Official Spriter's Dictionary.

[Type-BLUES.EXE]

S-INC spriting dictionary, first edition released 2006.

AA- Anti-Aliasing, this is how you smooth out edges on sprites.

Bad spriter: A spriter who blatantly steals others' sprites and claming sprites as their own. Also defined as a spriter who refuses to admit anything wrong with their sprites, and generally tends to curse and bash anyone who says anything criticizing. An example of such a spriter would be Favic.

Basic Forms- Cubes, cones, spheres, cylenders, ect. Sometimes mistakenly called basic shapes.

BGs- Backgrounds.

Color Limit- A set number of colors used for a sprite STYLE. It can SOMETIMES be effected by bittage. It will always include a trancparency color.

Contrast- The diffrences in values you colors might have.

C+P: "Cut and Paste". Generally when a spriter splices together a "custom" character with parts from several other characters. This is generally a "Class B" (4~7/10) spriting technique, depending on the quality of the result.

Custom Sprites-Useing A riped sprite [See sprite rip] edit to anothe charicter,or,look.

Devamping: Degrading a sprite by reducing shading (i.e recolouring a 16-bit sprite to make it look 8-bit). It is a "Class C" sprite, regarded on the same level as a "Revamp".

Dithering- This is how you create the illusion of more colors with what you have, it's moreless cross hatching with pixels.

Frankenstein: see C+P

Good Spriter: A spriter who does not need to openly state that he is good, and will also allow criticism in order to improve. The quality of the sprite produced must also be of a high standard (around 8~10). An example of a good spriter would be SovietCommando (http://www.sprites-inc.co.uk/forum/member.php?u=5) or BlackBeltDude] (http://www.sprites-inc.co.uk/forum/member.php?u=31).

Recolour: Generally when a spriter takes a sprite, and changes the colour pallette on it. Despite whatever quality the end product is, it's considered a "Class C" (1~3/10) due to the fact that a monkey could crap out something equivalent.

Revamping: Upgrading a sprite by adding colours to introduce shading (i.e. colouring a 8-bit megaman sprite to make it look like a 16-bit megaman sprite). Generally regarded as a "Class C" sprite, although it is regarded more highly than a normal recolour.

Scratch sprite: A sprite that was drawn from scratch, meaning that it was made completely by oneself (using no parts from any official sprite). This is generally a "Class A" spriting technique (8~10), because of the effort used.

Trancparency Layer- This layer on a sprite has no colors so you can see the backgrounds.

[Kairos]

*Ahem*

MODELS-A In a sense,a sprite that cannot be riped,or edited,in a useful manner.

2-Bit-Rarely used sprites that use 2 colors,with 1 transparancy,a total of 3 colors.

EDIT-Got some more.

Sprite theft-Claiming a sprite (PD or not) as your own.

PD- (PD stands for "Public Domain) A sprite that is avialble for use without pemission-creator may or may not request credit.

Credit-To give credit to a person when a sprite is used in a game and/or comic.

Sprite comic-A sprites used in a manner like Garfield (http://www.garfield.com/comics/comics_todays.html) or Blondie. Example-Bob and George (http://www.bobandgeorge.com/),8-Bit Theater (http://www.nuklearpower.com/),Kid Radd (http://www.kidradd.com/)

More later. I have PLENTY more

[Hotenshu Shogun]

*2-Bit-Rarely used sprites that use 2 colors,with 1 transparancy,a total of 3 colors.
I didn't know that.

Ripping-pulling a sprite or set of sprites from a game for use.
Why didn't you already have that one?

[Kairos]

Can a mans hands get tierd?

*ahem,Ahem*

Custom Sprites-Useing A riped sprite [See sprite rip] edit to anothe charicter,or,look.

[Blackbeltdude]

AA- Anti-Aliasing, this is how you smooth out edges on sprites.

Dithering- This is how you create the illusion of more colors with what you have, it's moreless cross hatching with pixels.

Contrast- The diffrences in values you colors might have.

Color Limit- A set number of colors used for a sprite STYLE. It can SOMETIMES be effected by bittage. It will always include a trancparency color.

Trancparency Layer- This layer on a sprite has no colors so you can see the backgrounds.

BGs- Backgrounds.

Basic Forms- Cubes, cones, spheres, cylenders, ect. Sometimes mistakenly called basic shapes.

[TwIzTeR_91]

Everyone is spelling it "riped." Is there some "spriter thing" that I'm sounding like a n00b in? Isn't it spelled ripped? Or is it a country's spelling difference? I am confused. But the real reason I posted:

Style- How the sprite is structured. This could include any number of things, from how it looks, to what colors it uses, how it moves, etc.

[kingofanime]

Dunno if this could be one or not but:

Base Spriting- Much like C+P but different in the fact that only one sprite is used as the foundation to the newly created piece. If more than one base is used, it is then considered a C+P. In that regard, a base is the pre-existing sprite being used for the re-editing.


And as far as that "riping" thing is concerned. It's just a common typo, I mess it up all the time.

[TwIzTeR_91]

And as far as that "riping" thing is concerned. It's just a common typo, I mess it up all the time.

Okay. Good. In other news,

Base- This is a pre-existing sprite that is edited to make a "new sprite." The sprite may or may not resemble it's base, and depending on the resemblence the sprite could range from "Class C" all the way to "Class A." If the resemblence is noticable, the sprite would be "Class C," if you need to search for the base, "Class B," and if the base is completely unrecognizable, at times, the sprite could be "Class A."

[DrHogan]

Selout - Selective outlining.

[dualR]

Sorry, but I think we could use a better definition

Selective outlining, or "selout", is kind of like shading the outline. Rather than using black all the way around, we apply a color that is closer to the color of the sprite itself. Also, we vary the brightness of this outline along the edge of the sprite, letting the light source dictate which colors we apply.
Source (http://derekyu.com/extras/pixel09.html)

Coined by Tsugumo and Blu_monkee(sp? something about a blue monkey?) in collaboration

[Vorpal86]

I know this is an old post, but I have always beleived that you can't sustain too much information so I want to help. I hope I'm not out of line, posting after all this time.

Here are some definitions that correspond to Pixel Art Computer Animation, and Computer Animation in general. If any of this information is incorrect or out of place, let me know else tell me something good.

Animation - A sequence of images that are displayed one after the other to simulate the illusion of motion, and depth.

AnimStrip - A single bitmap image that contains all frames that will represent the animation. These frames would be aligned properly within the AnimStrip so that the animation looks as it should.

Anim Gif - An image in the GIF format that contains an animation rather than a single image. GIF stands for Graphics Interchange Format, and is pronounced ji-uf or jiff

Breakdown - If you need to add a sound or music sequence to your animation you would refer to this as a Breakdown. By Breaking-Down each changing frame, it's possible to determine the proper image frame for the start of the sound or music that would be required to make it work.

Cel - A cel is also known as a frame of animation. In video talk, a cel is a plastic sheet that artists use as sort of an "Onion Skin" which is used to see other layers, or frames of the animation so that each new frame can be drawn to match the previous frame.

CMYK - These four letters stand for Cyan Cyan, Magenta Magenta, Yellow Yellow and BlackBlack. These colors are used for printing rather than the Red Green and Blue index which is associated with spriting, and the means to mix colors for use in your sprites. As long as you want or need to print your sprite animation work to paper, this definition should fit here I think. You could then use it in other ways.

Color Cycling http://vorpal86.snesorama.us/images/personal/pixle/animation/anim_gif/moving_effect03.gif
This is the process of automatically rotating the different colors assigned in your sprites, tiles or backgrounds to simulate the illusion of motion, without actually using any animation frames. Some graphics software have this feature built into them with the ability to save the individual frames to an output image or images. Pro Motion, and my all-time favorite spriting application that was/is for the Amiga computer, Deluxe Paint V have this feature. Of course, once you get the hang of it then you can design an animation by hand that cycles through different colors.

Cycle - An animation that loops indefinitely, or loops for how ever many times specified. Each animation can run at it's speed of cycles per second.

Cycles Per Second - In general, this pertains to how fast an animation is running. 60 cycles per second (CPS), or 60 frames per second (FPS)can be cited. This is the normal cycle speed for the US. However, other parts of the world such ar Europe, utilize 50 cycles per second. As far as television goes. Cycles are also known as Frequency. Hence this, broken-down; Frequent - cy ( Frequent Cycles ) if that makes any sense. How frequent does each frame display? It's the speed / frequency of the animation time. Read about Refresh Rate down the list.

Ease In and Ease Out http://vorpal86.snesorama.us/images/personal/pixle/animation/anim_gif/bounce_naturaled.gif
This refers to an increase or decrease of an animations speed at key points to represent an image such as a ball bouncing. The ball accelerates as it approaches the ground, then it will quickly slow to a stop. As the ball bounces back up from the force of the ground pushing it, the ball then starts slowing down as it approaches it's highest peak, then repeats. It gives the representation of realisic dynamics and the use of Ease In and Ease Out, also known as "Fairings | Fair In / Fair Out".

Fade In and Fade Out - This is the means by which to apply a transition between frames so that it could be used as a separator for different animation sequences. An example would be an animation of Mega Man, walking through a door when after, the fade out to black occurs transitioning to our next key frame. Our hero slowly appears on the other end of a fade in. As the animation frames slowly fade in, we hear a door slam, and he's on the other side with a new scene that looks like the inside of the room he went through. In films, this would, or could also be called Blacking.

Frame Rate - See also, Cycles Per Second. The frame rate is the rate at which each frame in an animation is cycling through its sequence.

Jitter - This is when an image looks like it is vibrating. for instance, you draw up a sprite, and that sprite needs to shake / vibrate when a floor moves underneath. Your newly created sprite; This could have been Mega Man with the jitters on the floor where he was standing just before he went though that door up there. WoW..

Key Frame - A key frame is a main pose that a sprite can be created to have. For instance, just before you wrap guns with a maverick, he always has to do his fancy stance. That pose would be his key frame so the next set of frames would be, that maverick jumping at you! In films it's required because if there were not any key frames, the motion picture would have no cuts in it and therefore would not contain any edits. (I think, correct me if I'm wrong) No Key Framing = Improvising. No key frames necessary. Not good, for perfection anyway.

ADDED: A main pose that a sprite can have, that has been created to represent the start of a new sequence? Maybe that helped some.

Layout - This works for sprites as well as comics! The layout is somewhat like a story board. It's always a nice idea to create a storyboard, or layout before drawing your sprites or comics because it will help you out a lot. It's never a good idea to just jump into something without having a plan of sorts.

Onion Skin - ing - Onion Skinning is a way to view multiple frames of animation through layers (or cel's as mentioned above). This is a very nice way to proportion your sprites adequately so that you can get a more precise transition between frames allowing your animations to look proper.

Refresh Rate - This refers to how many cycles per second your monitor can draw and redraw horizontal display lines. These display lines are always going non-stop to update the image that appears on your monitor. This does indeed refer to animation as well. If there were no refresh rate then there would be no animation, just a bunch of frames that didn't move. I'd suppose. Heheh. Perhaps..

Storyboard - See also Layout. A storyboard is a set of ideas place together as rough sketches on paper or what ever necessary before a spriter or animator starts their work. It's good practice, as always, to have an idea of what your project is before getting to involved, otherwise you may loose site of the big picture.

I may post some different style transitions and fade types that could be applied to animations for "non sprited" effects and define what they do. I'll see about it, if it may be useful. Perhaps?

Thanks, and I hope this helps some.

EDITED:

[dualR]

*Ahem*
2-Bit-Rarely used sprites that use 2 colors,with 1 transparancy,a total of 3 colors.
Just saw that, it's wrong, 1-bit uses 2 colours(usually black and transparent due to hardware limitations) - there is no third colour for white.

While 'bits' are pretty much umbrella terms for colours above 2-bit, but the amount of data in a #-bit is 2^#, ie. 8-Bit is 2^8= 2*2*2*2*2*2*2*2=256

Think of all the old Tamagotchis - they were black and transparent, you didn't get a black drawing on a white box in a transparent BG now did you?

Some stuff Vorpal said I want to comment on (btw I think you messed up formatting, there's one bullet point in that whole post XP)

AnimStrip is probably more known as a spritesheet around these parts.

Colour Cyling, I've heard it being referred to as "Pallete Swapping"

Jitter's definition is confusing, after reading it a couple of times I'm still not getting it.

Key Frame's definition is also a bit confusing "a main pose that a sprite can be created to have"

Storyboard - Yay, good to see another person with some concept of planning :D

[Type-BLUES.EXE]

What vorpal refers to as an animstrip differs slightly from a sprite sheet. A sprite sheet can have any amount of spacing between the individual sprites, since you don't compile directly from the sheet. An animstrip differs because it compiles directly from the strip. Say, you have an animation that's 100x100, and has 4 frames. A sprite sheet can have the dimensons as anything, but an animstrip must have the dimensions as 400x100. The sprites must be aligned perfectly within each of those 100x100 sections of the 400x100 section to make a smooth animation.

[Vorpal86]

...Some stuff Vorpal said I want to comment on (btw I think you messed up formatting, there's one bullet point in that whole post XP)

AnimStrip is probably more known as a spritesheet around these parts.
Colour Cyling, I've heard it being referred to as "Pallete Swapping"
Jitter's definition is confusing, after reading it a couple of times I'm still not getting it.
Key Frame's definition is also a bit confusing "a main pose that a sprite can be created to have"
Storyboard - Yay, good to see another person with some concept of planning :D

I'll fix that bullet point. I thought it was only a LIST that I was trying for. Who'd a thunk it. I'll also try and clarify "Jitter" a bit as well:

Let's say Mega Man has just entered Gutsman's battle field. The battle starts and Gutsman jumps in the air, then landing, pounding the ground with great force. Mega Man was on the floor when Gutsman pounced. Mega Man then began to "Jitter" not being able to move. It's also like a shaky cam but the image will move and vibrate/jitter rather than the camera.

That's better? Or?

Key Frame; A main pose that a sprite can have, that has been created to represent the start of a new sequence? Maybe that helped some.

If you were into comics the Marvel Way, you'll probably notice the way they dramatize their poses adding that "/" 45 degree angle to give it that "WOW" feeling. Also when drawing an animated sequence with pencil or whatever it is you may use, the best looking frame in the animation always seems to have that dramatic look. Marvel would probably call that frame the key frame because it represents the "climax" of the animated sequence.

Storyboarding is great. Just think, game designers, comic book writers and artists spend months storyboarding just to get it right. :)

@Bluesoul.EXE;
That is correct. I didn't mention any sprite sheet example because it's not an AnimStrip. A sprite sheet to ME, is nothing more than an unorganized bunch of sprites tossed onto a canvas. It's a lot of extra work for someone to use a sprite that doesn't know too much about arranging and needs a graphic animation for a game. Using a sprite sheet can be acceptable for a comic though.

If you think about it, it could kill two birds with one stone; AnimStrips could be used for a Static storyboard if given the right dimentions and you needed to write a comic around the animation within the AnimStip. At the same time, you wouldn't have to change anything in the strip for using this in a "compiled" graphic animation for a game. (depending on how the game manipulates it's frame arrangments)

But in the end, it's all about getting what you want and doing the best you can, so information about how to get there from here without getting run over, is the goal.

I always release AnimStrips, when I do, as much as possible because it's easier on the folks who want to use them, and I strive for perfection even though it'll never happen. :)

Cheers
-vorpal