AuthorTopic: The Future Of Pixel Art  (Read 37144 times)

Offline ptoing

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Re: The Future Of Pixel Art

Reply #50 on: July 04, 2006, 05:13:11 pm
...ultimately any single image being output by a 3D engine could probably be pixelled better by the hand of a talented artist...

The point of this being? 3d and pixelart can not be compared they are 2 completely different forms of applying art to a game. Stylewise they can meet somewhere in the middle with pixelled looking 3d but stuff like shadow of the colossus is just not possible in 2d EVER. I like both if done well.

About Lokust, he is fine, but he is doing 3D stuff nowadays.
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Offline AdamTierney

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Re: The Future Of Pixel Art

Reply #51 on: July 04, 2006, 05:31:29 pm
It's not practical, but it's possible. That's the point I was making. Take any screenshot of SotC. A few members on this forum could create more impressive art through pixelling. All pixelling is, is a manual manipulation of pixels for greater clarity, detail and composition.

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Offline Helm

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Re: The Future Of Pixel Art

Reply #52 on: July 04, 2006, 05:42:17 pm
Quote
All pixelling is, is a manual manipulation of pixels for greater clarity, detail and composition.

I have a different opinion. Pixel art is not only technique (and as technique, it's not only the techniques that you mention here), it is also a separate art form, and as such has it's own history, aesthetic charge and future independent of current game art. Someone can be very clear and detailed and compositionally-sound with his pencil too, or in pure CG coloured artwork. The pixel-level control in pixel art IS formidable as a technique and artists that possess that sort of control will always be able to cram more information into a piece of art, be it game art or art art than others that are more about general broad shapes and volumes. This isn't why pixel art is 'better' than anything else. Pixel art isn't better than anything else.

Pixel art is different from other types of art. The connection with the foundational, basic signifiers of machines: Binary, big, dogmatic squares, algorhythmic construction, fractal repetition, pixels as the atoms of presentation, the pure colors the computer screen tubes could first portray. RESTRICTIONS you are so hasty to brush off as mindless, scanlines, alternate resolutions  and the concept of sprite (anima, soul, it is alive) over tile (static, dead, but with the benefit of repetition, depth and alteration) make pixel art so much more than 'manual manipulation of pixels for greater clarity, detail and composition'.

Offline AdamTierney

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Re: The Future Of Pixel Art

Reply #53 on: July 05, 2006, 03:21:54 am
Obviously I see pixelling as a unique art form as well. But I was commenting on the bare specifics of it as a technique. Resctricitions, color management, sprite rationale and everything else you mentioned are not necessarily core to the act of pixelling in its most literal sense. They are important fundamentals regarding pixelling as an art form, but that's not the perspective I was speaking on. We don't have differing opinions, we're simply discussing different aspects of the same thing.

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« Last Edit: July 05, 2006, 03:26:32 am by AdamTierney »

Offline NyanNyanKoneko

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Re: The Future Of Pixel Art

Reply #54 on: July 13, 2006, 07:26:49 am
3D moves better, but it doesn't look better. It offers more flexibility and adapts to envirnoments more easily, but ultimately any single image being output by a 3D engine could probably be pixelled better by the hand of a talented artist. Pixelling isn't about mindless color and size restrictions, it's about squeezing the absolute most detail, style and meaning out of each pixel. And methodical, manual pixel manipulation always has the potential to look better than automated pixel output.

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The best results, of course, is a conjunction between the programmer and the artist.  Most gamers will agree that shaders, for example, can really enhance the game's ambiance, if you will.  Pixel art has this quality about it, but I'm not sure how long "pixeling" will last commercially.  2D games will continue to grace the market forever as, quite frankly, some people are turned off by the complexities of 3D gaming.  Many of my friends cannot play 3D games as it makes them sick.  However, even if cell phone resolutions do not improve, their rendering ability certainly will.  2D games in the future will probably look more like Paper Mario in style than Metal Slug.

Offline Lick

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Re: The Future Of Pixel Art

Reply #55 on: July 13, 2006, 08:16:42 am
2D games will continue to grace the market forever as, quite frankly, some people are turned off by the complexities of 3D gaming.  Many of my friends cannot play 3D games as it makes them sick.
What about 2D games using 3D graphics (like New Super Mario Bros. [DS])? Do those games make them sick also?

Quote
2D games in the future will probably look more like Paper Mario in style than Metal Slug.
I don't get this one. If you mean like 2D-sprites running in a 3D world: what different is that from a 3D game? The world will still make your friends sick. And if you're talking about the graphics style; no. Artistic taste will not die out. People will make their games with different art styles, just like now.

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Offline Rox

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Re: The Future Of Pixel Art

Reply #56 on: July 13, 2006, 01:01:08 pm
If someone gets sick because of 3D, it's because of having to navigate a complex, multi-dimensional world, not because the environment happens to use polygons. A 2D game with 3D graphics is still a 2D game. Pandemonium was a 2D game. MegaMan X8 is 2D. Heck, Gradius V uses polygons for pretty much everything except projectiles, and that's very 2D.

There's a heck of a difference. You'd be surprised how many people rejected Descent because of motion sickness!

Offline NyanNyanKoneko

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Re: The Future Of Pixel Art

Reply #57 on: July 13, 2006, 02:01:13 pm
What about 2D games using 3D graphics (like New Super Mario Bros. [DS])? Do those games make them sick also?

No, it doesn't, obviously.  :)

I don't get this one. If you mean like 2D-sprites running in a 3D world: what different is that from a 3D game? The world will still make your friends sick. And if you're talking about the graphics style; no. Artistic taste will not die out. People will make their games with different art styles, just like now.

I meant the style in which paper mario is drawn.  He's more or less drawn in a "traditional style" with a few tweaks for the rendering system as opposed to being pixeled.  He's a texture that can be resized very smoothly, basically.

The fact of the matter is that commercial vendors want their games to look as good as possible at as little of a cost as possible.  With HD-TV and other high resolution formats coming out for mobile devics, I doubt many companies would willfully not take advantage of the newer hardware features.

In any respect, there will always be a need for pixeling, but the industry trend will probably be to make use of newer techniques for rendering 2D sprites, regardless of the screen size or resolution.

Quote
Heck, Gradius V uses polygons for pretty much everything except projectiles, and that's very 2D.

I'm also under the impression that a strictly 2D game comes across as more accessable to newer players.  So don't worry, I have absolute faith that strictly 2D games will live on.  :)
« Last Edit: July 13, 2006, 02:11:07 pm by NyanNyanKoneko »

Offline Froli

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Re: The Future Of Pixel Art

Reply #58 on: July 21, 2006, 04:25:56 am
Maybe this animation might shed some light, I don't understand this persons explaination but he made this movie with 3d with 2d designs. The result was a very nice style :D

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waa so much reply thx all!
what a surprise to see a link in the front page

so more about the making of to answer all the questions here ^^

we were 4 to make the movie, each one of us has touched every step of the fabrication (modeling/animation/rendering) but there was mainly 2 animators 1 renderwoman and 1 modeler.

all the database was modeled for the animation (sceneries and characters). so all the camera movement and animation were executed in 3d. but we tried to keep a 2d look everywhere in all the processes (no 3d cam, no 3d particles).

to give the overall aspect of painting in the movie. we developed some tricky shaders for the characters (even a hack of the mental ray contour). all the fx are 2d painted sprites or layer animations done with after effects. and all the backgrounds have been converted to matte paintings. for instance the bg in the 1st shot of the movie in a layering of 'cells' and the maya scene looked like a big aftereffects file so we have been able to render lots of cartoony details in a short amount of time

everybody have tried to understand the words of the actresses. but it is impossible since they speak the akajou, their native language in faerie world in fact it looks like french, and it is possible to intercept some word of it. so if you want i will try to convert their babblings in akajou-english

i will also post some making of movie soon in the gallery so stay tuned
oh and yes, i rigged the bouncing of the yellow one maybe i will post some of its crash test too


http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?t=347944&page=4&pp=15

The movie "fairy berry"
http://flbl.net/akajou/index.php?movies

Offline jagged software

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Re: The Future Of Pixel Art

Reply #59 on: July 30, 2006, 10:04:27 am
I haven't read replies to this thread yet, but I'll give my two cents.
I don't see pixel art so much as a way of getting around hardware limitations, I see it more as a show of skill. Pixel art is much more appealing (if done right) than 3d in my opinion - it is more immersive, more direct, more impressive.
I don't think it will ever die. The screen you're looking at right now is all pixels. Someone will always express themselves and interface directly with pixels, manually.
Besides, I will do everything in my power to prevent pixeling from going out of style and I encourage everyone else to do the same.