Big-Head Manga Sprites!

[Echo Magnum]

In memory of this sketch-to-scanner amateur ( non-pixel'd ) sprite animation I made a while back when I still had crazy
and naive enthusiasm.

Spoiler

I made this ghost ( un-shaded ) template to sort of resurrect this old character ( forgot her name ) from the dead!

To take the place of the other large sprite action ( pseudo-side scroller/shooter ) games battlers but mainly because I was bored and thought this was a "fun thing to do".

Here I found her sketches, although very very messy and the concept art the character originated from.

Spoiler

---sketches for the sprite below---

----concept art below----
This was the original concept art I drew, it took me about 2 hours ( had to scrap some other useless ones ) the inking was sort was traditional but I used Manga Studios to make it sharper and the lines less bury. I'm supposed to color it in photoshop
or manga studios but I've been really lazy when it comes to art ( apart from sprites and pixel related stuff )

Feel free to comment/critique, p.s animating this was a bitch

 

[Sabao]

The animation's clunky, obviously because it's only three frames long. That's the problem with larger sprites. Not much else to point out, except maybe that it could use some cleaning up. Good effort though.

 

[Echo Magnum]

The animation is very choppy I agree, It was basically a sort of failed attempt at hand drawn animation ( man its a-lot of back aches and hard-work ) I guess I could smooth it out but I already did in the colored version ( although still a little messy ) and add some more frames to make the animation flow a lot more, the thing is I have absolutely no experience in animating anything beyond 4 frames ( mainly because this is the limit for sprites in rpg maker ) I would help studying movement more closely, their some sites that also show how to animate a detailed walk cycle. I'll try this with the pixel'd version if I manage to re-create the entire sprite from scratch in pixels. The character will be a little different, mainly the clothes, as you can see I never bothered drawing/animating the monster hunter boots* as they where way to difficult to draw at this small size ( *I think Rathalos leggings from MH:Freedom 2 )

Thanks, all in all at least my manga skills are still good :thumb: ( at least in my eyes :blush: lol ) however after I finish the template I'll go back to my smaller sprites animate them, once I get the hang of it move to these ones last, My first project will have to be with my smaller sprites since I have this really bad habit of starting something then ditching it for something "better" or by simply being way too ambitious for my own good...maybe its just me. I should also sit my ass down and color that concept picture, she's just their saying " why did you just abandon me in that dark and lonely closet! :|: " uch:

 

[Sabao]

I think the easiest way to do it without a template is to draw every frame layer by layer. You already have the three main positions so all you'll need to do is draw the movement in between. Having each frame on top of the other makes it easier to see where what needs to go.

Great character sketch as well. I'd say that's an ace job right there, a real huge contrast in quality compared to the walking sprite but yeah sometimes you do just have to cut corners to get the job done.

 

[Echo Magnum]

Yeah, at my current animation skill their is little chance in success animating the concept picture straight out, not only that Its virtually impossible for it to go well with any kind of solo game in mind, just think how enormousness the maps will have to be! Already rpg maker will be thrown out as not even xp can handle such huge graphics. ( maybe game maker but still it would be a horrendous amount of work :crazy: ) Such a game could be possible with a full animations team perhaps but Im sure even then it would come out a little buggy. The smaller chibi sprite was the most practical way I could think of making a hand-drawn/animated game but its a bitch to render ( get rid off all those white dots e.t.c ) and even harder to animate without the proper equipment ( I use a beat-up computer desk with a glass on it, squeeze my drawing lamp under it, a light-box and some tracing paper would have made it a-lot easier and comfortable ).

I see what you mean about the layers, I'm going to give it a shot with the template ( I'm a little busy because of school e.t.c so maybe a few weeks from now ). Do you suggest I use any regular program like Paint.Net ( I always use this ) or Flash since you could use the onion-skin tool and also watch the animation play?

 

[Sabao]

RMXP can handle the graphics just fine, there are scripts that override the frame cap, last I checked. But yeah, it's too much prod work for a one-man project. But then again, if you're not up against any deadlines why rush?

 

[Echo Magnum]

Hmmm true, I could be looking at a 3-5 year project though, but all in good time I guess I could work around something, cut-some corners as you said and make this work out ( I think I could round up a small team if it gets too hard but I should be able to handle the animations, characters and mapping ). Since the sprites are fairly large I'm guessing it could work if I just draw the map on paper using tradition crayons, colored pencils e.t.c to color it. Also some media like cardboard and newspaper cut-outs could work ( I saw this in a catmitts game, I think Biggles Mars??? ).

Spoiler

This could be great fun and I could be looking at something very creative after all. I think 3-5 years is normal for most "real" projects...as you said theirs no rush...none at all :smile:

 

[Echo Magnum]

Not 3 years, about a few weeks of spare time lol... well, to make the sprites.

anyway, I remade the female sprite model, here is a slow rotation, I'm planning to animate this in 6-8 frames per pose for something really smooth because of this I'm way too lazy to make 8-way ( isometric ) poses. Instead I will just include an 8 way directional system and have them shimmy lol... seriously though its not as bad as it sounds.



The heads in the previous model where way too big and intimidating, these still have character but look a little more "real" not that anatomy is meant to play a huge role in a "cartoonized" sprite style.

But 6 frames for animation make this look both challenging ( in a good way ) and troublesome ( referring to how tedious this will become when I have to go through about 20 outfits ), either way I now have a "lust" for spriting... er not that I'm some kind of perv :fap: :huh: ... you get what I mean :haha: