Favorite Spriting Tool

KermMartian · Posted: 20 Feb 2011 10:43:50 pm Post subject: Favorite Spriting Tool

What do you like to use for making sprites? Souvik, Tanner, and myself were just having a discussion on IRC, and Souvik was defending GIMP for making 96x64 images and sprites. I occasionally use GIMP to sketch ideas together, but I almost always use Paint for my final versions, or for things where I don't do a sketch first. Tanner seemed to be leaning closer to my method. How about you? GIMP? Paint? Perhaps some black-sheep method?
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souvik1997 · Guru-in-Training Joined: 19 Apr 2010 Posts: 2870

I personally find GIMP easier to use than Paint, and GIMP has a lot of cool effects that you can apply to images. Also, I think GIMP has a better 1px pencil than Paint. Smile

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graphmastur · Power User Joined: 27 Jul 2010 Posts: 464

I actually use the sheep herding dog to get all the white sheep together. I spray painted a few of the sheep black, and use satellite imagery to take a picture of it. I also do this to run my emulator. I usually get about 1 FPY.

But for reals, I use paint usually.

tifreak8x · Guru Joined: 16 Mar 2005 Posts: 9063 Location: Sol System

Depends, really. If it is smaller than a 32x32, http://www.ticalc.org/archives/files/fileinfo/389/38904.html is the only tool you could possibly need.

Otherwise, it's paint, because you can set the 'canvas' to specific sizes in pixels, then apply the grid and you can see more easily what needs to be on and off.
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_player1537 · Guru-in-Training Joined: 25 Nov 2009 Posts: 2958

I think Paint.exe has the best 1 pixel tool you can have :/ I'm not sure how something could do better than a pencil that turns on or off one pixel. I use Paint.exe for all of my spriting needs. I never really do anything intricate, so I don't need layers and whatnot for ideas.
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KermMartian · Posted: 21 Feb 2011 12:37:53 am Post subject:

Just to extend my use-case scenario, after I usually use Paint to make my sprites or splash/title screens, I use SourceCoder to convert the .pngs to hex or .db statements. Smile

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_player1537 · Guru-in-Training Joined: 25 Nov 2009 Posts: 2958

KermMartian · Posted: 21 Feb 2011 01:46:58 am Post subject:

TiFreak: Apply the grid? What grid? I usually have to mark off 8x8 or 16x16 areas or whatever in Paint manually. _player, awesome! graphmastur, painting with sheep and satellites, awesome. Souvik, what about lines and rectangles and circles?
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_player1537 · Guru-in-Training Joined: 25 Nov 2009 Posts: 2958

You haven't seen that?
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KermMartian · Posted: 21 Feb 2011 01:57:10 am Post subject:

I don't think I've ever actually looked at the View tab in the Windows 7 paint; I usually just use ctrl-scrollwheel to zoom and all the tools on the first tab. That's really, really great to know about. Very Happy

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benryves · Posted: 21 Feb 2011 04:31:02 am Post subject:

I use Paint, specifically a copy from Windows 2000. The version in Vista removed the 10x zoom that was available in older versions, unfortunately, and from the 800% limit in the above screenshot of 7's Paint it hasn't been restored in newer ones.

Has 7 changed the shortcuts? Ctrl+G should toggle the grid.

tifreak8x · Guru Joined: 16 Mar 2005 Posts: 9063 Location: Sol System

merthsoft · File Archiver Joined: 09 May 2010 Posts: 2735

I use Tokens. If that doesn't cut it then I use Paint.net.
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tifreak8x · Guru Joined: 16 Mar 2005 Posts: 9063 Location: Sol System

KermMartian · Posted: 21 Feb 2011 10:48:18 am Post subject:

I used to have notebooks and notebooks full of spritework that I had drawn in the margins of notes during classes. With the advent of being able to bring my laptop to every class, I sorta miss that. Sad

I should find some of those notebooks and scan in samples of my work at some point.
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Zera · Advanced Member Joined: 02 Aug 2010 Posts: 227

Paint Shop Pro 9. It's a raster graphics editor. PSP has always been a sort of competitor to Photoshop. (albeit, one that's definitely overshadowed)

Since I'm so experienced with the interface, I use it for everything. It has a lot of features that make it easy to create pixel bitmaps.

Uploaded with ImageShack.us
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KermMartian · Posted: 21 Feb 2011 12:07:37 pm Post subject:

Oh wow, I didn't know that Paint Shop Pro was still around. Shock

That looks pretty good though, Zera; thanks for sharing.
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merthsoft · File Archiver Joined: 09 May 2010 Posts: 2735

I remember trying to use PSP when I was making sprites for Wolfenstein 3D. I could never really get the hang of it, though. To be fair, I've never really been good at any kind of spriting.
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Zera · Advanced Member Joined: 02 Aug 2010 Posts: 227

PSP9 was the last version by Jasc. It was then acquired by Corel, who rebranded it and is still developing it to this day.

You can get PSPX for free now, as part of a promotion that Corel did. Find it here. Be warned that version 10 and onward install DRM crap on your computer. It's removable, but it will cause the software to cease to function.
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KermMartian · Posted: 21 Feb 2011 02:12:05 pm Post subject:

Ugh, that's terrible, Zera. Sad

I think I'll stay away from PSPX, thanks very much.
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