Are sprite movies dead nowadays?

[Ninsega091]

Just wondering because many flash animators are giving up on sprite movies.... :'( And also because I want to submit my own to the portal, and would like to know what people on Newgrounds like nowadays....

[ikool]

At 9/11/09 11:45 PM, Ninsega091 wrote: Just wondering because many flash animators are giving up on sprite movies.... :'( And also because I want to submit my own to the portal, and would like to know what people on Newgrounds like nowadays....

Ahhhh little one, the sprite world is not dead... It has just been sleeping.
Seriously though, since most animators want to do their own animations and many don't appreciate sprite work here at Newgrounds, spriting is becoming a dying animation style.

I personally still prefer sprites to anything.

[cochipahue]

At 9/11/09 11:45 PM, Ninsega091 wrote: Just wondering because many flash animators are giving up on sprite movies.... :'( And also because I want to submit my own to the portal, and would like to know what people on Newgrounds like nowadays....

sprites suck.

[Lionel738]

personally, i love sprites

[DFlame6]

I think sprite movies are boring...so they've always been dead to me

[WarChimp]

they were fine, but again just depends on how well they were animated, if they were bad then they sucked (obviously) if they were good they were good (obviously again)

[Pkmn2]

But you have to keep in mind, that many of them were pretty long in the spriting business.
For example: KrankZinnigStudio(Toonimated) aka Paul ter Voorde, MajinPiccolo, LgdVegetto, Randy Solem, Staticreator, RupeeClock(He did "Tails and his GBA",remember?) , Advanced-Logic(Dunno? Hasn't posted for a very long time) , a lil bit Razoric, *Vazz, *A17roolz, *Proxicide.
Oh and D-SuN just "recently", I think. Power Star 4 was his final sprite movie.
Those with a * are "not-sure". =P

Anyway, but some are trying their best to keep them alive. Mini-speed1, Yoshi-1up, e104joker, Psycosis91, R1665, FlameZero, remixV4, CheveLoco, Alvin-Earthworm(we have to accept, that SMBZ unique for now), me aka Pkmn2 and many more. =P

So, just do your stuff. People come and go. That's life, unfortunately.

[Newbie99]

Mmhm.. Theyve been fead for a long time. That's why mario is now a flying raccoon that collects gems.

[InnerChild548]

Sprites are boring and unoriginal. You hardly call yourself an animator if you do them, because you're basically putting together piece of cut-out-for-you animation. Takes hardly any skill.

I'm glad they're dead.

[Adidaas]

I don't think what I've so. Not as loud as before, but it's still there.

To be fair that last one wasn't a movie.

[NegativeONE]

If we should be so fortunate.

[ikool]

I still don't understand why there is so much hate for sprite animations... People normally animate for the fun of it and to share their work, not for judgment and ratings... Just because sprites are easier to use doesn't mean it still doesn't take effort to make a decent animation.

[Thomas]

At 9/12/09 09:47 PM, InnerChild548 wrote: Sprites are boring and unoriginal.

It depends on the person who did it. A lot of spriters can add originality to their sprite animations by creating custom sprites. I think it's awesome when customs are made, it makes the animation twice as good, and there is usually more special effects (for lack of a better phrase) in the movie.

Spriting is also a great way to catch attention. Many, MANY people (particularly 13 year old boys) enjoy seeing their favorite video game characters in an animation. It's kind of like an extension to a game that you don't want to end. Plus, sometimes it's easy to turn a simple game for children into a funny adult-content Flash by twisting around original game content (eg mushrooms in Mario).

If you think about it, using sprites is a great idea for getting viewers. This is probably the reason why many legit animators are pissed. Their hard-work is getting blown off for a movie with Mario in it. A legit animator will then just put down anything sprite-related and use words such as 'unoriginal' and 'overused' (which is true in the majority of cases).

At this point, there isn't much else to do with sprites, which is probably why the idea is dying down. There have been so many movies and games that it's hard to create an original idea with sprites. People have already done numerous music videos, action-packed fight movies (Rise of the MK, Power Star, etc), bloopers, mushroom jokes, and all the rest. People get tired of these themes after a while. The animators eventually figure this out and overall production goes down.

At 9/12/09 09:47 PM, InnerChild548 wrote: You hardly call yourself an animator if you do them, because you're basically putting together piece of cut-out-for-you animation. Takes hardly any skill.

This is just an opinion. You can say this about a lot of the sprite movies out there, but then there are others that have a lot of work put into them. If you see something like Power Star (or related), you will probably just say "Fuck this, it's unoriginal and there's no skill involved. Learn how to draw". However, the author (in this case, Daniel Sun) put a lot of effort in, rather than just copy+pasting the sprites and creating little sequences of back and forth banter. There is also a great story line, which can help remove thoughts of the technique and style of animation.

long post is long

[Da-boi]

you got ya good ones and bad ones but were still around :)

[ifureadthisdie]

Newgrounds catches a fit over anything. Keep doing it don't worry, but do it for fun not for fame. Because i being a spriter myself admit I'm using someone elses work and only animating them my way but I'm doing it for fun not for fame on the internet and for any profit. And there is an occasional good sprite film every now and then that doesn't get enough recognition for using sprites.

The thing i hate is for example if there were 2 flashes that were both comedic one drawn and one with sprites, the one that is drawn is corny as hell but the one with sprites though funnier, would have a lower score, JUST because it's sprites.

[doctormario]

Think of it like this:

1. No matter what you do, someone on NG will hate it. Don't dwell on that. It is the nature of the beast. Just do your thing anyway.

2. Thomas mentioned something important above regarding custom sprites. A big problem with most sprite movies in the portal, is a severe lack of originality. I mean, how many times do we need to see Ryu and Luigi duke it out DragonballZ style? It's a trite cliché. An over-ripe fruit that started to stink years ago. Believe me when I say, if you make your own sprites, or even creatively improve on some existing ones, you will avoid "some" of the sprite-haters. You'll never win over the 'drawn fbf purists'. They are lizard people who feed on human suffering. :)

3. Always remember...this is supposed to be fun. Some of the biggest laughs I've ever had on NG appeared in the form of "Hatemail". Most of it is a joke. Please treat it accordingly.

[KingVolvolgia]

You miss the point of newgrounds
Step 1: you make it
Step 2: you like it
Step 3: you submit it

[claydemond2300]

At 9/11/09 11:55 PM, cochipahue wrote:

At 9/11/09 11:45 PM, Ninsega091 wrote: Just wondering because many flash animators are giving up on sprite movies.... :'( And also because I want to submit my own to the portal, and would like to know what people on Newgrounds like nowadays....

sprites suck.

No, YOU SUCK!!

[Ran-Cossack]

There is nothing wrong with sprites.. Newgrounds basically began on sprites. There will always be "elitist" asshats, for lack of a more gentle phrasing, who will believe every sprite creation in existence is garbage, just because it uses that format to create something. Yes, a sprite CAN be simpler then a hand-drawn animation.. But the same can be said for the reverse.

If you put a sprite animation, up against a STICKMAN animation, does the fact that the stickmen are "drawn" instantly make it better? No, no it does not, but that does not mean it CAN'T be better. Many stickman animations can be far better then sprite fueled animations.. But the same can be said for the opposite. Neither style, sprite or drawn, is superior to the other. Both can be used to make fantastic animations, and they can also be used to create pure, unfiltered feces, it all depends on the effort put into it.

I've been around for quite a few years on Newgrounds, and have seen my fair share of sprite animations, and drawn animations. I've seen both sides throw out garbage, claiming it's the most unique, amazing, fantastic thing ever, and finding them completely wrong. But I've also seen both sides submit wonderful animations, that I couldn't stop watching! And the reason for that? Because they DID IT WELL.

A sprite does not make a movie garbage, a hand-drawn image does not make a movie gold, it's the animators that determine that. Remember the tagline... "Newgrounds: Everything, by EVERYONE."

And, with that bit of seriousness out of the way... I think I'll go launch a turtle out of a cannon, and then enjoy some 8-bit Theatre.

-Cossack.

[HyperGumba]

It´s a shame that sprite movies are being hated by so much users on NG. I as an sprite animator myself (DDDM) do some sprites by myself or just edit some existing,especially for different face expressions because most games lack a broad variety of face expressions. Mostly it´s the normal looking,eyes closed,hit stunned and some happy one. I always have to make alot by myself,according to the growing cast of my series.
And I don´t just use sheets ripped by others,there are a lot of sprites (especially backgrounds) I need from certain games and therefore I rip currently a lot of backgrounds by myself. Iknow the sprites I rip are not my work but it´s not a piece of cake ripping game sprites, you can believe me.
It always depends on how well animated the sprites are,but also on plotline,sounds,music,voices and other things you need to keep in mind when making a sprite movie.

The DeDeDe´s Minions series is mostly hated because some voices lack quality (based on not too awesome microphones) but there are a lot of people who rate it down because it was made with sprites.

At last it depends on your own taste.I personally think both sprited and drawn are awesome,as long as it is well animated.

[ifureadthisdie]

At 9/14/09 12:00 PM, Ran-Cossack wrote: The truth

THANK YOU!

reverse caps fuck you

[Sunrie]

Sprite movies aren't dead, it's just a fad to hate on them recently.

Now, the problem with most sprite movies is that people think they are easy, so they dick slap something together and post it. There's a lot of attention to detail you have to still do when making a sprite movie.

Make sure your sprites don't bounce around. Make sure you are doing something more original than "Mario jumps on a flagpole and gets it stuck up his ass".

Good sprite animations get the respect they deserve and the ones which are slapped together by a ballsack with hands get bombed.

My Captain R: The Game Ranger series is done well and gets attention because it's original. I've not made another Phoenix Wrong because it would be pointless. I did Mario: Shell Trouble, getting a daily fourth, and that isn't my normal style.

Anyone who sits there and screams "You stole all of this using sprites!!!!!" just shows how worthless they are. If someone were to draw the same animation, it would be "OMFG STOLEN CHARACTERS!" to "Nice drawings!". It's a double standard and those who apply it really don't think their comments through. I'm surprised they've lived long enough to learn how to use the computer effectively, to be honest.

In the end, just put real effort into your project and don't be cliche.

[Ninsega091]

At 9/12/09 03:21 AM, Pkmn2 wrote: But you have to keep in mind, that many of them were pretty long in the spriting business.
For example: KrankZinnigStudio(Toonimated) aka Paul ter Voorde, MajinPiccolo, LgdVegetto, Randy Solem.

Randy Solem didn't stop, he's just not finding time for flash because of work and other things.... :(

[Emanhattan]

the reason why sprite movies are dying is because people are tired of watching the same shit over and over and over. being a former "sprite animator" I can tell you moving bitmaps in a computer is ridiculously easyer than doing a flash drawn by yourself.

there are 2 kinds of sprite animators:

the begginers: who just discovered flash and are learning flash trough sprites
the faggots: people that say they do sprites "for fun" but thats bullshit because all they want is attention, and who are often devoid of any talent and will never be able to produce something better.
that pkmn dude mentioned some faggots and hes probably one himself. Probably.

the good thing is people slowly started paying less and less attention to the faggots in favor of original content. as for the beginners, they will slowly transform into faggots if they dont try to do anything else!

[ikool]

At 9/15/09 06:28 PM, Emanhattan wrote: there are 3 kinds of sprite animators:

the begginers: who just discovered flash and are learning flash trough sprites
the faggots: people that say they do sprites "for fun" but thats bullshit because all they want is attention, and who are often devoid of any talent and will never be able to produce something better.
that pkmn dude mentioned some faggots and hes probably one himself. Probably.
the ikool: is superior at spriting and ruling the world.

You forgot one :3
There were always 3 kinds of sprite animators, suckah.
Also, I think that Araskin has stopped spriting for his own hand-drawn series...

[HyperGumba]

At 9/16/09 12:15 AM, ikool wrote: Also, I think that Araskin has stopped spriting for his own hand-drawn series...

Yeah, I remember Araskin . He is one of the guys who made the Bowser´s Kingdom series,isn´t it ? I freaking loved this series,the humorous dialouges,just everything. I was so sad about their announcment that they stop making this series.
If this series never existed in the first place I probably hadn´t started the whole DeDeDe´s Minions thing at all. The main reason why I did this was to keep the spirit of the BK-series alive trying to recreate it using a different cast of characters (fans will find similarities,even those that were unintentional) but using own ideas and jokes (though some are and will be based on meme´s) . Maybe there was a little need of attention, but the main reason was to give the BK fans an alternative.

DDDM slowly became popular since episode 2 but it´s still a series known by only a few people. Unfortunately Kirby is not Mario,results in less fame.

The last aspect: It really is fun to make it,and it´s quite time consuming. Episode 2 has been worked on for nearly eight months. Okay,since I have my own life I didn´t work regularly on it,but it really is not a piece of cake to make this stuff up.

[Pkmn2]

At 9/15/09 06:28 PM, Emanhattan wrote: the begginers: who just discovered flash and are learning flash trough sprites
the faggots: people that say they do sprites "for fun" but thats bullshit because all they want is attention, and who are often devoid of any talent and will never be able to produce something better.
that pkmn dude mentioned some faggots and hes probably one himself. Probably.

the good thing is people slowly started paying less and less attention to the faggots in favor of original content. as for the beginners, they will slowly transform into faggots if they dont try to do anything else!

Hmmm... Emanhattan... Why does your name sound so familiar? =P
Oh right! Sprite TV 3. XD

Anyway, I'm no attention whore or something. I'm doing this really just for fun. If I want to quit, I'll quit.
If you put enough effort into it, you'll get more or less praise. Positive and even negative critics.
That's what it keeps me motivated.
If it's good, improve by making others even better.
If it sucks, improve by making others better than before.
There's not a single movie in the world with positive critics only or opposite. There's always a hater/lover outside in this world.
It also depends on which audience you're targeting.

And yeah most sprite-animators do quit, because they changed to drawings.
Maybe for the fact, that they think well-drawn movies are better than well-animated sprites, because the "originality" is higher.
But even sprites can be "original" in its own way, even though with all the copyrights and stuff.
(So guys, credit nice or I'll stab you!)

Even that doesn't mean sprite-animators are instantly faggots. (They do exist, but I'm definitely not one of them. XD)
Does that mean you're a faggot too? Once a sprite-animator, always a sprite-animator.
(I don't want to make you angry, you're awesome. Please don't take this too serious! ^^)
Hey, even Kirbopher started with sprites. =P

Oh and Ninsega091, Randy Solem's last movie is pretty long ago. =P
I'm still waiting for Mario Gets Lucky 2. XD

[ant109]

Wtf sprite movies are teh shit.who cares how much effort they take I watch mario sprite movies all day long and laugh my ass off. But I guess its whatever floats ur boat

[Emanhattan]

At 9/16/09 02:27 PM, Pkmn2 wrote: Hey, even Kirbopher started with sprites. =P

kirbopher is really gay tho!

[ifureadthisdie]

At 9/15/09 06:28 PM, Emanhattan wrote: the reason why sprite movies are dying is because people are tired of watching the same shit over and over and over. being a former "sprite animator" I can tell you moving bitmaps in a computer is ridiculously easyer than doing a flash drawn by yourself.

That doesn't mean the movie is necessarily better just because it was harder to make

there are 2 kinds of sprite animators:

the begginers: who just discovered flash and are learning flash trough sprites
the faggots: people that say they do sprites "for fun" but thats bullshit because all they want is attention, and who are often devoid of any talent and will never be able to produce something better.
that pkmn dude mentioned some faggots and hes probably one himself. Probably.

So having fun with something automatically makes you an attention whore?

the good thing is people slowly started paying less and less attention to the faggots in favor of original content. as for the beginners, they will slowly transform into faggots if they dont try to do anything else!

Feeling all high and mighty that you moved up to drawn stuff eh? Well then it seems the attention whoring goes directly in your direction.