Tip: Learning Character Animation

PixelgunPixelgun Member Posts: 111
edited January 2012 in Art, Graphics, Music and Sound
A quick Google image search of "Sprite Sheet" will turn up numerous examples of game characters broken down into sprite animations. You can figure out how characters have been animated, see what moves have been animated, etc. It's good research for doing your own characters and can give you ideas of the types of moves you may want to include in your game. I should have thought of this before I started animating my characters but it's certainly going to help me from this point on.

Sometimes you even find nice freebies like this "Free modern soldier / war fighter sprite and sprite sheet for use in platformer or side scroller" (and now I have a new game design site to follow).
http://www.36peas.com/blog/2010/8/19/free-modern-soldier-war-fighter-sprite-and-sprite-sheet-for.html

It should be a rule. If you don't know how to do something, Google it.

Comments

  • MotherHooseMotherHoose Member Posts: 2,456
    edited January 2012
    that is a great link @Pixelgun

    newbies complain they can't draw … when they were doing it before they want to kindergarden!
    all artists study other art very intently … for inspiration and technique.
    sometimes you do copy over things … but only for good practice.
    I often will take a pix of something for a drawing guide.

    practice and patience and the willingness to start all over!

    thanx!

    @};- MH
  • SAZ_1SAZ_1 Member Posts: 397
    just as a side point how to most of you lot do you animations?
  • PixelgunPixelgun Member Posts: 111
    @MotherHoose I agree, tracing is a great learning tool. Reference is especially important when you aren't intimately familiar with your subject.

    @SAZ_1 I use illustrator/Wacom tablet and the blob brush tool for animating things like limbs. Or just rotate, move for things that are less organic. Then I copy past as a smart object into Photoshop layers so that I have everything on a square canvas and can line up the animations in the frame. Finally I Save for Web & Devices and adjust the final image size in that dialog window.
  • MotherHooseMotherHoose Member Posts: 2,456
    edited January 2012
    @SAZ_1 … you could start with Pixen it is free!

    study: SpriteAttack's Tutorials

    @};- MH
  • MoebiusMoebius Member Posts: 194
    @saz_1
    lol, i usually just take the movable parts e.g the arms make them a group and (e.g rotate) it a little then copy n paste that and move a little bit more and so on
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