Raz
05-25-2007, 10:11 PM
Raz's Sprite Comic Tutorial
The Basics- Using Microsoft Paint
First thing’s first-The Palette
The Palette contains 28 colors. If you have rarely used paint in the past, they should be the default colors that are originally programmed into your computer. However, by double clicking on a color, you can change what colors are shown.
http://img487.imageshack.us/img487/426/96540728cg6.png
At the far left of the toolbox are two boxes. The top left box is the primary color. This is the color that will be put down when you use the left mouse button to use tools like the paintbrush and the pencil. It is changed when you use the left mouse button to click on the palette, or when you use the eyedropper tool with the left mouse button, which I will explain later. The right box represents the background color. This is the color that is put down when you use the right mouse button with tool like the paintbrush, and it is also the color that is put down when you use the eraser. It is changed when you click on the palette with the right mouse button, or use the eyedropper tool with the right mouse button.
Using the toolbox, an overview
The cutting tools:
These tools allow you to select an area of your picture to move, copy, cut, or delete. The star represents the freehand cutting tool, whereas the rectangle will allow you to select only a rectangular area. When the object is moved, the space which the item occupied will be filled with the background color.
http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/1333/50165439tj9.png
When the cutting tools are selected, two rectangles appear beneath the toolbox. When the upper rectangle is selected, the selected item will not change when it is moved. Anything that is underneath the item when it is moved will not be visible beneath it. When the lower rectangle is selected, the selected background color will become transparent when the item is moved. Thus, anything beneath the area to which the object is moved will become visible in the areas of the object which were of the background color.
Eraser:
http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/1708/64858233yw5.png
Allows you to change a relatively large area to the secondary color. Allows you to select from four sizes by clicking in the area beneath the toolbox.
Paint Bucket:
http://img487.imageshack.us/img487/4565/21140184cp6.png
Allows you to change all the area of a single color to a different color. The left button makes it the primary color, the right button makes it the background color.
Eyedropper Tool:
http://img371.imageshack.us/img371/9742/80955738dk0.png
This tool can be essential when making good comics. This tool allows you to select colors straight from the picture. This can be quite helpful when you wish to move a sprite from a solid background to a nice, pre-made background. When this tool is selected, clicking on the picture with the left mouse button will make your primary color the color that you clicked. If you click with your right mouse button, the background color will be set to that color. Also, if you hold down the mouse button, the color that you are selecting will be shown in the box beneath the tool box. This helps when you are trying to find a color blended into other colors.
Magnifying Glass:
http://img371.imageshack.us/img371/2391/11225712ne7.png
This tool allows you to zoom into the picture. Clicking on the tool and then clicking on the picture will cause you to zoom in. The amount that you zoom in can be adjusted in the box beneath the tool box. To zoom back out, click the tool and click on the picture again.
Pencil:
http://img371.imageshack.us/img371/5362/19726732dr6.png
A freehand drawing tool that allows you to draw one pixel at a time or a one-pixel diameter line.
Paintbrush:
http://img371.imageshack.us/img371/271/52606285ju0.png
A freehand drawing tool with multiple sizes and styles. The style used can be selected from the box beneath the toolbox.
Spraypaint:
http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/7385/40708315ya8.png
Allows you to create a mass of scattered pixels. The pattern used can be selected beneath the toolbox. This is good for making attack effects in comics.
Text Box:
http://img487.imageshack.us/img487/1741/10cz4.png
Allows you to insert text into your picture. After selecting, you drag to create a text box in your picture. This is essential for comics (unless you want to hand draw font, which is harder to read).
On the bottom, the top box makes a solid colored text box of the background color and allows you to write in the primary. The bottom box makes a clear text box and writes in the primary.
Line Tools:
http://img371.imageshack.us/img371/8440/11te2.png
The straight line tool, on the right, creates a straight line when you click and drag. The curved line tool works the same primarily to begin with, but after drawing the primary line, you can click another area of the picture to curve its shape, and then a second time to change its shape again. The width of the line can be changed with the box underneath the tool box.
Added note from Bubbalova: If you hold the shift key while using the line tools, the line will stay straight. This is good when drawing you want to keep lines Horizontal, Vertical, or Diagonal, and is a good tip for when you're drawing lines for text.
Shape tools:
http://img371.imageshack.us/img371/9142/12ak0.png
The first tool, top left, is the rectangular shape tool, which creates a rectangle when you click and drag. The bottom left tool creates a oval shape in the same way, and the bottom left creates a box with rounded sides in the same way. The final tool is a freestyle polygon tool. It can be used to create polygons of varying shapes. It is initialized in the same way in which one creates a line. From there, you can add more lines to the shape by clicking in the place where you wish the next side to end, or clicking and dragging to said area. To close the shape, you can either click on the starting point or double clicking.
Shapes can be either line boxes, solid shapes, or solid shapes with outlines, which is changed in the box beneath the toolbox. Also, the line width of the non-solid boxes can be changed by changing the width in the line tool.
Sprites and Backgrounds
There are different places to find sprites. These include:
The Spriter’s Resource (http://www.spriters-resource.com/)
Pokemon Elite 2000 (http://www.pokemonelite2000.com/)
Bulbagarden (http://4.bulbagarden.net/graphics/)
The Spriter’s Resource is one of the best general sprite sites on the internet. Though you may apt to have an all-Pokemon comic, you may find The Spriter’s Resource a good place to find backgrounds and attack effects, things that are hard to get from just Pokemon. Also, if you decide to take guest stars, they may request to be something other than Pokemon.
Along with The Spriter’s Resource, a good place to get backgrounds is Sprite Database. (http://sdb.drshnaps.com/)
When you have found a sheet that you want, right click on it. Either select the Copy command or the Save Picture as… command. If you select the copy command, open Microsoft Paint and paste it in. A good idea might be to paste it in, and use the eyedropper tool to select the background of the sheet as the background color. Then, Undo the Paste and lay down a base color from your palette. I like to use the dark green myself, it’s a color I rarely use otherwise. Now, re-Paste the sheet and the sprite will appear on your new base color, which can be easily transferred onto your comic backgrounds later.
Now, save your sprites as something easy to find for access later. PNG is the best format to save comics themselves in, but a large file saved in PNG can become pixelated and messed up, affecting future comics. I thus suggest saving sprite sheets in Bitmap.
Other Backgrounds:
You may not want to use video game backgrounds for your comics. Most people actually start out with their own backgrounds that they just make on paint. Usually, these are either two-toned, likely being lite-blue on top for sky and a strip of green at the bottom for grass. Also, some people use monotone backgrounds, usually white.
http://img406.imageshack.us/img406/8623/13xc1.png
However, not everybody likes the idea of using paint-made backgrounds. Some people find that the video game backgrounds make the comics look better, and some feel that how a comic looks is very important.
http://img371.imageshack.us/img371/7635/14qw9.png
Another suggestion would be to use real pictures as your backgrounds. All you need to do is to look on Google or some other search engine for something that you’d want to use.
One argument about using monotone and two-colored backgrounds is that it’s easier to read text. I’ll cover how to counter the text problem with other backgrounds later, but there are things that you can do to make your comics good looking and still legible.
Preparing your comics
The first thing that you need to do is determine what your comic is going to be about. Some people prefer to make their comics about Pokemon. Others prefer to make them about trainers. It really depends on your preference, and which style that you think that you can do better with.
I’d also like to suggest that you try and find your own original idea of how to make something funny.
There are two major styles of Pokemon comics: the 2D sidescroller type version and the overworld model. The 2D sidescroller type seems to be more common. It’s harder to find backgrounds for this model that’s directly from Pokemon, but this is the one where you can use the in-battle Pokemon and trainer sprites which are easiest to get different poses for.
http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/1399/15kt4.png
The overworld model is the opposite. It’s easy to obtain and modify backgrounds directly from Pokemon games for this model. However, the sprites used in this model are small and hard to modify. You can use overworld trainers and things like box sprites and PMD sprites for this model, but all you can really do with them is show emotions.
http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/8126/untitledwv5.png
Theme and Plot:
Some people just apt for general comedy as a theme for their comics, but others like to have a larger plot so that they can work with it. It’s a little easier to make comics if you know that you’re trying to go somewhere with them. Plots can be original or they can be based on something. They can be one comic long or they can last several comics.
Personal Sprite Sheets:
Though sometimes you may need a sprite and it might be a good idea to have some sheets saved to your computer in case an internet site is down, you might not have the kind of storage space that I have since I have my own computer. Short of saving things to discs, you may want to save only a few sprites to a smaller sheet, such as the main cast of your comic.
You want to have your sprite sheets good and spread out. Make sure that when you want to grab a sprite, it’s not too close to another one that you’re grabbing a part of the one next to it. You don’t want somebody’s foot floating in midair next to your character (unless that’s part of your comic).
If you have any other questions pm me.
The Basics- Using Microsoft Paint
First thing’s first-The Palette
The Palette contains 28 colors. If you have rarely used paint in the past, they should be the default colors that are originally programmed into your computer. However, by double clicking on a color, you can change what colors are shown.
http://img487.imageshack.us/img487/426/96540728cg6.png
At the far left of the toolbox are two boxes. The top left box is the primary color. This is the color that will be put down when you use the left mouse button to use tools like the paintbrush and the pencil. It is changed when you use the left mouse button to click on the palette, or when you use the eyedropper tool with the left mouse button, which I will explain later. The right box represents the background color. This is the color that is put down when you use the right mouse button with tool like the paintbrush, and it is also the color that is put down when you use the eraser. It is changed when you click on the palette with the right mouse button, or use the eyedropper tool with the right mouse button.
Using the toolbox, an overview
The cutting tools:
These tools allow you to select an area of your picture to move, copy, cut, or delete. The star represents the freehand cutting tool, whereas the rectangle will allow you to select only a rectangular area. When the object is moved, the space which the item occupied will be filled with the background color.
http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/1333/50165439tj9.png
When the cutting tools are selected, two rectangles appear beneath the toolbox. When the upper rectangle is selected, the selected item will not change when it is moved. Anything that is underneath the item when it is moved will not be visible beneath it. When the lower rectangle is selected, the selected background color will become transparent when the item is moved. Thus, anything beneath the area to which the object is moved will become visible in the areas of the object which were of the background color.
Eraser:
http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/1708/64858233yw5.png
Allows you to change a relatively large area to the secondary color. Allows you to select from four sizes by clicking in the area beneath the toolbox.
Paint Bucket:
http://img487.imageshack.us/img487/4565/21140184cp6.png
Allows you to change all the area of a single color to a different color. The left button makes it the primary color, the right button makes it the background color.
Eyedropper Tool:
http://img371.imageshack.us/img371/9742/80955738dk0.png
This tool can be essential when making good comics. This tool allows you to select colors straight from the picture. This can be quite helpful when you wish to move a sprite from a solid background to a nice, pre-made background. When this tool is selected, clicking on the picture with the left mouse button will make your primary color the color that you clicked. If you click with your right mouse button, the background color will be set to that color. Also, if you hold down the mouse button, the color that you are selecting will be shown in the box beneath the tool box. This helps when you are trying to find a color blended into other colors.
Magnifying Glass:
http://img371.imageshack.us/img371/2391/11225712ne7.png
This tool allows you to zoom into the picture. Clicking on the tool and then clicking on the picture will cause you to zoom in. The amount that you zoom in can be adjusted in the box beneath the tool box. To zoom back out, click the tool and click on the picture again.
Pencil:
http://img371.imageshack.us/img371/5362/19726732dr6.png
A freehand drawing tool that allows you to draw one pixel at a time or a one-pixel diameter line.
Paintbrush:
http://img371.imageshack.us/img371/271/52606285ju0.png
A freehand drawing tool with multiple sizes and styles. The style used can be selected from the box beneath the toolbox.
Spraypaint:
http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/7385/40708315ya8.png
Allows you to create a mass of scattered pixels. The pattern used can be selected beneath the toolbox. This is good for making attack effects in comics.
Text Box:
http://img487.imageshack.us/img487/1741/10cz4.png
Allows you to insert text into your picture. After selecting, you drag to create a text box in your picture. This is essential for comics (unless you want to hand draw font, which is harder to read).
On the bottom, the top box makes a solid colored text box of the background color and allows you to write in the primary. The bottom box makes a clear text box and writes in the primary.
Line Tools:
http://img371.imageshack.us/img371/8440/11te2.png
The straight line tool, on the right, creates a straight line when you click and drag. The curved line tool works the same primarily to begin with, but after drawing the primary line, you can click another area of the picture to curve its shape, and then a second time to change its shape again. The width of the line can be changed with the box underneath the tool box.
Added note from Bubbalova: If you hold the shift key while using the line tools, the line will stay straight. This is good when drawing you want to keep lines Horizontal, Vertical, or Diagonal, and is a good tip for when you're drawing lines for text.
Shape tools:
http://img371.imageshack.us/img371/9142/12ak0.png
The first tool, top left, is the rectangular shape tool, which creates a rectangle when you click and drag. The bottom left tool creates a oval shape in the same way, and the bottom left creates a box with rounded sides in the same way. The final tool is a freestyle polygon tool. It can be used to create polygons of varying shapes. It is initialized in the same way in which one creates a line. From there, you can add more lines to the shape by clicking in the place where you wish the next side to end, or clicking and dragging to said area. To close the shape, you can either click on the starting point or double clicking.
Shapes can be either line boxes, solid shapes, or solid shapes with outlines, which is changed in the box beneath the toolbox. Also, the line width of the non-solid boxes can be changed by changing the width in the line tool.
Sprites and Backgrounds
There are different places to find sprites. These include:
The Spriter’s Resource (http://www.spriters-resource.com/)
Pokemon Elite 2000 (http://www.pokemonelite2000.com/)
Bulbagarden (http://4.bulbagarden.net/graphics/)
The Spriter’s Resource is one of the best general sprite sites on the internet. Though you may apt to have an all-Pokemon comic, you may find The Spriter’s Resource a good place to find backgrounds and attack effects, things that are hard to get from just Pokemon. Also, if you decide to take guest stars, they may request to be something other than Pokemon.
Along with The Spriter’s Resource, a good place to get backgrounds is Sprite Database. (http://sdb.drshnaps.com/)
When you have found a sheet that you want, right click on it. Either select the Copy command or the Save Picture as… command. If you select the copy command, open Microsoft Paint and paste it in. A good idea might be to paste it in, and use the eyedropper tool to select the background of the sheet as the background color. Then, Undo the Paste and lay down a base color from your palette. I like to use the dark green myself, it’s a color I rarely use otherwise. Now, re-Paste the sheet and the sprite will appear on your new base color, which can be easily transferred onto your comic backgrounds later.
Now, save your sprites as something easy to find for access later. PNG is the best format to save comics themselves in, but a large file saved in PNG can become pixelated and messed up, affecting future comics. I thus suggest saving sprite sheets in Bitmap.
Other Backgrounds:
You may not want to use video game backgrounds for your comics. Most people actually start out with their own backgrounds that they just make on paint. Usually, these are either two-toned, likely being lite-blue on top for sky and a strip of green at the bottom for grass. Also, some people use monotone backgrounds, usually white.
http://img406.imageshack.us/img406/8623/13xc1.png
However, not everybody likes the idea of using paint-made backgrounds. Some people find that the video game backgrounds make the comics look better, and some feel that how a comic looks is very important.
http://img371.imageshack.us/img371/7635/14qw9.png
Another suggestion would be to use real pictures as your backgrounds. All you need to do is to look on Google or some other search engine for something that you’d want to use.
One argument about using monotone and two-colored backgrounds is that it’s easier to read text. I’ll cover how to counter the text problem with other backgrounds later, but there are things that you can do to make your comics good looking and still legible.
Preparing your comics
The first thing that you need to do is determine what your comic is going to be about. Some people prefer to make their comics about Pokemon. Others prefer to make them about trainers. It really depends on your preference, and which style that you think that you can do better with.
I’d also like to suggest that you try and find your own original idea of how to make something funny.
There are two major styles of Pokemon comics: the 2D sidescroller type version and the overworld model. The 2D sidescroller type seems to be more common. It’s harder to find backgrounds for this model that’s directly from Pokemon, but this is the one where you can use the in-battle Pokemon and trainer sprites which are easiest to get different poses for.
http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/1399/15kt4.png
The overworld model is the opposite. It’s easy to obtain and modify backgrounds directly from Pokemon games for this model. However, the sprites used in this model are small and hard to modify. You can use overworld trainers and things like box sprites and PMD sprites for this model, but all you can really do with them is show emotions.
http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/8126/untitledwv5.png
Theme and Plot:
Some people just apt for general comedy as a theme for their comics, but others like to have a larger plot so that they can work with it. It’s a little easier to make comics if you know that you’re trying to go somewhere with them. Plots can be original or they can be based on something. They can be one comic long or they can last several comics.
Personal Sprite Sheets:
Though sometimes you may need a sprite and it might be a good idea to have some sheets saved to your computer in case an internet site is down, you might not have the kind of storage space that I have since I have my own computer. Short of saving things to discs, you may want to save only a few sprites to a smaller sheet, such as the main cast of your comic.
You want to have your sprite sheets good and spread out. Make sure that when you want to grab a sprite, it’s not too close to another one that you’re grabbing a part of the one next to it. You don’t want somebody’s foot floating in midair next to your character (unless that’s part of your comic).
If you have any other questions pm me.