Creating a Faceset with Sai/Gimp/Other art program

[kaleemmcintyre]

Hello all,

I don't know if this has already been asked, but I wanted to know something. How would I go about getting an artist to create a full faceset for a character I wanted using an art program like Sai/Gimp/Photoshop? The exact details would be nice since both this person and I don't know what to do exactly.

Thanks kindly~!

 

[CzarSquid]

Not sure what you are asking. If you need to recruit an artist for your game there is a thread for it.

If you are just looking for a program then the three you listed are pretty good. They all do similar things. I personally use paint.net for my work in RPGmaker. It's also free and almost as good as photoshop.

You can export an example sheet of face sets from RPGmaker itself. Just go to resource manager and find the sprite sheet you want to export.

I can't help you beyond that. Good luck to you.

 

[Shaz]

So you already have an artist? How skilled are they with the program they're using? Do you want to know how to draw, or do you want to know how to format the images for use in Ace?

 

[noelburgundy27]

Hello all,

I don't know if this has already been asked, but I wanted to know something. How would I go about getting an artist to create a full faceset for a character I wanted using an art program like Sai/Gimp/Photoshop? The exact details would be nice since both this person and I don't know what to do exactly.

Thanks kindly~!

I think this sort of thing is for requests. You want an artist to make a full faceset of a character in a file format that works in either sai, GIMP, or Photoshop, correct?

This will really depend on the artist. You can give them a really detailed definition of the character and what emotions you want in the face set. With regards to the program, well, usually it's up to the artist since they'll be working their butts off. GIMP is freeware, though, and is really good for something that's free. (I use it for promotional pictures and edits).

You can either commission or request. Commissions cost you but you MIGHT get it right away. Requests, on the other hand, depend on one's free time but is totally free for you.

 

[Shaz]

I assumed they already had an artist, as just after mentioning the artist, the OP said "both this person (the artist) and I don't know what to do"

 

[HavocLogos]

The Help file in RPG Maker gives you dimensions in the reference section, then you set up your 2D programs page accordingly. That's if you are using the base template in RPG Maker, if you are using script extensions that allow for things like busts usually the script has guides at the top of the script itself in green #comments.

OR, you can navigate to a faceset in the Graphics folder of your install directory, load a faceset into your program of choice and use that as a base template instead. Maybe set it as a layer, draw your character within the bounds the faceset uses and then turn off that layer and save your new faceset.

 

[Makio-Kuta]

Yeah, I read that as they already have an artist as well, just not one used to making game assets. Well, here's my progress (this is assuming they at least have knowledge in their art program of choice ahead of time)

I suggest to ALWAYS draw the image at least twice as large as the final size. Then you can shrink them to the final size at the end. This just makes things look crisper and smoother overall. Also, a lot of times I have problems of when I shrink the file, the areas along the edge of the picture end up slightly transparent. So for a standard face set, I'll shrink the final images down to 98x98 rather than 96x96 with image size, and then crop (using canvas size) it to the 96x96 to make sure I avoid that.

Also, remember to keep your image on a transparent background and not white - if you want it to be like the default RPGmaker graphics. Otherwise, you can create whatever sort of background you want. Just make it once and copy paste it 8 times later.

I can never be bothered to remember the size of a sprite sheet properly, so once I have a file with all the 96x96 face sets together, each one on it's own layer, I use canvas size (make sure you use CANVAS SIZE and not image size here or you will do strange things) and increase the width by 400% and the height by 200%. That'll give you the right size with less memorization (yay!)

I use patterns I've made to get my grids. I've got a 96x96 pattern, so I make a new layer under everything and fill that layer with my pattern grid and then line the images up on top. (if you've got a background for your images, this is where you can copy paste it in 8 times and then line each of those up along the grid as well. Or, they might be attached to your original face image already. Whichever is easier at that point) After that you can get rid of the layer with the pattern on it, and you'll have a face-set! 

Until you're confident in lining stuff up though, I would pop that face set into a new project, make an NPC that says 8 lines of dialogue and uses one face on each line and watch for any jiggles or line-up mishaps causing images to overlap others in the box, etc etc. That's the best way to spot those.

I hope that helps!

 

[kaleemmcintyre]

So basically have her draw out the character's face and then resize it to fit the 96 x 96 grid via her art program? 

Ok, thanks for this Makio-Kuta. 

Hopefully she won't have any big problems with his.

 

[Makio-Kuta]

If she knows her way around whatever art program she uses, this should make sense to her. If she finds something unclear, feel free to shoot me a PM and I'll elaborate if I know the answer.

 

[Celianna]

Also, a lot of times I have problems of when I shrink the file, the areas along the edge of the picture end up slightly transparent.

You could simply duplicate the final layer a bunch of times to get a solid border again

 

[Makio-Kuta]

You could simply duplicate the final layer a bunch of times to get a solid border again

That would mess the aliasing along the other edges of the image though; the outside lines of the character that aren't touching the borders. That would work if your character's face touches along every part of the border though!

 

[Celianna]

That would mess the aliasing along the other edges of the image though; the outside lines of the character that aren't touching the borders. That would work if your character's face touches along every part of the border though!

If you're using photoshop, right before resizing, merge everything into a single layer, then you don't have this problem. It only does it when you still have a bunch of layers.

 

[The Mighty Palm]

http://usui.moo.jp/rpg_kouza.html Does this help? I feel like this might help.

 

[Makio-Kuta]

If you're using photoshop, right before resizing, merge everything into a single layer, then you don't have this problem. It only does it when you still have a bunch of layers.

I see I see! Thanks! This explains things...