Animating the Skullgirls Way

Fans of all things 2D will definitely want to watch the latest Skullgirls promotional video. In it, Alex Ahad, the creator and art director on the game, explains how the team animates a Skullgirls character. The amount of detail and love that has to go into each one is astounding!

[tip from Pablo V A]

Tags: art skullgirls

hcallahan

Awesome stuff. 2D art ftw
xStingy

I’m not sure if I’ll like the game and I hope I do. But I’ll be buying it for support and tits.
Rampage

That was pretty cool. It’s always interesting to see some of the process and work that goes into these designs. Thanks for sharing it.
ST3K3LLY

when can i give you my money?
- Cactuarlover
  
  Ditto this shit!!
Solder

This has gone from a “maybe I’ll check it out” to a must buy for me. Cannot wait to find out when it will take some money from me. Hoping for some E3 videos.
evilben

awesome
Krackatoa

Holy crap.
xS A M U R A Ix

Looks good, could use a few more frames of animation though, it’s kinda choppy.
Wedge_Antilles

1500 frames of animation? Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn.
Kream

Man I want this title so bad… I’m really excited about the new combo mechanics they discussed a while ago

:D:D:D
Travis Epic

Noice!
ProjectNeo2501

I’ve done some animating before…You really must love your work. It’s so tedious.
- losif3r
  
  Ditto. I love animating and I miss doing it.
SamuraiCER

Wow, this game looks smooth as butter. This will b a day 1 purchase for me
Tessius

Yep, I’m hype.
AAK

Will the SF:3rd Strike spritework animation finally be dethroned!?
- JELIFISH19
  
  These aren’t sprites though
  - Ragnorok64
    
    These are definitely sprites.
    - JELIFISH19
      
      They’re not sprites, sprites are as we know them are pixel-art. This is hand-drawn and they have no pixels. It’s the same difference as any other fighting game tech such as 3D, claymation, or digitized models. Just because it’s not 3D doesn’t mean it’s a sprite. If you want to argue the actual meaning of sprite, than SF4 characters fit that description.
      - render
        
        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sprite_(computer_graphics)
        
        Just because they don’t look shitty and pixelated doesn’t mean they aren’t made out of pixels. By your definition, SF4 characters WOULD NOT be considered sprites, as they are 3D models, which are made of polygons.
      - Ragnorok64
        
        Straight from Reverge Lab’s site.
        http://revergelabs.com/2011/03/setting-the-record-straight/
        “The characters are drawn and animated by hand, similar to traditional cel-based 2D animation. They are not pixel art, but still qualify as “sprites” – they’re just especially large and luxurious sprites. From there, they’re enhanced with shading and our proprietary graphical secret sauce to make them ready for the real-time lighting and shadowing.”
factory9

I hope we get a color editor in the final build.

That would be extremely awesome.
thejohnsonrock

two things i would love to see:
1) pencil test mode where we get to see all the messy drawings in place of the cleaned up characters
2) closeups for the final blow ala samurai showdown or those super random neo geo fighting games

now if only those things wouldn’t drag down the production timetables…
- tempbast
  
  instead of limb severing or head decapitations at the end of a battle; how about nip-slips for skullgirls XD
cheng_long

Good old 2D animation, i wonder wich 2d software they used… maybe Digicel Flipbook but i m not sure.
MWisk_2

This is a day 1 buy for me! I’m so looking forward for Skullgirls, major props to MikeZ and everybody involved, you dunno how glad you guys are making me. =’)
Kimicario

Good grief, this’ll make 3rd Strike look like a bunch of preschool drawings…
jhop779

i love 2d fighters they have that anime like look. ;0
The Ace of Knaves

Awesome stuff, I miss real 2D fighters like this…
Hollow

Got a chance to play a rough build at the last Season’s Beatings: It looked great then, it looks incredible now.
ISLEDGEI

For those of you arguing, these aren’t sprites! They’re Dr. Peppers! Womp womp womp…….
- render
  
  hahahaha too good
sol dude

Im really digging the art style. It reminds me of a cutesier version of something Jhonen Vasquez would do
WINBACK

Too bad all that effort was spent to just make the tits bounce more fluidly. Game and characters still look like ass or just suited for perverted anime kids. This game is perfect for people who either don’t take fighting games seriously or just plain suck at them. Which person with a Japanese-ish username will complain first???
- ghandis spatula
  
  Go support your dead games.
- tempbast
  
  trololololololololololl
Noodlz

@ win back: i can understand not liking the style/character design, that’s totally up to personal preference. But i’m assuming you’ve never heard of Mike Z before or know anything about the developers of the game. This game is going to be pretty hardcore and most definitely tourney worthy. Casuals will probably get destroyed in the game.

Personally i don’t like the all-girl cutesyness, but i do really appreciate the artistic flair they add to the game. (i’m lovin the art-deco 1920>40s cartoon styles!) As an artist myself the design work they’ve done is amazing in my opinion. I’m looking forward to gettin this game!
PREFLEX

i didn’t like the art until i saw it animated. hats off to you guys, some really amazing work here. what platform(s?) is skullgirls coming out for? definitely plan on supporting this project, really, from one game developer to another, your level of dedication is phenomenal. kudos and keep up the good work!
Adnan199X

Darkstalkers done in this style would be amazing. In fairness, Morrigan, Felicia and Hsien-Ko look great in MvC3 as well though.

And Peacock looks fantastic. I didn’t like the other two characters they showed us previously, but Peacock just looks too fun.

Animating the Skullgirls Way

Evo Merch

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