How to Draw and Animate Hollow Knight Characters - PS and Unity BEGINNER TUTORIAL (2019)

#HollowKnight
A step by step guide on drawing - animating - and exporting 2d hollow knight - like characters!
TimeStamps:
Setup - 0:55
drawing - 2:00
animation - 7:07
exporting - 12:04
Join the community discord! - / discord
Support me on Patreon:
/ gamesbygrigg
Music:
C418 - Haggstrom
Z.R.E.O. - Phantom Hourglass - Ciela's Theme
C418 - Preliminary Art Form
C418 - Laura Shiginhara: Tsuki No Koibumi
C418 - Total Drag
Ikson - Take Off

[@Blackthornprod]

Hollow Knight + a great tutorial :D, count me in ! Great job, keep it up :)

[@gamesbygrigg7447]

great to hear from you! So glad you liked it.

[@__Rizzler__]

Counte me 2

[@daisyfairy42]

Awesome tutorial! Animator here who's a fan of hollowknight and was curious - here's some tips for folks trying this at home: - Bare minimum number of fps you need to make an animation appear smooth to your eye is 24, so you can also choose to set your animation to that FPS if you want something really fancy - Animate on 2's instead of 1's to have a more stable and less jittery animation. In normal terms, that means have your drawings be 2 frames long, instead of just 1. Also means you cut the number of drawings you need to do in at least half. Reserve 1's for very fast movements. - please, god, PLEASE use the timeline animation in photoshop instead of frame animation. It works more like a video editor such as premiere, letting you drag out the length of different clips & such very easily, rather than having to copy them to an entire new frame, and manipulate separate layers of animation at the same time. (meaning you don't need to do something like copy the head, just transform it vertically to bob up and down Have fun and happy animating! :)

[@babayaga1220]

Thx a lot bro

[@MrXlee1967]

can you make a tutorial?

[@daisyfairy42]

@@MrXlee1967 Not for photoshop unfortunately since I've graduated and lost access to adobe software, but honestly there's already a lot of excellent tutorials out there for animation! Just searching up 12 principles and "how to animate in x software" will get you good results on youtube. (Also to be completely honest I'm not comfortable making video tutorials, this is my personal yt channel)

[@cromo4839]

Video: Hollow knight Music: Minecraft *yes*

[@thecrusader677]

Hotel: Trivago

[@AQ-101]

@@thecrusader677 audible: idk

[@DoctorTrainGaming]

That ASMR Voice

[@t3amdr3am]

Fr tho

[@Invulneraty]

This was the most underrated tutorial that I have ever seen, a huge thanks.

[@gen2777]

This dude created kickass tutorials and then left

[@johnstonliu]

I accidentally set my size to 300x500 inches. No wonder my Photoshop was so slow.

[@xsadira2059]

Me too

[@TheRealCornelius]

Art and animation is my strong suit, its making games that makes my head pop

[@gamesbygrigg7447]

I guess we're opposite :b

[@soysauce6534]

Thank you so much! A ton of tutorials don’t explain as well, not to mention that since I’m just starting out the export process has been a struggle. Thanks for the in depth tutorial, you earned a new subscriber

[@chillolacom]

Soy Sauce do u know a video that will show me how to export the way he does?

[@zibji]

Great content mate, this is super helpful for a project I’m working on. Thanks a bundle!

[@dasyud]

Came from the subreddit Edit: It's an amazing tutorial! Wouldn't be surprised if it gets a million views!

[@jack8356]

Thank you so much for making this. You actually explained it very well and im going to try to make games so i needed to know how to make characters.

[@waltercastro2847]

Brother! You made it so damn easy. YOU'RE AWESOME!

[@DanBeau]

i had no idea about the pen path editing at 8:18, that is insanely helpful!

[@mrmixedvideomaker9767]

Exactly what I was looking for Thanks for the tutorial!!!

[@ndjxisjenxjix9525]

Hollow Knight's art was made by hand. All of it, no vectorial stuff. Nice video and tutorial anyway!

[@brandondelahoussaye8323]

Very nice tutorial! Please keep them coming

[@mrmikutome797]

Exactly what i was looking for

[@kaizensystemstudio]

Nice tutorial super clean and easy to follow 👍👍

[@QuiverKiller]

Awesome video, I had no idea PS was that useful for animating

[@voids5225]

I'm surprised you don't have more subscribers with the video quality and information

[@gamesbygrigg7447]

hey thankyou! That is very motivating to hear. I am just starting out so fingers crossed!

[@ays9949]

Wow this was realy relaxing to watch and also very helpfull.Thanks a lot!

[@YuvrajSingh-hp7ig]

This should have like a million views. Keep up the good work.

[@eitanezra8963]

Very nice, mate

[@G000POINTBLANK000D]

love it! cool vid! thx!

[@ThemildmanneredgamerBlogspot]

Great tutorial, thank you for posting.

[@ragnarokgc]

awesome tutorial, thank you!

[@grated2371]

Neat and clean explain bro ! Superb and I'm going to try ! Actually I'm using inkscape but some way it not same as Photoshop ! Keep updating !

[@dblades2240]

Agreed even the unity master explaining unity its still a doose

[@ahmet-ln7hs]

This tutorial is awesome.

[@Richard-zs1bm]

You earnt my subscription. Great video!

[@Rhapsolin]

this is really really great

[@ChrisTeeGaming]

So useful. Thanks mate

[@TM-jb8bw]

Really good tutorial!

[@FavoriteCentaurMoe]

what an awesome video!!!!

[@Chriszeki]

Great tutorial, thanks for sharing

[@VurseFilm]

The music... So calm

[@SkelleRok]

Great tutorial!

[@OneulBros]

Really helpful viedo! Thanks

[@CodeGaff]

Great tutorial mate! I'm sure many will find this extremely helpful!

[@anjobihis2052]

I like your taste in music

[@JSGGamingChannel]

what a great tutorial

[@StackAcademy]

Awesome I like it

[@Bruno-mq5ss]

Thanks it helps a lot :)

[@CodeBeetle]

Hey well look at that. I have been following Blackthornprod and admire his workflow but thought you need a drawing pad.... you have introduced a tool a programmer can actually draw with...a mouse. Thank you for taking the time and sharing this.

[@cungvuong9690]

Thanks

[@mikamuestudios]

Great tutorial. Well explained, and I have been using Photoshop for years and never knew how the Pen tool worked nor did I know about expanding selections... That's a process improvement for my workflow! However, I have 1 tip. Skip the reference dot for pivot point. Instead, simply set the pivot point on the first image wherever you want it, then, (since all the images are the same size) copy and paste the X/Y pivot point coordinates to the new images. This is much easier, and will give you better, more consistent results, and you won't have to worry about getting rid of the dot after. Cheers. :)

[@kanchukotarevanth9449]

It's so underrated

[@saieshpatil7077]

I wish I had seen this at starting when I learned PS and unity. Great video ! Q - What was the purpose of red dot ?

[@gamesbygrigg7447]

Thank you! The red dot is so you can set a pivot point for your animation. If it's not in the exact same spot every frame then the whole thing won't be smooth.

[@artexho4188]

Hi. Did you complete full unity course ?

[@agenoredivino950]

thank you

[@tronalddump8442]

Deserve more subs.

[@qasim-_-5218]

For those in 2021 version, and cannot see the samples, go to the top right of animation window, then click on the three dots, and then click show samples

[@jessej071]

Great video, I hadn't thought about editing with the pen tool so that helps the workflow and quality a ton. I do have a question tho: in Unity, since the sprite frames are all the same size (300x500px), could you just copy/paste the X position and Y position of the pivot from the first frame? I haven't tried this but it could help eliminate the red dot step and re-export.

[@gamesbygrigg7447]

hey thankyou! The unity sprite editor auto crops to the smallest dimension. Pretty sure it's because we are exporting to png and losing the transparent layer information. Each frame has a different size. There might be a better way around this but what I did with the red dot is just a quick solution I found myself!

[@paulwin9036]

Most likely not. Since the actual character is smaller than the starting canvas.

[@loonaingamells6928]

I found you on reddit and I've subbed

[@johnwyke4415]

Thanks. I cant wait to try this when I get home.

[@rashidfarhan6223]

subscribed bro

[@MrRayhan61]

Cool

[@abdelatifaitouche3255]

Which approach is better for animation , is it frame by frame with photoshop or with Bones (spine2d) , great tutorial by the way ❤️

[@maixshinra6152]

Very good video. This size to create the character will come in handy for smaller screen resolutions starting from 4k as the first option? I don't know if lowering the resolution of the character would still look good. Thank you.

[@TaliYD]

I was thinking about this issue too. In that sense, it's better to draw in Illustrator which is vector. Can scale it to any size and will always look perfect. But I find the outcome way less appealing so I'm really struggling which way to go with this. Photoshop -- nice with textures etc. More organic. Illustrator: practical, vector.

[@maixshinra6152]

Hi. I understand that it is better to draw the character twice as large as the resolution of the game. If you want it in 4k, wouldn't it be better to draw it twice that size and then make it smaller? Thanks a lot.

[@NgaeGameStudio]

Super

[@campbellclark3331]

thank you for making this video, it saved m y marriage

[@gamesbygrigg7447]

I'd love to hear more about this

[@sosonena1238]

hey thanks for the easiest tutorial ever just wondering what ps you are using

[@gamesbygrigg7447]

Pretty sure I was using 2015 in this video

[@vegitoblue2187]

If you really want to import that stuff to unity shouldn't you be using the power of 2 logic which is more performance-friendly? Just curious

[@rafarodriguez4765]

Thanks for the video. New Follower I want to ask: why not create vectorial characters in a dedicated software like Illustrator? And why do not animate in Adobe Animate (for example)? it looks like Photoshop is a tedious process and prone to error while enabling/disabling layers

[@lordmango6060]

Whoa this is so easy to follow. I do like to hand draw my characters though, could this be achieved by drawing my character with my drawing tablet instead of using the mouse and pen tool? Maybe if photoshop has a vector pen tool?

[@gamesbygrigg7447]

Yes! You can totally use your own style and just follow my flow with your own drawings. It will turn out just great.

[@mangadoofus1725]

I know thats a late comment But hollow knight + animation tutotial + minecraft music You son of a ***** im in

[@SlaYerOne77]

But what if i want it in that position like hollow knight ? Should i start directly to draw it from the side ? Or better all poses from behind front and sides ?

[@osrsrs3]

Is there any way to attach a path to an already drawn shape that wasnt created with a path?

[@canonwright3761]

I'm getting a gray outline on my sprite after importing it to Unity, I'mfinding that it's the slightly opaque pixels of the outer edge of the outline. I was wondering how I could fix this?

[@pulaturalov5176]

If you are still having this issue, select all frames inside your Unity project, go to Inspector > Advanced and check "Remove PSD Matte" option. This should remove the outline around your sprite

[@clock3589]

I love that skeleton creature

[@gamesbygrigg7447]

Well thanks! He doesn't have a name yet. Any thoughts?

[@clock3589]

@@gamesbygrigg7447 umm Skelly?

[@orchard800]

A great tutorial, but wasn't the Hollow Knight character made up of multiple sprites in a Sprite atlas?

[@AYB-17]

hello i have a question do we need to use photoshop or we can use an other art app ?

[@zinapantorno5905]

Can you make a video of how to draw the grime but easy steps? 🙂🙂🙂

[@eyalpita9066]

wowwww

[@christofferhenriksen7631]

my image is the same size as yours, but you can see the pixles on mize so easy, but i cant see the pixeles on yours at all...

[@LagunaPreza]

How would I make grass etc ? In the same resolution

[@DankMemes-xq2xm]

Whenever I try to export layers as files, the process gets cancelled and says something about I can't use "Delete"

[@MetalX-zt2ws]

Can you hand draw this as well?

[@mrkickasser1566]

Well, it’s still more detailed than hollow knight :D

[@tombrandis2866]

I can't afford PS, what do you suggest I use instead?

[@elton9310]

CAN SOMEONE HELP ME, I AM DOING SIMILAR TO THE VIDEO, BUT MY PATHS DISAPPEARED, WHY IS THAT HAPPENING? IS NOT IN THE PATH TAB ANYMORE

[@junjielim111]

Is there any other free softwares to use beside PS?

[@motion-designerr]

If the character is similar to the character of another game, then there may be copyright issues? It's just that I also made a character similar to Hollow Knight...

[@il4w]

when i try adding stroke for hair it doesn't work for me although for head it was am I missing something?

[@gamesbygrigg7447]

Make sure you have the right layer selected :)

[@il4w]

@@gamesbygrigg7447 hey thanks for this i tried this but that also doesnt seem to work I think part of the reason is I am working in photopea which is kind of an online version of photoshop since I cant pay for it rn but would you know any way I could download photoshop for free ?

[@Endriu192]

Can you tell me the size of those sprites?

[@1Nurali]

Thx please do videos with your ai movement pls

[@vegitoblue2187]

Do you need a tablet to do such kind of art?

[@gamesbygrigg7447]

Nope! In fact I find it easier without.

[@vegitoblue2187]

@@gamesbygrigg7447 damn that was quick. I was thinking if I should buy something like that for 2d art. What do yo think about getting a tablet for ding 2d art in general?

[@gamesbygrigg7447]

It depends what you're drawing really. I have one but I only use it for my backgrounds.

[@jacecranberry3107]

Is there a way to get PS on a tablet?

[@icey2157]

Any alternativ Than Photoshop?

[@siothrun1380]

Hey. Cool tutorial but for me photoshop is too expensive. Its my first game. Any alternatives?

[@thecodeanvil5779]

I would suggest using Krita, it is a free and open source digital art editor with tons of brushes and tools. You could also use Gimp, but I don't think it is as easy to pick up and go with. Hope this helps!

[@siothrun1380]

@@thecodeanvil5779 Thx.

[@thecodeanvil5779]

@@siothrun1380 Glad I could help!

[@pradityapascalisprawito3153]

Me: sees this video Also me: CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK

[@ParanoYa1117]

I feel stupid asking this, but is the attack animation (as seen at the end) also a new animation set for the character, based on the weapon he holds? Or is there a way to let the character hold a weapon and animate character and weapon separate to save time?

[@firelordzuzu]

how to u make the character walk and run?

[@gamesbygrigg7447]

I have a run cycle tutorial :D

[@bkjvnbnjnfjrkdnvrv1809]

photo shop costs alot what if i dont have it

[@kanielxu5310]

My animation keeps moving side to side and I don’t want it to

[@mariadumitru4539]

What app?

[@anonymoustroll8062]

Why you stop uploading videos?

[@YellowScar2014]

What does the PS stand for?

[@gamesbygrigg7447]

Photoshop!

[@YellowScar2014]

@@gamesbygrigg7447 Oh, thanks.

[@hiramcinar2975]

Bleach funs !!

[@kimromero4497]

Why wont it show stroke path, only stroke subpath

[@gamesbygrigg7447]

If you want to join the discord and share a screenshot, I can help you.

[@kimromero4497]

@@gamesbygrigg7447 I'll join now, I'll be home in a couple hours. I'm making my first game ever and I'm hella excited 😁 I worked on it for three hours last night and just barely got to the first step of animation last night 😅😅😅 my character also may possibly look like a 6 year old drew him lmao