Rules, links and resources

[Bastard Mami]

This is the Graphic Arts Section. As the name implies, you can post any sort of graphic artwork - sprites, hand drawn, CGs, 3D art. There are only a few guidelines you'd have to follow when posting your works.

• If your work contains nudity, violence or related things, put a warning and link the image instead of actually posting it. Please keep the board work-safe.
• Recolors and palette swaps are NOT considered graphic artwork. Their presence is not tolerated.

List taken from Pixelation/wayofthepixel, all credit on compiling this list goes to the Pixelation staff.

Original post
http://www.wayofthepixel.net/pixelation/index.php?topic=3467.0

Here is a collection of various links that will probably come in handy from time to time.
Please refer to this thread before requesting help finding a link or choosing a program, because chances are your answer is on this thread.
If you are willing to share anything, don't hesitate and post it here (do not chitchat on this thread if you have nothing to contribute though), but remember, illegal software or similar items are strictly forbidden.
Pixelation is not responsible for any content on the external links, so click at your own risk.


Tools

- Pixelling tools -

    * Adobe Photoshop - http://www.adobe.com/ - Windows  Mac
    * Aseprite - http://www.aseprite.org/ - $10/Demo - Windows
    * Allegro Sprite Editor -  http://ase.sourceforge.net/ - Free - Windows
    * Cosmigo ProMotion - http://cosmigo.com/promotion/index.php - Windows
    * GangEd (c64) - http://www.thegang.nu/releases.php?year=2005&type=4 - Free - Windows
    * GIMP - http://www.gimp.org/ - Free - Windows  Mac  Unix
    * Gpaint - http://sourceforge.net/projects/gpaint - Free - Unix
    * GraFX 2 Win32 - http://www.eclipse-game.com/?dat=7 - Free - Windows
    * GraphicsGale - http://www.humanbalance.net/gale/us/ - Free - Windows
    * Iconographer - http://www.mscape.com/products/iconographer.html - Mac
    * JDraw - http://www.j-domain.de/homepage.php?page=20 - Free - Java
    * KDE Icon Editor - http://w1.1358.telia.com/~u135800018/prog.html - Free - Unix
    * Krita - https://krita.org/ - Free - Windows Linux Mac
    * mtPaint - http://mtpaint.sourceforge.net/ - Free - Windows  Unix
    * Paint.NET - http://www.getpaint.net/index2.html - Free - Windows
    * Paint Shop Pro - http://www.corel.com/ - Windows
    * PD Pro Digital Painter - http://www.squirreldome.com/cyberop.htm - Free - Windows
    * Photobie - http://www.photobie.com/ - Free - Windows
    * PixelStudio - http://pixelstudio.virtualuna.de/ - Free - Windows
    * Pixen - http://opensword.org/pixen/ - Free - Mac
    * ProjectOne (c64) - http://noname.c64.org/csdb/release/?id=39261 - Free - Windows
    * Rendera - http://www.rendera.net/ - Free - Windows
    * Timanthes (c64)  - http://noname.c64.org/csdb/release/?id=30789 - Free - Windows
    * Ultimate Paint -  http://www.ultimatepaint.com/ - Free - Windows
    * XPaint - http://sourceforge.net/projects/sf-xpaint - Free - Mac  Unix


- Other utilities -

    * ArtRage - http://www.ambientdesign.com/artrage.html - Free - Windows  Mac
    * Bitmap Font Writer - http://www.stefan-pettersson.nu/site/bmpfont/ - Windows
    * Clickteam tools - http://www.clickteam.com/eng/index.php - Windows
    * ColorCop - http://www.oudje.nl/lessen/colorcop/colorcop.htm - Free - Windows
    * Easy Graphic Converter - http://www.etrusoft.com/graphic-converter/ - Free - Windows
    * EZToon - http://www.superfundungeonrun.com/easytoon/ - Free - Windows
    * Game Maker - http://www.gamemaker.nl/ - Free - Windows
    * GIFBuilder - http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/235 - Free - Mac
    * GIF Movie Gear - http://www.gamani.com/gmgdown.htm - Windows
    * Giffy - http://www.brothersoft.com/graphics_design/gif_tools/giffy_16084.html - Free - Windows
    * Graphic Converter - http://www.lemkesoft.com/ - Mac
    * Irfan View - http://www.irfanview.com/ - Free - Windows
    * Mobile Game Dev Tools - http://mgdc.ru/board/showthread.php?t=391  - Free
    * SCI Studio - http://www.bripro.com/scistudio/index.php - Free - Windows
    * Take ONE - http://www.take1.de/ - Free - Windows
    * Toolkit - http://www.toolkitzone.com/toolkit.php?downloads - Free  - Windows
    * UnFREEZ - http://www.whitsoftdev.com/unfreez/ - Free - Windows
    * XnView - http://www.xnview.com/ - Free - Windows  Mac  Unix



Tutorials and References

- Pixel art tutorials -

    * Gamedev - http://www.gamedev.net/reference/art/features/pixelart1/
    * Tsugumo - http://www.bigbluebubble.com/pixeltutorial
    * St0ven - http://www.spriteart.com
    * St0ven's Background Art Tutorials
    * Zoggles - http://www.zoggles.co.uk/asp/tutorials.asp?show=index
    * Pixelation's Video Tutorials - http://www.wayofthepixel.net/pixelation/index.php?topic=2144.0
    * Gas13 - http://gas13.ru/tutorials/
    * Derek Yu - http://derekyu.com/extras/pixel01.html
    * Matriax - http://www.speccy.org/remakesgraph/tutoriales/tuto.htm
    * Natomic - http://www.natomic.com/hosted/marks/mpat/
    * Drububu - http://www.drububu.com/tutorial/index.html
    * RhysD (Iso) - http://www.pixeltutorial.com/
    * Pixelfreak (Iso) - http://www.pixelfreak.com/en/tutorial0.html
    * Pixel NascImpact (Iso) - http://pixel.nascimpact.com/tutoriaux.php
    * FoY Background Tutorial - http://www.barnettcollege.com/tutorial1.htm
    * Walk animation Tutorial - http://www.manningkrull.com/pixel_art/tutorials/walking.asp


- Various tutorials -

    * Art Tutorial - http://www.itchstudios.com/psg/art_tut.htm
    * Grass - http://www.elverquisst.se/tutorials/grasstut/grasstut.html
    * Light - http://www.itchy-animation.co.uk/light.htm
    * Coloring Tutorial - http://www.itchstudios.com/psg/main.php?id=ps55paint
    * Perception and Composition - http://www.androidblues.com/visualperception.html
    * Animation 1 - http://www.awn.com/tooninstitute/lessonplan/lesson.htm#top
    * Animation 2 - http://www.idleworm.com/how/index.shtml
    * Game Maker Tutorials - http://www.gamemaker.nl/tutorial.html
    * Creating a font from Scratch - http://www.iamcal.com/misc/fonts/pixfonttut/part1.php
    * Setting the GIMP for Pixel Art - http://www.eglug.org/gimpixel


- Art references -

    * Anatomy 1 - http://www.figuredrawings.com/linksanatomy.html
    * Anatomy 2 - http://www.vh.org/adult/provider/anatomy/atlasofanatomy/index.html
    * Anatomy 3 - http://www.fineart.sk/
    * Andrew Loomis - http://www.fineart.sk/index.php?cat=1
    * Preston Blair's Animation Book Part 1 - http://www.animationarchive.org/2006/05/media-preston-blairs-animation-first.html
    * Preston Blair's Animation Book Part 2 - http://www.animationarchive.org/2006/05/media-preston-blairs-animation-1st.html
    * GFX Zone - http://www.gfxzone.org/frames.html
    * Andrew Loomis and other Anatomy eBooks - http://basangpanaginip.blogspot.com/2006/01/downloads.html
    * Bio Motion Lab - http://www.biomotionlab.ca/Demos/BMLwalker.html
    * Kuler - http://kuler.adobe.com/
    * Il Libro dell'Arte - http://www.noteaccess.com/Texts/Cennini/index.htm
    * Artnatomy (Facial Expressions App) - http://www.artnatomia.net/uk/artnatomy.html
    * Facial Expressions App - http://mrl.nyu.edu/%7Eperlin/facedemo/
    * Walk Cycle App - http://www.addictinggames.com/wireframeskeleton.html
    * Posemaniacs - http://www.posemaniacs.com/blog/


- Videogame references -

    * Metal Slug Database - http://www.mslugdb.com/main/gallery/sprites/boom.html
    * VG Museum - http://www.vgmuseum.com/
    * The Dig - 1 - http://home.comcast.net/~ervind/digbm1.html
    * The Dig - 2 - http://home.comcast.net/~ervind/digfacs.html
    * The Dig - 3 - http://home.comcast.net/~ervind/digsc1.html
    * Game Sprites Archive - http://www.gsarchives.net/index2.php
    * VG Mapgs - http://www.vgmaps.com/
    * Spriter's Resource - http://www.spriters-resource.com/
    * RPG Icons - http://www.rpg-icons.com/
    * RO Monster Database - http://www.roempire.com/database/?page=monsters&act=view
    * Gaming Ground Zero - http://www.gaminggroundzero.com/home.html
    * Emu Gif Animation - http://www3.emu-zone.org/host/emugif/index.htm
    * Emugifs - http://www.emugifs.emuita.it/
    * SF3 - http://www.zweifuss.com/
    * The Shyguy Kingdom - http://tsgk.captainn.net/
    * Sprite Database - http://sdb.drshnaps.com/
    * Guilty Gear Sprites - http://www.justnopoint.com/xenozip/#charactercostumes
    * Random Select - http://randomselect.piiym.net/
    * The Mugen Fighters Guild - http://www.mugenguild.com/
    * Mugen-Infantry - http://www.mugen-infantry.net/
    * RetroGameZone - http://www.retrogamezone.co.uk/
    * The People's Sprites - http://panelmonkey.org/
    * Pão da Mugen - http://forum.paodemugen.com.br/index.php?showforum=106


- Fonts -

    * 04 - http://www.04.jp.org/
    * dafont - http://www.dafont.com/bitmap.php
    * Atomic Media - http://atomicmedia.net/
    * 1001 Free Fonts - http://www.1001freefonts.com/



Free Image hosts

Need help hosting and posting your pictures? Check this guide:  http://www.wayofthepixel.net/pixelation/index.php?topic=3466.0

    * Ensellitis.com Image Hosting - http://imagehost.ensellitis.com/
    * photobucket - http://www.photobucket.com
    * ImageShack - http://www.imageshack.us
    * ImgSpot - http://www.imgspot.com



Communities

    * PixelJoint - http://www.pixeljoint.com/
    * Punaji - http://punaji.com/
    * Isocity - http://www.kennethfejer.com/isocity/
    * PixelGala - http://www.pixelgala.org/
    * PixelDam - http://www.x-panded.com/pixeldam/
    * PixelArtistas - http://www.pixelartistas.org/
    * Gaming Ground Zero - http://ggz.ipbhost.com/



Pixelized Eye-Candy Goodness

    * Adam Tierney -  http://www.adamtierney.com/
    * Adeptvormgeving - http://www.adept-vormgeving.com/
    * Ala Webstatt & Chmork.net - http://www.ala.ch/portfolio/
    * Army of Trolls - http://www.armyoftrolls.co.uk/
    * Artoholic -  http://www.artoholic.org/
    * Bongo - http://park12.wakwak.com/~bongo/
    * Derek Yu - http://www.derekyu.com/art/pixel.html
    * Dot16 - http://www.dot16.pixeltemple.com/
    * Drububu - http://www.drububu.com/
    * Eboy - http://www.eboy.com/
    * Electriconland - http://electriconland.com/
    * Etherbrian - http://etherbrian.typepad.com/
    * Final Redemption - http://finalredemption.com/index.htm
    * Fly Guy - http://www.trevorvanmeter.com/flyguy/
    * Gas13 - http://gas13.ru
    * Habbo - http://www.habbo.com/
    * Henk Nieborg - http://www.henknieborg.nl/home.html
    * Head over Heels - http://retrospec.sgn.net/games/hoh/screenshots.html
    * I am not original - http://www.iamnotoriginal.com/
    * Iconwax - http://hiroex.pure.cc/iwm/
    * Josh Astorian - http://www.joshastorian.com/
    * Kenneth Fejer - http://www.kennethfejer.com/
    * Keops - http://www.llama-land.net/keops/online/
    * Ku_Bo - http://members.at.infoseek.co.jp/KU__BO/dot.html
    * KYMG - http://kymg.net/
    * Lexaloffle - http://www.lexaloffle.com/
    * Littlefactory - http://www.littlefactory.com/
    * Lovepixel - http://www.lovepixel.idv.tw/
    * Monsoon2D - http://www.monsoon2d.com/
    * Move your feet - http://www.veer.com/ideas/move/
    * Mr. Wong's - http://www.mrwong.de/
    * Nvision - http://www.nvisionillustration.com
    * Paul Robertson - http://probertson.livejournal.com/
    * PixelBlocks - http://www.pixelblocks.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/pbonline
    * Pixelfreak - http://www.pixelfreak.com/
    * PixelHugger - http://www.pixelhugger.com/
    * PixelJam - http://www.pixeljam.com/core/index.html
    * PixelMuseum - http://www.pixelmuseum.com/
    * Pixel NascImpact - http://pixel.nascimpact.com/
    * Pixelstamps - http://pixelstamps.gas13.ru
    * Pixeltees - http://pixeltees.com/
    * Pixinspace - http://www.pixinspace.com/
    * Pixture Studio - http://www.pixture.com/
    * Ptoing - http://www.ptoing.net/
    * Quickhoney - http://www.quickhoney.com/
    * Ronz - http://www.yomogi.sakura.ne.jp/~ronz/trash/
    * Sir's c64 Art Gallery - http://www.ravenger.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/gallery/index.htm
    * Supertotto - http://www.supertotto.com/
    * sj-gfx - http://sj-gfx.com/
    * Tanuki X - http://www.christessmer.com/



... And of course the Search bar and Google are always your friends!

[Rote Zaungast]

the tuts mirrors are missing

[Spoonman]

Could you add a complete sf3 or cvs2 style spriting tutorial, at least a decent  one I mean explaining why is this and why is that, one even better than Tsugumo's.

Oh and here's Tsugumo's tutorial

So You Want To Be A Pixel Artist

[Bastard Mami]

actually there should be a cvs sprite critique that is far better than any tutorial i have seen; but i have not been able to get a hold of it as the cd in which i ahd it backed up got lost.

[Spoonman]

Don't you remember the tut's name/author?

I'm really needing a tutorial on CVS2 style sprites.

[Bastard Mami]

it was in the old pixelation forum, now know as thewayofthepixel , i do not remember who was the original poster, but it was a commercial critique on the cvs game.

[NiO ErZeBeTh]

www.spriters-academy.org/

is our forum, trying to help sprite creations, and making tutorials (we have some tutos to translate and new ones coming)...

maybe not the best, but you can get ideas, critics, and support.

Also, we talk about mugen, WIPs, fullgames, etc.

HoPe all you sign in.

[moolambo]

www.spriters-academy.org/

is our forum, trying to help sprite creations, and making tutorials (we have some tutos to translate and new ones coming)...

maybe not the best, but you can get ideas, critics, and support.

Also, we talk about mugen, WIPs, fullgames, etc.

HoPe all you sign in.

thanx a lot!

[The Aboriginal One]

http://udoncrew.deviantart.com/gallery/#Tutorials

Udon Coloring Tutorials

[moolambo]

thanx for the link, bbmarquis

[ExShadow]

thanks for the links

[_Kronos_]

nice free program Paint.net http://www.paint.net/

[The Aboriginal One]

Allegro Sprite Editor's Link is not a href'd

Though one could just copy and paste it, it'll be nice for the url tag to be there.

[Guy Armando]

some links are broken

[LurkMoar]

Is there a program that can make animated GIFs with the speed of 60 FPS?
i tried unfreez, but it's not what i'm looking for.

[The Railgunner]

To create an image with 60 frames per second, you need a source that moves at the same speed.

[LurkMoar]

what do you mean by "source"? you mean what i'm going to animate?
i've made 16x16 images that i want to animate (to make a clock so i would know how to time normal moves and link them).

[JustNoPoint]

http://www.adobe.com/downloads/cs2_downloads/

Adobe Photoshop CS2 and other Adobe programs free and legit from Adobe.

[AlexSin]

August 3, 2014:

Adding this:
Pixel.tools editor



February 11, 2015:

Very interesting shader which converts 3D models into pixel art.
Turn 3D models into pixel art

Another topic you may be interested in:
Alternatives to GifCam. What's your favorite?

I remembered about this too:
Sprite Lamp - Dynamic 3D light for 2D sprites

[JustNoPoint]

http://www.clipstudio.net/en
It's not sprite related and I didn't know if it needed it's own thread so I'll probably just delete this after the sales date is over.

But for digital artists here there is a HUGE sale for Clip Studio Paint also known as Manga Studio 5.

The normal version is $15 and the EX version is $87!
I HIGHLY recommend this program! It is a godsend to comic makers and inkers and is now almost in par in other areas like coloring and stuff than Photoshop.

Sale will continue for about 4 days!