Sprites, how?

[mport2004]

So how exactly do you make your own sprites.
What program do you use?
Also is there an easy to use 3d program that can create sprites from the models you make in it?

[monkey0506]

One of our favorite questions... :

You can make your own sprites in any external "Paint"-/photo-editing-style software. Note that AGS only supports BMP, JPG, PNG, and TIF formats for sprites, so you'll need to be sure you save to one of these. I recommend PNG as it's lossless as opposed to JPG which is lossy. If you post sprites to the forums in BMP you will be flamed to death as BMP produces a notoriously large filesize. JPG will just get a bunch of users telling you that you need to use PNG because it's lossless.

As for 3D, any 3D suite which can export rendered frames to these formats will work fine.

[mport2004]

Yes I know how to make sprites and have done quite a few.  I was just wondering how other people did it (Ex what program do you use, any special techniques) and if anyone knew of a good program to make 3d models that can export to the proper size.  I should have been more specific in the OP.  But that is good information to know personally I like BMP though.

[monkey0506]

Okay. Sorry about the confusion.

Personally I have used Paint and Photoshop, but not much else. Paint .NET seems promising, but I've never used it for anything really.

When it comes to 3D I have no experience whatsoever, and therefore no preference.

As for BMP, I already mentioned the large file size, but feel free to use it if that's what you're comfortable with. Though I would advise against uploading BMPs for C&C. The PNG format has never let me down. It preserves colors, small file size (often in my experience, even smaller than JPG), and it also allows an alpha channel (for partial transparency).

[zabnat]

I used 3ds max and toon shaders in my game. It is really good for doing anything 3D. You can buy it from Autodesk store for only $3495. I used the educational version we had at school. For pixel art I use Photoshop and GraphicsGale. Hmm... has this topic been covered before? 

And if you meant really to export the 3D models (to use with that 3D plugin) I guess using maxscript that can be done from 3ds max too.

[Akril15]

I used Paint Shop Pro and Animation Shop to make the sprites in my first game. Paint Shop Pro is much cheaper than Photoshop, and I prefer it to Photoshop as well.

I also cheated a little by tracing a walk cycle generated in Poser to make my character's walk cycle.

[InCreator]

I open up MSPaint, copy-paste a piece of old sprite to easily eyedrop skin colors, and start drawing! Usually nose/mouth area, then head, and the rest of the body.

Or sometimes, do the "outline style", drawing everything and coloring/shading later, like in those 2 tuts of mine:
http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/yabb/index.php?topic=33380.msg433646#msg433646
http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/yabb/index.php?topic=31167.msg400216#msg400216

It's a bit more accurate, absolutely a need when doing an animation, and easier, but for me, not so fun. When starting on a face, I prefer not to know how feet will look... yet.

I always use  400% zoom and line tool, and rarely anything else. Even for single pixel draws, like eyes. Never used rectangle, circle or pen tools.

For minor pixel work, like sprites, old-good MSPaint is still the absolute king.
I rarely bother to save the work, usually just copy-paste into AGS.

Unless you're going to something strange and blocky, 3d programs are not worth the effort. Unless you're a superb animator, of course. 3D always feels strange in a 2D game...

[Candall]

I'm 3D all the way.  I make my meshes, rigs and UV maps in Blender and then draw the textures in The GIMP.

I always use shadeless textures in Blender so that I don't have to fuss with light setups.  It means spending more time in The GIMP, but the extra control over each and every shadow and highlight is worth it to me.

Here's an example of my technique in motion:

 

Looking back on it, the animation seems a little stiff, but don't mind that.  It's the general look of the sprite that I'm demonstrating.

[Technocrat]

I'm with Candall. I use XSI to build characters, import them into source to take advantage of the nice lighting and physics for capturing animations, then finish it up in paint shop pro. This approach works best for me, since I also build my backdrops in source, but it also makes the nicest looking sprites I could ever hope to come up with.

[Ali]

Unless you're going to something strange and blocky, 3d programs are not worth the effort. Unless you're a superb animator, of course. 3D always feels strange in a 2D game...

What about the Blade Runner game? It would certainly look better if it was made now in realtime 3D, but the pre-rendered backdrops and sprites worked very well together nonetheless. If you have the time and skill to put into 3D then there's no reason it shouldn't produce interesting and worthwhile results.

[Buckethead]

I would suggest Iclone. It's easy in use. It very similiar to Poser. But I don't find poser very easy in use. Besides the models in poser are way too high res for this purpose. They would only make your pc go slow