Hello (potentional) spriter and welcome to the McLeodgaming Spriting Tutorial Platform. Over the last couple of days I've been thinking about making a sprite tutorial to support the community. In the end I have decided to change my approach and instead pour my effort into creating a platform that promotes promising, excisting tutorials for you to read.

First off I want you to know that even if you read all these tutorials you still won't become an expierenced spriter overnight. These tutorials are ment to give you insight in the techniques and the steps that you will require in your spriting progress. They will shed light on the tools you will be using, but as Charles Darwin always said; "It takes a long time to get good at something." Disclaimer: Charles Darwin possibly never actually said that.

Have you found a tutorial that you think could serve the spriting community? Post it here and I'll add it!


Derek's Pixel Art Tutorial

Derek's (creator of Aquaria, Eternal Daughter and Spelunky) tutorial for pixel art. The tutorial covers the basic steps one needs to know while making a sprite. I highly suggest starting with this tutorial and getting used to spriting in a set process like this (it allows you to track your progress of each step much more efficiently). The tutorial will go in-depth about lineart and shading, both of which pretty much form the core of spriting. I suggest starting out with this tutorial to make yourself familair with the concept of spriting as it covers the foundation of pixel art pretty well.

2dwillneverdie's basic sprite tutorial

Basically the same as Derek's tutorial, but with a few more tricks about gimp and photoshop thrown in. This might be helpful if you plan on using said programs. Take note, however, that both this and Derek's tutorial start off with a drawing which they'll turn into pixelart. This step isn't required, as you may prefer to just draw directly in paint to create your lineart. For this, I suggest reading the tips about lines, AA-ing and jagged curves in the tutorials to get a good grip on lines. Aside from that it's usually a process of trial and error.

Mark's Tutorial on Shading

Exactly what it says on the can. A very nice read if you want to get a grasp on the basic of shading.

tSR's Spriting Dictionary

While it may seem silly to read a dictionary to get better at spriting, tSR's Spriting Dictionary covers a large range of therms that people may throw at you when they give you feedback. Understanding these therms will speed up your process to become a full fledged spriter. The tutorial also shows some examples of how shading effects materials, which is something cool in keep in mind when colouring your pixels.

Card Sagas Wars' Spriting Tutorial

A tutorial by celebrated spriters Ahuron and Orkmides (Card Sagas Wars, Card Gallery) that details their creative process when making the Card Gallery sprites. Unfortunately, the tutorial is only in Spanish, so you'll have to either speak that language or settle for a slightly awkward Google Translation. As you see however, the steps are exactly the same as detailed in any other tutorial. The two shed more light on tips and techniques while spriting straight from scratch as opposing to tracing drawings though.


PixelJoint: The Pixel Art Tutorial

And expansive and in depth tutorial that covers the range of the therm 'Pixel Art' as well as most advanced therms. The entire tutorial is backed up by various pictures so that you can see some of the techniques in action. I suggest you read this after you've got the hang of basic lineart and shading techniques to go further in-depth about the techniques you use while spriting.

2Dwillneverdie on Sub Pixeling

A consistent problem in pixel art is that sprites often fail to convey the most subtle of movements in a similair vein to 3D models; movement of only 1 pixel in a direction can often already feel too harsh. In comes a technique known as sub-pixeling...

A few tips from me to you:
-When starting out, find a comfortable size to work with. When you start with spriting you usually don't want to start too small so you have more room to control the detailing and shading. Getting the hang of most techniques is easier to do if you start with sprites of a larger size. Find a comfortable size to work with and expiriment with the size as time goes on.
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-Never hesitate to post your work in progress on this site. We, the community, love to see more people joining in and getting better as time passes. In the beginning you might feel like you're only getting negative feedback, but you'll see that as time passes your work will get better. If you don't understand someone's feedback, ask them to eleborate on it, or if they can show you what they mean. If, by any chance, you feel that someone's feedback is uneccesarily harsh and out of line, I suggest you contact a moderator.
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-Give yourself the room and the time to improve. You won't be an excellent spriter in 2 days, 2 weeks or even 2 years. If you want to sprite then be aware that it's simply going to take time and practise. Be proud of the progress that you make and don't feel bad that others might be better.
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-Collect and consult a reference map. If you come across a good piece of pixel art I suggest you save it and put it in a reference map for later reviewing. You might find knowledge in someone else's techniques. Learn from others to create your own personal style, but pick your reference wisely; for example I suggest against using reference portraying the same thing that you're spriting. Example: Let's say you're spriting Mario, I would advise again using other Mario sprites as reference, because you may acidentally make your Mario to similair to your reference. Your aim is to learn of someone else's art and not copy it.
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-There are no magic tutorials that will make you a better spriter. The best way to improve would be to read these tutorials once and then practise, practise, practise.

Thank you for taking the time to read this topic. I hope you've picked up a couple of cool bits of knowledge that will help you on your way. And remember: Your spriting is like Evolution; it adapts based on its needs and surroundings. So don't feel bad if you feel like you're not improving on one aspect as much as you'd like, you're still growing regardless and we love you for it. Charles Darwin said that.

*applies sticky glue*

Here are two tutorials that can help with animating walk cycles;
http://www.manningkrull.com/pixel-art/walking.php
http://finalbossblues.com/walk-cycles-p1/

What 'bout attacks? do we just do the animating tutorial that comes with MUGEN or something?!?

new tutorial on sub pixeling added

Is this what you mean?

Tfw when you just find this. Gonna read every single one of 'em

ive noticed that all of the characters in ssf2 lack black outlines. Was that a design choice or does it have to do with programing?

The link for mark's tutorial on shading doesn't work.

cool