AuthorTopic: Re: What software do most pixel artists use?  (Read 6638 times)

Offline Vega

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Re: What software do most pixel artists use?

on: July 22, 2018, 02:15:24 pm
Hi,

I am a game developer seeking to better understand the pixel art pipeline. I've seen numerous online tools for making pixel art many of which seem very spiffy such as this:

https://www.pixilart.com/draw
http://pixelartmaker.com/
https://make8bitart.com/

My question for the community is: What software is most popular for high volume pixel art projects?

Does the Adobe stuff have tools or plugins that make pixel art easy? Could anyone link me to a Youtube video introducing the software?

Thanks

K-

Offline Curly

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Re: Re: What software do most pixel artists use?

Reply #1 on: July 22, 2018, 05:04:06 pm
I guess the most popular software right now is Photoshop, Aseprite and GraphicsGale.

I personally use Photoshop for backgrounds and sprites because I'm very comfortable with it and it makes sketching stuff easier for me.
Then I use Aseprite for animations or working with palettes and PyxelEdit for tilesets.

Offline Lumelore

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Re: What software do most pixel artists use?

Reply #2 on: July 27, 2018, 03:03:06 am
I usually use paint.net because its free. I've also been using it for years so I'm used to it as well. Once you get used to a software it takes a while to get used to another one, so keep that in mind. I've tried photoshop after 3 years of using paint and I worked about 200% slower.

Offline Atnas

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Re: What software do most pixel artists use?

Reply #3 on: July 27, 2018, 01:10:44 pm
Graphics Gale - great straightforward workflow for animation, good palette editor. well rounded
Aseprite - the most popular and feature rich pixel art editor, frequent and active development and support
Pyxel Edit - great for working on tiles, can place tiles and editing one edits all on the canvas
Photoshop - best for advanced editing features, blend modes, adjustment layers, smart objects,clipping masks, etc
Pro Motion - arcane and ancient magick

Offline eishiya

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Re: Re: What software do most pixel artists use?

Reply #4 on: July 27, 2018, 01:39:19 pm
I have a related question: Which editors have tablet pressure support (at least allow controlling at least the brush size with pressure)? I know Photoshop does and Aseprite doesn't, and I don't think Pyxel Edit does.

Offline yrizoud

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Re: What software do most pixel artists use?

Reply #5 on: July 27, 2018, 10:50:21 pm
I just checked the programs I have on my drawing PC (I used to test many, but note that it's all old versions), and I don't really have perfect suggestion.
I felt MyPaint would be good because I know the brush system is very configurable and some tools can transfer pen pressure into tool opacity or tool width (And you get to set up the transfer curve!) However :
- it looks like there will always be the issue that curves get "fattened", no clean 1-pixel width
- zoom level > 100% shows the image with linear interpolation, which seems to be a big no-no for pixel work.
If somebody cares to test, the newer versions of MyPaint should still have two interesting pre-made brushes in the "experimental" drawer : 1pixel (ignore pressure, 100% opacity) and pixel-hardink (proportional size, 100% opacity)

Offline Ai

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Re: What software do most pixel artists use?

Reply #6 on: July 29, 2018, 01:03:00 pm
- zoom level > 100% shows the image with linear interpolation, which seems to be a big no-no for pixel work.
Edit the line assigning self.pixelize_threshold (line 737 of gui/tileddrawwidget.py). I set it to 1.01 rather than 2.8.

Quote
If somebody cares to test, the newer versions of MyPaint should still have two interesting pre-made brushes in the "experimental" drawer : 1pixel (ignore pressure, 100% opacity) and pixel-hardink (proportional size, 100% opacity)
Thanks, I made those.

I also made others but it's difficult to get the brush engine as tightly controlled as pixel art needs. I'm not even happy with the two you mentioned, because there were occasionally lowered opacity pixels and I didn't figure out what was causing them.
If you insist on being pessimistic about your own abilities, consider also being pessimistic about the accuracy of that pessimistic judgement.

Offline nvision

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Re: What software do most pixel artists use?

Reply #7 on: July 30, 2018, 01:07:38 pm
Personally, I'm using Photoshop for most of my work, mainly because I'm doing a mix of projects and I need the flexibility.  I've been using GIMP for teaching and have written it into my curriculum.  Regarding GraphicsGale, though, how does it stack up?  I chose GIMP because it's freeware/open source and relatively lean, and I work mostly in communities with dodgy or limited internet.  However, GIMP's kind of clunky, and we've had to write a batch script to import pixel art settings after installation, because no kid wants to sit through 20 minutes of tweaking tool options.  Thoughts?

Offline yrizoud

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Re: What software do most pixel artists use?

Reply #8 on: July 30, 2018, 01:31:06 pm
Ai: Ha, it's such a small world  :)
I considered setting up a 3-step staircase curve, so that touch = 1pixel, firm = 2pixel, strong = 3+ pixels, but even before succeeding I realized that keyboard shortcuts for setting or modifying brush size do the same job, and probably more ergonomically.

nvision: GraphicsGale is more interesting now that it is freeware. It should cut on the "useless stuff" from GIMP that only matters for printing (gamut, dpi-based sizes...). However it includes layered animation, so if animation is not your focus, this will be useless menus and buttons.

Personally for teaching I would use a program that was either more to-the-point pixelling, or helping creativity like Krita / MyPaint

Offline Kiana

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Re: What software do most pixel artists use?

Reply #9 on: July 30, 2018, 04:07:27 pm
Personally, I'm using Photoshop for most of my work, mainly because I'm doing a mix of projects and I need the flexibility.  I've been using GIMP for teaching and have written it into my curriculum.  Regarding GraphicsGale, though, how does it stack up?  I chose GIMP because it's freeware/open source and relatively lean, and I work mostly in communities with dodgy or limited internet.  However, GIMP's kind of clunky, and we've had to write a batch script to import pixel art settings after installation, because no kid wants to sit through 20 minutes of tweaking tool options.  Thoughts?

I’ve always found GIMP a bit clunky. The best program for teaching depends on your needs and budget. If you’re doing animation, then GraphicsGale may be your best free option, though the UI can be confusing for people who are used to Photoshop. Aseprite may be better if you have a small budget or know how to compile it. If you just need a program that’s free, lightweight, easy to install, and can do static pixel art then I recommend the old version of Pyxel Edit. The UI is very similar to Photoshop and it has all the basic features you’d need. I use it on lab computers because it doesn’t require administrator access to install (you can just run the executable).
To achieve mastery is not to be able to work without thinking; rather it is to have total control of one's choices.