Anyone got a backup ?

[not just souLLy now]

zoggles.co.uk had it mirrored at one point but now theyre down too, try the internet archive it should have it all i'd imagine