Best way to make sprites OTHER THAN PhotoShop
by John Haley · in Artist Corner · 07/28/2011 (3:37 pm) · 14 replies
Long story short, I'm looking for a low-cost sprite-maker.
Nothing against using PhotoShop, but making sprites isn't really what PhotoShop is designed for. I did play around with a shareware product in the past (Sprite-Maker, I think). But I'm wondering if there's a better program specifically designed for making sprites, and < $200.
Basically, I plan to draw the art by hand and scan, then create a sprite sheet. I could use Anime Studio 8, a $200 vector-animation program, to color scanned line-art. But honestly, the vector animation is somewhat wasted on me since I want male torsos to twist, female hips to sway, and skirts and capes to flap. I'm comfortable with scanning art and cleaning it in PhotoShop.
Anyway, my question to those of you who make sprites:
Do YOU prefer another program over PhotoShop?
Nothing against using PhotoShop, but making sprites isn't really what PhotoShop is designed for. I did play around with a shareware product in the past (Sprite-Maker, I think). But I'm wondering if there's a better program specifically designed for making sprites, and < $200.
Basically, I plan to draw the art by hand and scan, then create a sprite sheet. I could use Anime Studio 8, a $200 vector-animation program, to color scanned line-art. But honestly, the vector animation is somewhat wasted on me since I want male torsos to twist, female hips to sway, and skirts and capes to flap. I'm comfortable with scanning art and cleaning it in PhotoShop.
Anyway, my question to those of you who make sprites:
Do YOU prefer another program over PhotoShop?
About the author
SUMMER PROJECT: Currently working on PSK tutorials. SHORT-TERM GOAL: Make a basic platformer level. LONG-TERM GOAL: Make a co-op platformer in which the two protagonists use their unique abilities to support each other.
#4
If you have Photoshop, I can give you some pointers on how to arrange/generate a sprite sheet.
07/29/2011 (3:33 pm)
Photoshop is actually really good for making sprites. There's a reason it's the leader in 2d art creation.If you have Photoshop, I can give you some pointers on how to arrange/generate a sprite sheet.
#5
Bright side: Pixen is exactly what I was looking for! I get the single-pixel grid (or any size grid), animation preview, export-to-sprite-sheet... honestly, I don't know why the creators are giving this away. But I'm not complaining. Time to animate something--quickly--before I go on vacation next week!
07/29/2011 (7:23 pm)
Thanks, Daniel... but I don't have PhotoShop anymore. Long-story-short, my 5-year-old computer won't start up. PhotoShop is on that computer. As for the original disc... I moved to Hong Kong and back to US since purchasing it, so God knows where it ended up! (I buy software digitally now.) I agree PhotoShop is awesome, and my brother definitely agrees, but since I just spent $$$$ on a new computer, I'm hoping to cheap out on any new software.Bright side: Pixen is exactly what I was looking for! I get the single-pixel grid (or any size grid), animation preview, export-to-sprite-sheet... honestly, I don't know why the creators are giving this away. But I'm not complaining. Time to animate something--quickly--before I go on vacation next week!
#6
And you can make animations with it - and then there's a free plug-in to turn animations into spritesheets.
Oh...wait. You have a Mac. This is Windows only. Sorry!
07/30/2011 (8:31 pm)
I would recommend PD Pro - you can get v3.5 for just $9 till Labor Day! www.thebest3d.comAnd you can make animations with it - and then there's a free plug-in to turn animations into spritesheets.
Oh...wait. You have a Mac. This is Windows only. Sorry!
#7
08/01/2011 (6:56 pm)
The two image manipulation programs I switch between are Acorn and Pixelmator. But they're more intended for photo manipulation. Another tool I use is Art Text 2, which is vector-based. It's really a button/logo designer tool, but can be wrestled into freeform vector drawing. 
#8
I did this a long time ago for a little personal project, i still had to use photoshop to set the backgrounds transparent but that's about it.
08/02/2011 (7:11 am)
If you need lots and lots of sprites (diablo or ultima online type of project) I recommend looking into a 3D software so you can model your characters/accessories, prepare your animations and simply batch render every items from any angles/animation frames.I did this a long time ago for a little personal project, i still had to use photoshop to set the backgrounds transparent but that's about it.
#9
www.garagegames.com/products/spriteworks
08/02/2011 (9:18 am)
I'm with Kyrah on this one. Use a 3D software to make your model then render out each frame, or there is a software that does it for you :Dwww.garagegames.com/products/spriteworks
#10
08/07/2011 (9:20 am)
Thanks for all the replies! I couldn't respond right away because I was roughing it in the mountains (by which I mean I was staying in a condo, but DIDN'T bring my laptop). A lot of great advice here, and it seems that which software packages are best may depend on the user's artistic vision/talent, so hopefully others new to animation are lurking in this thread.
#11
Consider Anatomy sprite animator at spritetools.com
you can see the software in work on YouTube: youtu.be/j8GCsgwVy0A
website also contains a tutorials page where you can learn about sprite animations.
good luck!
07/30/2013 (9:47 pm)
Hey there. Consider Anatomy sprite animator at spritetools.com
you can see the software in work on YouTube: youtu.be/j8GCsgwVy0A
website also contains a tutorials page where you can learn about sprite animations.
good luck!
#12
07/30/2013 (10:51 pm)
I will post a resource up in a few hours or so. Keep an Eye out for it :) 
#13
I trivialize, but that's the process....
07/30/2013 (11:01 pm)
3DS Max. Model, skin, rig, animate, render.... done.I trivialize, but that's the process....
#14
Edit:
My avatar "eye" is based upon a tutorial I did with Blender years ago called something like: "making a pixar eye". I have been toying with the idea of doing an animated eye the blinks and looks around and use that as a gif.
07/30/2013 (11:05 pm)
Blender was actually designed for doing television commercials and so is fully capable of rendering to image files for animations. It also has support for shaders to do really high end output. It can actually output to ray tracing programs for really high end stuff as well. This can all be batched.Edit:
My avatar "eye" is based upon a tutorial I did with Blender years ago called something like: "making a pixar eye". I have been toying with the idea of doing an animated eye the blinks and looks around and use that as a gif.
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