Top-Down Character Shading
Printed From: Pixel Joint
Category: Pixel Art
Forum Name: WIP (Work In Progress)
Forum Discription: Get crits and comments on your pixel WIPs and other art too!
URL: https://pixeljoint.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=26189
Printed Date: 12 September 2025 at 1:34am
Topic: Top-Down Character Shading
Posted By: blackdrazon
Subject: Top-Down Character Shading
Date Posted: 20 March 2018 at 9:41pm
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I'm very new to this, but was trying to create some top-down view
sprites like you might see in, say, Illusion of Gaia, Secret of Mana, or
maybe Phantasy Star's overworld, etc. Unfortunately, I'm still having
trouble learning shading and highlighting, and wasn't even sure what angle I should be lighting from for such a sprite (my example games disagree). At this point, it was better to except to ask for help. Shading cloth has me particularly stumped. I simplified and recoloured her shirt to the boring grey so that I could see my shading better. It's supposed to be a more interesting design, but until I get the shading right, I'm going to stick with grey. I'm afraid that I haven't been able to settle on a mouth that I like yet, so she presently doesn't have one. With and without hair:   Any help would be appreciated! |
Replies:
Posted By: Hapiel
Date Posted: 23 March 2018 at 2:19am
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Hi Blackdrazon, welcome here :) The small highlights make it look very plasticy, very glossy, there is definitely room for improvement! Are you making versions facing the side too, and do you wish to mirror those so you only need to make one direction? In that case you can not use any side directional lightning, just top light. This is what you usually see in this kind sprites. If you're only making these or are willing to draw two versions for the sides, the diagonal light is fine. Her breasts seem a bit low to me, elbow height :o Now as for top lighting, light would hit all areas that face the sky. Shoulders, top of chest, top of head, maybe forearms, and that's it. Light reflecting from the surroundings can light up the rest of the character, but probably a bit less in creases and folds such as between the arms and the body, between the legs, and also any surface that faces downwards. Some body parts might also cast a small shadow, depending on the exact position of the light. Does that help a bit? |
Posted By: eishiya
Date Posted: 23 March 2018 at 9:45am
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In a top-down view, we'd probably see a lot more of the tops of the characters' features. In your sprites, the camera is definitely higher than a front/side view, but only slightly, so they still don't read as top-down view or RPG view. I think having the breasts around elbow-level is actually good for this kind of view, the problem if that you haven't pushed the head similarly forward or the belly and legs backward. |
Posted By: blackdrazon
Date Posted: 24 March 2018 at 5:02pm
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Thank you both! I'm probably going to have to re-measure some proportions. The camera is supposed to be at an angle, but that was a risky move to begin with and obviously I made mistakes. Maybe I'll just use a traditional perspective for the time being, since I'm not sure I'm up to the skill level required for perspective art, and try it again for some other project when I'm more developed. While this sprite doesn't require alternate left and right sprites, I may be using asymmetric sprites in the future. Still, if it's traditional to do top-down, that's no skin off my back, I think I'll do that. I'll see what I can do to improve and/or redraw and will hopefully post the updated product in a few days! |