Illustrator-Creating Characters For Games-Inking Part 1

[@skunkapeblog]

Best 8 minutes of my day. Thanks. Learned lots.

[@creatiw]

wow the smooth tool really made my life a lot easier!! I mean it changed everything! Thanks a lot

[@KingMertel]

this tutorial was actually freaking helpful, thanks for uploading! =D

[@PaulBosanova]

I agree with flashboysan, make more videos. Their fantastic and have taught me a few things as I do things differently. Thankyou for your knowledge.

[@ChristianoBorst]

This is exactly what I needed to learn how to do. :D Thank you for not being a 12 year old with no experience in the industry.

[@arthurmee]

Nice tutorial . . . keep up the good work. Thanks.

[@IamEyalMarcosLevit]

I'm not arguing with you bro. You just pointed it out as if its a matter of opinion and I just assured it wasn't. Whether one likes to use a brush instead is another subject, but how smooth can any of these techniques get your lines is a matter of fact. And sure it speeds the process, but it still just for speed. By the way, you make really good tutorials, I love them- keep up the good work!

[@KingKatura]

i am frigging awesome but how did you know lool and ya i went to school for it but just got back into it even i like to watch vids for fun and to find other ways of doing things and i have to say that this is one of the better vids ive ever watched

[@daynav470]

amazing. thank you. finally something helpful!

[@Flo-gl6zg]

Uh, very nice one! Especially the high-and-lowlight tech!! :) Really excited for the 3rd Episode, any sneak-peak when it will be out?

[@dezmoe20]

Greatest video in KZbin!

[@danpgrady]

Yes! In the next video we will be coloring and adding shades and highlights using live paint and pathfinder functions.

[@danpgrady]

It's okay, I use to know nothing about illustrator. A template can really be anything you use as a basis or reference for the work you are creating. It can be a copy and pasted image or a sketch you made. That reference can be placed on its own layer. You can lower the opacity and lock the template layer so it can be used almost as a lightbox.In this video I already created the dragon so I used it as a template layer so I had somthing to trace over. You can copy paste or go to file>place.

[@RealCloker]

Im looking forward to this, for the color and the shades is there any better way to make them, without having the trouble to create a whole new object?

[@Davorge]

more videos of game design would be awsome, some background of side scrolling game and stuff like that

[@JMacelicious]

Great intro video, hoping to learn a lot from this just getting started in character creation, animation and game design. Any additional literature/videos that might help?

[@gregorycarver86]

Hey Dan great tutorials, very helpful. I was wondering though what size you make your canvas and what size stroke do you use? Also, im looking forward to that animation tutorial. Thanks!

[@callumhill8837]

Hey there great video!(Incoming silly question) what sort of books would you recommend for starting off with designing characters and bringing it into use for game character implementation?

[@danpgrady]

A good custom brush with high fidelity can create lines just as smooth as the pen tool. You just cant plot it as accurately which is a problem when using a template. I have some friends in the industry you don't ever use templates so they prefer the brush since it speeds up workflow.

[@PenandBlade]

So well explained, thank you. Question: I really like using photoshop, but I realize that isn't quite as clean--however I kinda like a bit more of a sketchy look for art. At the same time, I realize that the aesthetic for mobile games these days is usually super clean. Is that right? Also, is there a technical reason to use illustrator vs. photoshop for iOS games? (like are vectors better for some reason, or is a high res PSD file also good?)

[@danpgrady]

I say stick to what you like. If you feel the most proficient and comfortable in PS then I would work from there. Its probably true most graphic styles are very stylized for ios games and illustrator could help with that clean look, but nobody says your game needs to look like that. Stand out from the crowd and do your own style. There is no real benefit technically one from another. Its nice to have graphics as vector to be able to scale them up but if you create a large PSD that will work also. I personally like to do the type of art shown in this video in Illustrator. But when I do pixel art I am photoshop all the way!

[@PenandBlade]

Ok cool, thanks for the insights man, much appreciated. Makes a lot of sense. Any final advise you would give someone looking to finding a job(s) as an artist for a mobile game dev studio??

[@danpgrady]

+Fantastic Anatomy! Get really good and build an awesome portfolio. Don't waste your time and money with school, employers won't care about degrees if your portfolio and skills are awesome. Practice all the time and create something every day.

[@PenandBlade]

Legit advice.

[@danpgrady]

I don't have any books I would recommend. But I would recommend observing other artists that influence you and then do your own thing. Practice, practice, practice. Even when you think it's bad keep designing. Carry a sketchpad with you and commit to draw at least one thing a day.

[@MrBixl]

My right ear is so alone.

[@nagorik24]

Try to rotate 180 degree..... your headphone. It makes democracy.

[@cooltimus89]

Lol. I thought my earphones went kaput :-D

[@gillet3000]

yeah this is awesome, thanx !

[@kendallcoombs9551]

subbed right at "monotone voices" lol

[@Heart3COrE1]

Hey I need help with the "Expand appearance option" it just doesn't seem to be working for me, whenever I try to fix the overshot line with the expand appearance option it generates a lot of nodes on my line and when I select the line it with the white selection tool there's to many nodes that I can't pull just one node like you did on the video and it messes up all my line instead of fixing it. Hope you can help me. Thanks

[@IamEyalMarcosLevit]

its NOT just your opinion, the pen tool is actually better for clean lines- no discussion! The hand can't make robotic movement thus it will cause illustrator to create more anchor points. Not only it makes the lines look more distorted, but it also takes more memory. The brush and all those hand handled tools are good for other purposes for instance if you want your work to look more artistic or especially good if you have the graphic designer dream tool we all want: a large wacom!

[@kolbysilvatv]

you're the man

[@joelhuntley4632]

what version of illustrator do you use?

[@info-presse8290]

from where did you get the template ?

[@mradz2454]

Just wondering how you go about your sketches to use as templates. Are you doing them straight from illustrator? Or are you using a different method? Thanks, love your work.

[@danpgrady]

+Mr Adz In this video I didn't have my original sketch anymore so the template was just vector outlines of the finished artwork for demo purposes. I usually either scan real drawings and use them as templates or do my sketching in photoshop. Illustrator isnt a good application for sketching or concepting in my opinion. Thanks for watching!

[@SarahClaytonSMF]

Does it matter how many colours I use if I am making sprite characters for a 2d game and I am going to batch them all on a single sprite sheet? And does it have to have the same color palette on the background tile batch sheet?

[@danpgrady]

+Sarah Clayton No, those types of color limitations don't really exist anymore. You can use any combination and as many different colors allowed to you in in an 8 bit, 16 bit, 32 bit RGB color space. I would still try to limit my colors and create palettes with exact hexadecimal values so you are consistent and aesthetically pleasing. I would personally do each character or elements on their own sprite sheet for organizations sake, you probably wont be that limited with assets and file sizes. Also, you could use the same colors on the background assets but you will probably end up using different tones so the character doesn't blend into the environment. A lot of the time a bright color is used on the character or the skin tone will pop out from the background.

[@SarahClaytonSMF]

+Dan Grady Thank you!!! That really helps me alot!

[@danpgrady]

Magic Wizards. It's for ios.

[@flashboysan]

whats the name of the game?

[@danpgrady]

You dont have to argue the point with me, I agree with you remember?

[@turtlegaming8272]

I cant select expand appearance only expand any one know why ?

[@codywood8137]

Where's part 3 of this series?

[@christopherlabar3344]

whats the game called

[@angelitopico26]

Somebody can tell me, what program is this one?. i'm new at this ^^u

[@danpgrady]

Adobe Illustrator.

[@angelitopico26]

Dan Grady thank you :)

[@bolleidschenveenbol1592]

very welkom, ilearned a lot Ellen from holland

[@HuggiroHarumagi]

oh man i think this is really easy to create something if compare with Photoshop.

[@flashboysan]

MAKE MORE VIDEOS

[@justcode194]

Could be so much better, Its blurry and i cant see your icons in your menu. For instance i cant find the smooth tool - no clue is given as to how to select it. Also there are lots of clicks, selections etc that are done very fast as if your watchers are not beginners. I am a beginner.

[@slothriver]

I Don't know how to draw the sketches. So this did not really help.

[@ChannelRandomous]

I wish Illustrator was cheaper

[@anridev24]

download Inkscape it's free vector drawing software

[@thomasmeriaux5171]

you sok