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FlareMan
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Hey there. As a (somewhat) active member of this board, I thought I'd do my part to help you guys out. But, it took me a while to figure out what I could help you guys with. I mean, I have very few talents X_x... But then it hit me! I can help people with their sprite comics!

Now, I'm not saying my comic is perfect. In fact, i'd probably call it "Fairly decent", and on a scale of 1 to 10, I'd probably give it a 6. I mean, it's okay. But I'm not gonna go around and say, "Hey! My comic's the best on the net! Hah!" (We all know that Bob and George is. 8D)

But, I do know a thing or two about what to do, and what not to do, and I have quite a bit of experience, so! Post a link to your comic, or comic site here, and I'll see what I can help with!

((Don't worry! I will NOT be rude and say something like, "Dude! Your comic SUCKS! HAH!". No no, that doesn't help at all. And anyone who posts something like that on this thread will be considered SPAMMING. And I WILL contact the board admin if I see it.))

[Edited on 1-10-2004 by FlareMan]


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I'm pining this topic in an attempt to get all those sprite comic discussions together. Maybe some people will have interesting tips to share. :)

~ Pin ~


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FlareMan
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YUSSSSSSSS!!! YEAH YEAH YEAH!! *Does the cabbage patch, the moonwalk, and the Robot, all at once.* PIN-NESS!!! WHO DA MAN!? I DA MAN!!! AWWW YEEEAAAH BABY!!!!

AHEM... Err, it's obvious I'm a bit ecstatic about having a topic I made pinned, but back TO the topic!

Here's a hint for all beginner sprite comic authors.

LEARN TO SPRITE.

I've seen some god-awful comics out there, and most of them were horrible because the sprites were poor in quality or the author didn't know how to use them. One of the most common spriting mistakes I've seen is the lack of cleanup. This is when a sprite is pasted onto one background with bits and peices of the old background still around it. This is just lazy. You should clean up a sprite by using the "Transparent Background" feature to paste it into a new area.

Here's a little how-to comic I made just now on how to paste using transparancy (For those of you who don't know.)



[Edited on 3-10-2004 by FlareMan]


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MegaGirl & G-Zero
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Does anyone know where to get good MMBN 4 backgrounds, besides Sprites Inc?:conf:

FlareMan
DMN #007
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Quote:
Originally posted by MegaGirl & G-Zero
Does anyone know where to get good MMBN 4 backgrounds, besides Sprites Inc?:conf:


Not really, but you could always wait for the ROM to come out, then get an emulator and rip the backgrounds yourself. Or find somebody who can do it already and ask them.

Now, completely unrelated to that question, I have more tips!

Beginning comic authors are prone to make a few, if not all, of the following mistakes.

BACKGROUNDS.
A common mistake that many beginners make is that they try to use backgrounds right off the bat. And once again, this can end in DISASTER if you don't know all the basics of spriting. Copy, Pasting, Recoloring, Editing... These are important to maintaining a decent background while working with sprites. Beginning authors should NEVER try to use backgrounds. Instead. Go with a simple Floor and Sky setup, where you have a line near the bottom indicating the floor. Then the top portion of space is colored for the sky, while the bottom portion is colored for the floor.

MIXED BITTAGES.
Another common mistake is the mixture of bittages. When I say "Mixing" bittages, I don't mean, like, taking a 16 bit X and making it look 8-bit, or 32-bit. A "Mixing of Bittages" occurs when you have one character, or object that is of one bittage, and then you have a completely different character or object of another bittage in the same comic panel. ALL SPRITES AND/OR OBJECTS IN YOUR COMIC SHOULD BE THE SAME BITTAGE. If you have an 8 bit comic, don't have 32 bit trees and 16-bit energy blasts...

SPECIAL EFFECTS.
Perhaps the most heinous of crimes. Beginning authors often try to create their own special effects, and they often turn out nasty. Perhaps the worst kind is when an author tries to use the Airbrush tool to make it look as though a character is charging his/her shot. Don't try effects until you become more familiar with how things need to look. You need to be VERY skeptical of your own work when you make a sprite comic. If you don't think it's absolutely perfect, then it's not.

CUSTOMS/EDITS/RECOLORS.
Another important mistake, though not the most frequently made, is the attempt at creating a customized character through recoloring, or editing... sometimes both. Once again, if you're going to attempt this, be sure that you know your spriting basics. Otherwise, don't even attempt it. Look at Bob and George, for example. They did just fine with simple recolors for quite a while in the beginning. In fact, you'll find very few edited characters in the comic itself.

That's all I can think up for now. Pay uh-tenshin! This stuff's m'portant!


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metool
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I have a comic, but I don't eaxtcly like the format of it....By format, I mean the portion where the characters talk to each other at the bottom, any suggestions on how I can improve this?
http://www.freewebs.com/metoolandforte/spritecomics.htm
I'm more of a spriter than a comic maker....


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AimMan v2.5
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Anyone know a good place to get sprites form recent games? I've been looking for sprites from Disgaea and Guilty Gear XX specificly. I can't seem to find any place that has enough to animate.:(

Another question. I am animating a Ryoko sprite (form a Zero sprite, he's easiest to make femenine:lol:), and I'm having some trouble getting all the frames to run smoothly into a jumping position. Can you help me figure out how many positions I'll need to make it run smoothly?


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FlareMan
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Quote:
Originally posted by metool
I have a comic, but I don't eaxtcly like the format of it....By format, I mean the portion where the characters talk to each other at the bottom, any suggestions on how I can improve this?
http://www.freewebs.com/metoolandforte/spritecomics.htm
I'm more of a spriter than a comic maker....


Okay, the first thing that strikes me as odd is the, well... the fuzziness. Everything seems so blurred and unnatural. Do you know how you did this, or was it an accident?

Now, another thing, be sure to go through and read your script out loud. If it doesn't sound right when you voice it, then it won't read correctly, either. At the very bottom left, the purple navi says "Complete obliterate." I'm guessing he REALLY meant to say, "Complete obliteration", or maybe "Completely obliterate."

Also, to be honest, the whole "One scene, lots of mugshots" idea doesn't really work out too well. Go with the simpler idea of having several panels in which the events/conversations take place.


Quote:
Originally posted by AimMan v2.5
Anyone know a good place to get sprites form recent games? I've been looking for sprites from Disgaea and Guilty Gear XX specificly. I can't seem to find any place that has enough to animate.:(

Unfortunately, I've never played, let alone heard of, any of those games... So I can't help you there. -_-

Quote:
Originally posted by AimMan v2.5Another question. I am animating a Ryoko sprite (form a Zero sprite, he's easiest to make femenine:lol:), and I'm having some trouble getting all the frames to run smoothly into a jumping position. Can you help me figure out how many positions I'll need to make it run smoothly?
Wait, why do you need to animate it??? I suppose you might be making an animated comic, but that's often more work than necessary. You shouldn't really bother.

And if you're just making an animation, then there are 2 things I can say to that.

1. This is a thread to discuss COMICS. I'd really appreciate it if you stayed on topic.

2. If you want your Zero-Edit Ryoko to run smoothly, you'll need to make sure you have ALL of Zero's running sprites edited into Ryoko poses. Then use all of those in the animation.

[Edited on 8-10-2004 by FlareMan]


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MegaGirl & G-Zero
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Quote:
Originally posted by AimMan v2.5
Another question. I am animating a Ryoko sprite (form a Zero sprite, he's easiest to make femenine:lol:), and I'm having some trouble getting all the frames to run smoothly into a jumping position. Can you help me figure out how many positions I'll need to make it run smoothly?


I have a couple actual Ryoko sprites.

metralman
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How would you rate my sprite comic so far? http://www.freewebs.com/megamancomis15/rockmanexerevenge.htm


i am metralman!!!!!!!!
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FlareMan
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Quote:
Originally posted by metralman
How would you rate my sprite comic so far? http://www.freewebs.com/megamancomis15/rockmanexerevenge.htm


Hmm... You should work on the things that your characters say. Use a spell-check if you're not sure how a word is spelled. Also, try to avoid giving personalities to characters that they normally wouldn't have. Lan WOULD be mad that Chaud defeated ShadowMan first, but I doubt he'd make a big scene out of it. (Refers to the panel where Lan is on his knees yelling at the ceiling.)

Now, like I said before, the text bubbles look like you drew them first, then typed the text in. The text is all bunched up at the left, try and get it centered within the bubble if at all possible.

The comic is good so far, but it's got room for improvement. Don't give up. :)

[Edited on 9-10-2004 by FlareMan]


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metralman
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yeah, I'm having a hard time with it. those stupid bubbles. lol. i cant seem to get it right. plus I have the hardest time getting lines around them. thats why most of them are lineless. :lol:


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ProtoStar
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Quote:
Originally posted by FlareMan

BACKGROUNDS.
A common mistake that many beginners make is that they try to use backgrounds right off the bat. And once again, this can end in DISASTER if you don't know all the basics of spriting. Copy, Pasting, Recoloring, Editing... These are important to maintaining a decent background while working with sprites. Beginning authors should NEVER try to use backgrounds.


This is probably just my point of view, but it really depends on if the author knows what he's doing and a good way to use them if he's starting out immediately with bgs. Some authors started out with bgs and they did very well with them. As long as they planned it out before starting then it should turn out okay. ^^

MegaGirl & G-Zero
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Does anyone know where to get good MMBN 4 backgrounds, besides Sprites Inc?:conf:
Anyone???

metralman
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heh, i think ur outta luck.:( I have a friend that can rip backgrounds outta r0ms. outherwise...I wish there were more sprite places. :cool:


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FlareMan
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Quote:
Originally posted by ProtoStar
Quote:
Originally posted by FlareMan

BACKGROUNDS.
A common mistake that many beginners make is that they try to use backgrounds right off the bat. And once again, this can end in DISASTER if you don't know all the basics of spriting. Copy, Pasting, Recoloring, Editing... These are important to maintaining a decent background while working with sprites. Beginning authors should NEVER try to use backgrounds.


This is probably just my point of view, but it really depends on if the author knows what he's doing and a good way to use them if he's starting out immediately with bgs. Some authors started out with bgs and they did very well with them. As long as they planned it out before starting then it should turn out okay. ^^


Well, this is true. Wether or not you should use backgrounds depends entirely on your ability not to screw them up. I'm just stating this because beginning comic-authors are more likely to do JUST that.


Quote:
Originally posted by metralman
yeah, I'm having a hard time with it. those stupid bubbles. lol. i cant seem to get it right. plus I have the hardest time getting lines around them. thats why most of them are lineless. :lol:


Hmm... What program do you use to make your sprite comics?

[Edited on 9-10-2004 by FlareMan]


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AimMan v2.5
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Well, er, I know where to find some Ryoko sprites, i just trying to make my own.:)

Anyways, I'd better stay off this subject. i don't think I'm looking towards actual comicing.


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metralman
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hey, Flare man. did you see the little detail i did to the PET in Lans room? I added the "plug-in" chord. :D


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FlareMan
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Quote:
Originally posted by metralman
hey, Flare man. did you see the little detail i did to the PET in Lans room? I added the "plug-in" chord. :D


Yeah, but it doesn't look right somehow... Hmm...


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metralman
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well, Its black for one thing...it was originaly white but it didn't show up very well.


i am metralman!!!!!!!!
visit my action sprite comic site @ Image

Net Hunter
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Hey Flareman, I dont know how to post sprites on the board so Im sending one to your e-mail, could you tell me it or haw I can post them? I started it yesterday so I hope you can tell me what I can add to it

[Edited on 18-10-2004 by Net Hunter]

[Edited on 18-10-2004 by Net Hunter]


Have you thought that megaman 9 might be the last one (where Zero is revealed) why? well the first games used Roman numbers I II III IV V
So maybe the megaman X we know is actually megaman 10!!

DavidBurgess
rockmaster
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Finaly! Someone actually made this topic. I've wanted to do this for awhile, but due to school, haven't had enough time to do it alone. If you don't mind Flareman, i'm a pretty decent Spriter/Comic maker and would love to help out when I can. If you want I can post some samples of my work.


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Pocket
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Everyone who wants to start a sprite comic should read this first above all else:

http://www.fragile-minds.com/crashnbass/donts.html

People who are currently making sprite comics should read it as well.


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FlareMan
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Quote:
Originally posted by DavidBurgess
Finaly! Someone actually made this topic. I've wanted to do this for awhile, but due to school, haven't had enough time to do it alone. If you don't mind Flareman, i'm a pretty decent Spriter/Comic maker and would love to help out when I can. If you want I can post some samples of my work.


Sure, I'd be glad to see some other sprite-comics out there.


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Zero3.exe
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Hey Flareman, would you look at my comic and see what I can do to improve? I currently have two pages ready, but I can only post them tomorrow (freewebs doesn't work on my home comp.) I'll give you links tomorrow when i get the comic up.

EDIT: ok, i have the pics up. Here are the links:

Comic #1

Comic #2

Please give me feedback on how i can improve! Thanks


[Edited on 10-12-2004 by Zero3.exe]


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FlareMan
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[quote]Originally posted by Zero3.exe
Hey Flareman, would you look at my comic and see what I can do to improve? I currently have two pages ready, but I can only post them tomorrow (freewebs doesn't work on my home comp.) I'll give you links tomorrow when i get the comic up.

EDIT: ok, i have the pics up. Here are the links:

Comic #1

Comic #2

Please give me feedback on how i can improve! Thanks


[Edited on 10-12-2004 by Zero3.exe] [/quote]

Well, you get points for not having X and Zero as a gay couple...

And you also get points for not trying to make your own special laser effects and whatnot...

but, you lose points for the bittage mixing. (The 32-bit X and zero sprites, the 16 bit Dr. Light sprite. the Gameboy Advance Zero sprite, the Gameboy Zero sprite, and basically the funky backgrounds.)

Plus, the panels in the first page are hard to discern. You should never have a black background, maybe a really dark blue, but not black.

And the text is too big. Make it a little smaller so you can fit more dialogue in each panel.

Also, see if you can try to save as PNG. Not GIF or JPEG.


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Scooby Dooby
Better Than You
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I forgot how to make MBN comics. Just tell me what the basics are and I'm okay. I'll probably remember the rest.


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doc.mad
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does aboty know where get good spites


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i like pie pie pie pie going down
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pecon,apple cinmon and apple cinmon apple cinmon and pecon,clap,clap

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BassGospel
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Sprites Inc is a REALLY good place to get sprites


Shaft
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Check this out.


Image


Death!!!!!!!!!!Kiling!!!!!!!Mwahahahahahahaha! Image Image Image
100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000000 that's a lot a digits but not nearly as many as on my paycheck. :D people click http://www.fragile-minds.com/crashnbass/200bonus/poster-dopefish_lives.gif [/url] Image




Image

Die mewmew power!Die!!!!!!!!

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