Halberd <3 Could you teach me

'cause I’m tired of being a one pose wonder with half decent sprites.
Apprenticeship, please.

why not pm him? this doesnt need a topic

You know, the world would be a better place if I remembered there was a PM system.
Thanks. >_>
EDIT: On the other hand, if he acepts, this thread would be a great place for him to teach me, so that everyone else learns, too.

Lol. You want MY help?? I guess i’m honored, since your probably a better spriter than I am. Anyway, it depends on what you want. If you want fluid animations in general, then i’m probably not who to go to. On TSR, there are quite a few poor spriters with great animation skills. Anyhow, My MF style sprite’s running animations are Edits. It’s not realy anything special.

Instructions for Halberd style MF sprite sheets
Step 1: Starting off
Create the facing forward pose. I usually do this one completely custom, though I have some sprite sheets that are edited from the samus facing forward sprite (I intend to go back and make a custom, since the pose doesnt look natural for Kanden). You’ve already done this for Kanden, so that pose would be done.

Step 2: Side view
Secondly, make a side view pose. This would be the default standing pose, when aiming to either the left or the right. It’s recommended to make poses aiming to both the left, and right before continuing (though I usually to the right pose, and do the left later).
(optional)Might want to do step 9 here:

Step 3: recoloring
Now, here’s the kicker. Take MF (I generally use the SAX, since the Fuzion suit has more colors) or MZM (MZM is easier) samus sprite sheets, and paste them on your page. Now use Mass recoloring techinques, to change the pallette to match that of your sprite sheet. If you’re using more shades than are in the MF/MZM sprites, do the major ones, not including the very bright and very dark shades.
You’ll usually only need one of the running poses, so feel free to clear space by deleting the rest of the sprites (depending on which poses you want, you might keep poses like wallhangin etc)
-If your not sure how to do mass recolors, i’ll go and bump the topic

Step 4: pasting
Now, Copy the set of running poses. You generally want to keep a backup of the recolor at the bottom of the WIP sheet, in case you mess up. Take the on you’ll be using, and cut of their torsos, leaving only legs. Now cut and paste the torso of your character (spire, Kanden, etc…) ontop of the legs. Great.
That’s the easy part.

Step 5: Aiming
A Part of MF style is generally being able to change shooting direction (assuming your character uses projectile weaponry). This can generally be done custom, by editing the angle of the facing right/left poses firing arm. Generally, the 4 angles for aiming are: left/right, up, 45degree up (diagonal), 45degree down (diagonal). These poses are sometimes done after the running animations are edited, depending on preferrence. I recommend doing them first, so you wont lose motivation after editing the legs.

Step 6: Editing
This is the part that takes hours, depending on what your spriting, and depending on how much you’re relying on the style. If you really want to make your sprites accurate to the character, this can be a hell of a job. MF/MZM sprites have 10 running poses. You will have to edit the running poses to match the legs of the character. If you’ve already used mass recoloring techniques (step 3), then you’ve saved yourself about 45 minutes. Now,
A. My character has humanoid legs
Lucky you. All the work you have to do, is editing the legs to match the details and shape of those of your character. It takes a long time, but at least you know it’ll animate properly when it’s done.
B. My character doesnt have humanoid legs/run like a human
This can be a problem. This doesnt only require editing of the leg details, it can require editing of the actual leg poses themselves. This can vary from adding extra knee joints (creatures with double knees are a pain in the ass), or from changing the length of the stride to a jog. Either way takes knowledge of the creature you will be animating. Hopefully, I’ll be able to add a better explanation of the step in the future. Make sure to make extra copies of the legs, and place them at the bottom of the sheet, for the next step

Step 7: More pasting
This step is the same as step 4, only with the other aiming poses. Sometimes, you might want to do this step before editing, but I dont recommend it, since it will result in pasting edited legs over recolored legs, which feels redundant. Anyhow, paste the new torsos over the sets of edited legs.

Step 8: Because i’m a hypocrite
This is the one thing I advise you learn to do early, or you’ll regret it. When a character runs, their torso wont just stay still. You have to animate it properly. The arm/shoulders should bounce accordingly as the body goes up and down. I’m not exactly sure how to explain this, since i’ve never done it before, but you wont get as much out of the animation unless you do.
BUT…There is a way to avoid this for the most part. MZM samus’s torso doesnt move at all, but her arm swings back and forth as she runs. I beleive doing this could save you the hassle. I’m not sure which one’s harder, but it depends on the sprite and your personal preferance.

Step 9: Additional poses. This step can be done at anytime, whether you get tired of editing the leg animations, or if your just starting the sprite sheets. If you want your sprites to have some life, they wont just be aiming and running all the time. You might want to make additional sprites, such as:*means highly recommended
*Forward facing aiming: generally involves editing facing forward sprite
*Injured
Pointing
*Jumping
*Kneeling down: Aiming torsos will be pasted upon the knees for ducked aiming
Crawing??
Relaxed-facing sideways
Relaxed-facing forwards
Arms folded
edge hanging
wall clinging
head turned toward screen

There are also tons of additional character specific poses you might want to add. These depend on the character that you are doing.

That sums up about all my knowledge of MF/MZM style. This will be edited as I add/learn more. Thank you, and I hope i’ve helped.


Done

Lol. Has anyone even read this??? I didnt type it all so this thread could die.

i read it an it ws a good help :smiley: