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The Palette FAQ (Read 118883 times)

Started by Jesuszilla, August 23, 2010, 03:03:49 am
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The Palette FAQ
New #1  August 23, 2010, 03:03:49 am
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People seem to be forgetting these basic things these days.

Have no fear, for I am here to save you from the sin of ignorance (which is simply, "not knowing," so don't think I am choosing this word to be impolite).



What the fuck is a palette?
In layman's terms, a palette (.PAL or .ACT; M.U.G.E.N uses .ACT) is that little thing that makes Ryu white and Ken red, and it can be changed to make Ryu into Evil Ryu or Ken into Ryu, depending on how the colors are replaced. Every image of a character uses this in order to make changing colors simple and easy.

Can effects use it?
Of course! As long as they are indexed with the same palette file! You can even make them grayscale and use PalFX to color them in order to make a Skittles M&M McFlurry vomit of colors if you want!

What the fuck is color separation?
Color separation is when a creator chooses to "color" parts of a sprite differently so that each part is "separately" indexed. Hence the term, "color separation."

Cool! So is it possible to make different costumes using this?
Yes and no. This is why people color separate their characters.  It cannot add huge details that require adding things that stick beyond, such as adding a huge donkey ears to Ken or take away Mai's boobs in exchange for a giant flopping penis. It can, however, add a mask to Fei-Long, take off Yuri's panties, or give Ryo a beard! It depends on how you want to color separate your sprites. The more color separation, the more options you have with them.

Here is an example of what color separation can allow:


Alright, how do I get started?
There are several programs for creating palettes. The top 3 here (IMO) are:
  • Photoshop
  • Paint Shop Pro
  • Fighter Factory

So uh... how do I make something pretty?
Honestly, it depends on which sprites you're working with, but here are the general rules:
  • Each shade should have good amount of contrast with one another. This means don't have two shades that are nearly the same.
  • Inverted is not cool.
  • Using hue/saturation leads to fucking ugly shit. Don't do it unless you're either colorizing effects or making fun of someone like I did with Vans's Rage Rock.
  • Colorizing effects is generally done easiest by desaturating the image and then using hue/saturation to colorize it. In Photoshop, this is done by first going to Image→Adjustments→Desaturate and then Image→Adjustments→Hue/saturation, making sure to check the "Colorize" box.
  • Last but not least, study official sprites and palettes for best reference.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION THAT YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE MAKING YOUR SHITTY KULA DIAMOND/SHIN LVL. 2 AKUMA PALETTE:
  • Not all palettes for a character are necessarily interchangeable. You can't use palettes for N64Mario's Ryu on PotS's or Warusaki3's, for example. That is, unless the character sprites were taken from said author, in which case the readme better give fucking credit or they're a thief who should be thrown into a river and never come back out.
  • The background color is ALWAYS in the same slot. However, in Paint Shop Pro has it in the FIRST slot, whereas Photoshop uses it in the LAST slot (unless you're a programmer and can manipulate every file to do otherwise, in which case, you're a fucking idiot). If it's not one, it's the other. If you're unsure, open the palette files of multiple characters and put it together yourself, you should be smart enough to do that. Fighter Factory's uses Photoshop's palette layout (LAST color is background), FYI.

Also:

This is a Pallet:



This is a Palette:


This is Pallette:


They are all pronounced the same. Feel free to join me in a revolution to do otherwise, because English is a constantly "evolving" language that we can change!



Thank you, and enjoy making characters pretty (or ugly, if you're sadistic)!
Last Edit: February 22, 2016, 01:28:47 am by Jesuszilla
Re: The Palette FAQ
#2  August 23, 2010, 02:58:43 pm
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THANK YOU
Hopefully people will actually READ this topic too.

Please make a section about proper shading on the colors and choosing colors that fit together so we don't get more LOOK AT MY FUCKING ICHIGO type abominations.
My shitty mugen stuff:

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Re: The Palette FAQ
#3  August 23, 2010, 04:07:17 pm
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I colossally lol'd.
Re: The Palette FAQ
#4  August 23, 2010, 04:09:45 pm
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This is a great guide for palettes, I commend you for that. But, I don't see the same people who don't read the docs and release horribly paletted crap is going to read this. :-\

fucking bad poster asshole that home32 bitch
Re: The Palette FAQ
#5  August 23, 2010, 04:15:10 pm
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I found this amusing. Especially the "this is a pallet, this is a palette, this is pallette," part.

I used to make that mistake, but Anjel set me straight!
Re: The Palette FAQ
#6  August 23, 2010, 11:58:49 pm
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Sadly I expect the one random new person to read this and ask how does this help with making one.  --;
Card Sagas Wars > what ever you like.
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Re: The Palette FAQ
#7  August 24, 2010, 01:29:47 am
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after reading this tuto, I hope somebody will color seperate terry's pants having the rest of the leg in skin tone leaving the jeans only as a thong, as suggested by the sample.

BTW, color slot in PNG is in a reverse order to PCX, and photoshop's native palette is .aco to open or save palette in .act user has to choose it in drop down menu, otherwise it will be saved as .aco
Last Edit: August 24, 2010, 01:43:27 am by Kyojuu Tokusou Navetsea
Re: The Palette FAQ
#8  August 24, 2010, 07:42:43 pm
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photoshop's native palette is .aco to open or save palette in .act user has to choose it in drop down menu, otherwise it will be saved as .aco

no. photoshop's defaults for color tables is .act and .pal. the .aco extension is for swatches, which aren't necessary for what's being described in this thread.
Re: The Palette FAQ
#9  August 25, 2010, 12:12:53 am
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yeah, that's correct but still it is relevant if you want to open the palette as active palette to work on your sprite
Re: The Palette FAQ
#10  August 25, 2010, 12:50:59 am
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no?
Re: The Palette FAQ
#11  August 25, 2010, 11:23:11 am
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wouldn't you open the palette file as your color swatch, when working on a sprite, or you prefer color picking/ sampling on finished part? I prefer to open it as swatch, btw as opened swatch, we can not add new color to .act, while in .aco we can.

BTW, this tuto need details of implementation, or link to other in-depth tutos. 
Last Edit: August 25, 2010, 11:07:14 pm by Kyojuu Tokusou Navetsea
Re: The Palette FAQ
#12  August 25, 2010, 12:40:22 pm
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What? Swatches and palettes and... what? All I do is use the color table on photoshop which saves and loads .act. :(

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Re: The Palette FAQ
#13  August 25, 2010, 08:45:29 pm
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Re: The Palette FAQ
#14  August 25, 2010, 09:42:42 pm
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For a guy who has sprited hundreds of frames for an entirely original character, I'd rather think he's confused and perhaps you guys with more knowledge on such a tricky* subject should enlighten him, if you would be so kind.

Spoiler, click to toggle visibilty

MDD

Re: The Palette FAQ
#15  August 25, 2010, 10:16:20 pm
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Now someone needs add to this on how to color properly instead of make bright-ass outlines on the characters.
Re: The Palette FAQ
#16  August 25, 2010, 11:06:01 pm
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Re: The Palette FAQ
#17  August 25, 2010, 11:29:40 pm
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great thread plus one.

We need [E] here to share with us his palette separation methods.
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Re: The Palette FAQ
#18  August 25, 2010, 11:36:24 pm
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Now someone needs add to this on how to color properly instead of make bright-ass outlines on the characters.

if you use non pure black color it would make subtler outline, or leaving out outline on the bright part but it is not a palette issue then

MDD

Re: The Palette FAQ
#19  August 26, 2010, 12:06:43 am
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if you use non pure black color it would make subtler outline, or leaving out outline on the bright part but it is not a palette issue then
Dude, it can be a palette issue if the person sucks ass at making them. For example:

BAD.

Actually, if it's alright, i'm about to make a tutorial on how to make good palettes.
Re: The Palette FAQ
#20  August 26, 2010, 01:13:52 am
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There is the way I do my color separating in PHOTOSHOP.