AuthorTopic: FFT spritework  (Read 20632 times)

Offline Kagebunji

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FFT spritework

on: December 16, 2010, 11:41:56 am
I found out about this site not long ago, and decided to join. I come from FFH, like Lijj and Smash. I decided to post some portraits I did, so feel free to crit. If anyone could link me to some tutorials and offer some other nice things to read, I would be glad. I may sprite for one and half a year, but I still am a noob, thus I want to learn more about it here.(note: some of portaits like Titan and Shiva weren't based on any mainstream FF)

Shiva


Titan


Demetrius(custom character)


Female Cadet(generic, custom job)


I am too tired to post any more, only Lezard was left though, so you won't loose much, hehe(iit was my first portrait, clearly it looks bad...)

Offline Helm

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Re: FFT spritework

Reply #1 on: December 16, 2010, 12:12:53 pm
They're quite well done, pixel-wise. They seem somewhat distorted, though.

Here's an edit with more width, it immediately starts to look more human.



And then I started thinking, what could he use to look even more human? How about a nose.



But then I thought about the hair and it seems he's a middle-aged guy, so that 8 year old face won't do. I added wrinkles and other wear and tear of age. He's looking more like a real person now.



That's a step in that direction but not nearly enough. He still looks *innocent*. Who is innocent on the battlefield.



This is for a tactics-like game, right? So it's war, there's war going on. This is an old man on a battlefield, he's probably seen some shit. We need his face to reflect that. Gone are the doe-eyes of innocence, enter the squinty eyed hundred yard stare of a hardened veteran. Also who shaves every day on the battlefield? You had those colors for the hair, so I gave him a five o clock shadow and I also decreased the shiny on the hair because who has time for conditioner on the battlefield.



Actually let's amp up the wear and tear, let's make him a real old man. Let's have his neck be hollow and his brow worried. Let him communicate something about what it feels like to see death around you every day.

And the final touch, let's pull in that left eye that makes no sense over there, let's put it closer, so the old man has proper depth-of-field view, probably an advantage on the battlefield.

This looks like a person now. A person with irritated skin, with hopes that he's trying to keep alive amidst the carnage, with a determination to see his grandchildren again, perhaps. He has a nose, proper eyes, a frail neck that tries to support his head in advanced age, he has dirt on him but he's keeping hope alive, no matter what they do to him, he's still human.
« Last Edit: December 16, 2010, 12:14:36 pm by Helm »

Offline EvilEye

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Re: FFT spritework

Reply #2 on: December 16, 2010, 12:15:02 pm
What you want to learn exactly? From browsing FFhacktics.com I gather they mainly edit other peoples work. So do you want critique on your editing or do you want to learn how to make sprites from scratch?

Offline Kagebunji

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Re: FFT spritework

Reply #3 on: December 16, 2010, 12:28:29 pm
Ha! Your edit looks splendid, Helm. It doesn't fit FFT style one bit, but it surely looks great. Yes, Evil Eye, I basicly want to learn how to do sprites from scratch, if I knew this, I could draw unique hairs for my characters in FFT. I appreciate any help you offer.

Offline EvilEye

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Re: FFT spritework

Reply #4 on: December 16, 2010, 12:58:28 pm
Yes, Evil Eye, I basicly want to learn how to do sprites from scratch, if I knew this, I could draw unique hairs for my characters in FFT. I appreciate any help you offer.

For the basics check out these tutorials from Alex Hanson White's page ( in pdf format ):

http://www.alexhw.com/pabbc1.pdf

http://www.alexhw.com/pabbc2.pdf

http://www.alexhw.com/pabbc3.pdf

http://www.alexhw.com/pabbc4.pdf

http://www.alexhw.com/pabbc5.pdf

After you get an idea of the basics you can post something here and we can tear it ap..... I mean critique it :) and slowly but surely you will improve to the point where you will be making killer pixel art :y:

Offline Kagebunji

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Re: FFT spritework

Reply #5 on: December 16, 2010, 01:05:06 pm
Tear them apart, huh? Well, we got someone who gave very constructive and harsh criticism on FFH, so I guess I will be able to whistand your crits too, heh. I will start my studies right away. Thanks for posting these up. I am amazed by this site a lot, skills you have are really breathtaking.
« Last Edit: December 16, 2010, 01:28:38 pm by Kagebunji »

Offline Helm

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Re: FFT spritework

Reply #6 on: December 16, 2010, 01:28:57 pm
Quote
It doesn't fit FFT style one bit

We all have our influences that make us who we are. It is what we are showing in the page that makes our art singular, not our influences. FFT is not one of my influences. It is one of yours, but your goal should be to blend it with all the other things that make you who you are, so your end result looks singularly yours, not as if it belongs in FFT. It is not the first step in becoming a better artist, but it certainly is one of them somewhere down the line: if you want to be an artist (pixel or otherwise) don't measure your art in a borrowed aesthetic scale. Of course you will like some art more than other art and seek to emulate it, but it shouldn't wholesale replace your personal aesthetic.

I suggest that side by side with learning to pixel (via Alex Hanson White's tutorials or whatever else) you think about what exactly you want to express with your artwork. There's no tutorial for that, but if you want to make art that'll mean something to someone else than you (as opposed to them being momentarily impressed with it and then discarding the memory very fast) then you have to deal with that risky endeavor.
« Last Edit: December 16, 2010, 01:30:33 pm by Helm »

Offline Kagebunji

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Re: FFT spritework

Reply #7 on: December 16, 2010, 02:06:34 pm
Thanks for advice. You surely made me question what I want to express with my sprites, man. Just this shows that you are in pixel art for long, and you have great experience.


PS: I inserted your Titan version into game, it looked out of place compared to other portaits as expected, but it was soo awesome that I left it in there. Well the biggest difference you made to the portrait was nose, FFT portraits have no noses, and adding one in there is considered a blashpemy(kidding ofcourse), heh.

Offline Helm

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Re: FFT spritework

Reply #8 on: December 16, 2010, 03:07:06 pm
I'm sure when the original artist made the art for FFT, he thought it looked cool to simplify the faces like that. However this style done once, in my opinion, is enough. New artists should let their own thing happen, not push themselves towards what earlier artists do. Blasphemy for me is to dream the dreams of someone else.

Offline Kagebunji

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Re: FFT spritework

Reply #9 on: December 16, 2010, 03:22:26 pm
Hmm, interesting point of view, once I will be able to do something nice from scratch, I will surely follow those words. Though I am still not certain about a nose in FFT, heh.