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well it's this possible in aseprite. But it's works in a another way. You do the gray style and turn them in index color, after this it's just swap colors from your wish
I think having an asset pipeline consisting of these tricks is essential for a gamedev. Games need a lot of assets, so it's very important to produce them EFFICIENTLY, especially as a solo or rock band size studio. Like many creative endeavors gamedev is also a search. Creating assets at a higher level in a non destructive way lets you change them more easily when the search lead you astray. This goes for EXPERIMENTATION and CONSISTENCY, as for the first you want to find what looks good, but for the second you want to have assets that look good together. Professionals gfx artists are trained in creating something in a certain look, so for them it's less of an issue. For the inexperienced or the amateur these technics may help you establish a consistent art style instead of a Hodge podge salad of assets.
That's precisely it! My understanding is that Dan Fessler came up with the first technique for these reasons. I agree that these techniques are useful for quick experimentation, color switching, value changes, sharpness, etc. They also help to maintain a consistent style throughout the game, which was the case for the games I created. Thank you for your comment!
Those are actually great, and since photoshop is interchangeable with photopea, and Krita is just free, these are available to anyone who knows at least a thing or two about art. This is GOOD. The one thing that got me a bit ruffled was the "a single click" from the other pixel art video without explanation - I thought it was a brush, but now I understand it's literally JUST LAYER EFFECTS. I seriously wish I could do these in PixelOver - unlike Aseprite, it deals with bigger images and has more control over pixelation too. Probably not as good as bigger image editing programs, but it still has some interesting tools. But now that I think about it, since Krita has animation tools, I might not even need PixelOver, just Krita to do what I wanted. Thanks for the content!
Yes, exactly. Even folks who use Aseprite can do part of the work in Krita, for example, and then bring it to Aseprite for the final adjustments. It is perfectly fine to use multiple tools in a workflow. I haven't heard of PixelOver, but it seems like it offers similar things (Pixelation, Palletization, Dithering, Layer Effects), 3d and bone animation. Nice! Thanks for the comment! : )
Just hopped into pixel art, compiled me aseprite and did several pieces in the last week pixel by pixel. Thanks for showing me the steps for the future. I like the slow approach atm, but to crank out more good stuff this is brilliant.
Any time I hear not doable in aseprite D: As someone that creates extensions for Aseprite this sounds like a challange 😉 😆 Love all these techniques! Great video 😀
Do you think an isometric grid with a symmetry function would be a possible extension for Aseprite? I saw an extension for isometric grids, but that combined with an iso symmetry function would make vehicles soo much easier (looking at you X-Wing!).
Thank you so much for making this video. You showcased these techniques much more clearly than you did in that other video, and I was actually very impressed at how powerful these can actually be. I'm also very happy with how you addressed the point that these techniques shouldn't replace the per-pixel attention while showing the kind of actions that should be taken after using these techniques. You really nailed it with this video and I liked it a lot. Despite that, I still think I will keep primarily using Aseprite for pixel art and I want to explain why. You see, the main thing that got me so invested in pixel art, other than my interest in the art form itself, was how straightforward the process of making pixel art is compared to making traditional art with a drawing tablet. Opening Aseprite and making pixel art by just putting the pixels on the canvas with my mouse feels like the closest digital art software will ever get to the simplicity of picking up a pencil and drawing with it on paper. What many people adore about Aseprite is that it doesn't try to make pixel art easier to do, but instead adds quality-of-life improvements to the process of making pixel art, while maintaining the simplicity it already has. Using the techniques you showed in the video might help me make pixel art faster, but in practice, keeping my pixel art drawing process simple is what led me to make so much pixel art over the years. At some point, I was making more pixel art than I was making any other kind of art and I would just keep making more and more pixel art drawings every day, so in my point of view, trying to make this process faster can potentially just slow me down instead, because I'm already able to make so much pixel art just because of how straightforward my process is. Don't get me wrong though, I have nothing against using the techniques you showed in this video (and I definitely don't think it's "cheating" or anything like that), but I'm just saying that there's a good reason why people still use Aseprite and look at its simplicity as a big advantage over other options.
Thanks! That's a fair point! Indeed, simplicity and a workflow you are comfortable with are very important. Especially if you want to make a habit out of it. : )
Not going to lie as someone whos learning pixel art and art in general this is really helpful. Ive always learned "backwards" as in do things the easy way first to get an understanding of concepts and the possible end results when said concepts are applied properly. Its also a moral boost and after seeing quality results doing things the right way first naturally falls in places. Slowly just stop using the tools because i know what the final result should look like so i do it right the first time.
Anyone who is offended or angry by the use of these tools is just mad and wanting to gate keep. Its so frustrating to see people get angry because "how dare you not do things the hard way". No. Wrong. Its good to use tools that help you create things more easily. It makes things more accessible to a wider audience of creators while keeping the integrity of the work.
I'm mostly upset it can't be done in Aseprite, not that it can be done in other programs (especially since they can be done in free ones). Particularly the pallete swaping technique as I feel like that's something that Aseprite should have already had. Well, I suppose there's Hue adjustment effects but that's not quite the same.
It's kind of understandable that pixel artists would dislike the methods in this video, just from them having to spend a large period of time to get good at making pixel art the hard way and then becoming good enough at it to be able to make a living from it. It would be a bit like cashiers in the supermarket being made redundant by being replaced with self checkouts.
@@SuperMeatHands But the use of these tools doesn't make their abilities somehow invalid. It just means that they are more talented and well versed than those who use these tools. They can likely produce better output than anything this video shows, not to mention they too can use these methods to make their process faster and focus their abilities on improvements. Its about working smarter, not harder. Just because it can be done the hard way, doesn't mean it should be done that way, and it doesn't give people who do it the hard the right to shit all over others who don't.
@@Enocia If you perfected a skill the hard way it absolutely does translate doing it the faster way. They'd probably make the best pixel art using this new method.
@@Enocia Umm... skill becomes an issue. I mean these tools should be used to innovate not to make us lazy. I agree that these tools should be utilized but that goes without ignorance because ignoring the "hard way" leads to worse results. This goes with other creative fields. By your logic, I'm guessing you side with A.I.? Yes it is working smarter, not harder, but how the hell do you expect someone to "smart" without even "knowing" other factors. It adds to your limitations because of ignorance, it doesn't make you any better at certain points. Why else do people get scammed sometimes. "Just because it can be done the hard way, doesn't mean it should be done that way" spoiled brats exist because of this same logic. Hell you don't even KNOW why people who are offended are mad.
For pixel illustrations krita and Photoshop looks so powerful and unbelievable, but I still miss a good tool for animating npcs goodly like aseprite. Thanks to you now I know how I can draw most of backgrounds and scenarios for my games without spending alot of time on it, I didnt expect photoshop could do all this magic with less clicks.
Thank you for this video! I never knew how indie devs achieved quality art from 3 day game jams until I saw this. Yeah, it is a shortcut but anything goes if you want to release games quickly. Game dev is extremely difficult and time consuming, the more you save time the better
Color IO no longer exports LUTs for free, it seems 😟 Do you know of another way to convert palette swatches into LUTs for the Photopea "nearest color" palettization approach? I can't seem to find any...
I've been working as a dedicated pixel artist for about 8 years and I find all of these techniques very, very useful yet a bit niche to use on a regular day of work. I would say as long as you, as an artist, focus on always improving your fundamentals whatever you do to speed up the results is perfectly valid. Although I have to say Aseprite may be the go to for most artists on a regular day, contrary of what it looks like on the video Aseprite is really, really powerful when it comes to pixel art.
Thanks for the Comment! I agree with you, Aseprite is a good software. The purpose here is to widen the horizon of pixel artists who want to improve their productivity/experimentation but are still thinking Aseprite has absolutely everything (which is not the case) I'd argue that these techniques are less niche than they seem at first glance. With some practice, these can help with art in most styles. For example: th-cam.com/video/recdxxc3Cpk/w-d-xo.htmlsi=uB44PgRrnLS4ZPJT
I would have loved to see you bring up the topic of doing these effects not in the art tool, but directly in the games shaders. Writing your own shaders where it takes either individual sprites or the entire screen and adds these effects at runtime opens a whole new world of possibilities, like light sources, shadows etc also being accounted for in the dithering.
Thanks for the feedback! That's true, I could have demonstrated how to create bump/normal maps, which would allow for in-engine effects later on. Perhaps on a next video : )
*HOLY* 😮 This is revolutionary, i'm definitely going to use this to speed up the process I can use Photoshop and krita just fine luckily Asprite is just too old, too simple and too slow to get things done Thanks for sharing 👍🏻
Just getting started in game dev and 3D modeling Avid gamer have been for 20 years, when I was a kid would love to play with clay and make figurines. What is the biggest word of advise for some getting into 3D isometric game design and art?
Cool! I love isometric games and I used to make figurines as well! Since I haven't released a successful game yet, my advice is just opinion. I suggest creating small projects with a deliverable that you can post for others to see. These can be on Art Station, Deviant Art, Instagram, TH-cam, etc. This sort of commitment can help you progress!
Yes. By then you can't draw/create/iterate on the art piece while these non-destructive effects take place. Here I show how to make them part of the workflow during creation. Indeed it is nice to have these done in-engine too for more stylized graphics. :)
I know right? I created this video specifically because people don't talk about this so often. BTW: If you want to have exact colors like traditional non-HD Index Painting, in Krita you can use the plain index-color filter docs.krita.org/en/reference_manual/filters/artistic.html#index-color
Nice! It's cool to see these kinds of options for pixel art. I'm a full Aseprite user and the major reason I remain there is because of familiarity and animation. Animation is extremely easy and intuitive in aseprite (unlike photoshop, don't know about Krita). But these techniques certainly look awesome, I see a lot of benefit for sprite makers. I just create art and simple animations, rarely sprites (only for commissions), but I can see Krita being a big help. Photoshop on the other hand... if you legally pay for it, then the cost of it is too high (since Aseprite is 20 USD only payment, and you can use tons of free scripts made by users to speed your process).
I agree with you. As you said, there's nothing wrong with a workflow comprised of more than one software. It's hard to justify the price of Photoshop these days. That's why I switched from to Photopea.
how can i convert a lospec palette into a photoshop lut? i don't see where to input any of the palette files from lospec into the color io lut converter, and i couldn't find any intermediate steps on how to achieve this. thanks
Here are the steps: 1. Take a "Base Color Lut" png image that you can find online. 2. I palettized the base lut image using indexed color mode in photoshop: helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/customizing-indexed-color-tables.html (predefined color table -> custom. Pick the colors from the lospec palette) 3. Save the palletized lut png 4. Use color.io/free-online-lut-converter "add LUT" to load your png and export it as a photoshop LUT file.
@@Zizaco hey thanks so much! i found one called lut creator js, they can do the same and it seems to work out in the same manner. maybe you can do a short or something and explain it because is a technique i'm loving and i can see many people using it, and you can use LUTs even in after effects and nuke and stuff. thanks so much for your tutorials, love them, salute!
I'm so happy i chose krita because it was free... One of the completely free alternatives that's actually worth it... I'll still get aseprite in the future though...
This is fking incredible. Like i feel like this changes everything for me and my game dev journey. It allows me to be fast and iffecient with loads of iterative brain storming.
How i manage to use this technique to the characters like Colossi in Shadow of the Colossus? The original source have its already limited color palettes and one thing that being the biggest problem is, the colossi have so muuuch hair/fur all over the body (for some of them), how could i manage to animate it with pixel art? Any (secret magic) idea?
Animating detailed 2D art pieces is unpractical in many ways. That's not exclusive to pixel art. We don't see much oil/digital painting style animation, and when we do, it's through skeletal animation (like Spine2D), which is not suitable for pixel art. So, to answer your question, I recommend making less detailed pixel art if you want to animate it. @BaMAnimation is a traditional 2D art channel that discusses this, and how character design for animations should ideally be less detailed. Also, if you want more details, I have another video in which I use these techniques to animate a character in the Metal Slug style.
When I heard 'controversy' mentioned at the beginning, I was expecting something along the lines of 'Retro diffusion' or 'PixelLab'... I felt a bit disappointed when the video ended without mentioning either of them XD Apart from those, there are also other less common techniques and programs for pixel art, like using Blender with certain nodes, or programs like PixelOver, Spritemancer, BitmapFlow, etc. Nice video by the way! I didn't know you could do that in Krita too, I'm loving that software more and more each time! :D
The ones you mentioned are even more controversial, indeed! Haha. The main difference would be that using Blender or Retro Diffusion are more than just "techniques", it's complicated but I would say they are a different discipline altogether (3d art and AI/prompt respectively). PixelOver in the other hand is kind of similar to what I show here (posterization, color indexing, dithering, outline, layer effects). Thanks!
@@Zizaco Yeah, that's for sure ^^ I just mentioned them because they can also be used to achieve (maybe not "pure pixel art", but anyway) pixel art results. Results wich, may be used as a base, inspiration, or just polished later in your preferred pixel friendly drawing software :)
Bro this is SO HUGE LIFESAVER FOR ME! I absolutely ADORE pixel art but it's surprisingly very difficult and I want to make a small platformer game with pixel art graphics for a school project (I'm studying to graduate as animator & graphics designer for games)
I don't own Clip Studio Paint, so I don't know for sure. But I think it is possible. Check this out: www.reddit.com/r/PixelArt/comments/12g7r09/practice_experimenting_with_hd_index_painting/
i saw this thing in the other video, at 9:01, and i really wanted to ask what or how it is happening, the ground being draw like that. and the character as well.
This is fantastic, i just sub because of this video alone. I would love to learn more about these techniques especially with krita, please do more videos like this.
This is such a time saver for me! I'm not a pixel artist but want to create pixel art for my indie game while mainly focusing on the game design aspect of my games for my portfolio.
man i love aseprite cuz its lightweight and has generally really snappy UX (e.g. minimal popup confirmation windows, single click drag 'n' release sliders with less keypresses, etc) but i really wish we could get some of those non-destructive effects, especially outline seems like a no-brainer
@@ashpraterpiano yeh that's a nice shortcut, but it's still destructive - as in it alters the sprite you're editing by applying the outline directly on-top of it. You can sorta work around it by duplicating the sprite on another layer before you make the outline but it'd be nice if u could draw new pixels and have the outline effect automatically applied to the new pixels too because the outline effect is applied aye
The outline is destructive in Aseprite. If you change the shape (like 11:26), you have to either fix it manually or remove and regenerate it. If you have a more complex outline such as "black, white, shadow", you cannot simply draw and have the outline updated automatically like in 9:03 (which IMO is a huge time saver) The Non-Destructive layer effects mean that the outline is a "real-time filter" (but you still can right-click > "rasterize" if you want to be destructive like in Aseprite).
Anything on gimp? I learned on Photoshop back in highschool. But i don't run windows anymore. And i don't like how PS went to a monthly subscription thing. I'm messing with krita, so i guess im swapping to that now.
I tried gimp a long time ago, and I felt that it was inferior to Krita, photoshop and photopea by a lot. I remember that the layer styles were very limited in gimp. I would recommend using Krita if you want to go with OSS
@@Zizaco that was my impression of it. I haven't used Photoshop since 7. But I do miss the opacity sliders. Those came in really handy with layers, and using the dodge and burn tools. Sometimes they would lay down too much and you could use the opacity sliders to adjust it down to where you want. Gimp may have something like that, but I haven't found it. I mainly use it to enhance photos. But when I was using Photoshop 7 I was drawing with a graphics tablet. Which brings up another issue with gimp. It doesn't seem to recognize stylus pressure like Photoshop. It just lays down the same line weight all the time weather you're drawing light or heavy with the stylus. I really miss that in Photoshop too. But I'm not paying a monthly subscription for a program that I owned in highschool just because they changed the name and got greedy.
I feel you. I've used Photoshop 7 for years, it's a classic! All the "CS" versions didn't had enough features to justify the upgrade. I'm currently paying for Photopea as it's a way to support the creator. Krita is also a great option.
@@Zizaco interesting fact. Photoshop was made specifically to do the water tentacle scene in The Abyss. The guys doing the special effects had to program their own tools to do the effect because one that could do that didn't exist. After the movie was made, they cleaned up and refined their program they made to do the surfacing, and Photoshop was born.
Hello! I've been thinking about getting into pixel art since I'm currently studying computer programming and game development, but I don't have a whole lot of resources. I noticed that you mentioned Krita a lot in this tutorial, is that a good one to use for a beginner? I really don't want to jump into something that has way too many options and buttons but I also heard that Krita was a free option for beginners. What do you think? I hope I'm not bothering you for this comment.
Hey. Krita definitely has too many options and buttons! 😅 But it is VERSATILE. You can use it for all things 2d art related, not only pixel art. So it's a worthwhile investment in the long run. Those who know how to use Krita or Photoshop rarely "downgrade" to dedicated pixel art software like Aseprite. If you are looking for a simple and easy to get started, then Aseprite (or Libresprite, which is free) can be a good choice. They are more limited, and not as versatile as Krita, but at least they are SIMPLE and quick to learn. Don't worry, you are not bothering me in any way. Best of luck on your journey! : )
@@Zizaco Thank you! I've been looking over Krita and a few other options I think I'll go with Krita! I know there's definitely a learning curve but I'm willing to learn so that I can just stick with it in the future! Also, thanks for reply, I wasn't sure if you would so soon considering you might be busy! I'm glad I get to start doing this and I also with the best of luck to you in whatever projects you're working on now!
Wait, somebody was complaining that you were pronouncing Aseprite as "Ay-Sprite"? I mean, the name is a pun on Ace and Sprite, so..... Your pronunciation is one of the few on point ones i've ever seen!
Thank you for showing me this video before I could even think about buying aseprite. For a program that's supposedly made for pixel art, it's extremely limited in its support for it.
This isn't necessarily true. Aseprite is still a strong program. Using a photo editing program to edit artwork, of course, would be helpful. Each program serves a purpose
I don't know, but since you are already familiar with Krita then you could first look for resources on how to do pixel-art in krita before buying another software. (GDquest has great videos on Krita for pixel art and godot) You can also try LibreSprite which is a free version of aseprite to see if you like it over krita.
Great video! And I totally agree, to use different tools, technologies, softwares etc to make our work quicker and easier. I don't see any point of not using the current tools/techniques that are evolving every day. As a indie developer, is very hard to master all the things that we need. For quick prototyping/tests etc is perfect and why not in a final product if is looking good. Work smarter not harder!
question about animation: After this I may convert back to using Krita after seeing these awesome techniques, but the whole reason I converted to Aesprite in the first place is I liked the way they handled pixel art animation more than Krita. Are there similar pixel art techniques one can use in Krita to make its animation more smooth for pixel art? I could always bring a character over from Krita to Aesprite, but it seems cumbersome especially if the animation frames also don't dynamically update.
I haven't delved too deep into Krita's animation features yet, but I've come across some some YT videos showcasing its capabilities. I believe there's even a plugin for exporting sprite sheets directly. While I haven't tested these filters and techniques with animations, my guess is they should work just fine. It's possible that the ND Pixelation will be helpful with subpixel animations 🤔 I'll definitely give it a go myself to see how it turns out!
@Zizaco Thanks so much! I really appreciate these videos they are very helpful. I haven't looked too much into the plugins with sprite sheets in Krita I'll have to check that out.
You are totally right. tools and tecniques are just that. You still have to have the knowledge required behiand them. Art fundamentals still apply and you have to know them and that is what makes the difference. But there is no professional artist in games, films, comic book or any other industry that doesn't use all the tecniques and tools available to to make the job done faster and easier. You have to know how it is done without shortcuts, but once you know it, using those shorcuts is the right thing to do. A simple question, Is a traditional painter nowadays a fake if he or she doesn't create their own pigments out of natural elements obtained with there own hands from nature? If you enjoy the process of laying down pixels 1 by 1 is perfectly ok, but the end result probalby will not differ from someone that uses a selection tool and duplicates a bunch of pixels. Study and practice art fundamentals, then use any weapon at your disposal to make real your art vision. In pixel art or any other art form. Thanks so much for the video 😊. There is so much misinformation and a bad understanding of what professional artists do.
Doesnt sound illegal to me its just a technique but its super informative to learn this since I always only drew on my own on pixel art and was wondering how other pixelartists are archiving this kind of look so fast.
I'm planning to make a Classic 2D Sonic fangame and these techniques may come in handy! Drawing out all of the chunks and backgrounds would be a chore without this kind of stuff. At the moment, I primarily use Aseprite, but this video has inspired me to familiarise myself more with Krita. I find it funny how despite the fact that Aseprite is mentioned in this video, it cannot be used to perform any of the techniques shown but I believe it still has its use in lightweight image editing as it has a relatively very fast start up time. Great stuff!
I'm glad you found this useful! I mentioned Aseprite because many pixel artists start with it, and I wanted to make them aware of lesser-known techniques. Indeed aseprite can be used alongside krita. For instance, a workflow that starts in krita and then uses aseprite aseprite for the final per-pixel details. : )
thank you for sharing this technique in a concise manner. It would help with the production faster for Gamedev. I notice this technique is good for from hi-res to low-res and Aseprite is from bottom's up. Been on Aseprite from using Photoshop and Krita. what I like about Aseperite is the animation. You can take any gif, open in Aseprite and trace on top of the gif which I really like If you're a amateur animator. Its a tool anyways and depends on artist themselves. thank you for sharing again.
Good point! I haven't done much in terms of animation yet (I mostly animate things in-engine), so I don't know the distinctions of krita vs aseprite for animations. But it seems like krita is not to shabby when it comes to animations. Search for "Krita animation workflow" and let me know what you think.
remember, doing pixel art im the present day - it's often thought of as a way to make content creation easier? ; - ) than drawing hd, or in 3d. but if the workflow is TOO complex, it might not be
This is exactly what I was looking for, thank you for providing files. I'm curious, does Krita have a quick custom brush Ctrl+B option like Aseprite? If so, I might as well switch to Krita completely for pixel art since I use that a lot anyway for digital painting.
You're welcome! Yes it does. It is the freehand tool. You can see it in action here: th-cam.com/video/OmnpKQITm3I/w-d-xo.htmlsi=t6Opz5q0OyE8MQkc&t=353 (5:53)
Hey, great video! I'm working on a 3D game and I only care about 64x64 environment textures, I don't need character illustrations or scenery paintings whatsoever. Are these still better than using aseprite? Can you make a video about textures?
In my opinion these techniques work even better for detailed textures and backgrounds. I don't know about 64x64, which is quite small. Maybe you can give it a go and see if you think it helps. Example: twitter.com/DanFessler/status/1022603667189334016
Yes I figured something out in Krita, using my pre-existing brush collection for foliage it works wonders. I don't think I will be using aseprite anymore XD@@Zizaco Also I filled the form, I'm waiting for your e-mail.
I've been learning digital painting for a decade. Professionals do and teach some kind of this technique left and right. So it kind of surprised me that in pixel art, this thing is taboo. 😂😂😂😂 It's funny considering most of the 2D artists in my gamedev group use pixel art because they want it fast or because they can't do hand-drawn art well. (Obviously, you need to practice at least a month before it looks decent.) I assume this only happened in recent years ... So yeah, in the end, everything becomes a cult, even if something that was born because of convenience.
Awesome video! I would be really interested if you would make a video outlining the techniques you used for programming the enemy AI in your Mario game. The Mario boss AI looks so good and really seems to have a life of its own. I just can't wrap my head around how to get past the simple "ping-pong" AI and take it to the next level. Any suggestions/recommendations would be super appreciated! Especially if you did a video on the topic. Thanks so much for all you've been sharing with the community.
@@Zizacothanks so much. I’ve been using construct for years, but I always struggle to make good interactive AI for my enemies. Yours look and act and feel amazing and alive!
He's not saying you should get rid of aseprite you can still use aseprite to design pixel characters more efficiently, it's just these tips make the extra details easier to incorporate in your art, so stick with both
The pros from back then, you know, the ones living and coding and creating in a low tech world, the 80s,90s,00s would have used this without batting an eye. When you see old Street Fighter or Darkstalkers art, it wasn't immediately done in a pixel program, no, they actually drew them as paper animation cels first, scanned those, shrank them etc. They did everything they could to make their work easier, it just happened that 'easier' back then is now considered 'painstaking' or 'budget breaking' (many couldn't even use their home computers for development and had to use workstations) There is something true about 'limitation breeds creativity', but all great painters, especially those from the renaissance, had few limits, at least if they were able to afford the tools, the pigments, oils, etc and they still created mind blowing artworks. To create something good... it ultimately is the diligence AND the personal artistic view of the artist who does it. Anyway, tl; dr: I'd say 99% of all oldschool old people game devs and artists would have leaped for joy at the tools we have today and would consider none of them 'cheating'.
There was something that I saw once where it was shown that Mario was drawn normally on a Graph Paper, round edges and all, then later when passing it to computer they would manually "paint" each pixel using the graph paper as a "map". And it took a long time,
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shut up no one cares.
Let me show you what's possible with Aseprite:
th-cam.com/video/okv1-P2SGnQ/w-d-xo.html
Unfortunately it's not possible to like this video in asprite 😢
well it's this possible in aseprite. But it's works in a another way. You do the gray style and turn them in index color, after this it's just swap colors from your wish
watchin as an aseprite user..
I'm sorry x)
I think having an asset pipeline consisting of these tricks is essential for a gamedev. Games need a lot of assets, so it's very important to produce them EFFICIENTLY, especially as a solo or rock band size studio.
Like many creative endeavors gamedev is also a search. Creating assets at a higher level in a non destructive way lets you change them more easily when the search lead you astray. This goes for EXPERIMENTATION and CONSISTENCY, as for the first you want to find what looks good, but for the second you want to have assets that look good together. Professionals gfx artists are trained in creating something in a certain look, so for them it's less of an issue. For the inexperienced or the amateur these technics may help you establish a consistent art style instead of a Hodge podge salad of assets.
That's precisely it! My understanding is that Dan Fessler came up with the first technique for these reasons.
I agree that these techniques are useful for quick experimentation, color switching, value changes, sharpness, etc. They also help to maintain a consistent style throughout the game, which was the case for the games I created.
Thank you for your comment!
Exactly! And I don't care if it's considered cheating or not. It just helps me achieve my goal quicker or even at all. So thanks! @@Zizaco
You said it all my friend
I added this video to a playlist called "aseprite"
Those are actually great, and since photoshop is interchangeable with photopea, and Krita is just free, these are available to anyone who knows at least a thing or two about art. This is GOOD.
The one thing that got me a bit ruffled was the "a single click" from the other pixel art video without explanation - I thought it was a brush, but now I understand it's literally JUST LAYER EFFECTS.
I seriously wish I could do these in PixelOver - unlike Aseprite, it deals with bigger images and has more control over pixelation too. Probably not as good as bigger image editing programs, but it still has some interesting tools. But now that I think about it, since Krita has animation tools, I might not even need PixelOver, just Krita to do what I wanted.
Thanks for the content!
Yes, exactly. Even folks who use Aseprite can do part of the work in Krita, for example, and then bring it to Aseprite for the final adjustments. It is perfectly fine to use multiple tools in a workflow.
I haven't heard of PixelOver, but it seems like it offers similar things (Pixelation, Palletization, Dithering, Layer Effects), 3d and bone animation. Nice!
Thanks for the comment! : )
Just hopped into pixel art, compiled me aseprite and did several pieces in the last week pixel by pixel. Thanks for showing me the steps for the future. I like the slow approach atm, but to crank out more good stuff this is brilliant.
Aseprite fanboy here... i needed this
Any time I hear not doable in aseprite D: As someone that creates extensions for Aseprite this sounds like a challange 😉 😆
Love all these techniques! Great video 😀
Thanks! It would be awesome to have these available in Aseprite : D
Oh hey I use your stuff! Nice! But, yeah, a dithering tool would be awesome because I am a dithering devil.
Do you think an isometric grid with a symmetry function would be a possible extension for Aseprite? I saw an extension for isometric grids, but that combined with an iso symmetry function would make vehicles soo much easier (looking at you X-Wing!).
Advanced tips, bro!
For now, I'm going to draw pixel by pixel on Aseprite, but as I become a pro, I'm totally going to use them!
thanks for the aesprite part of the tutorial it really helped me out
Thank you so much for making this video. You showcased these techniques much more clearly than you did in that other video, and I was actually very impressed at how powerful these can actually be. I'm also very happy with how you addressed the point that these techniques shouldn't replace the per-pixel attention while showing the kind of actions that should be taken after using these techniques. You really nailed it with this video and I liked it a lot.
Despite that, I still think I will keep primarily using Aseprite for pixel art and I want to explain why. You see, the main thing that got me so invested in pixel art, other than my interest in the art form itself, was how straightforward the process of making pixel art is compared to making traditional art with a drawing tablet. Opening Aseprite and making pixel art by just putting the pixels on the canvas with my mouse feels like the closest digital art software will ever get to the simplicity of picking up a pencil and drawing with it on paper. What many people adore about Aseprite is that it doesn't try to make pixel art easier to do, but instead adds quality-of-life improvements to the process of making pixel art, while maintaining the simplicity it already has. Using the techniques you showed in the video might help me make pixel art faster, but in practice, keeping my pixel art drawing process simple is what led me to make so much pixel art over the years. At some point, I was making more pixel art than I was making any other kind of art and I would just keep making more and more pixel art drawings every day, so in my point of view, trying to make this process faster can potentially just slow me down instead, because I'm already able to make so much pixel art just because of how straightforward my process is.
Don't get me wrong though, I have nothing against using the techniques you showed in this video (and I definitely don't think it's "cheating" or anything like that), but I'm just saying that there's a good reason why people still use Aseprite and look at its simplicity as a big advantage over other options.
Thanks! That's a fair point! Indeed, simplicity and a workflow you are comfortable with are very important. Especially if you want to make a habit out of it.
: )
Not going to lie as someone whos learning pixel art and art in general this is really helpful. Ive always learned "backwards" as in do things the easy way first to get an understanding of concepts and the possible end results when said concepts are applied properly. Its also a moral boost and after seeing quality results doing things the right way first naturally falls in places. Slowly just stop using the tools because i know what the final result should look like so i do it right the first time.
Anyone who is offended or angry by the use of these tools is just mad and wanting to gate keep. Its so frustrating to see people get angry because "how dare you not do things the hard way". No. Wrong. Its good to use tools that help you create things more easily. It makes things more accessible to a wider audience of creators while keeping the integrity of the work.
I'm mostly upset it can't be done in Aseprite, not that it can be done in other programs (especially since they can be done in free ones). Particularly the pallete swaping technique as I feel like that's something that Aseprite should have already had. Well, I suppose there's Hue adjustment effects but that's not quite the same.
It's kind of understandable that pixel artists would dislike the methods in this video, just from them having to spend a large period of time to get good at making pixel art the hard way and then becoming good enough at it to be able to make a living from it. It would be a bit like cashiers in the supermarket being made redundant by being replaced with self checkouts.
@@SuperMeatHands But the use of these tools doesn't make their abilities somehow invalid. It just means that they are more talented and well versed than those who use these tools. They can likely produce better output than anything this video shows, not to mention they too can use these methods to make their process faster and focus their abilities on improvements. Its about working smarter, not harder. Just because it can be done the hard way, doesn't mean it should be done that way, and it doesn't give people who do it the hard the right to shit all over others who don't.
@@Enocia If you perfected a skill the hard way it absolutely does translate doing it the faster way. They'd probably make the best pixel art using this new method.
@@Enocia Umm... skill becomes an issue. I mean these tools should be used to innovate not to make us lazy. I agree that these tools should be utilized but that goes without ignorance because ignoring the "hard way" leads to worse results. This goes with other creative fields. By your logic, I'm guessing you side with A.I.? Yes it is working smarter, not harder, but how the hell do you expect someone to "smart" without even "knowing" other factors. It adds to your limitations because of ignorance, it doesn't make you any better at certain points. Why else do people get scammed sometimes. "Just because it can be done the hard way, doesn't mean it should be done that way" spoiled brats exist because of this same logic. Hell you don't even KNOW why people who are offended are mad.
nice to have these tecniques in one place as a video. 👍
For pixel illustrations krita and Photoshop looks so powerful and unbelievable, but I still miss a good tool for animating npcs goodly like aseprite. Thanks to you now I know how I can draw most of backgrounds and scenarios for my games without spending alot of time on it, I didnt expect photoshop could do all this magic with less clicks.
I'm amateur at doing digital art work, so finding techniques like these is tremendously helpful. Thanks.
Glad it was helpful!
Thank you for this video! I never knew how indie devs achieved quality art from 3 day game jams until I saw this. Yeah, it is a shortcut but anything goes if you want to release games quickly.
Game dev is extremely difficult and time consuming, the more you save time the better
Glad you enjoyed it!
Thanks a lot for your time making this video!! I can't wait to experiment with this!! :)
Color IO no longer exports LUTs for free, it seems 😟 Do you know of another way to convert palette swatches into LUTs for the Photopea "nearest color" palettization approach? I can't seem to find any...
Ouch... another folk recommended lut creator js here in the comments, you can try that one
Thank you, great video! This is exactly what i was looking for.
I've been working as a dedicated pixel artist for about 8 years and I find all of these techniques very, very useful yet a bit niche to use on a regular day of work.
I would say as long as you, as an artist, focus on always improving your fundamentals whatever you do to speed up the results is perfectly valid.
Although I have to say Aseprite may be the go to for most artists on a regular day, contrary of what it looks like on the video Aseprite is really, really powerful when it comes to pixel art.
Thanks for the Comment! I agree with you, Aseprite is a good software.
The purpose here is to widen the horizon of pixel artists who want to improve their productivity/experimentation but are still thinking Aseprite has absolutely everything (which is not the case)
I'd argue that these techniques are less niche than they seem at first glance. With some practice, these can help with art in most styles.
For example: th-cam.com/video/recdxxc3Cpk/w-d-xo.htmlsi=uB44PgRrnLS4ZPJT
I would have loved to see you bring up the topic of doing these effects not in the art tool, but directly in the games shaders. Writing your own shaders where it takes either individual sprites or the entire screen and adds these effects at runtime opens a whole new world of possibilities, like light sources, shadows etc also being accounted for in the dithering.
Thanks for the feedback! That's true, I could have demonstrated how to create bump/normal maps, which would allow for in-engine effects later on.
Perhaps on a next video : )
Please make this process for UE5!! Pretty please 😢 @@Zizaco
*HOLY* 😮
This is revolutionary, i'm definitely going to use this to speed up the process
I can use Photoshop and krita just fine luckily
Asprite is just too old, too simple and too slow to get things done
Thanks for sharing 👍🏻
I fell in love with programming thanks to your videos 😆🙃
All your videos are beautiful but this one is amazing💯, thank you very much😃😃🙌
I'm glad to hear that! Thanks
Just getting started in game dev and 3D modeling
Avid gamer have been for 20 years, when I was a kid would love to play with clay and make figurines.
What is the biggest word of advise for some getting into 3D isometric game design and art?
Cool! I love isometric games and I used to make figurines as well! Since I haven't released a successful game yet, my advice is just opinion.
I suggest creating small projects with a deliverable that you can post for others to see. These can be on Art Station, Deviant Art, Instagram, TH-cam, etc. This sort of commitment can help you progress!
Seems like I'll have to thank the TH-cam algorithm...and you of course! Awesome videos :D
Those "illegal" pixel art techniques are available in all game engines xD
Yes. By then you can't draw/create/iterate on the art piece while these non-destructive effects take place.
Here I show how to make them part of the workflow during creation.
Indeed it is nice to have these done in-engine too for more stylized graphics. :)
Shaders and drawing aren't the same thing bro.
Bro roasted Aseprite in every way possible
Bro technique 1 simply mindly blowing extraordinary fantastic!!
Glad you liked it! Thank @danfessler8945 for that : )
thanks these tricks will be helpful in making video games in future 😊👍
I bought aseprite specifically for index painting... Didn't know the same thing but better can be achieved with a couple of effect layers.
I know right? I created this video specifically because people don't talk about this so often.
BTW: If you want to have exact colors like traditional non-HD Index Painting, in Krita you can use the plain index-color filter docs.krita.org/en/reference_manual/filters/artistic.html#index-color
I was waiting for this video! You're my hero!
Hope you enjoyed it!
@@Zizaco absolutely! The techniques are impressive and the PSD's will help a lot! Ty!
I swear i cant find any info online on Non-destructive palletization. Where i can read more? and is it possible in clip studio paint?
I haven't used clip studio paint myself. But I think it should be possible using some sort of posterization + lookup table (LUT)
this is the best ch about pixel art omg
Nice! It's cool to see these kinds of options for pixel art. I'm a full Aseprite user and the major reason I remain there is because of familiarity and animation. Animation is extremely easy and intuitive in aseprite (unlike photoshop, don't know about Krita). But these techniques certainly look awesome, I see a lot of benefit for sprite makers. I just create art and simple animations, rarely sprites (only for commissions), but I can see Krita being a big help.
Photoshop on the other hand... if you legally pay for it, then the cost of it is too high (since Aseprite is 20 USD only payment, and you can use tons of free scripts made by users to speed your process).
I agree with you. As you said, there's nothing wrong with a workflow comprised of more than one software.
It's hard to justify the price of Photoshop these days. That's why I switched from to Photopea.
Bless you, bro. You've saved me time and money I'm unable to calculate right now.
: D
You‘re awesome. Thanks for making this video, it helped me a lot.
Glad it helped!
how can i convert a lospec palette into a photoshop lut? i don't see where to input any of the palette files from lospec into the color io lut converter, and i couldn't find any intermediate steps on how to achieve this. thanks
Here are the steps:
1. Take a "Base Color Lut" png image that you can find online.
2. I palettized the base lut image using indexed color mode in photoshop: helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/customizing-indexed-color-tables.html (predefined color table -> custom. Pick the colors from the lospec palette)
3. Save the palletized lut png
4. Use color.io/free-online-lut-converter "add LUT" to load your png and export it as a photoshop LUT file.
@@Zizaco hey thanks so much! i found one called lut creator js, they can do the same and it seems to work out in the same manner. maybe you can do a short or something and explain it because is a technique i'm loving and i can see many people using it, and you can use LUTs even in after effects and nuke and stuff. thanks so much for your tutorials, love them, salute!
a few days ago I bought Aseprite and now I just found this channel 0_0
Ouch! Sorry
Hey, can I get those files? I filled out the form but no response. I really just want to know what size and pixel density you're working on.
I'm so happy i chose krita because it was free...
One of the completely free alternatives that's actually worth it...
I'll still get aseprite in the future though...
Great! Thanks for sharing! 🙏
Glad you liked it!
Waaaaaaay better than spending countless hours making a little ship or just a bush... Gonna start using these techniques ASAP!
This is fking incredible. Like i feel like this changes everything for me and my game dev journey. It allows me to be fast and iffecient with loads of iterative brain storming.
I'm glad it was helpful! : )
how did u get live color pallete
i like how its a tool that helps rather than doing everything for me
How i manage to use this technique to the characters like Colossi in Shadow of the Colossus? The original source have its already limited color palettes and one thing that being the biggest problem is, the colossi have so muuuch hair/fur all over the body (for some of them), how could i manage to animate it with pixel art? Any (secret magic) idea?
Animating detailed 2D art pieces is unpractical in many ways. That's not exclusive to pixel art.
We don't see much oil/digital painting style animation, and when we do, it's through skeletal animation (like Spine2D), which is not suitable for pixel art.
So, to answer your question, I recommend making less detailed pixel art if you want to animate it.
@BaMAnimation is a traditional 2D art channel that discusses this, and how character design for animations should ideally be less detailed.
Also, if you want more details, I have another video in which I use these techniques to animate a character in the Metal Slug style.
Which is best for pixel art 2d rpg game software ?
I learned so much with this video, big thanks. I was wondering did you get hate/dislike for making this?
This is an amazing resource. Thank you
Glad it was helpful!
When I heard 'controversy' mentioned at the beginning, I was expecting something along the lines of 'Retro diffusion' or 'PixelLab'... I felt a bit disappointed when the video ended without mentioning either of them XD
Apart from those, there are also other less common techniques and programs for pixel art, like using Blender with certain nodes, or programs like PixelOver, Spritemancer, BitmapFlow, etc.
Nice video by the way! I didn't know you could do that in Krita too, I'm loving that software more and more each time! :D
The ones you mentioned are even more controversial, indeed! Haha.
The main difference would be that using Blender or Retro Diffusion are more than just "techniques", it's complicated but I would say they are a different discipline altogether (3d art and AI/prompt respectively).
PixelOver in the other hand is kind of similar to what I show here (posterization, color indexing, dithering, outline, layer effects).
Thanks!
@@Zizaco Yeah, that's for sure ^^
I just mentioned them because they can also be used to achieve (maybe not "pure pixel art", but anyway) pixel art results. Results wich, may be used as a base, inspiration, or just polished later in your preferred pixel friendly drawing software :)
Bro this is SO HUGE LIFESAVER FOR ME! I absolutely ADORE pixel art but it's surprisingly very difficult and I want to make a small platformer game with pixel art graphics for a school project (I'm studying to graduate as animator & graphics designer for games)
It's true. Pixel art can be really difficult.
Glad I could help!
Are the PSDs and Krita files still available? I followed the link and filled out the form but never got an email.
Dude, this was amazing
thanks!
this is really usefull! if i had money id give some to you ma man, thanks!
Interesting. Some of this thechnique can be a used in Clip Studio Paint?
I don't own Clip Studio Paint, so I don't know for sure.
But I think it is possible. Check this out: www.reddit.com/r/PixelArt/comments/12g7r09/practice_experimenting_with_hd_index_painting/
i saw this thing in the other video, at 9:01, and i really wanted to ask what or how it is happening, the ground being draw like that. and the character as well.
Yeah, it was Layer Effects: Inner Shadow + Outline + Outer Glow (for the white outline in characters)
: )
Great vídeo as always! 😊
This is fantastic, i just sub because of this video alone. I would love to learn more about these techniques especially with krita, please do more videos like this.
I will! I have been experimenting with animations in Krita and I'm about to drop a video showing it in action : )
There you go: th-cam.com/video/recdxxc3Cpk/w-d-xo.html :)
This is such a time saver for me! I'm not a pixel artist but want to create pixel art for my indie game while mainly focusing on the game design aspect of my games for my portfolio.
I'm glad that you found it helpful
man i love aseprite cuz its lightweight and has generally really snappy UX (e.g. minimal popup confirmation windows, single click drag 'n' release sliders with less keypresses, etc) but i really wish we could get some of those non-destructive effects, especially outline seems like a no-brainer
I know right? Non-destructive outline seems like the easiest one to implement. Maybe we'll see it in aseprite one day. 🤞
@@ashpraterpiano yeh that's a nice shortcut, but it's still destructive - as in it alters the sprite you're editing by applying the outline directly on-top of it. You can sorta work around it by duplicating the sprite on another layer before you make the outline but it'd be nice if u could draw new pixels and have the outline effect automatically applied to the new pixels too because the outline effect is applied aye
The outline is destructive in Aseprite. If you change the shape (like 11:26), you have to either fix it manually or remove and regenerate it.
If you have a more complex outline such as "black, white, shadow", you cannot simply draw and have the outline updated automatically like in 9:03 (which IMO is a huge time saver)
The Non-Destructive layer effects mean that the outline is a "real-time filter" (but you still can right-click > "rasterize" if you want to be destructive like in Aseprite).
@@ashpraterpiano It seems like people have been requesting this since 2021: community.aseprite.org/t/auto-outline-layer-setting/11427
very cool video!
Thank you! Cheers!
Anything on gimp? I learned on Photoshop back in highschool. But i don't run windows anymore. And i don't like how PS went to a monthly subscription thing. I'm messing with krita, so i guess im swapping to that now.
I tried gimp a long time ago, and I felt that it was inferior to Krita, photoshop and photopea by a lot.
I remember that the layer styles were very limited in gimp.
I would recommend using Krita if you want to go with OSS
@@Zizaco that was my impression of it. I haven't used Photoshop since 7. But I do miss the opacity sliders. Those came in really handy with layers, and using the dodge and burn tools. Sometimes they would lay down too much and you could use the opacity sliders to adjust it down to where you want. Gimp may have something like that, but I haven't found it. I mainly use it to enhance photos. But when I was using Photoshop 7 I was drawing with a graphics tablet. Which brings up another issue with gimp. It doesn't seem to recognize stylus pressure like Photoshop. It just lays down the same line weight all the time weather you're drawing light or heavy with the stylus. I really miss that in Photoshop too. But I'm not paying a monthly subscription for a program that I owned in highschool just because they changed the name and got greedy.
I feel you. I've used Photoshop 7 for years, it's a classic!
All the "CS" versions didn't had enough features to justify the upgrade.
I'm currently paying for Photopea as it's a way to support the creator. Krita is also a great option.
@@Zizaco interesting fact. Photoshop was made specifically to do the water tentacle scene in The Abyss. The guys doing the special effects had to program their own tools to do the effect because one that could do that didn't exist. After the movie was made, they cleaned up and refined their program they made to do the surfacing, and Photoshop was born.
I didn't know that! Thanks
I need to know how to do this in gimp please
I spent some time trying to do this in gimp, but I couldn't get it working. Unfortunately, my recommendation is to use Krita instead.
Great video!
Thanks!
Hello! I've been thinking about getting into pixel art since I'm currently studying computer programming and game development, but I don't have a whole lot of resources. I noticed that you mentioned Krita a lot in this tutorial, is that a good one to use for a beginner? I really don't want to jump into something that has way too many options and buttons but I also heard that Krita was a free option for beginners. What do you think? I hope I'm not bothering you for this comment.
Hey. Krita definitely has too many options and buttons! 😅 But it is VERSATILE. You can use it for all things 2d art related, not only pixel art. So it's a worthwhile investment in the long run. Those who know how to use Krita or Photoshop rarely "downgrade" to dedicated pixel art software like Aseprite.
If you are looking for a simple and easy to get started, then Aseprite (or Libresprite, which is free) can be a good choice. They are more limited, and not as versatile as Krita, but at least they are SIMPLE and quick to learn.
Don't worry, you are not bothering me in any way.
Best of luck on your journey! : )
@@Zizaco Thank you! I've been looking over Krita and a few other options I think I'll go with Krita! I know there's definitely a learning curve but I'm willing to learn so that I can just stick with it in the future!
Also, thanks for reply, I wasn't sure if you would so soon considering you might be busy! I'm glad I get to start doing this and I also with the best of luck to you in whatever projects you're working on now!
Awesome channel!
Wait, somebody was complaining that you were pronouncing Aseprite as "Ay-Sprite"? I mean, the name is a pun on Ace and Sprite, so..... Your pronunciation is one of the few on point ones i've ever seen!
But can you do HD index painting in Clip Studio? That's the biggie here for me.
I think it's possible. Check this out: www.reddit.com/r/PixelArt/comments/12g7r09/practice_experimenting_with_hd_index_painting/
@@Zizaco Thanks!
What resolution do you suggest starting with, before applying any of these techniques?
These will work with any resolution. So pick the one you prefer (or the one you favorite games use : ))
No problem, thanks for the knowledge
Thank you for showing me this video before I could even think about buying aseprite. For a program that's supposedly made for pixel art, it's extremely limited in its support for it.
This isn't necessarily true. Aseprite is still a strong program. Using a photo editing program to edit artwork, of course, would be helpful. Each program serves a purpose
I hope I learn many new Asprite techniques in this video
ops 😅
I'm getting into the world of pixel art. I use Krita for digital paintings. I was considering buying Aseprite; is it worth it?
I don't know, but since you are already familiar with Krita then you could first look for resources on how to do pixel-art in krita before buying another software. (GDquest has great videos on Krita for pixel art and godot)
You can also try LibreSprite which is a free version of aseprite to see if you like it over krita.
Great video! And I totally agree, to use different tools, technologies, softwares etc to make our work quicker and easier. I don't see any point of not using the current tools/techniques that are evolving every day. As a indie developer, is very hard to master all the things that we need. For quick prototyping/tests etc is perfect and why not in a final product if is looking good. Work smarter not harder!
Well said!
If you are a professional in the Industry and there is a Tool or Technic that saves time, you will buy or use it. Period.
There is nothing worse for your pixel art than "traditional notions!"
People who are angry at those who use these techniques are the same people who bash artists for using references or 3D mockups.
wow I'm surprised krita is free with how versatile it is
Thank you for the video :)
You're welcome!
are these techniques non-destructive?
really cool video btw
Yes : )
thanks
question about animation:
After this I may convert back to using Krita after seeing these awesome techniques, but the whole reason I converted to Aesprite in the first place is I liked the way they handled pixel art animation more than Krita. Are there similar pixel art techniques one can use in Krita to make its animation more smooth for pixel art? I could always bring a character over from Krita to Aesprite, but it seems cumbersome especially if the animation frames also don't dynamically update.
I haven't delved too deep into Krita's animation features yet, but I've come across some some YT videos showcasing its capabilities. I believe there's even a plugin for exporting sprite sheets directly.
While I haven't tested these filters and techniques with animations, my guess is they should work just fine.
It's possible that the ND Pixelation will be helpful with subpixel animations 🤔 I'll definitely give it a go myself to see how it turns out!
@Zizaco Thanks so much! I really appreciate these videos they are very helpful.
I haven't looked too much into the plugins with sprite sheets in Krita I'll have to check that out.
Hey @langstonian9364
I just released a video of me animating in Krita. Check out!
You are totally right. tools and tecniques are just that. You still have to have the knowledge required behiand them. Art fundamentals still apply and you have to know them and that is what makes the difference. But there is no professional artist in games, films, comic book or any other industry that doesn't use all the tecniques and tools available to to make the job done faster and easier. You have to know how it is done without shortcuts, but once you know it, using those shorcuts is the right thing to do. A simple question, Is a traditional painter nowadays a fake if he or she doesn't create their own pigments out of natural elements obtained with there own hands from nature? If you enjoy the process of laying down pixels 1 by 1 is perfectly ok, but the end result probalby will not differ from someone that uses a selection tool and duplicates a bunch of pixels. Study and practice art fundamentals, then use any weapon at your disposal to make real your art vision. In pixel art or any other art form. Thanks so much for the video 😊. There is so much misinformation and a bad understanding of what professional artists do.
Great! Thanks for sharing.
Technology is beautiful.
Doesnt sound illegal to me its just a technique but its super informative to learn this since I always only drew on my own on pixel art and was wondering how other pixelartists are archiving this kind of look so fast.
I know right!? 💀 But some folks think these techniques are some sort of heresy! That's why it's hard to find people admitting to using them
I'm planning to make a Classic 2D Sonic fangame and these techniques may come in handy! Drawing out all of the chunks and backgrounds would be a chore without this kind of stuff. At the moment, I primarily use Aseprite, but this video has inspired me to familiarise myself more with Krita. I find it funny how despite the fact that Aseprite is mentioned in this video, it cannot be used to perform any of the techniques shown but I believe it still has its use in lightweight image editing as it has a relatively very fast start up time. Great stuff!
I'm glad you found this useful! I mentioned Aseprite because many pixel artists start with it, and I wanted to make them aware of lesser-known techniques.
Indeed aseprite can be used alongside krita. For instance, a workflow that starts in krita and then uses aseprite aseprite for the final per-pixel details. : )
The video i've been waiting for is finally here!
I hope you find it helpful :)
thank you for sharing this technique in a concise manner. It would help with the production faster for Gamedev. I notice this technique is good for from hi-res to low-res and Aseprite is from bottom's up. Been on Aseprite from using Photoshop and Krita. what I like about Aseperite is the animation. You can take any gif, open in Aseprite and trace on top of the gif which I really like If you're a amateur animator. Its a tool anyways and depends on artist themselves. thank you for sharing again.
Good point!
I haven't done much in terms of animation yet (I mostly animate things in-engine), so I don't know the distinctions of krita vs aseprite for animations. But it seems like krita is not to shabby when it comes to animations. Search for "Krita animation workflow" and let me know what you think.
Hey @shikasketchbook7610
I just droppeda video of me animating in Krita. Check out!
remember, doing pixel art im the present day - it's often thought of as a way to make content creation easier? ; - ) than drawing hd, or in 3d. but if the workflow is TOO complex, it might not be
great content. BUT!!!!! dude, whats the name of your game and where to get it? this should be in the description. it looks amazing.
Thanks!
You can try the games on zizaco.itch.io/
This is exactly what I was looking for, thank you for providing files.
I'm curious, does Krita have a quick custom brush Ctrl+B option like Aseprite? If so, I might as well switch to Krita completely for pixel art since I use that a lot anyway for digital painting.
You're welcome!
Yes it does. It is the freehand tool. You can see it in action here: th-cam.com/video/OmnpKQITm3I/w-d-xo.htmlsi=t6Opz5q0OyE8MQkc&t=353 (5:53)
Hey, great video! I'm working on a 3D game and I only care about 64x64 environment textures, I don't need character illustrations or scenery paintings whatsoever. Are these still better than using aseprite? Can you make a video about textures?
In my opinion these techniques work even better for detailed textures and backgrounds. I don't know about 64x64, which is quite small. Maybe you can give it a go and see if you think it helps.
Example: twitter.com/DanFessler/status/1022603667189334016
Yes I figured something out in Krita, using my pre-existing brush collection for foliage it works wonders. I don't think I will be using aseprite anymore XD@@Zizaco Also I filled the form, I'm waiting for your e-mail.
I just saw your message, did you got my email?
Aseprite is simply over hyped
I've been learning digital painting for a decade. Professionals do and teach some kind of this technique left and right. So it kind of surprised me that in pixel art, this thing is taboo. 😂😂😂😂
It's funny considering most of the 2D artists in my gamedev group use pixel art because they want it fast or because they can't do hand-drawn art well. (Obviously, you need to practice at least a month before it looks decent.)
I assume this only happened in recent years ...
So yeah, in the end, everything becomes a cult, even if something that was born because of convenience.
on of the best video that iv watch so far for pixel art... full of important info+ SHOWING how to do stuff + funny jokes
Cool. I'm glad you found it useful : )
Awesome video! I would be really interested if you would make a video outlining the techniques you used for programming the enemy AI in your Mario game. The Mario boss AI looks so good and really seems to have a life of its own. I just can't wrap my head around how to get past the simple "ping-pong" AI and take it to the next level. Any suggestions/recommendations would be super appreciated! Especially if you did a video on the topic. Thanks so much for all you've been sharing with the community.
I didn't think much of it at the time, but I guess the simple AI that I made is not that bad. 😅
Great suggestion! I'll make a video on that.
@@Zizacothanks so much. I’ve been using construct for years, but I always struggle to make good interactive AI for my enemies. Yours look and act and feel amazing and alive!
I just bought aseprite, just to learn pixel art. Dang.
Should have just seen this video and went strait to krita.
He's not saying you should get rid of aseprite you can still use aseprite to design pixel characters more efficiently, it's just these tips make the extra details easier to incorporate in your art, so stick with both
The pros from back then, you know, the ones living and coding and creating in a low tech world, the 80s,90s,00s would have used this without batting an eye.
When you see old Street Fighter or Darkstalkers art, it wasn't immediately done in a pixel program, no, they actually drew them as paper animation cels first, scanned those, shrank them etc.
They did everything they could to make their work easier, it just happened that 'easier' back then is now considered 'painstaking' or 'budget breaking'
(many couldn't even use their home computers for development and had to use workstations)
There is something true about 'limitation breeds creativity', but all great painters, especially those from the renaissance, had few limits, at least if they were able to afford the tools, the pigments, oils, etc and they still created mind blowing artworks.
To create something good... it ultimately is the diligence AND the personal artistic view of the artist who does it.
Anyway, tl; dr: I'd say 99% of all oldschool old people game devs and artists would have leaped for joy at the tools we have today and would consider none of them 'cheating'.
There was something that I saw once where it was shown that Mario was drawn normally on a Graph Paper, round edges and all, then later when passing it to computer they would manually "paint" each pixel using the graph paper as a "map". And it took a long time,