WIP bottle

[Immolate]

Originally Posted by Dnegel

Your probably saved it as a JPEG? Which makes the graphics blurry like when zoomed in, save as PNG.

And try getting Gimp 2.6, amazing program and 100 % free.

This has already been resolved?

[Liberated]

well, i wanted to make a glass bottle myself, in the hope you could get some tips from it by looking at it, i figured this would be better cuz i suck at C&C, the bottle didn't turn out too great, but here's a few tips.

1) The glass is more reflective near the edges, because it is thicker there,
2) Like the other people said, the highlight curves with the neck.
3)Try not to have lines on the inside to show the top of the bottom of the bottle/glass, or where the fluid that's inside it ends.
4)The bottom of the bottle is darker, because there is only a table/ground below there, and that doesnt really allow alot of light to come through, unlike the air behind the rest.
5) What i didn't really pay attention to, glass has alot of highlights, and mostly at corners, because at corners there is usually an angle that reflects the light directly, or more intensely into your eye.

I know my bottle didn't turn out too great, especially the perspective, but i hope the shading helps a bit.

12 colors used: 6 for the blue, 6 for the pink.

Pixelart:
Why do people use so little colors for it? That's how pixelart originated, it's from those old game consoles and computers, that only had a certain amount of bits usable for colors, which usually restricted color use to only a few colors, which let to the optimization of colors, which is still used by alot of people that make pixelart today. Their goal, make things look as good as possible, with as little possible colors.
It also requiers different techniques, like dithering, that make pixel art more interesting, but that are only used because of the color restrictions.

[Imperialistic]

Looks like the bottom of that first bottle is too pointed and not enough round curve to it.

[Liberated]

Originally Posted by Imperialistic

Looks like the bottom of that first bottle is too pointed and not enough round curve to it.

thank you, couldn't lay my finger on what the problem was, fixed now.

[Imperialistic]

Looks good to me now, its the shine on the blue bottle that goes straight up which is a bit stange.

Maybe this attached picture can help:

[alarid0]

Originally Posted by DustyPorViva

color-count DOES matter. Why? Because if you manage your palette, it ends up less work for you. You no longer need to constantly pick new colors as you can just eyedrop a nearby color off the picture or palette that you need. It's just easier and faster to use existing colors than it is to create them.

First off I want to say that this is more talking about pixel vs brush work in general, if you want me to take this out and move it to it's own thread let me know.

Still, I've got to point at what Dusty posted so it doesn't get drowned. It needs more emphasis. He is dead on with what he's saying. It's true in a single sprite piece, but *especially* if you are making multiple sprites *ESPECIALLY* if those are are animated, your going to be in a world of hurt if you try and create it with dozens of colors.

You have much more control if you use fewer colors. It's easier to keep consistent with the contrast & where the blocks of light and shadow are. If you take a picture out of focus you will start to see where the major portions of color and light are; controlling and adjusting these are monumentally easier when your dealing with a few colors and not a painted image.



Here's something I did 4 years ago. (ignore the dangly bit on the wings ) It looks nice and smooth, but the coloring on it was done completely with the paintbrush tool. Each frame is impossible to keep completely consistent with the last. If you look at each one, the contrast is actually a little different in every single frame. It takes more work to keep it flowing through the entire thing and if I were to finish it as it is, this would be a nightmare. It wouldnt be an issue if I pixeled it.

I'll agree that if you know what your doing its usually easier to work with a smaller pallete no matter what the scope is, but it isn't as crucial in single sprites as it is with animated pieces. Still, if you ever hope to try making something big and animated working with a smaller color count isn't a skill that will come instantly.

About the bottle, there are only a few different colors that I can easily discern. It would look *exactly* the same if it was made with 6 MAYBE 7 colors.

Edit: In defense of digital painting, I'm not always a hardcore pixel pusher. I still do paint stuff half the time.

[Stephen]

Originally Posted by alarid0

Aw Alarid, when I see your mastery it makes me just goop up and gush inside. So beautiful.

[Elk]

thats not bad alarid even though it has some lightning issues on the backside of the wing xD

[Dnegel]

That looks sweet.

[Imperialistic]

Originally Posted by Elk

thats not bad alarid even though it has some lightning issues on the backside of the wing xD

well no one is as perfect as you elk

[alarid0]

Originally Posted by Elk

thats not bad alarid even though it has some lightning issues on the backside of the wing xD

Originally Posted by Imperialistic

well no one is as perfect as you elk

No, Elk is right... and he's pointing out exactly what I was trying to show, it's the whole reason I brought the animation into the thread

Edit:
To show it a little better I whipped this up.

From one frame to the next it doesn't look too bad, I tried bumping up the contrast and watching the animation as a whole but it isn't very drastic. If you look at the change that happens over time, though, you'll see that the wing goes from being very light to very dark.