Critical Framework: Definitions PART.1

Hello,

Well today I went into University to try find my supervisor to no avail. However I did bump into Rory Jobson who was wanting a bit of help as he is doing some pixel art game assets (this is not for his honours project check out what he is doing for that here: http://roryjobsonhonours.blogspot.co.uk/) After telling him a few hints and tips I thought I may be ready to actually do a fairly in-depth critical framework, Plus I am in desperate need for some inspiration so looking at other peoples awesome pixel art is bound to help.

So heres the definitions and things I will be looking for when critiquing other work.

Pixel Art Critical framework Definitions

Style

Classic: low resolution and limited colour palette mimics the limitations provided by early consoles of the 70s – early 90s due to size outlines are not used.

Modern 'Stylized' : higher resolution than classic, and has an unlimited number of colours, however still uses simpler shading techniques such as cell shading. Can have a coloured/black outline

Modern 'Realism' : High resolution unlimited colours but uses more complicated shading techniques such as gradient and dithering and Anti-Ailising. Outline coloured or not used.

3D : simple geometry pixel art texture

Voxol : 3D created using recognizable individual cubes all consisting of the same size

Each style is decided depending on,

• Resolution : the resolution of an image is the amount of pixels used in an image
• Colour : The colour palette and the amount of colours used in the image
• Outline : What type of outline it used around objects and characters in the image
• Anti – Ailising : used to create smoother edges and more realistic colour gradients
• Shading : what type of shading technique is used: Gradient, Cell Shaded or Dithering

Also I thought it would be a good idea to note what platform the pixel art is for such as;

• Game
• Digital Image
• Animation/Film

Other things to look out for, Found in bad pixel art and will only be added if they are present

• Pillow Shading
• Jaggies

I realise some of these definitions are unclear to people who dont know pixel art so i will be updating this post with examples so that it becomes more clear.

EDIT: After reading the honours handbook rubrics on the concept development log and pre production portfolio. I am now unsure what module my critical framework belongs into so I will label it under both utnil it has been made clear. 14/01/2013