I actually need to do a bit more work for that, but nothing huge at all, it will probably be somewhat unnoticeable in the end.
Lighting is still the same but i like to keep it very subtle, notice how certain parts of the character are shaded differently, the chest armor, the shading on both pant legs, the boots, the helmet (bottom sides especially, green and yellow areas).
We're dealing with a small character template so there's no need to focus so much on that sort of thing, as i said in the other forum i will try making a small tut or sprite tips sheet that may help some.
Now that i remember i actually wrote down some tips on a thread long while back let me see if i can locate it.
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Here's the somewhat original post, i took off a line here and there, not fantastically helpful but i will work on something new soon.
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***Some simple tips for anyone looking to sprite on this template or any other.***
.Draw shadow under hair when and if you sprite any (look at example character).
.Don't be afraid to draw outside the outline, remember this when working on shirts and pants (look at example character).
.Use the darkest skin color of the template for your darkest shade if you want more contrast in certain spots.
.Keep your light source in mind, top left, top or top right (i'll be using top left).
.Don't use pure black for the most part, because it will stand out too much against other colors and the tilesets.
.Use more contrast between your main colors, by this i mean that you should be able to see the outline(s) for the hair clrearly against the base color of the hair, same for any other piece like clothing etc..
.Don't go too bright or use too much saturation, it will be up to you to make the call or open a thread asking for advice, all i can say is that it will look bad if you go overboard with this.
.Compare the template frontal and side when you begin working on side frames, notice how the arms, legs, body lines line up compared to the frontal.
.For the most part keep your lights, shadows and line work solid so we can tell what's really going on with the outfit you create.
.Follow the template shadows for certain pieces of clothing you make.
Try to keep it clean, take it slowly and keep it simple at the begining when working on the
outline, later on you can add more strands of hair (same for clothing) if you feel you need them.
thinking of the head/body as 3D will help you make better characters, save your work once in a while in case you can't undo enough times (thinking of MSpaint here)
When working with clothing that is not baggy stay pretty close to the outer lines of the template, this does not mean follow the lines exactly though, you should go over a few pixels here and there to make the clothing look more natural, try to stay away from the "painted on" mistake which i see many people do when starting out.
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