The SMBX Guide to Spriting

Emral · Postby **Emral** » Wed Aug 05, 2015 8:22 am

TheKingOfBoos wrote:Aight, I'll try again
EDIT: I just did. How's this? Half as many colors, better texture, etc....

I like the texture here way more! I think you can test it out in game now. To improve even more, I have some suggestions which you can make whenever:
-The top part looks unnatural from this angle. Look at how SMW and SMB3 handled log-ends and find something which looks like something to stand on without vision from above.
-Shading on the branch is barely noticeable. If you import it in-game you'll only notice one colour.
-The next step would be removing the banding on the texture. The way to fix this is to make the texture less symmetrical and add a larger variety of shapes for the lighter parts.
-The texture also doesn't necessarily have to be cut in a light and a dark half. I'm sure you can take one or two more colours away. (hint: Most sprites use a distinct "middle brightness" from which they work their way to full shading, often with 1 lighter colour and 2 darker colours, where one of the darker ones is used to emphasise depth in the very dark parts, or outlines within the sprite).

TheKingOfBoos · Postby **TheKingOfBoos** » Wed Aug 05, 2015 11:49 am

I agree about the log end, and I decided I liked the broken look better anyway, so I took it out.

Shading on the branch is being changed.

I'll work on the banding as well.
Finally, I'm going to add some leaves. Thanks so much for your friendly advice! Your helpfulness makes me feel so happy inside

Emral · Postby **Emral** » Sat Aug 08, 2015 3:36 pm

If anyone has any topics they want me to make a segment on for this tutorial, feel free to post them here.

Ness-Wednesday · Postby **Ness-Wednesday** » Fri Aug 28, 2015 2:23 pm

I'm definitely using this despite the fact that I use GIMP because my computer is too old to handle the latest version of Paint.NET and I will never buy Photoshop for a reason.

(I am still on vacation, I could visit every now and then at times.)

Emral · Postby **Emral** » Fri Aug 28, 2015 2:55 pm

Ness-Wednesday wrote:I'm definitely using this despite the fact that I use GIMP because my computer is too old to handle the latest version of Paint.NET and I will never buy Photoshop for a reason.
(I am still on vacation, I could visit every now and then at times.)

If you've already read it, you haven't been paying attention, as right in the beginning I point out pros and cons of some software and say that the only reason the images are from paint.net is because I prefer it over the other software I mention.

Ness-Wednesday · Postby **Ness-Wednesday** » Sat Aug 29, 2015 10:54 pm

My bad... I am using something that doesn't show images usually..
But I could finally fight back those 1x1 pixels, thanks!

Taker · Postby **Taker** » Sun Oct 11, 2015 8:22 pm

Is it possible in any way for me to change the size of a certain graphic? I want to make a robot replacing the bob omb but the bob omb is too small.

Emral · Postby **Emral** » Mon Oct 12, 2015 8:28 am

Merio wrote:Is it possible in any way for me to change the size of a certain graphic? I want to make a robot replacing the bob omb but the bob omb is too small.

http://www.smbxgame.com/forums/v ... f=35&t=428

You should check out the sticky topics in the help and support forum.

Emral · Postby **Emral** » Mon Oct 12, 2015 8:23 pm

Also guys I hate double-posting but this is SUPER IMPORTANTT: I recently came across this super amazing tutorial on colour and shading. I recommend everyone aspiring to become half-decent at this reading and understanding it, at least the stuff about colour wheel, and colours which "go well together". Nowadays I just vomit at the new stuff most people here put out, so I'm hoping to improve all of this.
Here's a link to the tutorial. I packed it into the external links section of the tutorial, too.
http://glitchedpuppet.deviantart.com/ar ... -184642625

Postby **Squishy Rex** » Tue Oct 13, 2015 3:45 am

This is seriously worth the read. I'm only part way through it, but all I can say is, it's easy to understand and there's visuals. If you're having trouble with shading etc. definitely read this. I never realized the darkest part of a shadow is where it begins, and I have to admit, I can notice it now.

Emral · Postby **Emral** » Tue Nov 10, 2015 4:01 pm

Added a short paragraph about how to make better textures.

Texture
This little bit is something I learned in a camp at university. Everyone had to make their own tileset for the game we were creating, and this is something which I see a lot of people do wrong, but which just makes sense if you think about it for a second:

Try to hide the fact your texture is looping. Help your tiles come to life and look believable as, say, dirt in the ground by not focusing on large eyecatchers in the texture. Here are a few examples of how you SHOULDN'T make a texture, as you can instantly see that the tiles loop, and every area looks the same, which breaks the immersion:

Notice how the tiles to the left look more clunky when put together? This isn't to say though, that you should completely avoid making textures like these. A lot of tilesets have textures which stand out a bit more mixed in between the plain one, to make it less boring. It's a weird balance - don't make the main fill too exciting, but add other tiles to make sure it's not boring. Here's an example of more visible tiles making the set more immersive:

Postby **HenryRichard** » Tue Nov 10, 2015 7:53 pm

The thing about 8-bit graphics is wrong; it says you can only use 4 colors + black, but really you can only use 4 colors including transparency per 16x16 area.
Other then that it's a great guide!

Emral · Postby **Emral** » Tue Nov 10, 2015 8:31 pm

HenryRichard wrote:The thing about 8-bit graphics is wrong; it says you can only use 4 colors + black, but really you can only use 4 colors including transparency per 16x16 area.
Other then that it's a great guide!

Oh whoops, I don't know how I messed that one up.

lighthouse64 · Postby **lighthouse64** » Sat Dec 19, 2015 10:26 am

Lol, I am using this thread for a project resource right now XD :p

Postby **Marina** » Sat Dec 19, 2015 10:27 am

lighthouse64 wrote:Lol, I am using this thread for a project resource right now XD :p

Congratulations LOL XDDD LMAO ROFL :PPPP HAHA :DDDDDD XDDDDDDDD!!!!!!

Fuyu · Postby **Fuyu** » Sat Dec 19, 2015 11:35 am

Nice guide, it talks about many important notes to keep in mind while spriting. Though about the dithering if you allow me to add anything, small sprites may also include dithering, that is if you know how to make them. It's significantly more difficult to shade small sprites with dither, but when you do it right, it looks gorgeous. Take for instance this meat sprite I just draw, it is not that big, yet the dither effect looks good on it.

Again, depends on how you shade it and what style do you intend to use.

Emral · Postby **Emral** » Sat Dec 19, 2015 11:49 am

Natsu wrote:Nice guide, it talks about many important notes to keep in mind while spriting. Though about the dithering if you allow me to add anything, small sprites may also include dithering, that is if you know how to make them. It's significantly more difficult to shade small sprites with dither, but when you do it right, it looks gorgeous. Take for instance this meat sprite I just draw, it is not that big, yet the dither effect looks good on it.

Again, depends on how you shade it and what style do you intend to use.

I beg to differ. On small sprites, dithering should be used with care, and it's better to use less than more. On this meat sprite, for instance, the dithering creates a nasty texture which reminds me of cloth more than meat.

Fuyu · Postby **Fuyu** » Sat Dec 19, 2015 11:58 am

Your differ is accepted. I don't see it as a cloth myself, I think cloth would use greater amounts of dither, in contrast to the so little I used for the meat.