AuthorTopic: [CC] character bases  (Read 6424 times)

Offline twodayslate

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[CC] character bases

on: December 08, 2013, 09:38:54 am
Full base:
Naked:
With clothes:

Spent about the past week working on these. They have come a long way. I want to make them perfect though.

Offline Cyangmou

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Re: [CC] character bases

Reply #1 on: December 08, 2013, 11:21:31 am
first thing:
you don't need to upload 200% images here. The forum has an build-in zoom script. Clicking at an image increases the size, shift+click or strg+click at it decreases the size. Shouldn't blur.



1) your base
2) canvas background - never work on a white canvas, use a darker color, preferably gray or something close.
3) color - use stronger colors, the white bg caused really low contrast for your sprite
4) shading - try to add depths with shading - work out monumental basic forms (cubes, spheres, cylinders)
5) pose & gesture - your pose is really stiff, flat and rigid - like a soldier - try to come up with something more natural - I just sketched it in, sine I am not sure if that will work how you intented to use the chars.

I am not really sure for which style direction you are aiming or what's the purpose for the chars - hard to say anything if you don't know what it will be used for.
So see my crit just for improving your general technique, not as suggestion for style direction.

Also be careful with the "muscle baby" syndrome
http://wayofthepixel.net/index.php?topic=7301.msg85004#msg85004
http://wayofthepixel.net/index.php?topic=16036.0
"Because the beauty of the human body is that it hasn't a single muscle which doesn't serve its purpose; that there's not a line wasted; that every detail of it fits one idea, the idea of a man and the life of a man."

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Offline Night

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Re: [CC] character bases

Reply #2 on: December 08, 2013, 12:27:53 pm
Also be careful with the "muscle baby" syndrome
What? I for once think that muscle babies are really cool, pinnacle of human proportions.  :crazy:

(not srs)


Anyway op, what are you trying to go for? What particularly interests me is the art style you're going for, is it realistic, cartoony...?
Either way, studying anatomy and body proportions wouldn't hurt at all, in any case; but especially with realism.

As Cyangmou mentioned, colours are very pale, you should go for some more saturated, variegated (think hue-shifting) colours with stronger contrast. The darker background colour could also help to bring the sprite out a little.
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Offline twodayslate

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Re: [CC] character bases

Reply #3 on: December 08, 2013, 10:35:33 pm
Also be careful with the "muscle baby" syndrome
What? I for once think that muscle babies are really cool, pinnacle of human proportions.  :crazy:

(not srs)


Anyway op, what are you trying to go for? What particularly interests me is the art style you're going for, is it realistic, cartoony...?
Either way, studying anatomy and body proportions wouldn't hurt at all, in any case; but especially with realism.

As Cyangmou mentioned, colours are very pale, you should go for some more saturated, variegated (think hue-shifting) colours with stronger contrast. The darker background colour could also help to bring the sprite out a little.

you don't need to upload 200% images here. The forum has an build-in zoom script. Clicking at an image increases the size, shift+click or strg+click at it decreases the size. Shouldn't blur.



1) your base
first thing:
2) canvas background - never work on a white canvas, use a darker color, preferably gray or something close.
3) color - use stronger colors, the white bg caused really low contrast for your sprite
4) shading - try to add depths with shading - work out monumental basic forms (cubes, spheres, cylinders)
5) pose & gesture - your pose is really stiff, flat and rigid - like a soldier - try to come up with something more natural - I just sketched it in, sine I am not sure if that will work how you intented to use the chars.

I am not really sure for which style direction you are aiming or what's the purpose for the chars - hard to say anything if you don't know what it will be used for.
So see my crit just for improving your general technique, not as suggestion for style direction.

Also be careful with the "muscle baby" syndrome
http://wayofthepixel.net/index.php?topic=7301.msg85004#msg85004
http://wayofthepixel.net/index.php?topic=16036.0

The style is supposed to be more cartoony so the bigger 'baby' head is preferred. I'm also keeping the 200% as the actual style. I like #4, the main reason why I posted was to see how to do the shadowing. This is extremely helpful! I haven't found a posture I like so I'll be keeping this for now. I got the color pallet from http://rueme.deviantart.com/art/Skin-Colour-Palette-186785308 Is there something better? I've been trying to make each object only have 3-4 colors.
Resizing is blurry for me. I remember a fix for FF but I can't find the thread atm. Is there a chrome fix?

edit:// I like the 45* angle pose
http://wayofthepixel.net/index.php?topic=13013.msg125613#msg125613
http://www.yarrninja.com/pixeltutorial/chapter12.htm
http://www.boxozombies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Survivors-1024x630.jpg
http://www.deviantart.com/art/New-naruto-stance-WIP-260336371
« Last Edit: December 08, 2013, 11:46:43 pm by twodayslate »

Offline Seiseki

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Re: [CC] character bases

Reply #4 on: December 09, 2013, 12:11:01 am
Is there a reason for that amount of detail on their stomachs?
A large head is fine, but people usually go overboard on the muscles and anatomical details.

Just keep it simple and clean..

« Last Edit: December 09, 2013, 10:44:54 am by Seiseki »

Offline twodayslate

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Re: [CC] character bases

Reply #5 on: December 11, 2013, 05:23:11 am
I attempted the new bose and I think I did a better job on the shading this time. I'm not as happy with this though.

Offline HarveyDentMustDie

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Re: [CC] character bases

Reply #6 on: December 11, 2013, 11:07:27 am
I think that Seiseki gave you best idea so far. It's simple, funny and memorable (though it looks like the girl has "something" more between her legs  :crazy:). I don't know the purpose of this sprites, but I would love to see game with this style.  :)

Quote
The style is supposed to be more cartoony
Your last edit is more realistic then cartoony, and you changed perspective (now view angle is moved up). Changing pose, doesn't require changing the perspective. But again, I don't know the purpose, and maybe this is what you want.

Offline twodayslate

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Re: [CC] character bases

Reply #7 on: December 11, 2013, 02:49:35 pm
I think that Seiseki gave you best idea so far. It's simple, funny and memorable (though it looks like the girl has "something" more between her legs  :crazy:). I don't know the purpose of this sprites, but I would love to see game with this style.  :)

Quote
The style is supposed to be more cartoony
Your last edit is more realistic then cartoony, and you changed perspective (now view angle is moved up). Changing pose, doesn't require changing the perspective. But again, I don't know the purpose, and maybe this is what you want.
You're right. I did not mean to change the perspective - just the pose. I'm having a hard time finding reference material

Offline Seiseki

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Re: [CC] character bases

Reply #8 on: December 11, 2013, 02:56:22 pm
Human anatomy should be the easiest to find reference materials too..
Second only to perhaps, bowls of fruit..

You should focus more on determining what style you want..
The new style is quite a drastic change from the previous one, which makes me feel like it's very loosely defined.

(though it looks like the girl has "something" more between her legs  :crazy:)

Haha, that's a bit of unfortunate AA/shading, the pixels are aligned in a funny way that makes it look like.. something unintended..
« Last Edit: December 11, 2013, 05:52:16 pm by Seiseki »

Offline Night

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Re: [CC] character bases

Reply #9 on: December 11, 2013, 09:48:22 pm
I agree with Seiseki, if you're going for something cartoony, stay away from all the extra details, and keep it readable and simple.

If you're going for something realistic now, and even if you're going for something cartoony, study some anatomy, even just some simple stuff. It's always a good thing to have some basis on what you're doing when creating a character (such as prominent areas in the body), and anatomy is a great way to develop that.

Right now, if you're going for an isometric sprite, the chest, and shoulders are misaligned (the hands too, but just slightly).
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Offline twodayslate

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Re: [CC] character bases

Reply #10 on: December 12, 2013, 11:17:54 pm


New color pallet but I'm terrible at shading. I simplified it and am keeping the cartoony look. I like this a lot better.

Offline Cyangmou

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Re: [CC] character bases

Reply #11 on: December 13, 2013, 12:40:55 am
Is there a reason for that amount of detail on their stomachs?
A large head is fine, but people usually go overboard on the muscles and anatomical details.

Just keep it simple and clean..

Na not really any purpose why I added detail there, but head and stomach are nice sports to show how shading works.
The muscle baby syndrome comes from having simplified proportions but don't simplifying detail. After all I am still more of a realist =D
Love your style, do you mind if I ask from where it is inspired? (looks kinda like Mii's to me from the face :D)


@Twodayslate:

Seiseki came up with quite a lovely style. If you go with his approach you should be quite fine.

The problem you currently have is that your character lacks perspective and form.
In terms of perspective the head, the torso and the feet are all different.

Think of simple boxes and adjust the vanishing lines of your box according to what you need for your game. It's still unclear in what kind of environment your characters will be displayed. Is it iso, rpg perspective, sideview, or something completely different.

I went with an isometrical approach and a sideview approach.

Look carefully at the differences between the axis. Look at the line of the toes, the line through both knees, the line of the hands, the line of the chest, the line through both eyes and so on.
Those line should match up with your box, otherwise you did something wrong perspectivical (my edit isn't 100% perfect and the proportions of the second sprite suffered a lot from simply moving parts, but at least it should give you an idea).

Shading don't needs to be exact to a lightsource. try to make different planes visible and imply form. I tried to seperate upper and lower arm as well as some smaller details at hands and feet.

And as I stated in my first edit, flow motion and posture of the character also is essential to give him live. I tried to come up with a flowing impression.
Don't work with rigid lines for humans, unless it's a choice of style. Rigid lines and poses will lead that your character looks like a stiff soldier.



The "rigid" style

If the principles showed above are to complicated or you simple dislike it you could also go for a really simplified approach with the limbs.
In that case the level of simplifcation over the whole body (esp legs and arms if I look at yours) should be the same.
Also the consistency of the forms should stay the same to make it good looking. I went with simple quadratical forms with rounded edges (chest and head are consistent, as well as all other outlined edges.

Then you could go with a simple sideview lighting with one bright and one dark plane - this is really simple to draw and adds a lot of form (just add the same principle of form as illustrated at the cube below on the forms of the sprite)

« Last Edit: December 13, 2013, 12:48:06 am by Cyangmou »
"Because the beauty of the human body is that it hasn't a single muscle which doesn't serve its purpose; that there's not a line wasted; that every detail of it fits one idea, the idea of a man and the life of a man."

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