Art Tutorials...

[traylorpark]

Hey friends!

I've been watching the community for a while now. I certainly see a lot of programmers come through here. That of course is a good thing, we need programmers.
However, me being an artist, am biased towards artsy things.

I've also been doing artsy things for a while. I have a degree in it and have puttered around in a number of mediums and methods of expression.
But I want more artists to come to the Caanoo and this community. I feel like this could be a cool little haven for people who are interested in exploring the many unique facets of game making. Kinda like TigSource ... but for the Caanoo (wiz).

So, I want to help artists here! Specifically, tutorials, examples, walkthroughs etc. is there something I can offer this community, (knowledge-wise) that might help more artists?
I'd certainly love to attract more people to the community (the Caanoo isn't JUST an emulator device).

So yeah, anything of interest? 3D tutorials? 2D? Blender? Pixels? Collaborations? Beer?
(There is plenty I don't know of course, but I'd be happy to try and point people towards places where their questions might be answered)
Let's talk!

 

[u9i]

I can only speak for myself, but i think an artist is usually what every programmer is missing. So if you are interested in working on a game, i'm sure there must be plenty who could use your talent

 

[traylorpark]

Yeah, this is an artists paradise for finding projects to work on. I'm already very wrapped up in a game.
I'm hoping to help artists out... to benefit the programmers here naturally

 

[lucidknight]

yo, i would love some basic totorials on making art specificly for games ive always been into all facests of art but ive never gotten the chance to help with any games i would love to!!!

 

[SolarLune]

I have a game development page featuring tutorials, and pixel art is one of my next endeavors. If you want to make a pixel-art tutorial, though, there can't be too many; any contribution would be nice help - by the way, did you 'paint' your avatar? It looks professional.

 

[coldfish]

I'd be interested in pixel art and sprite generation. Which tools are the easiest/best for animation etc...

I'm a Product Designer with an interest in 2D and coding.

 

[DaveC]

I'd be interested in pixel art and sprite generation. Which tools are the easiest/best for animation etc...

I'm a Product Designer with an interest in 2D and coding.

A good app for pixel art and sprite animation is ProMotion, it runs on the PC but it is not free. Still it is good and similar to the old Amiga Deluxe PaintII but enhanced.

 

[traylorpark]

I'll be the first to admit, I'm not the most learned pixel guru. I'd be happy to share some techniques I've learned over time! If your a beginner, I'd suggest you check out this website here:way of the pixel and glance at some of those tutorials and examples. More then enough content to get a budding pixel artist started.

I prefer to work mostly in the 3D space (though I've seen that combining Pixel art with 3D creates some of the most beautiful artwork) known to man.

Most pixel work I've done was either in Photoshop or Gimp. I never really used a dedicated app. If I were to, I might check out Grafx2.
I do my 3D work in Blender.

I'm thinking of doing some narrated, start to finish, tuts in 3D and maybe 2D as well. Taking it all the way to getting some as close to running live on the Caanoo as I possible can

@SolarLune - thanks! I did pixel it. It was for a game I made as a senior project in college about a foreigner who found a magical helmet that could read Japanese peoples minds. It was a horrible game HAHA; ethically, conceptually bad and no fun. Learned a lot about pixeling though!

 

[RetroVortex]

@SolarLune - thanks! I did pixel it. It was for a game I made as a senior project in college about a foreigner who found a magical helmet that could read Japanese peoples minds. It was a horrible game HAHA; ethically, conceptually bad and no fun. Learned a lot about pixeling though!

I'd still play it! :3

Also thanks for the links, (I really need to start learning how to properly pixel stuff, as by inability to code, do art, write, and make music prevent me from actually making something! XD).

 

[traylorpark]

Also thanks for the links, (I really need to start learning how to properly pixel stuff, as by inability to code, do art, write, and make music prevent me from actually making something! XD).

Please do start making stuff! and when you make something, share it with the community here (send me a PM). I'd love, (and I'm sure many people also would love) to see it!

 

[traylorpark]

and out of curiosity, does anybody do any 3D stuff on the Caanoo/Wiz?

 

[coldfish]

Thanks for the links and tips guys.

These are very good, makes me want to see them in a game.

 

[traylorpark]

kennethfejer is certainly an inspiration to many game artists.
He has an amazing eye for color and contrast and knows how to balance his models well.

His style has been influential in some art circles on the net for sure.

Yeahp...

Awesome.

 

[SolarLune]

Wow, that does look really good. Is that from a game, or just a pixel portrait?

 

[traylorpark]

I wish it was a game ... its just Kennethefjer's mockup.
Beautiful regardless

 

[RetroVortex]

So I've read a few examples, and decided to work on a little sprite I made a while ago, (see avatar).

http://img441.imageshack.us/i/deathwd.png/

So as you can see, I redrew the head (I'll add detail to it once I'm done making the set). I decided to give a sullen look, (he is death after all!).
But I decided this time that instead of rushing in and making a detailed sprite, I wanted to get proportions right.

Then I remembered something. I suck at drawing large art.
So I thought I might try a chibi sort of angle, and I think I got a reasonable proportion going. (I'm not going to flesh the sprites out this time until all the basic animation ideas are done. (Walk left, Walk right, Jump, Swing scythe (heavy), jab scythe (sort of raking action, light), ducking, ghost mode, moving into a gap to hide) (The idea I have for him is a sort of stealthy, actiony, puzzly, hacky slashy, jumpy thing)

Tomorrow I'm going to try and finish that swing animation.
I'm sort of modelling it off a baseball bat swing.

 

[traylorpark]

Here .. I used this sprite sheet as a template for my characters way back when.

What I did is marked the position of the head, and the torso, and legs to get the proportions similar.

It should also give you a good idea of how many pixels is standard for a 16-bit stile character sprite.
Contact, Professor - sprite sheet

Also, spend more time looking at Kennefthjer's website ... note how little black he uses in his sprites. Images are much more interesting when the shadows and dark places have a hue of some color (often blue or purple).

 

[u9i]

and out of curiosity, does anybody do any 3D stuff on the Caanoo/Wiz?

There is the 3D golf game by (...looking...) oh, by you hehe Then we have Audiorace by crow_riot, but i think he "jumped ship" and got himself a Pandora. I'm sure i am missing something, but there isn't much.

I would love to do some 3D game, but i don't have an engine, and i just can't be bothered with mesh-loading and so forth. I like using my time on gameplay. I don't think there is any nice to use 3D engines for us mere mortals.

/Uni

 

[traylorpark]

There is the 3D golf game by (...looking...) oh, by you hehe

That game is on hold for a little bit ... I'm currently "exploring options".

Then we have Audiorace by crow_riot, but i think he "jumped ship" and got himself a Pandora. I'm sure i am missing something, but there isn't much.

How do you get a Pandora? :rolleyes:
I actually just bought my second Caanoo ... my girlfriend stole my first one for Puzsion and emulated Super Puzzle Fighter.

I would love to do some 3D game, but i don't have an engine, and i just can't be bothered with mesh-loading and so forth. I like using my time on gameplay. I don't think there is any nice to use 3D engines for us mere mortals.

See, that is the tragic part, because the Caanoo is extremely 3D capable. Doing some tests with the other game I was working on, it can handle a lot of polys! There needs to be more effort put into making a good 3D engine for the system.

Even at the expense of porting old emulators ... I think.

We need more content creators here.

 

[u9i]

How do you get a Pandora? :rolleyes:
I actually just bought my second Caanoo ... my girlfriend stole my first one for Puzsion and emulated Super Puzzle Fighter.

Hmm, maybe he hasn't gotten it yet, i'm not really sure. He has been trying to order one.

See, that is the tragic part, because the Caanoo is extremely 3D capable. Doing some tests with the other game I was working on, it can handle a lot of polys! There needs to be more effort put into making a good 3D engine for the system.

Even at the expense of porting old emulators ... I think.

I agree. Of course, i never play any emulators, so... Maybe we should have a 3D engine coding competition, or a 3D engine bounty