Hello, my name is Carlos Gradilla, I have a very specific request, when I make pixel art I really need to make a sketch first, so I know what I doing and I can have a better control on consistency and fix mistakes before jumping on the pixel sprite.
So I ask for a “soft brush” for this need, I hope this isn’t so hard to implement.
But, why a soft brush?
as I explain before, for some artist is better start with a rough sketch as guide, a bit more traditional form of pixel art. for example pixel art from Capcom start first on paper, and later digitalized.
I wish has the same thing. but in a modern setting and with all his conveniences. This method is still used
currently, but there is not options out there besides Photoshop to start first with a sketch and later get refined in the pixel work. So I see this as advantage for he software if were implemented. Because If I start first my sketch in other program, later open Pro-motion, etc. get pointless, no very practical and switching between programs makes more difficult the worflow.
Here additional samples of how this technique is used:
No offence but this would require a total rewrite of the graphic engine. However all is not lost if you have a pressure sensitive tablet such as a wacom and a good understanding of the software. You can create a gradient that looks like pen and pressure. I messed around with this for an hour but if you want to get it working be my guest. Be sure to enable gradient in the pen selection under tool and paint settings. good luck also remember that ProMotionNG has layers so you could easily lock the one that you need to to look at.
You want to import a sketch and use it a guide as you trace over it? A common need. While not as convenient as Photoshop, we can already do this in PMNG.
See this thread -
I suggest posting a response in this thread, if it doesn’t take care of the issue for you.
A significant update is coming through for PMNG where we’ll be able to more easily manipulate reference images in order to position them exactly as needed before tracing, but you can already do this in PMNG as well by capturing the ref image as a brush and scaling/rotating it.
Personally, whenever I want to trace something in PMNG, I first prepare the image in Photoshop then paste it into PMNG.
If you need to trace an animated sequence of scanned images, I recommend scanning all drawings, compile into a GIF using Photoshop, open the GIF in PMNG and draw on top of it.
I’m still not sure what you really meant by “soft brush”. Once you’ve used the rough sketch to get your lineart right, the sketch can be discarded, right? Then it’s just a matter of rendering.
I want to open PMNG get new canvas and start sketching my preliminar animation and making my corrections there, but the only option for brush is a binary one with not antialising of any kind, the antialiasing option works fine for other applications, but not for start sketching, and them when I get my sketch righ I can proceed with the rendering. a perfect workflow, easy fast and covers all needs.
But if I need to make my sketch first on photoshop or gimp, then move to PMNG, making fixes and moving between programs back and forth don’t feel right, specially when I don’t really want to work with photosho or gimp for making pixel art.
Ah ok, I understand. You just want to freely sketch without having to worry about the typical constraints of pixel art or color palette or any of that junk, and do it all inside PMNG. To quickly throw down a sketch/edit a sketch, make a new layer and draw on top of it.
I too would like to be switching programs less. Here’s a few tries at fast rough sketching in PMNG -
Here I’m using Multi Shade mode and pressure sensitivity. Very basic but gets pretty close to Photoshop . . . sort of. Might be enough for some users.
Here I’m using Translucent mode with Anti-Aliasing turned on.
Thing to remember about Pro Motion is, it operates on a different paradigm than other digital painting programs we’re used to - you can’t use colors not in your palette, etc. So you have to figure out how to hack it for non pixel art type stuff.
I found that once I learned what all the brush modes did and how to quickly switch back and forth between them I could do pretty much anything I need to do as long as it’s just basic sketching/drawing. I still rely heavily on Photoshop for my own work, but everyone’s needs are different.
