Title: My first attempt at making a sprite
Post by: Ryu on May 31, 2009, 07:42:29 pm
Post by: Ryu on May 31, 2009, 07:42:29 pm
This is my version of a Blue Mage, sorta... I've been trying to figure out how to change some of the colors in the palette so I can make the Blue Mage I've been wanting to make for a while, but I figure this isn't too bad looking so why not show it off a little even if it sucks?
I made this using the male Geomancer sprite, what do you think? Once I get better at this I plan on making a complete Blue Mage spritesheet, even if nobody likes it lol.
(http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/7149/bluemageattempt1.png)
I made this using the male Geomancer sprite, what do you think? Once I get better at this I plan on making a complete Blue Mage spritesheet, even if nobody likes it lol.
(http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/7149/bluemageattempt1.png)
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Post by: LastingDawn on May 31, 2009, 08:06:05 pm
Post by: LastingDawn on May 31, 2009, 08:06:05 pm
Hmm, looks pretty solid, but I am definitely far from an authority on sprites. The shoes are very nice thought.
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Post by: Ryu on May 31, 2009, 08:22:56 pm
Post by: Ryu on May 31, 2009, 08:22:56 pm
thanks lol, the shoes I honestly barely touched
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Post by: Vanya on May 31, 2009, 08:34:47 pm
Post by: Vanya on May 31, 2009, 08:34:47 pm
Reminds me of the Selkie version of the Blue Mage costume from Crystal Chronicles on DS.
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Post by: Smash on May 31, 2009, 08:35:07 pm
Post by: Smash on May 31, 2009, 08:35:07 pm
This looks promising. Hell, I could even collab.
I especially like how the feather was made, also the shoes look good as well. Yet I see countless errors in the body that need fixing, and some tweaking on the hat needs to be done. I could go for an in-depth critique, but I'd need a reference to base it.
For now, I could suggest to get a free file on paint, and start doodling around. Remember to have a copy of all your attempts laying around, as well as lots of FFT sprites for ref. Don't worry about the color palletes, as they can be easily changed on GIMP.
I especially like how the feather was made, also the shoes look good as well. Yet I see countless errors in the body that need fixing, and some tweaking on the hat needs to be done. I could go for an in-depth critique, but I'd need a reference to base it.
For now, I could suggest to get a free file on paint, and start doodling around. Remember to have a copy of all your attempts laying around, as well as lots of FFT sprites for ref. Don't worry about the color palletes, as they can be easily changed on GIMP.
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Post by: Jumza on May 31, 2009, 08:36:27 pm
Post by: Jumza on May 31, 2009, 08:36:27 pm
At the part around the neck where it splits it should face more in the general direction of the sprites facing direction not the person who is looking at its direction. otherwise its pretty good 
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Post by: mav on May 31, 2009, 08:40:45 pm
Post by: mav on May 31, 2009, 08:40:45 pm
This looks promising--I wish I could offer some better criticism/suggestions, but I'm not even a novice spriter...
However, I see some green on the left hand that probably shouldn't be there. And I can't help but think you need one more shade of blue for shading purposes, perhaps between the main shade of blue and the shade you're using to shadow?
I can't wait to see where this one goes.
However, I see some green on the left hand that probably shouldn't be there. And I can't help but think you need one more shade of blue for shading purposes, perhaps between the main shade of blue and the shade you're using to shadow?
I can't wait to see where this one goes.
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Post by: Smash on May 31, 2009, 08:46:47 pm
Post by: Smash on May 31, 2009, 08:46:47 pm
Black from the shoes would do well, mav. That and perhaps, making the light blue a tiny bit lighter.
And before anyone says it, im taking on female blue mage. There, I said it.
And before anyone says it, im taking on female blue mage. There, I said it.
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Post by: Ryu on May 31, 2009, 09:06:01 pm
Post by: Ryu on May 31, 2009, 09:06:01 pm
Wow positive feedback! Thanks ^^
The upper body I just threw together out of frustration, because I couldn't get it to look the way I wanted it to look. The rest of the sprite I took my time with. My goal is to make a Blue Mage sprite to go with Cheetah's Red Mage sprite so that my own patch will have both of my favorite jobs in it with a sprite to match. I also want to make sprites for several other jobs too such as Beast Master and Scholar.
Thanks for the tips Smash ^^ I'm going to go doodle a bit more.
This is what I used to make it:
(http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/1765/geomancer.png)
The upper body I just threw together out of frustration, because I couldn't get it to look the way I wanted it to look. The rest of the sprite I took my time with. My goal is to make a Blue Mage sprite to go with Cheetah's Red Mage sprite so that my own patch will have both of my favorite jobs in it with a sprite to match. I also want to make sprites for several other jobs too such as Beast Master and Scholar.
Thanks for the tips Smash ^^ I'm going to go doodle a bit more.
This is what I used to make it:
(http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/1765/geomancer.png)
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Post by: Ryu on May 31, 2009, 09:12:46 pm
Post by: Ryu on May 31, 2009, 09:12:46 pm
Quote from: "mav"This looks promising--I wish I could offer some better criticism/suggestions, but I'm not even a novice spriter...
However, I see some green on the left hand that probably shouldn't be there. And I can't help but think you need one more shade of blue for shading purposes, perhaps between the main shade of blue and the shade you're using to shadow?
I can't wait to see where this one goes.
That's exactly why I started getting frustrated, I didn't know how to change/add the colors I wanted
I'm sure I'll find out eventually though, I couldn't figure out GIMP and couldn't find the answer by googling so I just said "fuck it" and went with whatever I had. I'm sure I'll know eventually though, and when I do I'm going to be working much harder on this. I used MS Paint to do what I've done so far.
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Post by: Smash on May 31, 2009, 09:24:18 pm
Post by: Smash on May 31, 2009, 09:24:18 pm
As I said before, you are still on the preliminar stages.. Don't worry yourself about the palletes yet, you can use any colors you like as long as they're on the limit.
Also, am I to assume that this is a custom blue mage design, and not entirely based on an existing one?
Also, am I to assume that this is a custom blue mage design, and not entirely based on an existing one?
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Post by: Ryu on May 31, 2009, 10:40:16 pm
Post by: Ryu on May 31, 2009, 10:40:16 pm
Alright ^^
It's somewhat custom, it's based off of the Blue Mage Artifact armor from FFXI but with my own changes here and there. So I guess it isn't ENTIRELY based on an existing one, no. I'm trying to practice and maybe draw a few ideas on paper before I completely settle on something though.
I'm always getting ahead of myself when it comes to my projects x_x I have a list of over-the-top ones that I think about continuing every now and then, and now I have even more projects to add to that list thanks to this site, lol. FFT has always been my favorite game, so when I found out about what I could do with it I stayed glued to my computer and started reading various posts about how to do this and that, etc. Now I'm giving spriting a shot. Gotta love spending all night working on something
I enjoy spending my free time creating things.
It's somewhat custom, it's based off of the Blue Mage Artifact armor from FFXI but with my own changes here and there. So I guess it isn't ENTIRELY based on an existing one, no. I'm trying to practice and maybe draw a few ideas on paper before I completely settle on something though.
I'm always getting ahead of myself when it comes to my projects x_x I have a list of over-the-top ones that I think about continuing every now and then, and now I have even more projects to add to that list thanks to this site, lol. FFT has always been my favorite game, so when I found out about what I could do with it I stayed glued to my computer and started reading various posts about how to do this and that, etc. Now I'm giving spriting a shot. Gotta love spending all night working on something
I enjoy spending my free time creating things.
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Post by: SilvasRuin on June 01, 2009, 12:33:02 am
Post by: SilvasRuin on June 01, 2009, 12:33:02 am
I highly encourage continuing this. It looks a lot better than my initial attempt at my first sprite (which I still need to get back to working on), and roughness excluded, this is my favorite Blue Mage design I've seen people on this site work on yet. I'm very eager to see the final product.
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Post by: jimmyjw88 on June 01, 2009, 01:36:11 am
Post by: jimmyjw88 on June 01, 2009, 01:36:11 am
This looks impressive.
Of course like what Smash said, it still need some tweaks and fixes but overall, it looks good ^^
Well done.
I'm looking forward to this ^^
Of course like what Smash said, it still need some tweaks and fixes but overall, it looks good ^^
Well done.
I'm looking forward to this ^^
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Post by: Cheetah on June 01, 2009, 03:58:46 am
Post by: Cheetah on June 01, 2009, 03:58:46 am
Not a bad start at all. I'm looking forward to more progress. In all honesty I was never a fan of this style of Blue Mage. I like the classic FFV design much better. But if you can pull it off then I don't think I can complain haha.
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Post by: Ryu on June 01, 2009, 01:33:53 pm
Post by: Ryu on June 01, 2009, 01:33:53 pm
Quote from: "SilvasRuin"I highly encourage continuing this. It looks a lot better than my initial attempt at my first sprite (which I still need to get back to working on), and roughness excluded, this is my favorite Blue Mage design I've seen people on this site work on yet. I'm very eager to see the final product.
That's really encouraging, thank you ^^
Quote from: "Cheetah"Not a bad start at all. I'm looking forward to more progress. In all honesty I was never a fan of this style of Blue Mage. I like the classic FFV design much better. But if you can pull it off then I don't think I can complain haha.
I'm not a huge fan of the FFTA sprite. I love the FFV and FFXI designs though. Honestly I didn't initially want to add a feather turban thing at all to this, but it seemed easier than what I originally wanted. I haven't tried making it look like the FFV sprite yet but I'm going to see what I can do with that later on. I saw your blind-folded Blue Mage sprite and it looked very nice ^^
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Post by: Cheetah on June 01, 2009, 01:52:10 pm
Post by: Cheetah on June 01, 2009, 01:52:10 pm
Yeah I definitely like the blind fold idea, but haven't found a body style I like that much to go with it. Either way I'm looking forward to what everyone comes up with.
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Post by: Kuraudo Sutoraifu on June 01, 2009, 02:16:36 pm
Post by: Kuraudo Sutoraifu on June 01, 2009, 02:16:36 pm
Here's a blue mage-ish character that I made for someone at Heroes of Ivalice. It's well over the 16 color limit, but if you want to salvage some of the pieces, do it.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v672/Powerguy500/Image2.png)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v672/Powerguy500/Image2.png)
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Post by: Ryu on June 01, 2009, 04:23:59 pm
Post by: Ryu on June 01, 2009, 04:23:59 pm
After looking at how FFT sprites looked while magnified by 200%-400%, I started seeing how the colors blended to get the look just right. So I opened up my sprite and tried fooling around with the colors a little more, and came up with this newer version of my Blue Mage.
Before -
(http://img190.imageshack.us/img190/2791/bluemageattempt2.png) (http://img190.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bluemageattempt2.png) (http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/7149/bluemageattempt1.png) (http://img199.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bluemageattempt1.png)(http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/bluemageattempt1.png/1/w56.png) (http://g.imageshack.us/img199/bluemageattempt1.png/1/)
After -
(http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/7627/bluemageattempt3.png) (http://img193.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bluemageattempt3.png) (http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/9342/bluemageattempt4.png) (http://img193.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bluemageattempt4.png)
What do you think?
Before -
(http://img190.imageshack.us/img190/2791/bluemageattempt2.png) (http://img190.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bluemageattempt2.png) (http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/7149/bluemageattempt1.png) (http://img199.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bluemageattempt1.png)(http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/bluemageattempt1.png/1/w56.png) (http://g.imageshack.us/img199/bluemageattempt1.png/1/)
After -
(http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/7627/bluemageattempt3.png) (http://img193.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bluemageattempt3.png) (http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/9342/bluemageattempt4.png) (http://img193.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bluemageattempt4.png)
What do you think?
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Post by: mav on June 01, 2009, 05:27:38 pm
Post by: mav on June 01, 2009, 05:27:38 pm
I prefer the before picture...
And holy shit, Kuraudo's is a fantastic jumping-off point--in fact, I doubt it would be hard to bring it down to 16 colors.
And holy shit, Kuraudo's is a fantastic jumping-off point--in fact, I doubt it would be hard to bring it down to 16 colors.
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Post by: Kuraudo Sutoraifu on June 01, 2009, 06:17:11 pm
Post by: Kuraudo Sutoraifu on June 01, 2009, 06:17:11 pm
Ryu: I like the after.
Mav: It's definitely possible to move it down to 16 colors, and I did it, but my computer with my sprites is dead. My new laptop should come in the mail on the 16th, and then I can begin spriting again. I actually started making the other frames for the sprite when my compy went out. I'll post what I have when I transfer the file over to my new compy.
Mav: It's definitely possible to move it down to 16 colors, and I did it, but my computer with my sprites is dead. My new laptop should come in the mail on the 16th, and then I can begin spriting again. I actually started making the other frames for the sprite when my compy went out. I'll post what I have when I transfer the file over to my new compy.
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Post by: Smash on June 01, 2009, 07:10:30 pm
Post by: Smash on June 01, 2009, 07:10:30 pm
Quote from: "mav"I prefer the before picture...I agree.
The blacks should be a bit darker (to add depth), and only be present on shadowy areas on the back of the sprite, or as outlines on the dark areas. What he did was add some gray as outline for the sprite, and even worse, on the inside of it. (see hat)
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Post by: Ryu on June 01, 2009, 07:16:02 pm
Post by: Ryu on June 01, 2009, 07:16:02 pm
I did what I could with the colors I had
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Post by: jimmyjw88 on June 01, 2009, 09:14:16 pm
Post by: jimmyjw88 on June 01, 2009, 09:14:16 pm
Wow...That's awesome Kuraudo.
And I think before looks better.
And I think before looks better.
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Post by: Smash on June 01, 2009, 09:43:50 pm
Post by: Smash on June 01, 2009, 09:43:50 pm
I edited a bit your sprite, and it only took me 12 colors.. Heh.
Didn't change the design or anything, just minor fixes.
Asking first before I post it.
Didn't change the design or anything, just minor fixes.
Asking first before I post it.
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Post by: Ryu on June 01, 2009, 10:48:55 pm
Post by: Ryu on June 01, 2009, 10:48:55 pm
Yeah definately, I'd love to see it ^^
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Post by: Smash on June 01, 2009, 11:43:37 pm
Post by: Smash on June 01, 2009, 11:43:37 pm
(http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l208/xavier2000/PhotobucketUpld-184.png)
First is yours, and all the colors listed. Then we have mine, with the colors listed as well.
As you can see, I corrected stuff all around, to adapt to the pallete. This gives you 3 free colors now to use on anything, and pure black to be used as transparency, making 16.
I should run a sprite-fixing service here on FFH lol. These usually take me less than 5 min.
First is yours, and all the colors listed. Then we have mine, with the colors listed as well.
As you can see, I corrected stuff all around, to adapt to the pallete. This gives you 3 free colors now to use on anything, and pure black to be used as transparency, making 16.
I should run a sprite-fixing service here on FFH lol. These usually take me less than 5 min.
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Post by: Ryu on June 02, 2009, 12:24:46 am
Post by: Ryu on June 02, 2009, 12:24:46 am
Wow I didn't even realize I was using 19 colors O_o
Yours looks so much cleaner than mine, as usual lol.
Before you posted that I really couldn't figure out why nobody liked the second version, this really helped alot ^^
Yours looks so much cleaner than mine, as usual lol.
Before you posted that I really couldn't figure out why nobody liked the second version, this really helped alot ^^
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Post by: Clik on June 02, 2009, 12:32:12 am
Post by: Clik on June 02, 2009, 12:32:12 am
Looks really good! I can't wait to see a finished product.
And, on the plus side, I can abandon the horrid looking blue blob I was trying to call a Blue Mage. XD
And, on the plus side, I can abandon the horrid looking blue blob I was trying to call a Blue Mage. XD
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Post by: Ryu on June 02, 2009, 12:38:32 am
Post by: Ryu on June 02, 2009, 12:38:32 am
Quote from: "Clik"Looks really good! I can't wait to see a finished product.
And, on the plus side, I can abandon the horrid looking blue blob I was trying to call a Blue Mage. XD
Blue blob XD I saw that earlier and was like "wow... I should really try to make my own" XD No offense, I'm just playin' lol
I loved that red mage hat you made ^^
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Post by: Smash on June 02, 2009, 01:37:22 am
Post by: Smash on June 02, 2009, 01:37:22 am
Quote from: "Ryu"Wow I didn't even realize I was using 19 colors O_oHm.. As usual?
Yours looks so much cleaner than mine, as usual lol.
Before you posted that I really couldn't figure out why nobody liked the second version, this really helped alot ^^
Anyways, see how the shadows and black outlines are placed?(under the arms, back of the head, under the belt..) This is because in FFT, the lightsource in which you base your shading comes from the top. Having some grey-black lines on the top of the hat looked uber gay, that being one of the reasons why I preferred the sprite before it.
Also, see how I eliminated most dark areas inside the sprite (hat, torso); this gave the sprite a clean and improved look, and allowed more space for smooth blendings, shadows and details.
All of this is making me want to do a female blue mage.. I already have a fitting custom base, as well.
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Post by: Asmo X on June 02, 2009, 02:21:47 am
Post by: Asmo X on June 02, 2009, 02:21:47 am
Not bad for a first try. If you go with Smash's touch-up, a third, darker blue might be a good choice. The pants have more depth than the upper body.
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Post by: SilvasRuin on June 02, 2009, 01:29:13 pm
Post by: SilvasRuin on June 02, 2009, 01:29:13 pm
QuoteI should run a sprite-fixing service here on FFH lol. These usually take me less than 5 min.Indeed. You are awesome at at. Plus, a little always seems to go a long way with you, so the original's work is preserved.
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Post by: Ryu on June 02, 2009, 02:01:19 pm
Post by: Ryu on June 02, 2009, 02:01:19 pm
Quote from: "Smash"Quote from: "Ryu"Wow I didn't even realize I was using 19 colors O_oHm.. As usual?
Yours looks so much cleaner than mine, as usual lol.
Before you posted that I really couldn't figure out why nobody liked the second version, this really helped alot ^^
Anyways, see how the shadows and black outlines are placed?(under the arms, back of the head, under the belt..) This is because in FFT, the lightsource in which you base your shading comes from the top. Having some grey-black lines on the top of the hat looked uber gay, that being one of the reasons why I preferred the sprite before it.
Also, see how I eliminated most dark areas inside the sprite (hat, torso); this gave the sprite a clean and improved look, and allowed more space for smooth blendings, shadows and details.
All of this is making me want to do a female blue mage.. I already have a fitting custom base, as well.
Oh, by "as usual" I meant that I've been looking at all your work and it's always looked nice compared to the few I've done so far. I tried making two other job sprites that I'm not ready to show yet and they don't look as clean as anything you've done. One of the jobs I tried making a sprite for recently was a Green Mage, but I'm still more focused on my Blue Mage for now. ^^
All of your tips really mean alot. The more help us newbies get with these things the better lol.