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Chesu April 24th, 2009 2:39 PM

Spriting Tutorials - Pokemon and Trainer
 
This thread is currently being reformatted to make the tutorials more easily accessible.
The ugly buttons are placeholders until more permanent icons can be decided upon.

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Spriting Basics

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/button7.png http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/new1.gifhttp://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/button8.pnghttp://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/new2.gif


Pokemon

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/button1.png http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/button3.png http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/button5.png http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/button9.png


Trainers


http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/button2.png http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/button4.png http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/button6.png



Future Tutorials

Pokemon Overworlds| Perspective| Biology
Overworld Objects| Background Tiles| Props
Shading Textures | BW Pokemon | BW Back Sprites
Trainer Back Sprites | Pokemon Type Traits

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If you have any questions or would like to give feedback
on the tutorials, click here to leave me a visitor message!




Worldslayer608 April 24th, 2009 3:42 PM

Nice tutorial Chesu, very clean anr organized as well, makes reading so much easier :)

5qwerty April 26th, 2009 5:15 PM

Yay! I can't wait for the other tutorials to come out!

Ninja Caterpie April 26th, 2009 9:48 PM

Whoa, nice, nice, Chesu. I might learn off this properly. =D

Chesu April 27th, 2009 10:10 AM

Pokemon Scratch Tutorial #1
 
Pokemon Scratch Tutorial #1
by Chesu


In this tutorial, I'll be teaching you what I call the circle method,
or spriting by geometry. First thing's first, open up your favorite image
editor. I don't care if you just want to read the tutorial, do it. I prefer MS
Paint, as it presentes a single large environment, but you should use
whatever you're most comfortable with. The first thing you need
to do is decide the size of your sprite.


http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut1.png


This red box represents how big GBA Pokemon battle sprites can be
with no problem. So long as the sprite fits within the red box without
overlapping the edges, everything should work just fine... I think I'll go
with a Pokemon of medium/small size. Before you even start on the sprite,
you should have a mental image of what you'll be making. I'm actually
going to be winging it, making it up as I go along.

The first step in the circle method is to draw some circles with the
circle tool. Sure, you could freehand them, but the circle tool is faster
and more accurate. The number and size of the circles depends on what
you're making... for Geodude, you'd start with a medium circle for the body,
and two small ones for the hands. If you wanted to make a Nuzleaf, you
would make a medium circle for the head, two small ones for the hips,
and maybe an oval or rectangle for the shoulders. I'm going keep it
simple and make two circles, for a head and body.


http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut2.png


How many circles did you make? Now, you should consider the pose
your sprite will be in, and move your circles to reflect that. I want mine
to be facing the opponent head-on, so the smaller head circle should stay
on the left side of the body circle. I think I'm going to try for something
like a cat or a dog, sitting down, so the head circle will go on top.


http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut3.png


Once you've got your circles situated, you can reshape them.
I smoothed out the body a bit, and made the head slightly more...
well, head-shaped. Most quadrupedal mammals have a head that gets
more narrow under the eyes, so take the jaw line and other facial
structures into consideration while doing this. I still don't know what
I'm making, but it has a fairly rounded body. From here on out, you'll be
experimenting a bit, so you should always make a copy of the most recent
revision to the sprite, and work on that. To give it some contrast against
the white background, I'm going to color it a little. To ensure that my
sprites will blend with everything else in the game, I prefer to use
the color palettes of existing Pokemon.


http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut4.png


While looking through Pokemon sprites, Noctowl caught my eye, so I
grabbed its palette. I also started to draw some limbs. My original idea was
to draw the leg similar to how a cat or dog's leg looks when they're sitting
down... there's really no trick to it, just draw how you think it should look.
Due to how long I made the foot, it turned out looking more like a rabbit's
leg, so I decided that's what I would be making: a rabbity thing. For the
forepaws, I just drew some paw shapes, then added little arms. If you
are having trouble drawing what you have in mind, look closely at a
reference image. I think I'll color the arms and legs now...
what kind of limbs did you decide to draw?


http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut5.png


You probably can't see what the problem is, and I'm not exactly
sure that I know either, but I just didn't like how the paws looked. I
tried moving them around, but none of my attempts were satisfactory...
so, I decided to amputate. What? Don't worry, it'll be fine. If you ever feel
like something isn't working out, there's nothing wrong with trying something
else. It's been used before (see Klonoa, Terriermon, and Pokota to name a
few), but I think I'm going to have my rabbity thing attack with its ears.
Don't worry, I'll find a way to sneak a lesson about spriting into it.


http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut6.png


As you can see, the ear on the left is a basic arch shape, while the one
on the right looks.. well, better. The ear on the right started out looking
about the same as the one on the left, but I added a few little touches
to make it look more organic. Let's take a closer look.


http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut7.png


Upon closer inspection, you can see that one of the major differences
is that the ear on the right doesn't look as rounded. The ends are very
different, of course, but you probably haven't even noticed the most
important thing in the image. Actually, that's because I didn't include
the "wrong" thing to do it, because I'm so used to doing it the "right"
way. So, what am I talking about? Well, let's have another look at
the two circles I started with.


http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut8.png


So, which circle looks more round to you. The one on the left?
Well, why? The answer is pretty weird; because the circle on the right
has a straight line three pixels long connected to diagonal lines. It sounds
crazy, I know, but that's really what it is. If you want something to look
natural, you should make sure that the ends of diagonal lines are connected
to straight lines by smaller straight lines, two pixels long. I don't question it,
I just know that it works. You also wants to avoid right angles, unless
you're spriting a Pokemon made of minerals or ice. Yes, there are right
angles in my sprite's face... I intend to build the nose and whiskers/hair
tufts around them. Anyway, lesson learned, right? Right. Onward!


http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut9.png


The sprite's backside was looking a little flat, so I decided to give
it a tail. Rather than a boring old rabbit tail, I gave it something you'd
see on a primate or marsupial, with a tuft on the end similar to the ears.
There is no universal truth about tails (aside from the fact that no matter
what kind of animal it is, there IS bone somewhere in there, so keep that
in mind), so it's time to move on to the finer details! Since I don't plan
on adding anything else to the outside of the sprite, I'm going to be
working on things on the inside. If you're still working on limbs or
anything like that, finish up before you continue reading!


http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut10.png


You already know that I started on the face, so let's talk about
the eyes. I like to start by drawing a ridge where the top of the eyes
will be, to make it easier easier to shape them. The eye ridge should be
based on the shape of the rest of the head, but you'll have to use your
own judgment to determine how it should look. Only part of the eye on the
left is visible; there are probably a lot of Pokemon that look like this, due to
their heads being oriented on the opponent. You want the sprite look like
it's focusing on something about ten feet away. Also, remember that eyes
are generally wet-looking, and therefore reflective, which is why you will
often see a white pixel or two on the colored part of the eye. I actually
intended for the nose to be at the very bottom of the face when I shaped
the head, and I may end up changing the sprite's face completely before
I'm done. When making the nose and mouth, keep the facial structures
you've established so far in mind. Once you've finished the basic
layout of your face, we'll move on to shading.


http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut11.png


Most GBA Pokemon and trainer sprites seem to be illuminated by
a light source somewhere to the left and above them, so when shading
your sprite, make it darker on the right and bottom. If you look closely at
the sprite on the right, you'll see that I used lighter colors in some places
on the outline. It may seem like a small thing, but you'd be surprised at how
big of difference it can make in the overall look of the sprite. The shading
has made me realize just how fat the little guy is, so while you're shading
your sprite, I'm going to slim it down, maybe add a few finishing touches.


http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut12.png


Lookin' good, bunny-man! When you want to use multiple colors as I
did here, just replace the original shades with the new ones in the chosen
area. Resist the temptation to draw a dark-colored line between the two
different hues! I'm going to do some last minute shading, and add a few
more small details. Maybe, with a more slender frame and better
shading, I'll be able to get the forelegs to look right.


http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut13.png


Well! I'm surprised, I quite like that. The less noticeable changes I
made were to alter the shading a bit, mostly along the back and on the
ears, and to add ear canals. I actually planned on adding the ear canals
earlier, but forgot until now. If you look closely, you'll see that aside from
making it more believable as an animal, they also add a dimension to the
ears that wasn't there before, showing the point at which the back side of
the ears becomes visible from the front. With that, I think I'm done!


http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut14.png


Not bad, for two circles put together in MS Paint. It doesn't look
a whole lot like a Pokemon, but that's just because I didn't give it the
large head and distinctive face normally associated with the creatures. It
could also use some markings or tufts of hair on its body, but I'm happy
with it as it is. I think I'll call it... Marchare, a Normal/Fighting type. A
little bit rabbit, a little bit cat, a little bit kangaroo, and a little bit
crazy! So, how did everyone else's turn out? Please, post
your own made-from-scratch sprites below!

---

If you have any questions or would like to give feedback
on the tutorials, click here to leave me a visitor message!




Haz April 27th, 2009 4:47 PM

Thanks for the tutorial it helped me heaps.

Maybe after you finished with the trainer tutorial, you should show us how to make back sprites?

Conan Edogawa April 28th, 2009 3:17 AM

Thank you for the tutorial it's really helpful. A back sprite tutorial would be nice to have because I can't do them to well.

Chesu April 28th, 2009 5:58 AM

Shading Basics
 
Shading Basics
by Chesu


Shading is one of the most important, yet oddly overlooked
parts of creating Pokemon sprites. Shading allows you to add
dimension to a sprite that would otherwise have looked flat.
Take these two shapes, for example.


http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut25.png


With the addition of three well-placed colors, a red circle can
become a red sphere. It's hard to explain why, but in short the
human brain has perfected the art of pattern recognition. This is why
you're able to recognize your friends from behind... and why, if you've
ever seen a shiny ball before, the circle on the right will appear to have
depth despite being identical in shape to the one on the left. This effect
works exactly the same in reverse, as illustrated by these Voltorbs.


http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut29.png


As you can see, with its shading removed Voltorb looks... well,
flat. If you look closely, you'll see that both the shaded Voltorb and
my sphere have colored outlines, getting darker the farther they are
from the light source. This is used to build upon the illusions of depth
and light created by the other shading on the sprite. Speaking of light
sources, all battle sprites that face you will be lit by something
above them and to the left... just imagine that the sun is
somewhere around the opponent HP box.

A shading technique often used for Pokemon is dithering,
which allows you to both soften the boundary between two
shades and artificially add shades to your sprite without adding
more colors to the palette. This is a throwback to Pokemon Gold
and Silver, when dithering was used to shade most sprites.

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut26.png http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut27.png


So what, exactly, IS dithering? Well, take a look at the two
green color palettes above. There's no question which one has a
larger range of shades, but how many unique colors does each have?
The one on the left very clearly has four, and the one on the right seems
to have seven... but they're actually exactly the same. If you look closely
at the box on the right, you'll see tiny checker board patterns consisting
of two shades of green; this is dithering. Now, you may not recall
ever having seen any checker-boarded Pokemon.. but that's
probably just because you never noticed it.


http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut28.png


If you would like to see how extensively dithering
was used in the GBC games, click here. If you think
of any shading tips I forgot, let me know!

---

If you have any questions or would like to give feedback
on the tutorials, click here to leave me a visitor message!




aramil34 April 28th, 2009 7:43 AM

Nice tutorial.

I was thinking about starting spriting, it'll be helpful. :cer_smile:

Chesu April 28th, 2009 1:49 PM

Trainer Scratch Tutorial #1
 
Trainer Scratch Tutorial #1
by Chesu


In this tutorial, I'll be using the circle method to sprite
a Pokemon trainer. The process is generally the same as shown
in the Pokemon tutorial above, though the rules are a bit different.
First off, you need to decide how big your sprite will be. Remember,
battle sprites can't be any taller or wider than the red box shown in
the previous tutorial. I recommend finding an existing sprite that's
the size you want and using the same proportions. I'm going to
be spriting the rival for Pokemon Dissension, so my sprite will
be approximately the same size as the GBA protagonists.


http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut15.png http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut16.png


As before, the first step is to make some circles for the
major body parts. Feel free to use the ones I've already created,
if you want to. Just like last time, position them with the finished
product in mind. I actually have concept art to base my sprite
on, which I highly recommend.


http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut17.png


Since my sprite will have his back turned to the player,
looking over his right shoulder at them, I'm putting his left foot
forward. If you're having trouble placing the feet or drawing the
legs, look closely at the leg positions of other sprites. Don't
forget to shape the feet/shoes to fit the perspective.


http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut18.png


You can start shaping the hips, torso, head... whatever you
need to, at this point. I decided to reduce the hips, since my sprite
won't be wearing a jacket, or anything else that would need the wide
circle I started out with as a reference point. To prevent confusion
while drawing on the arms and anything else you want to add, now
is a good time to apply some base color to the sprite. I also drew
on a jaw line and a simple face, in preparation for the hair.


http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut19.png http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut20.png
armed and dangerous


It's easier to draw the arms separately, then to add them
to the sprite when you're happy with them. I like to start with
the shoulder, a circle about the same size as the shoe. If part of the
arm is going to be behind the sprite, like the left shoulder and hand here,
draw the arm in its entirety, then position the sprite on top of it. Finish
the rough shapes of anything else you want on your sprite (don't
worry, you can come back to them later if you want), then
move on to the most difficult part of spriting; HAIR!


http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut21.png


Well, that may have been a little melodramatic, but drawing
hair is no easy task. What's more, I can't really give you much
advice, as there are no universal laws on hair. What I can tell you,
however, is that I like to draw hair directly on the sprite, and that I
only worry about the outline at this point. Think of how to make it sit
naturally, remember that hair doesn't defy gravity without reason,
and try using as many reference images as possible. Once you're
happy with your sprite's design, you can begin shading it.


http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut22.png


Shading a only a little different for clothing and hair
than explained in the two tutorials above, but it's important to
remember what it is you're shading. A leg covered in loose denim
for example, is shaded quite differently from a bare leg. The shape
and position of things has the biggest impact on how they're shaded,
but remember that, even if you can't see it below them, your sprite is
casting a shadow. The four protagonist sprites at the top of this tutorial
are all casting shadows on their left arms; this usually applies to things
in the background, so keep that in mind if you decided to make your
sprite stand with one leg forward, the other back.

I can offer literally no advice on shading hair, since there
are so many variables. Just keep everything I've said about
shading in mind, and make sure the style is consistent. If the hair
is smooth, make the shading smooth... if the hair is rough, enhance
that. The hair on my sprite is shaggy and a little disorganized, so I'm
using the shading to make that more recognizable. If you need any
advice, feel free to leave a comment below, or send me a private
message. After making a few small changes, my sprite is done!


http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut23.png


In the end, I decided to make him a bit skinnier, and since
I wasn't incredibly fond of looking at his butt, covered it with
his shirt. Little touches, like the shape of his face and the rolled-up
sleeves, give him a distinctive look. The process for making the large
sprites used in FireRed and LeafGreen's intro sequence is the same,
just on a larger scale and with a larger color palette.


http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut24.png


So, how did your sprite turn out?
If you'd like to share, post it below!

---

If you have any questions or would like to give feedback
on the tutorials, click here to leave me a visitor message!




Corey April 28th, 2009 1:50 PM

nice tutorial bravo! good job

Dannwe123 April 30th, 2009 7:14 AM

This is great!! I never realized you could sprite with shapes like that. This was really helpful!

Fox♠ April 30th, 2009 9:51 AM

These tutorials seem really helpful, great job. :)
You planning on submitting them to the tutorial thread?

Chibi Robo April 30th, 2009 6:04 PM

Quote:

I've noticed that there are a lot (a lot!) of projects on the ROM
Hacking boards that require original sprites, but not quite so many
spriters willing to do that much work. The people who are willing to do
the work, those who have the original idea for the hack, usually cannot
sprite
As a spriter I am offended by this there are plenty of good spriters willing to sprite for a hack and to me personaly its offensive

Anyways I like your tutorials they are very well made nice concept too ^^
I really like what you use for the palettes for the sprites also but when making a sprite in a rom hack the trainer should probaly have his/her head facing to the bottom right hand corner but anyway nice tutorials hope you make more

Chesu April 30th, 2009 6:47 PM

Pixel-Over Tutorial
 
Pixel-Over Tutorial
by Chesu


Tracing over an existing image is probably the easiest way
to create a nice-looking sprite. The process is so simple, in fact,
that I have no preamble for it that wouldn't just be the first
part of the tutorial, so let's just dive in!


http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut30.png


The first item on the agenda is, as you could have guessed,
choosing an image to base the sprite on. Things to look for in
prospective images are a dynamic pose, good color depth, and
if possible, a head oriented on where the player's party would be
standing. If you're basing your sprite on concept art for your own
original Pokemon, make sure that you're satisfied with the image
before starting. Once the image is ready, it's time to resize.


http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut31.png


Okay, so it's not much right now, but by the time I'm through
with him this little guy will look great! If you intend to use the sprite
in a ROM hack, make sure that it's no larger than 64x64 pixels, and is the
exact size you want it to be. You probably don't want an Umbreon the size
of a Rapidash, right? Moving on, you can start the actual tracing!


http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut32.png


I prefer to use bright colors, as they stand out against
the image. I couldn't tell you why, but more often than not I
seem to use red and cyan for the outline. Make sure to erase
any near-white colors that may surround the image.


http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut33.png


That is one psychedelic Bayleef! Replace every discernible
shade in the image with a different bright color, so it will be
easy to recolor later. If you look closely, you'll see that I left
the eye unaltered; it's easier to change the colors in small areas
like that one-by-one. Next is the final step, recoloring. You can use
whatever colors you want, but you should definitely use the original
image as a reference. If you're making a new sprite of an existing
Pokemon, I recommend using the color palette on that Pokemon's
sprite. Don't be afraid to alter the sprite's shading, to better
fit the guidelines in the shading tutorial above.


http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut34.png http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut35.png


Not too shabby! This sprite wasn't actually made for
use in a game, so it's a little sloppy, but you get the idea.
However, just because it looks nice, that doesn't mean that
it's appropriate. Let's take a look at a few more examples.


http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut36.png


As you can see, again, the resulting sprite isn't bad.
It's not really appropriate for a battle sprite, though, since
it's not facing the right way. The light source of the original
image was also a bit off; if I wanted to use this sprite,
I would have altered it.


http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut37.png


The orientation of the head on this one is better,
and the colors and details are nice.. but there's a major
problem with the size. All three sprites I made were half the
size of the original image, which was okay for Bayleef and perfect
for Hitmonlee... but the Umbreon sprite is clearly too big. If you intend
to use this technique, just remember that the finished product should
have proper orientation, size, and shading. If you feel the need
to alter any details, feel free to! It's your sprite!

---

If you have any questions or would like to give feedback
on the tutorials, click here to leave me a visitor message!




Chibi Robo April 30th, 2009 7:02 PM

Quote:

Oh... I'm sorry that you're offended, but I don't exactly see why you are. Judging by the number of messages I've gotten, there are quite a few projects looking for spriters. I really don't see anything offensive in saying that the demand for spriters outstrips the supply.
I was more offended that you said most spriters willing to sprite are usualy not good in spriting
but you are right with all the activity in the ROM hacking forum and a new hack made every day I can see why you said that

Chesu April 30th, 2009 7:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HFI (Post 4597400)
I was more offended that you said most spriters willing to sprite are usualy not good in spriting

...What? I never said anything like that... I said that most spriters aren't willing to put in the time for "just some hack", and that the people who ARE most willing to put in the time are the creators of the hacks... who are, most likely, not capable spriters.

Conan Edogawa May 1st, 2009 3:22 AM

I've been busy but I should have free time tonight to continue my sprite. Once it's all done I'll post it.

aquakip May 2nd, 2009 8:11 AM

This is actually very helpful, especially since your a good spriter. It sucks when bad spriters try to make tutorials, even when the don't know what they're doing.
Great work.
It helped me a lot.

Chesu May 2nd, 2009 9:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aquakip (Post 4602010)
This is actually very helpful, especially since your a good spriter.


Eh, I'm an... okay, spriter. I wanted to make tutorials that are easy to understand, and explain everything... I'm not sure if I've managed to do that, but it's certainly better than nothing.

Yume Tsuki May 3rd, 2009 3:23 AM

first time i scratched a trainer :x

http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/5277/trainer.png

the legs look too short and too thin D:

Chesu May 3rd, 2009 6:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Froslass_Maniac (Post 4605991)
first time i scratched a trainer :x

http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/5277/trainer.png

the legs look too short and too thin D:


Yeah... make the legs a bit bigger, put the elbows a little higher on the arms, and shade the skin and hair. That should help a bit.

Involuntary Twitch May 3rd, 2009 9:53 AM

That has got to be the most useful trainer tutorial I've ever seen. :3 Trainers had always been such a problem for me before, but with it, I was able to make this. I commend you; you managed to make it straightforward and easy enough for anyone to follow.

I wasn't much of a fan of the fakemon tutorial at first (I don't reccommend using the circle tool) but the end product turned out much better than I thought it would. And the traceovers might come in handy sometime. So, awesome! Keep up the good work!

Conan Edogawa May 3rd, 2009 3:07 PM

I just looked at your trace over tutorial and it seems really easy to follow and the results are great. After my fakemon I'll try that.

Fox♠ May 4th, 2009 10:03 AM

I wasn't sure weather to sticky this as it;s own thread so you can still update it or if I should merge it with the existing tutorial thread. I'm pretty confident that since you are constantly updating these great guides that it warrants it's own sticky, congrats.

flyin_hawaiian May 4th, 2009 2:28 PM

You know, I like the way your tutorials are. They have helped with a lot of things. I will post one of my geometry sprites later.

Chesu May 4th, 2009 2:30 PM

Thanks for deciding to sticky the thread... and especially as its own topic! I definitely want to add more content in the future; to illustrate that, I've updated with placeholders for all of the tutorials I currently intend to write. If you're reading this and want me to write a tutorial on a specific topic, let me know!

Hall Of Famer May 4th, 2009 2:41 PM

This tutorial is gonna be very helpful, and glad to see it's stickied.

In future please don't refer to newer pixel artists in such derogatory terms, thanks - Fox♠

~Poke~ May 4th, 2009 2:44 PM

1 Attachment(s)
Hey, here's my Geometry Poke. I sorta stuffed up the leg...

Also, could you do the one for tiles? I sorta fail at tiles... At least tree tiles.

Chesu May 4th, 2009 3:12 PM

Actually, I already planned to do a tile tutorial... I have a place set up for it in this thread and everything! It is good to know that there are people who want it, though.

Conan Edogawa May 4th, 2009 3:40 PM

Congrats on your thread being stickied. I'm happy to see the new tutorials you're going to add. They've really helped me start to scratch sprite.

Chesu May 6th, 2009 10:56 PM

Pokemon Amalgamation Tutorial
 
Pokemon Amalgamation Tutorial
by Chesu


http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut38.png http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut40.png http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut39.png

The good, the bad, and the ugly. The most common
form of Pokemon spriting is the creation of "Fusions", combinations
of the parts of two or more different Pokemon sprites. While Hybrids
(i.e. a Gardevoir with a Koffing for a head, a Machop/Houndour centaur)
and type-changes are popular, in this tutorial I'll be discussing
Amalgamon, original Pokemon created from existing parts.


http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut47.png


As with any other spriting method, you should have a
clear idea of what you want to make. If you don't, you could
end up with something like Griffody the Flying Goat up there. Ever
since Pokemon Gold and Silver came out, introducing Miltank and the
concept of baby Pokemon, I've been waiting for a baby cow that
evolves into both Tauros and Miltank. Nine years on, I'm
kind of getting a little tired of waiting.


http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut41.png


...Okay, so it doesn't look much like a baby cow yet,
but... well, it's a process, y'know? When making Amalgamon,
I usually start by assembling parts that I think I'll need, or that
just look interesting. There are usually around twenty, and I decide
which to use through trial and error; I'm only showing you the ones
that I actually ended up using. A good start would be to reduce
the number of heads hanging about.


http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut42.png


So, why Wurmple's head? Well, I happened to have a
modified Wurmple head sitting between some of my favorite
Pokemon beaks and eyes, and I liked how it was shaped. When
choosing parts, make sure that their orientation will fit your sprite.
I like to go with things that people won't recognize, or that can be
modified beyond recognition. With a color change, Pichu eyes, and
some ever-so-slightly modified Eevee ears, you would never even
guess a Wurmple was involved. When combining parts, make
sure the area they meet is smooth and natural-looking.


http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut43.png


Looking a bit more cow-like, right? Well, at least a little.
Remember to properly shade the sprite, and make sure that the
shading flows well between the different parts. Just because you're
working with premade shapes and shading doesn't mean you can't
add your own little touches; don't be afraid to draw feet, horns,
designs... whatever you feel the sprite needs.


http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut44.png


Not all sprites need to be elaborate. Smaller Pokemon usually
have much simpler designs than the big ones, both because their
size allows for only so much detail and to make their evolutions look
more impressive. Sometimes, you barely even have to edit the parts
used; however, it's important to know what to edit and what not to.


http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut46.png


This one could definitely use more editing. While
most people wouldn't recognize the Fearow wing, its beak is
clearly a Kingler claw. It also uses the same wing, mirrored, for
both wings... a big no-no. If you really must mirror a body part,
modify it as much as you can to hide the fact. On the positive side
of things, the natural coloration of the wing and the marks on Quagsire's
back have been expanded upon in a way that fits a common theme. It's
been years and year since I threw this together*, so I don't know if
I planned for the bottom part of the wing to become a tail or if it
just happened, but either way it's an interesting feature.

*this sprite, along with a few others in this tutorial, were
made for a competition in which you had to guess the Pokemon
that went into the creation of the posted Amalgamon.


http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut45.png


While Tsurigu here makes for a good entry in the
aforementioned competition, it was a rush job, and is
downright bad as far as Amalgamon go. If you look closely,
you'll see that the parts (Articuno wings for ears aside) are largely
unaltered, and have their original shading intact. Everywhere that one
part meets another, they're just kind of placed on top of each other...
and worst of all, there is yet again mirroring, this time in the ears.
This is made even more apparent by the fact that the
shading is relatively unchanged.


http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut38.png


Remember this guy, from the beginning of the tutorial?
At the time, compared to the other two, it looked pretty good...
but what do you think of it now? It's poorly shaded, the parts are
just kind of set on top of each other, and Grovyle's face is pretty
recognizable. You're probably wondering if the wings are mirrored
or not, since the head obscures your view... If you were to
mirror a body part, this is ideally how you would do it, but
in this case both of Golbat's wings were used.


http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut48.png


Who remembers these three? PurpleKecleon made
them back when rumors of Diamond and Pearl having
Fighting/Psychic/Dark starters were circulating. Even nice
concept art like this can be recreated with existing parts.
The dinosaur could be made with Bayleef's body and
Lairon's head; the cat, with Espeon's body and
Pichu's ears. The kangaroo?


http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut49.png


In closing, your ability to create sprites from existing
Pokemon parts is only as limited as your ability to imagine
them. In fact, there's such a wide array of body parts and
different poses that you could probably fill an entire PokeDex
with "original" sprites. If you're REALLY good...


http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut50.png


Oh, I kid, I kid. Nobody would think that
Absol is an Amalgamon... right?

---

If you have any questions or would like to give feedback
on the tutorials, click here to leave me a visitor message!




Thanatos May 7th, 2009 1:21 PM

1 Attachment(s)
Being a Spriter myself, I've found your tutorials very useful. It's cool to see how other people's ideas about making sprites are actually very similar to my own. I'm sure you'll keep up the great work.
These are some of the sprites I messed with to make some movie monsters, mainly from Toho. Click the thumbnail...
There's Gojira/Godzilla 1940, Zilla(American Godzilla), Godzilla 2000, Gigan, 2 Mecha-Gigan, Destoroyah, Anguirus, 2 DesGhidorah, Rodan, King Ghidorah, Biollante, and Clover from Cloverfield. I think it's pretty obvious which pokemon I used for the sprites but I chose them because they shared similarities with the respective monsters.
Attachment 46520

Conan Edogawa May 7th, 2009 1:52 PM

Your newest tutorial is great. It is really helpful and should be to other spriters who still do fud=sions and such. Absol an Amalgamon? That's pretty clever and well done. Good Job.

http://pldh.net/media/pokemon/gen5/blackwhite_animated_front/175.gif

Chesu May 7th, 2009 4:31 PM

Those are pretty good, Thanatos (how was that name not already taken??)... but no Mothra or Gamera? I mean, come on... they're practically already made for you, with Blastoise and Dustox! For shame. ...Seriously, though. Gamera.

Ahem. Thanks for the kind words, BBS! ...BBC? Eh. Absol's tail definitely looks like a Crobat wing, though, doesn't it?

Thanatos May 7th, 2009 6:31 PM

Yeah, the Gamera, Mothra, Kaiser Ghidorah, Monster X, MechaKing-Ghidorah, MechaGodzilla, SpaceGodzilla, and the monster from "The Host" sprites are in the works.
There's no shame in having patience for one's own work.

rii - chii May 8th, 2009 12:55 PM

These tutorials are great! I tried doing it and here's my finished project! =D
http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd50/CheesePl0x/133.png

Chesu May 8th, 2009 1:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rii - chii (Post 4624642)
These tutorials are great! I tried doing it and here's my finished project! =D
http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd50/CheesePl0x/133.png


Very nice! One thing, though... on the left side of the mane, you have a straight horizontal line, connected to a straight vertical line, connected to a straight diagonal line. It looks a little... inorganic. You may want to round that out a little.

Jαcκςση May 8th, 2009 4:01 PM

Wow, awesome. This is by far the most detailed spriting tut I've seen. The shape thing is surprising. Do most people sprite like that? I don't do anything like that..

Chesu May 8th, 2009 5:36 PM

I don't know.. maybe they do. I gave it a try and it worked for me, so I've kept using it.

ΡλЯλđΘЖ May 10th, 2009 11:52 AM

Awesome tutorials! :) They're very easy to understand.
This is what I got from the geometry tutorial:
http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff272/legolunatic99/notindexed.png
Could you make an overworld tutorial please? I really need one.

Conan Edogawa May 10th, 2009 2:45 PM

Chesu how did you shrink the sprites for trace overs? I tried in ms paint and it didn't work out so I was wondering if there is a technique that I don't know.

Chesu May 10th, 2009 4:56 PM

I do it in Paint... With the image selected, I go into the Stretch/Skew menu, and resize by percentage. It works best with a nice round number, like twenty-five, fifty, or seventy-five percent.

Conan Edogawa May 11th, 2009 3:15 AM

Oh Ok I was just trying to do it in the wrong way. Thank you for the help.

Tunaboy88 May 12th, 2009 12:30 AM

1 Attachment(s)
look at this Fakemom I made use the Shading and Pokemon Tutriol

Attachment 46585
I call it Shadowfist Ghost-Fighting

plese tell me where I can improve :D

Translator May 12th, 2009 12:35 AM

This is a good tutorial for people who want to learn how to sprite. Keep it up.

Chesu May 12th, 2009 9:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tunaboy88 (Post 4634430)
plese tell me where I can improve :D


You know how the shading on the ball in the shading tutorial is rounded? You might want to do that on the gray parts of your sprites. You should also try softer shades of gray, that are closer to each other. The outline is kind of stark and jaggy... you should use a shade of gray rather than black on the light-colored areas, and make sure that the outline is only one pixel thick.

Conan Edogawa May 13th, 2009 3:06 AM

It isn't complete but it looks pretty good I think.
http://i715.photobucket.com/albums/ww151/baseballscooper/jhfjhf-4.gif?t=1242212713
And so everyone knows it isn't a complete scratch.

Liquid Shadow May 13th, 2009 8:07 PM

Well... Here's my first trainer sprite ever. It looks pretty bad IMO, so please critique me and give me some advice because I spent like 3 hours on this =/ .

(I based it off a bunch of OW sprites from WAH so I included those for reference.)

http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/9374/firstspriteu.png

Tunaboy88 May 13th, 2009 9:52 PM

1 Attachment(s)
thanks for the advice Chesu and now look atr Shadowfist although it still might need some work :D

Attachment 46618

Chesu May 17th, 2009 2:16 PM

Looking good, everyone! Sorry that I haven't gotten any tutorials up lately, I've been sick for the last few days... NeoNemesis, you need to work a bit on structure and shading.

0m3GA ARS3NAL May 17th, 2009 2:28 PM

My goodness man! I gotta say, this is the clearest, easiest to follow tutorial I have ever seen!
+REP for you!
I simply can't wait to see the next parts!

Ty 101 May 17th, 2009 4:08 PM

I personally are redirecting many game developers to this tutorial.
Keep it up.

giradialkia May 20th, 2009 3:07 PM

Nice! I recently discovered traceovers, but haven't tried it yet. The tutorial helps alot, well done!
(Just to let you know, that Meganium looks better than the legitimate one!). Also, thanks for the trainer tutorials, i used to only ever slice different trainers up, paste them together and recolour them. Not that it looked terrible, but i like being able to do my own. Again, great work!

Conan Edogawa May 20th, 2009 3:18 PM

http://www.iaza.com/work/090520C/complete_latias7586919883-iaza.gif
Here's my first trace over.

Vrai May 22nd, 2009 2:33 AM

You have a way with tutorials that appeals to me greatly. Hopefully, everyone who's struggling with spriting (like me) can make use of this.

GFA May 22nd, 2009 3:14 AM

I congratulate you and your work. I think you definitely have the right to say you can sprite. Why you would think otherwise, I'll never know.

Chesu May 22nd, 2009 5:50 PM

I think it's a matter of perspective... I'm comparing myself to people who do pixel art for a living.


edit: I want to throw together the Perspective tutorial but... I can't really think of any important points to discuss. I have something with a square and a cube, an example using two different Pikachu sprites, and trainer sprites that show how perspective is subjective... but that's all I've been able to come up with. If you have any ideas, PM them to me!

Chesu May 24th, 2009 12:31 PM

Trainer Amalgamation Tutorial
 
Trainer Amalgamation Tutorial
by Chesu



http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut51.png


As this type of sprite is the one that will most often
make its way into ROM hacks and independent games, I
wanted to make sure that I made everything clear and easy to
understand. That's not to say that this is why I haven't created a
new tutorial in over two weeks; as I'm typing this, I haven't even
started on the resources for this tutorial. I guess what I'm trying
to say is, this is going to be a long, very image-heavy tutorial.


http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut62.png http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut63.png


While using concept art helps immensely, and I
can't recommend it enough, it isn't necessary so long as
you have a clear mental image of what you want the sprite
to look like. While the only major deviations from the base sprites
in the image above are in the coloring, most people probably wouldn't
recognize the Lass' arms, because of context they're used in (aggressive,
rather than charming). The Cool Trainer's face, however, is slightly more
recognizable. While I don't like leaving faces unchanged, even small
changes are all that's needed for a complete makeover.


http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut64.png


The only real change (color aside) in the face is above
the eyes, but the expression and perceived shape of the face
has definitely been altered. While I prefer to blank out faces and
draw in new ones, you can make big changes by altering just a
few pixels. Now that I've covered that, I think it's time to
start the tutorial proper! I don't actually know what I'll
be making, so let's see what I get on impulse.


http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut52.png


Hmm, Sabrina's left arm seems like a good place to start.
For the right arm... well, a hand can easily become a glove, and
vice-versa, so I'm not even going to worry about that. I should
find an arm with sleeves about the same as Sabrina's...


http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut53.png


Or, practically no sleeves at all. That works too. I
honestly just chose this on a whim; "Oh, an Aqua Grunt.
Okay, let's see if this pans out"... Now, to find a sleek,
attractive female body and a cute head.


http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut54.png


...Or not. Again, I'm just choosing whatever catches
my eye, even if it doesn't make sense. I went with the Bug
Catcher's body, and the Tuber's head. His hair is just so goofy!
So, now I need to render the parts I'll be using from their bodies.
If you're spriting along with this tutorial, collect the parts
you'll be using before reading the next paragraph.


http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut55.png


Well that's not hideous or scary at all. You may
be wondering, "How is this even going to work?"... well, I
couldn't tell you. What I can tell you, though, is that the
Bug Catcher's torso needs to be cleaned up a little.


http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut56.png http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut63.png


There we go. It should be a lot easier to affix the
arms now. You don't necessarily have to remove the arms
to put the new ones on, as demonstrated by this sprite from
earlier, but in the Bug Catcher's case it's unavoidable. Since the
arms I've chosen are so much larger than you would expect to see
on a seven-year-old, I'm going to need to trim them a bit. Even if
the limbs you're using are around the same size as the originals
from the torso you're attaching them to, don't be afraid
to adjust them as necessary.


http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut57.png


Yeah, yeah, I left the hands the same size...
The entire point of this is using existing assets, and
I'm not great with hands. I guess the kid will be wearing
large gloves for some reason. Anyway, it's time to assemble!
If you're worried about it not turning out right, work with a copy
of your progressing sprite. I'm almost certain that the majority
of spriters do it... I do, anyway. In fact, this is what
my work area looks like at the moment:


http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut58.png


When cobbling sprites together like this, I like to keep
resources and palettes in the corners of my screen (this
image fills the screen in MS Paint with 6x zoom), and an open
area in the middle to work freely. Due to the differences in the
way they progress, my work area for sprites drawn from scratch
tend to become filled with long chains of sprites. Looking at
the following image closely is not for the weak of heart, as
it's the unedited fallout of my sprite-making process.


You clicked it, didn't you? Well, if you're able to read
this, you've clearly managed to recover. My point is, it's okay
to leave an "evolution of man"-esque trail of sprites that you can
revert back to or reference. Moving right along, I've affixed the
arms to the torso, so it's time to homogenize everything.


http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut59.png


I don't think I need to say this, but I will anyway,
for the sake of thoroughness: make sure that one part
flows seamlessly into the next (unless there's supposed
to be a seam there, that is), and replace colors with a similar
shade in the hue that you've chosen. If you need to reshade
anything, you'll just have to rely on your own judgement.

If you're combining parts that show skin, make sure
that they're all shaded with the same tone; though my little
gloved kid may look like he has a continuous skin color, the Bug
Catcher, Tuber, and Aqua Grunt all use different palettes for
their skin. I'm not going to bother making the face and legs
the same color... he's wearing a long-sleeved shirt and
gloves, shorts and sandals with that would look silly.


http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut60.png


Okay, so he's still wearing sandals... I'll worry about
that later. Now that I have the basic shape done, it's time
to get down to details. You should know what it is you're making
by now, if you didn't when you began... I still have no idea. He's
a kid... what do kids do? The way he's dressed, he doesn't seem
to be on the way home from school, and I'd bet my beard
that he isn't ready for a day on the beach...

Okay, why do people wear gloves? To protect their
hands... but from what? The cold.. he could be a sledder...
or hot water, maybe he's a dish washer at a restaurant that's
breaking child labor laws. Or, maybe... chemicals? You know, he
does look a bit like a mad scientist. I actually kind of like that.
Okay! My little gloved kid is hereafter a mad scientist!

Most people would depict a mad scientist as wearing
a lab coat without a second thought, but my mental image
is of Dr. Frankenstein in an old-fashioned surgeon's gown, so
that's what I'm going with. It's important to remember that
these are supposed to be real people, and that a lot of
them dress the way they do for a specific reason.


http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut61.png


Yeah, I know, this tutorial is supposed to be about
using parts from existing sprites... but sometimes, you just
have to draw things yourself. I use bright red or blue, so that
my lines are easy to see and modify. I couldn't tell you why,
but I felt the urge to make the gloves and pants
purple and black, respectively. Hmm...


http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut66.png


Ye Olde Surgeon's Gown™ folds over and usually
buttons from shoulder to hip, so in my sprite's stance
you should be able to see the underlying layer of the gown at
the bottom. Small details like that can make more of a difference
than you might think. The white palette used on the Bug Catcher's
shirt is only three shades, so to shade the sprite a bit more I replaced
it with the (four-toned) palette from a Lass' shirt. I also stole the
shoes of a Youngster that was in a similar pose, and recolored
my little scientist's hair. Why orange? Well, who can say. I
could alter the shoes, but I think I'll leave them as they
are. The sprite is more or less done now, but... I
think I'll add just one more small touch.


http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Tutorials/tut67.png


Oh come on, I had to.

Remember, if your sprite is for a ROM hack, you
have to limit it to sixteen colors, one of which must be a
background color used nowhere else on the sprite. I hope
you've learned something, and if you haven't... well,
maybe YOU should be writing tutorials!

---

If you have any questions or would like to give feedback
on the tutorials, click here to leave me a visitor message!




Blazers May 24th, 2009 12:38 PM

This is the best spriting tutorial i have ever seen.
Thank you so much you answered a lot of questions i had.

Conan Edogawa May 24th, 2009 5:33 PM

Your newest tutorial is great! I'm terrible with trainers so I'll try it out. And the Dexter sprite is funny especially because it's on right now!

noz mc spooky May 26th, 2009 6:09 PM

these tutorials were really cool
im gonna start practicing spriteing pokemon

the thing is i wanna start making a game and i want to have sprites of people i know and famous people too

do you have any advice on how to take a pictur of a real person and make a sprite out of it?

Chesu May 26th, 2009 6:45 PM

I would recommend doing it from scratch, but if you have a picture in the pose you want, you could do it as a trace-over and refer to existing trainer sprites for the face and shading.

Sophidius May 28th, 2009 7:34 AM

Hmm, after a couple of failures I eventually sprited this:
http://i670.photobucket.com/albums/vv62/sophidius/tugro.png

and this:
http://i670.photobucket.com/albums/vv62/sophidius/spargas.png

I'm sorry if I'm a bad spriter :(

Chesu May 28th, 2009 7:48 AM

Heh, you don't need to apologize. The colors and shading aren't quite right... you should refer to Pokemon with short feathers (Taillow, Pidgey), leaves (Oddish, Sunflora), and amorphous bodies (Ditto, Grimer) for shading references. For the colors, I usually stick to those from existing Pokemon sprites.

edit: Here are a few Pokemon with color palettes that fit your sprites.

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Misc/182.png http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Misc/386.png http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Misc/442_1.pnghttp://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Misc/245.png http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Misc/298.pnghttp://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Misc/336.pnghttp://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Misc/019.pnghttp://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a191/Chesu/Misc/168.png

0m3GA ARS3NAL May 28th, 2009 9:40 AM

Ok ok, I followed your tutorial, and made a Grayscale Pixel Over of a Lugia. (That I have permission to use, no worries)

How does this look?
http://0m3ga-ars3nal.webs.com/lol.bmp
Keep in mind this is my first ever pixel over...
What do ya think?
This is NOT a battle sprite BTW... it's use is of no concern... >_>

Chesu May 28th, 2009 9:52 AM

Heh, the combination of gray and hung head/wings makes it look depressed. It's good! If the dark lines on the "fingers" and leg weren't so apparent, I wouldn't even have realized it was pixel art!

0m3GA ARS3NAL May 28th, 2009 10:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chesu (Post 4687720)
Heh, the combination of gray and hung head/wings makes it look depressed. It's good! If the dark lines on the "fingers" and leg weren't so apparent, I wouldn't even have realized it was pixel art!

Is that a good thing? LOL, I ask this cause I am pretty self conscious of my art... even if it IS a pixel over of another persons drawing...
(LOL, should have added credits to Silverwing in the last post, he owns a site, Lugias-Island.net, He told me to give creds so yeah.

Chesu May 28th, 2009 10:22 AM

In this instance, not looking like pixel art is a good thing... the subdued colors look more natural than pixel are usually does... but that doesn't mean that the dark pixels on the leg and wings are a bad thing. It's perfect just the way it is.

...My month-old thread has almost as many views as this board's rules, which have been up for a year and a half... that's just sad.

0m3GA ARS3NAL May 28th, 2009 10:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chesu (Post 4687827)
In this instance, not looking like pixel art is a good thing... the subdued colors look more natural than pixel are usually does... but that doesn't mean that the dark pixels on the leg and wings are a bad thing. It's perfect just the way it is.

...My month-old thread has almost as many views as this board's rules, which have been up for a year and a half... that's just sad.

KK, cool cool.

Thanks for that info man, keep up the great work, the tutorials are really helping.

Tunaboy88 May 29th, 2009 2:04 PM

1 Attachment(s)
heres another Fakemon I made

Attachment 46941

SytheXP May 29th, 2009 2:48 PM

Turorial is great however Im waiting for the backsprite one being as that happens to be my area that I stink in. Keep up the nice tutorials though.

Chesu May 29th, 2009 3:09 PM

Tunaboy88, that needs quite a bit of work. You should smooth out the rough shapes you draw before worrying about color.

SytheXP, that's the next major tutorial I intend to do, probably on Wednesday. Are there any particular points you would like me to touch on, outside of the step-by-step?

SytheXP May 29th, 2009 3:13 PM

My main problem is doing hair on backsprites as for the bodies what I do atm is take one thats already made, white it out change stuff to match my front sprites/ow's then reshade it with pallete from my front sprite. But thank you so very much lol. I look forward to reading that portion and getting your advice. =]

Chesu June 1st, 2009 12:00 AM

Ah... As you may have read in one of my tutorials, it's pretty hard to give advice on hair, as hairstyles vary so much. I guess you should take the head from your front sprite, mirror it, then replace features visible from the front of the head (bangs, forehead) with whatever you think the back of the head should look like. Using that as a reference, draw a larger version on the back sprite.

Seadiga June 1st, 2009 12:38 AM

I had a try a couple of days ago at making Fakemon. They are abit.....small.
http://i598.photobucket.com/albums/tt67/FireySeceria23/Scratches/Lamuffy.png-Lamuffy
http://i598.photobucket.com/albums/tt67/FireySeceria23/Scratches/Dratyion.png-Dratyion

noz mc spooky June 1st, 2009 8:27 PM

i guess the last post i put up didnt go thru but....
i tryin to make sprite of reall people like my friends and famous people
for example if i were to take a picture of malcom x what would be the best way to do that?

Chesu June 1st, 2009 11:27 PM

noz mc spooky, if you would bother to look for your original post (it's ONE PAGE back, and there's only been one post on this page!), you would see that I've already responded.

Seadiga, you should give all of your sprite's body parts a more natural shape before worrying about coloring them... and remember, their heads should be oriented on where the player's character will be, not on the player themselves.

0m3GA ARS3NAL June 1st, 2009 11:38 PM

I believe I could give a little help on hair...
Make sure you draw your hair larger than the head of the sprite... I mean... That would look odd having hair that looks like your head is shrunken on top...

Esper June 4th, 2009 10:06 AM

I was able to make my avatar thanks to your tutorial. Well done!

0m3GA ARS3NAL June 4th, 2009 10:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scarf (Post 4713864)
I was able to make my avatar thanks to your tutorial. Well done!

Wow, that Fakemon looks good! ^____^

Chesu June 4th, 2009 12:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scarf (Post 4713864)
I was able to make my avatar thanks to your tutorial. Well done!

I don't know whether that thing's a Pokemon or not, but it looks great! Unfortunately, paired with your name, I can't help but imagine it wrapped around my neck... o~o

Esper June 4th, 2009 4:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chesu (Post 4714359)
I don't know whether that thing's a Pokemon or not

What would you say would make it more Pokemon-y?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chesu (Post 4714359)
Unfortunately, paired with your name, I can't help but imagine it wrapped around my neck... o~o

Don't worry, it's mostly harmless.

Chesu June 4th, 2009 7:14 PM

Pokemon tend to have instantly-recognizable faces. Even things that wouldn't normally have faces, like Metapod, Shellder, Clamperl... maybe you could angle the head so that it's looking at where an opponent would be, give it some kind of mouth. I don't know what kind of worm or whatever it's supposed to be, but Caterpie, Weedle, Wurmple, and Burmy all have distinct facial features.

Tunaboy88 June 5th, 2009 2:31 AM

for some reason trace-overs are so hard, why?!

Chesu June 5th, 2009 12:49 PM

Probably because the original image contains dozens to hundreds of colors, and you have to judge which will become which shade in the finished sprite. What, specifically, are you having trouble with?

jessmew June 5th, 2009 8:31 PM

Great Tut Man,Very Easy To Read,And Understand :)

Chibi Robo June 5th, 2009 8:41 PM

I have suggestion for a tutorial chesu Tiles!
It would be great for many spriters to try doing tiles and I believe you could be able to make a tutorial like that~

Chesu June 5th, 2009 9:43 PM

Actually, tiles are already on the list of upcoming tutorials.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chesu (Post 4577936)
Special Sprites

Back Sprites

Coming soon! (priority: B)

Overworld Sprites

Coming soon! (priority: C)

Props

Coming soon! (priority: B)


Background Tiles

Coming soon! (priority: C)


If you happen to think of anything else that you could use a tutorial for, though, let me know!

~Magnus~ June 6th, 2009 12:07 AM

Dang your also working on a Calf for Miltank and Tauros :( Here's what i have...(BTW i suck) I saw you made one so decided to screw making my own...

http://i40.*.com/wlre4i.jpg
(I was about to add Turtwig's leafs as ears, Meditate's ears made it look like a sheep xD)
http://i41.*.com/nboi7a.jpg

PS Good Guide, I'm going to need it xD

Chesu June 6th, 2009 5:10 AM

Heh... you can still make yours, there have always been conflicting fan-made Pokemon. I call the name Cafickle, though!

GFA June 6th, 2009 6:27 AM

Very nice. I wish I had some better C&C, but all I can say is that you explain your steps very well/ Plus, you branch out to all the sprites which earns you top points. All that I have to wine about is that they aren't D/P/Pt, but that's just me being a butt-head.

Involuntary Twitch June 6th, 2009 7:14 AM

Hey, I have a suggestion: why not add a more advanced texture-shading part to your tutorial? Because I see lots of people shading things with complete disregard to texture, when in fact there's lots of different nuances for stuff like fire, ice, fur, scales, etc. that aspiring spriters should know. If you don't feel like it (or you're busy working on the background tiles-- something I'm really looking forward to, btw), I could do it as a guest-tutorial if you wanted. :3

Chesu June 6th, 2009 8:15 AM

GFA, I'm sorry to break it to you, but... I actually hate D/P/Pt's sprites! XD
I mean, they're nice, big, and colorful, but I prefer the GBA color palette and sizing... it has a certain charm, I suppose. The reason for making these tutorials in the first place was to help people working on GBA rom hacks, and it's easy to adjust a sprite to DS-style coloring and shading, so I'm not really worried about it.

Zeph, if you would like to make a guest tutorial, that would be fantastic! I'm more or less the sole spriter for Pokemon Dissension, and I have about fifty trainer sprites left to make, along with overworld sprites and background tiles. I'm also writing all of the dialog, and constantly bouncing ideas back and forth with the programmer, so I don't have a great amount of time for writing tutorials.

So, if you want to write it, just PM it to me when you're done and I'll put it up. The format I use for the images is cropped as closely as possible, with a transparent background. Also, I couldn't help but notice that you're in my hair... I shave my head, so you must be in my beard. What are you doing in my beard?! >:0

edit: Hey, this was my one hundredth post! I'm so glad that I got to say beard in it!

GFA June 6th, 2009 11:45 AM

Wahahaa! Meany! I guess I didn't realize you were trying to stick to GBA...

Eos Aduro June 6th, 2009 12:56 PM

Well this helped me immensely!! I managed to make my first semi-recognizable fakemon with it! i've been doing fusions and recolors for ages, but this was the major switch for me to continue with Fakemon! I present...

http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn141/EosAduro/Fakemon2.png

This squidish thing (I hate its feet, but whatever!)

Chesu June 6th, 2009 1:07 PM

Ha! Wow, you don't see one of those every day! The back leg seems a bit too far forward, though... it doesn't really look like it can support the creature's weight in that position.

Chibi Robo June 7th, 2009 6:44 AM

Another auggestion how about make a tut on how to pick palettes
Beacause it is hard for most people to pick the right palettes

Another auggestion how about make a tut on how to pick palettes
Beacause it is hard for most people to pick the right palettes

Haz June 8th, 2009 3:25 AM

1 Attachment(s)
Hi Chesu, it's Hazzamon here. I'm working on a project in the Game-Making thread. I don't want to explaninit all but you play as a meerkat (Don't ask, it's all in this thread) and I'm working on a heavily modified Sentret sprite. I haven't added colou, shading or even facial details so before I do, your opinion on it.
EDIT: Fogot to add sprite :P It's in the attachment.

Fox♠ June 8th, 2009 4:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chibi Robo (Post 4724994)
Another auggestion how about make a tut on how to pick palettes
Beacause it is hard for most people to pick the right palettes

Another auggestion how about make a tut on how to pick palettes
Beacause it is hard for most people to pick the right palettes

Just mix and match official palettes until you get the hang of what your palettes should look like.


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