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Introbulus · 02-20-2004, 07:00 PM

^Thanks, dude! You are now an offical part of the faq!

Okay, so now we've got backgrounds, sprites, and we're almost done with the comic. But wait! We're forgetting something just as important! The script! Without a well-organized script, the comic is just a bunch of sprites walking around and doing stuff. BOORING!

Q: Okay, but first, how do I make sprites move? Or change direction?
A: What? You mean you dont' know these things already?

Q: Dude, this is a faq.
A: Okay, not a question again, but I can deal with that. Let's start with changing direction. Chances are, you're going to want to make a character face left instead of right at one point. Chances also are, that very few sprite sheets have characters facing both left and right. Why is this so? Well, if you'll just put a new dotted line box around a sprite, you'll see why. Go to the menu bar at the top of the window, go to "Images", and choose "flip/rotate". A window will pop up, and all you have to do is hit "OK" to make your character face the other way. This is a horizontal flip. You could also do a verticle flip, if you want a character to stand on your head, or choose an angle (by choosing "rotate by angle" first, and then the angle), and there you go! Simple, no?

Q: That's good, but how do I get it to look like my character is moving?
A: Well, some sprites have a pose in them that makes them look like they're walking naturally, but you might run into a sprite you like that doesn't have that. In which case, just draw some of those "superthin" lines behind the character, originating in their start position, and ending a little bit behind them. These are movement lines. Kinda like text lines.

Q: "Text lines"?
A: Yeah, that's the method I use to write text into my script. It's also what Jay does, so you might want to use it, too. Okay, here's the basic rundown. First off, when you're making your comic, you probably have an idea of what you want the characters to say, and in what order. So, once you've got all that down, you want to click on the toolbox tool with an "A" in it (the text tool), and make a box. If what they're saying is short, like "yes" or "no" or "Totally, dude", then you only need to make it big enough to fit that text. Oh, but before I forget, once you've got a textbox made, a new window will open up with all kinds of information inside. This is the text editing box. If you have Microsoft Word, which you should, you already know what to do. But even if you do, here's what I think you should do. In the pulldown menu on the far left, you should choose "Arial" (There's a lot of choices, so be careful not to get lost). In the next one to the right, choose "10". Everything else should be good, but just in case, the next box should be "western", and only the "B" button should be pressed down (It makes your text stand out better). Now that you've got all that down, all you need to do is type the text. Oh, and if for any reason the text toolbar disappears, just right-click on the textbox and choose "Text toolbar" at the bottom. Once you've typed out what you want, left-click outside the text, and you're done!

Warning!: After this is done, you CANNOT change the text again! Also, it may help if you start typing the text outside the main comix, cut it out with the cut tool, and then paste it into your comix.

Q: Uh...it kinda fades into the background...you can't really see the text...
A: Change the color of the text. In fact, it's probably a good idea to choose a color for one of your characters for the entire comix, and never change it, and never use a background color that makes the character text fade. It's more than likely to be annoying, but it is VERY important to make your text readable. If your reader can't read your text, you lose 10 points per frame. And that's not good.

Q: Okay, so now are we finised with the text?
A: HAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAno. You still have to make it look straight. To do that, you've got to put all the text in the right order. First person to speak goes on the top left, second on the top right, a little below the first person's text. Then the next person is on the left, but below the last person, then the next one goes below that last one to the right, and so on for as many times people speak, or are interrupted,and speak more. To signify who's speaking, you just draw a thin line to the text, which, if the person speaks more than once during the scene, should probably branch out.

Q: But wait, what about those cool text baloons some people use?
A: Yeah, those are cool. But I hardly ever use those, because I find my method easier to use. However, if you'd rather do that, or if you've got your own special way to do it, you can use that method. Just make sure it is PERFECTLY clear who's speaking, when they are speaking, in what order they are speaking, and that it's...well...readable.

Q: Yes! My comix is done! Now what do I do?
A: Save it. As a bmp file in the "save as" option of the flies menu. Be sure to give it a name that doesn't have any spaces in it (Underscores, like "_" are okay), or you wont' be able to download it to the internet! (Numbers and special symbols are bad, too). Once you've done that, save your file again in GIF format (You do this by clicking on the scrolldown menu in the "save as" window, and choosing "Gif" instead of "bitmap". It'll probably say "Graphics Interchange Format" or something like that). This is so you've got a base file, and a file to put on the internet.

Q: But wait, doesn't Gif totally scramble picture colors?
A: Yeah, that's why you saved it as a bitmap first. That way, you've got a file that has the original colors in case you don't like it and would rather try usign Jpeg (Recognizeable 'cuz it's the choice that has "JPEG" on it), which makes the sprites all blurry, but might work for you. Then again, it might not. Like I said, save it as a bitmap first.

Q: Isn't there some way to get rid of the evil blurriness curse?
A:
Magical Cool note: Scratch that, a friend of mine (Fury Hikari) told me how to un-blur stuff! Check it out!

Open Adobe Photoshop, load your file as a BMP.
At the top row, you should see a number of file commands.
Like "File", "Edit", "Image", "Layer", and such.
Go to "Image" There very first menu option should be "Mode". Go to that.
Now you get a bunch of other options. Bitmap, Grayscale, Duotone, Indexed Color,
RGB Color...just to name a few.
With that, a screen should pop up instantly, with the following words:
With that, a screen should pop up instantly, with the following words:
Palette: Exact
Color Depth: Other
Colors: (Doesn't matter, just as long as the number is under 256)

Warning: If you have more colors than this on your computer, you may need to save it as a PNG instead.

OPTIONS:
Dither: None
Color Matchin: Faster
TOUCH NO OPTIONS ON THAT. That's exactly what you want.
Click "OK".
Now, proceed to save as a GIF
nother screen should pop up with the options "Normal" and "Interlaced"
Select "Normal", if it's not already picked.
Click OK, and you're done!

Ta-da! Yeah, and you can forget my thingie. I guess it doesn't really work.

Note: If you dont' have Adobe Photoshop, then there's no way to clear bluriness. You'll just have to live with it. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

Q: Okay, I've got my comic all geared up! It's sprited out, written, and saved! Now how do I get it onto the internet?
A: See next post.

Q: WHAT?!?
A: Hehehe...sorry, dude. Just trying to make a nice spacing in the topic.

[ February 26, 2004, 03:15 PM: Message edited by: Introbulus ]

02-20-2004, 07:00 PM	#10
Introbulus Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Time, Space Posts: 4,159 Thanks: 2 Thanked 19 Times in 9 Posts Points: 4,462.70 Bank: 1,217.40 Total Points: 5,680.10 Donate	^Thanks, dude! You are now an offical part of the faq! Okay, so now we've got backgrounds, sprites, and we're almost done with the comic. But wait! We're forgetting something just as important! The script! Without a well-organized script, the comic is just a bunch of sprites walking around and doing stuff. BOORING! Q: Okay, but first, how do I make sprites move? Or change direction? A: What? You mean you dont' know these things already? Q: Dude, this is a faq. A: Okay, not a question again, but I can deal with that. Let's start with changing direction. Chances are, you're going to want to make a character face left instead of right at one point. Chances also are, that very few sprite sheets have characters facing both left and right. Why is this so? Well, if you'll just put a new dotted line box around a sprite, you'll see why. Go to the menu bar at the top of the window, go to "Images", and choose "flip/rotate". A window will pop up, and all you have to do is hit "OK" to make your character face the other way. This is a horizontal flip. You could also do a verticle flip, if you want a character to stand on your head, or choose an angle (by choosing "rotate by angle" first, and then the angle), and there you go! Simple, no? Q: That's good, but how do I get it to look like my character is moving? A: Well, some sprites have a pose in them that makes them look like they're walking naturally, but you might run into a sprite you like that doesn't have that. In which case, just draw some of those "superthin" lines behind the character, originating in their start position, and ending a little bit behind them. These are movement lines. Kinda like text lines. Q: "Text lines"? A: Yeah, that's the method I use to write text into my script. It's also what Jay does, so you might want to use it, too. Okay, here's the basic rundown. First off, when you're making your comic, you probably have an idea of what you want the characters to say, and in what order. So, once you've got all that down, you want to click on the toolbox tool with an "A" in it (the text tool), and make a box. If what they're saying is short, like "yes" or "no" or "Totally, dude", then you only need to make it big enough to fit that text. Oh, but before I forget, once you've got a textbox made, a new window will open up with all kinds of information inside. This is the text editing box. If you have Microsoft Word, which you should, you already know what to do. But even if you do, here's what I think you should do. In the pulldown menu on the far left, you should choose "Arial" (There's a lot of choices, so be careful not to get lost). In the next one to the right, choose "10". Everything else should be good, but just in case, the next box should be "western", and only the "B" button should be pressed down (It makes your text stand out better). Now that you've got all that down, all you need to do is type the text. Oh, and if for any reason the text toolbar disappears, just right-click on the textbox and choose "Text toolbar" at the bottom. Once you've typed out what you want, left-click outside the text, and you're done! Warning!: After this is done, you CANNOT change the text again! Also, it may help if you start typing the text outside the main comix, cut it out with the cut tool, and then paste it into your comix. Q: Uh...it kinda fades into the background...you can't really see the text... A: Change the color of the text. In fact, it's probably a good idea to choose a color for one of your characters for the entire comix, and never change it, and never use a background color that makes the character text fade. It's more than likely to be annoying, but it is VERY important to make your text readable. If your reader can't read your text, you lose 10 points per frame. And that's not good. Q: Okay, so now are we finised with the text? A: HAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAno. You still have to make it look straight. To do that, you've got to put all the text in the right order. First person to speak goes on the top left, second on the top right, a little below the first person's text. Then the next person is on the left, but below the last person, then the next one goes below that last one to the right, and so on for as many times people speak, or are interrupted,and speak more. To signify who's speaking, you just draw a thin line to the text, which, if the person speaks more than once during the scene, should probably branch out. Q: But wait, what about those cool text baloons some people use? A: Yeah, those are cool. But I hardly ever use those, because I find my method easier to use. However, if you'd rather do that, or if you've got your own special way to do it, you can use that method. Just make sure it is PERFECTLY clear who's speaking, when they are speaking, in what order they are speaking, and that it's...well...readable. Q: Yes! My comix is done! Now what do I do? A: Save it. As a bmp file in the "save as" option of the flies menu. Be sure to give it a name that doesn't have any spaces in it (Underscores, like "_" are okay), or you wont' be able to download it to the internet! (Numbers and special symbols are bad, too). Once you've done that, save your file again in GIF format (You do this by clicking on the scrolldown menu in the "save as" window, and choosing "Gif" instead of "bitmap". It'll probably say "Graphics Interchange Format" or something like that). This is so you've got a base file, and a file to put on the internet. Q: But wait, doesn't Gif totally scramble picture colors? A: Yeah, that's why you saved it as a bitmap first. That way, you've got a file that has the original colors in case you don't like it and would rather try usign Jpeg (Recognizeable 'cuz it's the choice that has "JPEG" on it), which makes the sprites all blurry, but might work for you. Then again, it might not. Like I said, save it as a bitmap first. Q: Isn't there some way to get rid of the evil blurriness curse? A: Magical Cool note: Scratch that, a friend of mine (Fury Hikari) told me how to un-blur stuff! Check it out! Open Adobe Photoshop, load your file as a BMP. At the top row, you should see a number of file commands. Like "File", "Edit", "Image", "Layer", and such. Go to "Image" There very first menu option should be "Mode". Go to that. Now you get a bunch of other options. Bitmap, Grayscale, Duotone, Indexed Color, RGB Color...just to name a few. With that, a screen should pop up instantly, with the following words: With that, a screen should pop up instantly, with the following words: Palette: Exact Color Depth: Other Colors: (Doesn't matter, just as long as the number is under 256) Warning: If you have more colors than this on your computer, you may need to save it as a PNG instead. OPTIONS: Dither: None Color Matchin: Faster TOUCH NO OPTIONS ON THAT. That's exactly what you want. Click "OK". Now, proceed to save as a GIF nother screen should pop up with the options "Normal" and "Interlaced" Select "Normal", if it's not already picked. Click OK, and you're done! Ta-da! Yeah, and you can forget my thingie. I guess it doesn't really work. Note: If you dont' have Adobe Photoshop, then there's no way to clear bluriness. You'll just have to live with it. [img]tongue.gif[/img] Q: Okay, I've got my comic all geared up! It's sprited out, written, and saved! Now how do I get it onto the internet? A: See next post. Q: WHAT?!? A: Hehehe...sorry, dude. Just trying to make a nice spacing in the topic. [ February 26, 2004, 03:15 PM: Message edited by: Introbulus ]