Guide: How To Sprite An Original Character

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Lind
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Re: Guide: How To Sprite An Original Character

Post by Lind »

All of my guesses were correct, except the arm.

I was wondering why I couldn't recognize the mouth. That explains it.
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Re: Guide: How To Sprite An Original Character

Post by AP-Master »

Lind wrote:
AP-master wrote:If I can recommend a topic for Step 4, I would like to see a section teaching some tricks for editing attorneys. I keep checking your sprite thread every second just to see Athena's and Oskar's sprites :S Only if you feel ok with it of course.
Well, here's the thing... the principles in making attorneys are the same as those for making any other character. Also, making attorneys is really fragging hard. Ever wonder why I am being really slow with adding new sprites for those two? Because they're difficult as all hell, that's why. Even then, neither one looks particularly original... hence why them being descendants of canon characters is the perfect pretense for unoriginality. It's annoying, but there being only a few attorneys does limit what you can do with them.

Also, I've already decided what I'm going to do with part 4. It will be the last part. There are two reasons I haven't made it yet: one, I'm still learning new tricks with this last bit with every new set I do... and two: I'm lazy. :P
Oh, I see, so it isn't only me then :S And take your time sensei, the steps that are already published are enough to keep us entertained :)
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Lind
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Re: Guide: How To Sprite An Original Character

Post by Lind »

Bumping this as a personal reminder to finish it.
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Re: Guide: How To Sprite An Original Character

Post by SpazzyWings »

Image
This is one of my first time doing sprite editing. I know it looks really sucky, but I posted it here just to see where I can improve. I've been using Photoshop, but I only have GIMP so far.

I think almost all of this image would be recognizable, but just in case.
Spoiler : Frankenspriting :
Face, outer coat, ears+earrings: Angel Starr
Eyes: Rick Wellington + some scratching.
Hair: Luke Atmey + Furio Tigre
Top: Desiree DeLite + Regina Berry
Arms: Furio Tigre
I also had another one, specifically of one of my original characters since Junior Year, but it looks just as horrendous if not even more so. I might make another one to see where I improve.

Edit: okay, I noticed a few things going on here.

1. There are actually four eyelashes, but one of them actually blended with the hair.

2. There is no mid-drift. Not even a semi-one. She is just wearing a skirt up to her solar-plexus.

3. While some people are right to tell me that the arms don't look right, she is supposed to be wearing a pretty baggy jacket. Still, Angel Starr still had a puffy jacket and she still has lady arms.

4. The top itself was supposed to show off how buxom she is. It does look a little confusing, but I failed. On her right, her breasts are popping out of her jacket as she is going to strut her stuff.
Last edited by SpazzyWings on Sat Oct 26, 2013 6:53 am, edited 1 time in total.
Phantom

Re: Guide: How To Sprite An Original Character

Post by Phantom »

Hey yo, I think you got *great* concept here, but the execution DEFINITELY needs improvement so it's more aesthetically pleasing to view. But the important thing is you have a firm vision grounded here. Since you're asking for feedback, I'm going to try to help you (as quick as I can) :)

First: Avoid using blur tools, especially on hair. Sprites (at least from AA, correct me if I'm wrong any art experts), are all pixel-based, and so antialias clashing with perfect pixels will produce a visually unpleasing result. Notice how the hair seems like of REALLLY different quality than the rest of the outfit? This is the clash I'm referring to. Also, the hair blur where the furio tigre base is too much. Blurs are meant to make things out of focus, or show motion, but not meant to be used for still elements, especially still elements on characters, you know what I mean?
That being said, the ears are completely blurred (at least the ear I can see), so I can't comment anymore on this particular aspect due to the blur covering it up.

Additionally, the hair pieces seem stretched out (like you blew it up in terms of resizing...?). Same with the face. There's a separate blur I see that usually occurs when resizing and you set the GIMP resize settings to Bilinear. Anyways, my point being that the head/hair does not seem proportional to the rest of her body (which looks really small in comparison). You may want to downsize these two parts (the head/hair).

The jacket sleeves are quite big. They look like they were meant for a male body. You should make those sleeves real thin, to be (somewhat) proportional to this lady's stature.

I'm not sure if you did this on purpose, but the eyebrows aren't naturally black. Then, on the right eye, it seems as though there's a semi-black eyebrow, right above the eye shadow (which btw, the eye shadows in general could use some more shading, so it's less flat). This brings inconsistency and can be offputting when someone notices it. You're going to have to make the (currently brown) eyebrows spaced closer to the actual eye or something. Obviously, for a lady, the eye shadow is meant to be above the eye, but touch RIGHT below the eyebrow. The eyebrow is too far away, so it creates a disjoint.

You should also make the eyeshadow more of a subtler color, as they are meant to complement the skin color of a lady (basically it's too flat/too light blueish. For eyeshadows, they need to be either a darker color, or a lighter color that sortof blends to the actual skin color). The more shading on this the better.

Let's go on about the nose. Nose could use some work. Well, not the actual shape of it, but it looks incomplete. If you can look at faces from a female AA sprite, you may notice that they have bridges and such along with the main nose/nostrils. You should add those there.

I think the shading of the face in general, I think you had the right idea, but again, execution needs work. Your hair is covering the eyebrows sortof right? Then that means in terms of light/shading, there should be more darker shades/shadows of her forehead. Shadows don't come after a bit of light, and then have light again. Not how it works in the AA games, or in real life. Basically, make your shadows start dark from the forehead, all the way slightly lighter to where the nose meets (where you currently have some shading to it).

Your eyelash is an interesting attempt. Here's a problem though: I see *3* different eyelashes going on :P
The eyelashes in the bottom portion of the eye are good first-time attempts. But they're not as big as you make them out to be (especially in real life, or even AA standards for that matter). Additionally, there aren't simply just 3 lashes to an eyelash. Obviously there are different styles of making eyelashes look attractive, but it's more than 3 you know what I mean?
Now, for the top portions...On the left eye, you have a GREAT looking eyeliner/eyelash thing going on. But on the right eye, you have a good looking eye-lash, but it's COMPLETELY different from the rest.
You see what I mean? There's a big inconsistency here. The eyelashes all need to have one unified, consistent design to it. You should pick the best looking one that fits your vision, and copy/paste/flip vertically. I'm digging the top portion of the left eye the most, even if it doesn't look like it's more than 5 lashes in an eyelash. That's a cleopatra-styled eyelash design. You should stick with that.

Her outfit, or w/e, (not the jacket), I think the shading seems right, but the design doesn't make sense. Why does the "jacket" 'open' into an upside down funnel, and to what I see a dark purplish layering? With her tight body, my brain is telling me I'm supposed to be seeing her stomach, as in, the actual skin (a semi-midriff if you will).

The feathers of the jacket on the right looks good, but the feathers on the left side is missing. Another inconsistency I see here.


I'd offer more feedback, but that's all I can provide for my time atm. Any questions about what I said, just ask, ill do my best to answer :)
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Re: Guide: How To Sprite An Original Character

Post by SpazzyWings »

Proton wrote:Hey yo, I think you got *great* concept here, but the execution DEFINITELY needs improvement so it's more aesthetically pleasing to view. But the important thing is you have a firm vision grounded here. Since you're asking for feedback, I'm going to try to help you (as quick as I can) :)

First: Avoid using blur tools, especially on hair. Sprites (at least from AA, correct me if I'm wrong any art experts), are all pixel-based, and so antialias clashing with perfect pixels will produce a visually unpleasing result. Notice how the hair seems like of REALLLY different quality than the rest of the outfit? This is the clash I'm referring to. Also, the hair blur where the furio tigre base is too much. Blurs are meant to make things out of focus, or show motion, but not meant to be used for still elements, especially still elements on characters, you know what I mean?
That being said, the ears are completely blurred (at least the ear I can see), so I can't comment anymore on this particular aspect due to the blur covering it up.

Additionally, the hair pieces seem stretched out (like you blew it up in terms of resizing...?). Same with the face. There's a separate blur I see that usually occurs when resizing and you set the GIMP resize settings to Bilinear. Anyways, my point being that the head/hair does not seem proportional to the rest of her body (which looks really small in comparison). You may want to downsize these two parts (the head/hair).

The jacket sleeves are quite big. They look like they were meant for a male body. You should make those sleeves real thin, to be (somewhat) proportional to this lady's stature.

I'm not sure if you did this on purpose, but the eyebrows aren't naturally black. Then, on the right eye, it seems as though there's a semi-black eyebrow, right above the eye shadow (which btw, the eye shadows in general could use some more shading, so it's less flat). This brings inconsistency and can be offputting when someone notices it. You're going to have to make the (currently brown) eyebrows spaced closer to the actual eye or something. Obviously, for a lady, the eye shadow is meant to be above the eye, but touch RIGHT below the eyebrow. The eyebrow is too far away, so it creates a disjoint.

You should also make the eyeshadow more of a subtler color, as they are meant to complement the skin color of a lady (basically it's too flat/too light blueish. For eyeshadows, they need to be either a darker color, or a lighter color that sortof blends to the actual skin color). The more shading on this the better.

Let's go on about the nose. Nose could use some work. Well, not the actual shape of it, but it looks incomplete. If you can look at faces from a female AA sprite, you may notice that they have bridges and such along with the main nose/nostrils. You should add those there.

I think the shading of the face in general, I think you had the right idea, but again, execution needs work. Your hair is covering the eyebrows sortof right? Then that means in terms of light/shading, there should be more darker shades/shadows of her forehead. Shadows don't come after a bit of light, and then have light again. Not how it works in the AA games, or in real life. Basically, make your shadows start dark from the forehead, all the way slightly lighter to where the nose meets (where you currently have some shading to it).

Your eyelash is an interesting attempt. Here's a problem though: I see *3* different eyelashes going on :P
The eyelashes in the bottom portion of the eye are good first-time attempts. But they're not as big as you make them out to be (especially in real life, or even AA standards for that matter). Additionally, there aren't simply just 3 lashes to an eyelash. Obviously there are different styles of making eyelashes look attractive, but it's more than 3 you know what I mean?
Now, for the top portions...On the left eye, you have a GREAT looking eyeliner/eyelash thing going on. But on the right eye, you have a good looking eye-lash, but it's COMPLETELY different from the rest.
You see what I mean? There's a big inconsistency here. The eyelashes all need to have one unified, consistent design to it. You should pick the best looking one that fits your vision, and copy/paste/flip vertically. I'm digging the top portion of the left eye the most, even if it doesn't look like it's more than 5 lashes in an eyelash. That's a cleopatra-styled eyelash design. You should stick with that.

Her outfit, or w/e, (not the jacket), I think the shading seems right, but the design doesn't make sense. Why does the "jacket" 'open' into an upside down funnel, and to what I see a dark purplish layering? With her tight body, my brain is telling me I'm supposed to be seeing her stomach, as in, the actual skin (a semi-midriff if you will).

The feathers of the jacket on the right looks good, but the feathers on the left side is missing. Another inconsistency I see here.


I'd offer more feedback, but that's all I can provide for my time atm. Any questions about what I said, just ask, ill do my best to answer :)
Thanks for the feedback, Proton. Yeah, I wasn't too proud on this one.

If there was a GIMP version of this guide, I'd be glad to use that one. GIMP and Photoshop seem to have a similar system.
Phantom

Re: Guide: How To Sprite An Original Character

Post by Phantom »

They do, and the concepts/terminology of the functions they both utilize are pretty much the same. The actual process for spriting would have a few steps of minor differences though. You would need to retweak accordingly. If you can play around with GIMP and get a feel for finding gimp's equivalenet to certain photoshop steps, you shouldn't have a problem (unless there's a filter that GIMP doesn't have)


I'm sure it would be nice practice for you to reattempt that particular sprite I gave feedback on, I mean I don't want my post to go to waste xP
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Lind
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Re: Guide: How To Sprite An Original Character

Post by Lind »

Proton wrote:(unless there's a filter that GIMP doesn't have)
You really shouldn't be using filters for sprites anyway.
Phantom

Re: Guide: How To Sprite An Original Character

Post by Phantom »

weelll, it HAS their uses, especially for competition threads :P
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Re: Guide: How To Sprite An Original Character

Post by SpazzyWings »

Lind wrote:
Proton wrote:(unless there's a filter that GIMP doesn't have)
You really shouldn't be using filters for sprites anyway.
Interesting. I'll take note of that. I have concept art for people to scratch (or Frankensprite) sprites from.

But the point is, this guide is quite helpful. I wish I were as tech savvy as the rest of you.
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Re: Guide: How To Sprite An Original Character

Post by joeyhugg »

This is most useful, Lind. While the bases are probably obvious, I managed to scrap together this.

Image
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Re: Guide: How To Sprite An Original Character

Post by ~Dataman~ »

Hmm, not actually bad. Just that the pose and suit would be better changed, and the coloring is pretty contrastic. It shouldn't be hard to add third color in middle of the dark and light.
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Re: Guide: How To Sprite An Original Character

Post by SlotJammer »

Can I ask a question?
Spoiler : :
What do you use for recoloring, frankenspritng or making your own characters?
:random: :random: :random:
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Re: Guide: How To Sprite An Original Character

Post by Lind »

SlotJammer wrote:Can I ask a question?
Spoiler : :
What do you use for recoloring, frankenspritng or making your own characters?
:random: :random: :random:
I use Paint.net.


However, I use GIMP for the animations.
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Re: Guide: How To Sprite An Original Character

Post by SlotJammer »

If this doesn't mind you.
Spoiler : :
Can you do a guide about how to animate a sprite?
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