I have a friend who is thinking about trying her hand at 2D game art. I was just wondering how difficult it would be to transition from traditional drawn art to animation. Are there on-line sources/tutorials that can help with something like this. It's not really my aria of expertise.
"Oh, my god! A lightning monster just ripped out this poor woman's eyes, and your mocking her shrubbery!" - The Spoony One
In my opinion, she would have all the advantages on her side. Traditional drawing/painting is the standing ground for understanding the pixel medium. The only thing that maybe could cause problems is the "synthesis" that pixels impose on whatever's drawn. Ultimate detail is determined by the pixel unit, as opposed to your skill and the kind of brush/pencil you use (the thinner, the more detail can be achieved). Thus, every pixel has to be there for a specific reason, because it suggests (instead of showing) a level of detail in conjunction with pixels around it.
I can't imagine it being too hard. It's like if you already know computer science and try to learn MMF or something. You have all that theoretical, difficult stuff already in your head, like outlines and lighting and perspective.
She'd have to learn animation and get a feel for working with a lower resolution, but I think picking up any standard pixel art tutorial should be fine.
Disclaimer: Any sarcasm in my posts will not be mentioned as that would ruin the purpose. It is assumed that the reader is intelligent enough to tell the difference between what is sarcasm and what is not.
It definitely gives her a big head start over someone with no experience of either.
The trickiest part is probably just going to be getting used to drawing with a mouse, which is pretty different from using a brush (tablets aren't really suitable for pixelart).
If she uses Photoshop or similar, then she also needs to know how to set it up for pixelart (adjusting brush properties etc).
Obviously there are a few differences (R+G+B != Brown) and specialized techniques - but you can learn them in no time (best article is called "so you want to be a pixel artist" - by Tsugumo; and of course the one I wrote ).
The big advantage she has, is that she's presumably a fairly artistic/creative person, and a lot of people just aren't. Having said that, I consider pixelart easier than traditional art - sprites typically use so few pixels and so few colors, that you can almost use trial & error to fix parts that don't look quite right.
I did notice that, but let's face it - pixelart is the best. I pretty much hate the vector graphics you see in most flash games for example, and just vector graphics in general (even more since I started having to do technical drawings in CorelDraw for work).
Obviously those aren't the only kinds of 2d computer graphics...
I have a tablet, and I find it's great for "natural media" stuff, but sucks for pixelart. That seems to be the general consensus with artists too: http://www.wayofthepixel.net/pixelation/index.php?topic=44.0
Of course you're entitled to your own opinion though.
Well, let's not bicker and argue, but that's hardly a consensus, and while no-one needs particularly extravagant strokework when they're placing individual pixels at a 3200x zoom, it's definitely easier on my wrist. Ultra high mouse sensitivity for using Windows and shooting people, tablet plus absolute positioning for precision art stuff? Works for me.
How about, you're thinking of transitioning from traditional art to digital art? Wouldn't hurt to learn to use a tablet.
Thanks for replying everyone. When I said 2D game art I didn't just mean pixel art or vector flash graphics. MMF can handle basically any kind of raster graphics it dosen't have to be pixel art. And she already knows how to use a tablet. She's even done some pexel art, not a heep but... I don't know, it seems to me that her major problem is that she lacks confidence. But then again, I'm not really a visual artist so I don't rally know, it could also be that I've got rose-colored-glasses on becouse she's my friend.
I found it quite hard at beggining, not only because i was new to game and pixel art, but aswell because i was pretty green at doing stuff on tablet. But after a while i managed to combine all these experiences eventually into amazing game art.
And i must disagree with the mouse being better for pixel art, tablet is way more precise (offcourse, only if it's a wacom). I always had gaming grade logitech mouses, and with the tablet i v been more precise and faster. But thats just my opinion.
And a lot of artist iv meet, had a confidence issue, because they find their skills or talents lacking, mostly when they clearly don't, if she cannot get her head around it, it can be a big issue. Aswell sometimes artist just lack motivation. I had my share of lacking passion for art when i was forced to join the arts academy after finishing art school, i was pretty much at the top of the game, but inside felt like no one cared or understood, and i gave up at that point, i never went to arts academy. And i still regret it.
Im not saying it's completely amazing, but in my opinion i consider myself quite solid at doing game graphics.
I do still lack a proper portfolio, but i made an app featuring graphics from some of projects, which i was going to export to flash and put on my site, but unfortunately most of the tiles are black and white, and tinted with hwa effects, and im too lazy to retint them for swf, and also my server is down... but anyway.
Here is the link if you want to check it out.
Hey, Don. Not bad at all. I feel as if your pixel art needs a lot of work, but if you can create functional graphics with functional animations then you're ahead of me in my book. I can create decent graphics, but I can't animate at all - and I definitely can't draw characters well. I actually kind of like your pixel art, as much of it is perfectly usable.
Your backgrounds, on the other hand, are friggin' awesome IMO. . . I'm super envious. Have you ever tried creating backdrops/foreground objects the same way you create your backgrounds?
Thanks gamester, pixel art is a bit harder for me than backgrounds or bigger stuff, and those smaller stuff i ussually do in mmf2 built in editor. But im trying to better myself in graphics with every project. But i ussually try to work as fast as i can, esspecailly on small pixel stuff, even when it means the quality of it will not be so good. And still there is a lot of stuff i wish i could do better.
She's also under the impression that you absolutely need an art degree in order to get a job as an artist. Is this true? I thought if you had a strong portfolio that wouldn't matte so much.
"Oh, my god! A lightning monster just ripped out this poor woman's eyes, and your mocking her shrubbery!" - The Spoony One
I agree with Sketchy - pixel art does look a lot better than vector art, but I find Vector art a lot easier to produce. I guess that is why good pixel art looks good, it requires true artistic talent.
Being an engineer I have decided to stick to 3D pre-rendered sprites, as I can model inorganic things fairly well.
In regard to needing an art degree to get a job, I would like to think a good portfolio and CV could outweigh not having a degree. Although I have a couple of degrees under my belt and I shall soon be a Doctor in engineering, I have seen some truely clueless fresh graduates, and I guess the same exists in the art profession .
I would hope the merit of someones work would enable them to get a job...
A bachelor of arts really doesn't get you anywhere. If you are considering going to university just for a degree, don't bother, it's not worth it. That said, if you want the experience it could be a good idea. Any of the sciences, however, degrees are pretty much essential (such as Computer Science) for any job in the field.
EDIT: If she's any good, she should start at http://flashgameart.com/ where people post their games and artists bid on taking the job of graphics. Coders can then choose who they want based on the price offered and the portfolio of the artist.
Edited by Jacob!
Have you even been far as decided to use even go want to do look more like?
@Jacob Well the sciences are a LOT different from the arts. I didn't think you could just go to a library or Wikapedia and educate yourself to be a chemical engender or something.
"Oh, my god! A lightning monster just ripped out this poor woman's eyes, and your mocking her shrubbery!" - The Spoony One
Heh, I don't think you need an art degree. If anything, art's probably the least likely to need a degree... it's just what they learn from the degree that matters.
Disclaimer: Any sarcasm in my posts will not be mentioned as that would ruin the purpose. It is assumed that the reader is intelligent enough to tell the difference between what is sarcasm and what is not.
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Edited by Alonso Martin
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