Wednesday, October 27, 2010

tutorial: how to make an 8-bit video game character costume, pt. 1


My boyfriend and I spent this past weekend finishing up our Pac-Man ghost costumes for Halloween.  I made this tutorial so you can make your own costumes.  I tried my best to be as through as possible without being too detailed. I hope you enjoy it.  Let's get started!

Step One
The first thing you want to do is find your character at The Spriters Resource.  Just right click on the image and select copy.  Open up MS Paint and paste your image.  Now zoom in 800% so you can easily see each individual pixel.  Also select "Show Grid". 

You can choose to print out the blown-up image or draw it on graph paper.  Now you need to decide the size of your finished costume.  I wanted our costumes to be fairly large, between 25-30 in. sq.  So I chose to represent each pixel as two inches.

Step Two
Gather your supplies.  You'll need the following:
- 1 big-ass piece of cardboard
- Spray paint, glossy preferred
- Box cutter
- Clear acrylic ruler (a quilter's best friend)
- Newspaper
- Masking tape
- Twine, string or left over binding to use as straps
- Glue

The big-ass piece of cardboard can be found at Costco or other warehouse club stores.  Don't forget to inspect your cardboard for indentations or other blemishes.  You want one that's in pristine condition.  Another thing, the big-ass piece of cardboard is free.

Step Three
Cut your big-ass piece of cardboard into the desired shape.
Start by tracing your image on the cardboard with a pen.  I recommend starting at the edges because it'll help reduce the amount of cutting you'll need to do. 
 Before you start cutting you need to place something underneath your cardboard so you don't scratch up your lovely floor.

Step four
Put down some newspaper and start painting.
My boyfriend's technique involved spraying back and forth across the cardboard starting from the top and working his way to the bottom.
Let it dry for fifteen minutes and apply another coat.  Do three coats total.
Don't forget to do Sunday's Sudoku while you're waiting for the paint to dry.

To be continued...

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