So here is the first tutorial in the series of tuts to come! Gotta start with the basics! Now I won't tell you how to draw or sketch or anything, because that's up to your personal style. This tutorial (and future ones) also assume you know the basics of Photoshop and know how to Import a PSD in Emofuri. If you don't, there are lots of tutorials reblogged here to get you started!
I am using Photoshop CS6 but I do not use anything that even a version as old as Photoshop 7 wouldn't have. So if you have that, or Photoshop Essentials, or CS3, or whatever you have, you should be fine. I do not know anything about Sai unfortunately. I am using the "basic" forward-facing template that Emofuri provides. I really suggest using that instead of the introductory one as it makes for more detailed portraits that move and deform more cleanly with more options overall. Plus, the more you do at the start, the less you have to do or redo later. You can find the template here for download. It's the 5th option down.
~~~Let's get started!~~~
Step 1: Get that sketch down! I draw a circle for as a head guide, then draw half of the body and head up to the vertical guide, duplicate the layer, then do Select All and a Horizontal Flip. This will mirror the entire canvas, not just the drawn potion, which means it will mirror flip across that vertical guide. Things look a bit off? Tweak them on one side then duplicate and flip again until it looks right. Keep your layers organized however you would like, here you can see how I do mine. I'm kind of a control freak so I like to be able to go back and edit things later. She's got asymmetrical hair, and that's not a problem. I just don't flip that part!
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Step 2: Get that lineart done! However you draw that is fine. What's important is keeping track of layers and which pieces go to what. What I do (as explained below) is hide ALL of the individual pieces of the template. Then I find the head (I always start with the head because the focus is going to be on the face and I want to make sure I get that right) and make it visible. I delete the template head, make a new layer, and draw half of the head on that new layer. The reason I work with a new layer is because I don't know Japanese and it's easier for me to find "Layer 1" than it is the Japanese layer name (I also only make 1 part visible at a time so that I always know what piece I'm working on and don't become confused). Then I do the mirror trick to make it symmetrical. If you don't feel the need to have it be precisely mirrored, then don't do it. I just like doing it this way. When your head's lineart is done, merge the new layer you drew it on and the official head layer. I do a Merge Down (Ctrl+E). It will keep the layer name of the lowest layer, so if the Japanese layer is that bottom layer (as it should be) then you're all set!
Repeat that with all the other body parts.
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Step 3: Color! Coloring can get a bit tricky because of multiple color layers. If you like using lots of layers to color, that's okay. It's why I have 2 save files for my Emofuri projects. 1 with all the color layers separate from the lineart layers, and 1 with them merged. It lets me edit them more easily later if I want to.
For small additions (like another set of eyes) you can just copy the lineart from the original PSD, paste it into the merged PSD, then color in some new irises and save the merged PSD for re-importing. For bigger additions, like a scarf or big hair bow or wings, I might work in the original PSD then just remerge everything and resave the merged PSD again. It's a bit tedious, but I feel more comfortable that way (again, I'm a bit of a control freak). But if you don't feel like saving multiple PSDs, don't sweat it. Do what you feel best suits you.
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Step 4: Merging Layers Whether or not you chose to make a secondary file just for the merged layers, you're going to have to merge the lineart and color. I always have my color layers underneath the lineart (that's just how I learned it and what makes sense to me) so if you do too, then just follow the instructions on the picture. If you set your color layers on top of your lineart, then just merge down. Tip: Only leave the layers for 1 body part visible at a time, and then rehide them when you are done merging those layers together. Otherwise you may accidentally merge 2 body part layers together, and getting those Japanese layer names back can be a pain if you didn't notice you did it and can't undo it. On the right side you can see all of my layers for the body.
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Details about Eye Layers
Details about Chest Layers (for girls AND boys) For Sekan's chest I used the chest/breast layer, but only did enough to cover the sides of the arm close to the torso, and blended it into the shirt. In Emofuri I turned off all the jiggle physics. If you have a character with massive pectoral muscles, you may want to keep them on. I will be making a tutorial about characters with big pecs later on, though.
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Step 5: Starting your Import! Open up the template file that you used as a base. All the templates come with a .mmo file for Emofuri. open that. This tutorial assumes you know where the Import button is (as a refresher, it's the first Menu option, then click the one that says PSD next to a bunch of Japanese [File > Import PSD] ). Import your merged PSD. Otherwise you're going to have a whole bunch of line art with no colors!
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Step 6: Checking your import and getting rid of unused layers. Make sure you go through the options on the left side of the import screen to make sure everything is where it's supposed to be. If it's not, there are some tutorials here explaining how to fix it. I will be making a tutorial soon on how to refind lost pieces, but for now this assumes everything went smoothly. How do you know everything is where it's supposed to be? Go through each item on the left side list and hover over the layer selection button to make sure all your pieces are there. You may have not used all the pieces provided in the template. I sure didn't. Those layers I left alone though, with the template pieces still there so that I wouldn't forget what they were later if I wanted to use them. This is how you get rid of those pesky things though.
As an example, I started with the leftover arm pieces.
The button I mention in this picture is the layer selection button I mentioned earlier.
For parts with multiple pieces or variations (like the eyes and mouths) it's a little different, though basically the same. The piece used in this example is the eyelid skin shading. I didn't bother with it initially for Prim or Sekan, so I just hid all those pieces.
Additionally, if you accidentally get rid of one of your pieces that you wanted, just click the same buttons and go through the menus til you find your piece. The layer group names and individual layer names are all the same. I'll have a tutorial with menu explanations of that later.
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As an added bonus, here's what Prim looks like in a size comparison to the template. I drew her iddy biddy because it greatly reduces the size of the GIF exports later, and I don't have any issues working in that size. Also my palette layer is still visible, don't mind that. Any extra layers in your PSD that have all English names will be ignored by Emofuri.
I hope this was useful! I know it's not a perfect tutorial, but again this is just the basics. They will also improve in quality as I get more familiar with remembering what to put down and know what people are confused about. The key to any Emofuri project is to take it slow and take it one step at a time. Learn the basics and what things do what, then modify them. Otherwise you're going to get all flustered because you can't figure out how to instantly make a ridiculously epic thing. Also, taking it slow will allow you to better adjust to having to stare at Japanese characters you don't know (and I sure as hell don't either) and allow you to memorize where things are and what they do.
See you next time!