Drawing Your On Sprites, And Frame Timing

[giglamesh]

I'm planning on drawing some sprites for a ne fan-game concept i have, i got some skecthes prepared already and am about to transfer them over to digital ink (so-to-speak)

I have two questions that i need advice on

1. What programs would be the best to do this in, detail bieng key (or is MS paint sufficient?)

2. how many frames per action do i need (i noticed with sonic sprites it's usually 4, then the first 3 added on in revese order to make a full flowing action, so it goes 1, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2, 1.)

And and all advice / guidance is very much appreciated.

Thanks in Advance

[OverbounD]

The easiest way to start doing this since it doesn't sound like you have to much experience would be to look at sprite sheets and base your frames off that.

[giglamesh]

The easiest way to start doing this since it doesn't sound like you have to much experience would be to look at sprite sheets and base your frames off that.

[qimg]http://www.themysticalforestzone.com/sprites_2007_Damien/SONIC_archives/Sonic_1rip_Gibbo.gif[/qimg]

Not a lot of experience in spriting yeah, but i can draw so that's a plus, ok cool, thanks.

[Nitemare]

1. I prefer MS Paint, however if you're working from sketches a program with layer support might be of benefit.

2. Frames per action depends on how smooth you want your sprites to animate, 6-8 is ideal for a Sonic walking animation, however the last few frames are not repeats like you said, look closer, they swap the left or right leg/arm movement between forwards and backwards creating much more believable movement. If you were to simply re-order the original four frames it would look very jerky and backwards.

Creating good sprite animation is very difficult, I definitely recommended what Overbound said and look closey at similar sprites to your own at see how they've been animated. Heck, even breaking down other sprites to a skeletal structure and working over that is a good way to get started.

[Rawr]

Look up some basic animation principles while you are at it. How to do a walk cycle properly etc. You can translate those into your sprite animations.

[Serephim]

Graphicsgale is a great spriting program. Lightweight and to-the-point.

[justin123]

You can draw each frame on tracing paper and scan them one by one. Then use adobe illustrator to outline, color, and add effects to them.