Creative freedom; 3D, 2D and handdrawn

[Blua ido]

Hey there!
I doubt very much that much people know me around here, since I have simply done some edits in Daily lives thread. But i was thinking about expanding my horizons and really making a game on my own

now to the point and the reason i am starting this thread...

I get the impression that 3d games standardize a lot on creative abilities, and 2d games I rarely see hand-drawn concept art.
Honestly, I have very little experience with digital drawing, and perhaps I come from a somewhat obsolete teaching but... does anyone know, are there people who make drawings by hand and then digitize them? it works well?
Or would it be simpler to learn to draw digitally from scratch?

 

[CocoVC]

If you have a scanner, you can scan hand drawn art. After you scan the art, you can import it into a photo-editing program and work on it there.

 

[Blua ido]

If you have a scanner, you can scan hand drawn art. After you scan the art, you can import it into a photo-editing program and work on it there.

Is what i had in mind at first, but then i started to question if that didn't slow down the work too much. That's why i was asking if there are people who do that, or if most people just work digital from the beginning, and whether or not that could limit the art in any way

 

[Egglock]

Going digital would be the best option, considering you're trying to make a game. The reason, is so that you don't have to deal with the workflow of, drawing -> scanning -> re-tracing -> coloring + having to get a tablet, unless you were planning on using your mouse. It'll just be draw -> color. Plus in the long run you'll save your self from buying paper + pencils, and if you need it on paper, just print it out and do what you need to do with it.

Digital drawing is no different than a pencil, with the exception that if you get a tablet that requires you to use your monitor as the screen it'll feel awkward trying to draw. My suggest is if your budget allows it, get a drawing tablet that has it's own visual screen, that way it'll feel more natural trying to draw. Trust me it feels strange and disconnected trying to draw while looking at the monitor.

 

[Blua ido]

Trust me it feels strange and disconnected trying to draw while looking at the monitor.

ty very much for the reply, and yeah, i had seen drawing tablets that did not show a screen and it was just that and a stylus, which is precisely why i felt insecure about whether it was very different from drawing by hand. I guess the best thing would be to look for a tablet with a screen

 

[Egglock]

I guess the best thing would be to look for a tablet with a screen

That would yield the best results. Though you don't have to if the budget doesn't allow for it. Drawing tablets are expensive. It's just that if you opt in for one that doesn't have it's own screen, it'll just feel unnatural, but doable.

 

[Munitions Mori]

I used a cheap slate tablet for a couple years before upgrading to a 'proper' monitor tablet - it's a night and day difference. Tablets with no monitors train your hand/eye coordination in a really weird way, you can get good at it but its unlike any other kind of drawing experience - the value I got out of it was learning how to use digital art programs, layers and undo and the whole mountain of features.

Scanning physical art works but some parts will be hard with game development. Backgrounds are fine, but what about sprites or UI or anything with transparency? You need to clean up your scans, smoothen the hard edges you cut around, you need to learn a bit of photo manipulation... not a dealbreaker, but something to keep in mind.

 

[Crimson Delight Games]

Depends on what your goal is...

If you want to make a game relatively quickly, do 3D and pump out releases as quick as you can render them.

But if you wanna learn to draw, then 2D is the way... though it's gonna take ages, and you probably won't be happy with the initial releases. The upside is that you'll learn to actually draw human anatomy and light/shadows and all that snazzy fun stuff.