Static sprites vs. dynamic sprites?

[rainbowcascade]

Actually, do you ever see a real person standing exactly still for hours? Besides, those sprites aren't standing still because the artist/programmer makes them so, not Live2D.

The sprites aren't idle for hours, they're constantly moving in seconds. When I talk to people, I pay attention to their body language. They're faces change to make emotions as well as the hand gestures but when they're listening to me, they are quite still. The only people who move like these sprites are stoners/very sleepy folks. Even jittery people who literally can't hold still don't move with the weird sway the Live2D sprites have.

I understand that both Live2D and Emote have the same power and it's really the artist/programmer making the sprites sway back and forth all weird like that. So I guess it's just judgement on which style of dynamic sprites you'd prefer. I prefer the style of the guys who used Emote.

Anyway, you also need to look at the price when you starts making commercial project.

I know how to animate and can churn out a gif in Flash. Animating short gifs can also be done in Photoshop which many artists take advantage of. Granted, Photoshop and Flash aren't free and are quite pricy but that doesn't stop folks from pirating it.

[LVUER]

Anyway, you also need to look at the price when you starts making commercial project.

I know how to animate and can churn out a gif in Flash. Animating short gifs can also be done in Photoshop which many artists take advantage of. Granted, Photoshop and Flash aren't free and are quite pricy but that doesn't stop folks from pirating it.

Well, we're talking about the legal things here You know how to animate, how about others? And can you combine those sprites into interactive games? Sure with programming, you can. Again, the tools are there for people who can't.

[daijinahito]

I like the dynamic sprites when they're well done, but personally, it's more like watching an anime. I think it ruins the novel aspect of a visual novel. Instead of really reading, I find myself just watching and listening. It's really cool if that's the way you want to go, but I personally like the static sprites with simple blinking animations.

[Sonya]

IMO, I can't stand VNs with 'static' sprites. It just seems so dead to me, how they're all stiff in one pose, unmoving like paper. It just adds SO much more life to them when you animate their hair, eyes, or just slight movements like breathing, etc.

Now that I can even use Emofuri in Flash to make HTML5 visual novels (like the one I made a few days ago: http://joilly.com/play?n=xRRRRRRRRQ ) I can't see myself NOT making dynamic sprites when it's SO easy to do.

[Tayruu]

While I don't have a problem with static sprites, once I get used to ones with more animations it can be a little jarring to go back to ones that are not. (Like seeing older Pokemon games again after playing BW/XY.) I at least like to see some blinking and lip-flap, but these also should be used carefully so as to not appear unnatural.

I understand that both Live2D and Emote have the same power and it's really the artist/programmer making the sprites sway back and forth all weird like that. So I guess it's just judgement on which style of dynamic sprites you'd prefer. I prefer the style of the guys who used Emote.

This is about how I feel. I like the style that the Emote video shows, but even the slight movements come of as a little distracting.

I like what 9.9.9. and Virtue's Last Reward do. 999 uses 2D sprites so the graphics are usually static outside the eyes and mouth, but the key thing is it uses animations to start off certain poses, which I think looks really nice. VLR is 3D and takes advantage of that to animate, and it has slight wobble/breathing to the 'idle' models, but is calm enough to not be distracting.

[Ran08]

The animated sprites are aesthetically pleasing but also very distracting. Reading a whole VN with stuff constantly moving in the background would be exhausting and possibly headache-inducing. I would only recommend this if the game is short and is light on the writing.

Otherwise, blinking eyes is about as much as I can take. Static sprites just do the job better. If you like animated sprites, you're better off making an interactive movie where the player doesn't have to divide their attention between pictures and text.

Agree with this. Haha. As of now, I still prefer static sprites for visual novels. If it has to be animated, then I can take blinking eyes, but lip-syncing can be a bit weird for me. I feel sort of distracted when I see moving stuff like that. Haha. Ace Attorney is fine with the dynamic sprites though. I mean, sprites don't exactly move much there. They just change poses, expressions, and stuff. Haha.

Also... I kinda like 2D better. Realistic 3D art does border on uncanny valley sometimes.

[Alte]

You can't go wrong with Static sprites as how most visual novels grew accustom to. If there's an ideal solution, why not have an option for both?

I think for early visual novel developers who wants to start out small should go with Static sprites as the basics. Later on, if they want to remake their work can go with dynamic sprites.

While it's just my opinions, I don't think many developers have given the consideration of the factor "Motion Sickness" when using 3D motion sprites. There's an odd reaction with some of the Japanese gaming audience when the Nintendo 3DS was introduced. They even issued a health warning in the Health and Safety Precautions.

Not many people are adjusted to seeing 3D motion characters at full time in a visual novel.

I'm uncertain about the absolute percentage of the people in the world with motion sickness, I wouldn't want VN enthusiasts to miss out the works that's available to them due to a condition that they can't control. (Let's assume the percentage is minimum, I doubt developers would make both static and dynamic sprites together due to cost and time.)