Best 2D Sprite Editor

Which program would you recommend for creating 2D sprites, with animation support? I'm aware of ProPixel and ProMotion, but wondered if there were any others worth checking out?

[EDIT] D'oh! I should have done a search before posting:

http://www.blitzbasic.com/Community/posts.php?topic=55127

...

Actuallly, there are sevaral interesting options not mentioned on that page. Not specifically made for sprite creation, but can do a good job at it. So here goes.

There is Moho http://www.lostmarble.com/ , which is a vector baased cut-out animation software. Means you don't have to draw every single frame, which can be nice. Supports bones, Win, OSX and Linux versions and comes in at $99. Performance was a bit slow in it last time I tried the demo.

Secondly, there is ToonBoom Studio Express http://www.toonboom.com/products/toonBoomStudioExpress/ This is also a vector based program that is mainly for doing classical 2D animation. I own this, and it's quite nice for the price. Also comes in OSX and Win versino (no Linux). Also costs $99, though they have sales from time to time, when you can get it quite a bit cheaper. You might have to mess a bit around with it to get workable alphas for sprites.

Then there is Mirage http://www.bauhaussoftware.com/products_LP.php Unlike the other two, it's bitmap based, very fast and fully featured 2D animation, effects and lots more package. The price tag is a bit steeper though at $395 or $549 for the pro version. I tried the demo of this for a while, and was really tempted, but the price held me back, especially since I didn't have a specific project to use it on.

Then there is Creatoon http://www.creatoon.com/ A bitmap cut-out animation package. A bit pricey at 399 Euros. Haven't tride it for a while, but the demo might be worth a look.

If you have Linux, CinePaint http://www.cinepaint.org/ might be an option. It's basically the film version of GIMP. The Linux version seems to be the only one of it at the moment that is usable. There is also GIMP Animation Package called GAP you can find somewhere on http://www.gimp.org/ All of these are free, so that's nice. :-)

That's about it from the top of my head. I'm sure there are more.

Ragnar

Wow! Thanks ragtag, I'll be sure to check some of those out. Specifically the ones that aren't $395+. :)

Somehow I feel all those sprite-editors are made for gfx-artists. Now you think: "uuuh... yes? and?"
Somehow I've the feeling all those programs arise from the same culture, the same corner o' ppl, the same ideas, the same conventions etc. etc.
I'm typically someone (not really a gfx-artist on hi-res/specs systems) who couldn't use any of them and would rather make my own sprite-editor with unconventional functionality and prolly a weird interface (and have done so).

In an ideal world the artist or semi-artist makes his/her own tools, without having to rely on the ideas/pov of other artists.

I used to make sprite editors on the BBC, Spectrum and C64. But for the Amiga I used ... Dpaint of course!

Ergh. DPaint was what you used until Brilliance 2.0 came along, surely?!

Truth be told, I have WinUAE with a Workbench 3.1 + Brilliance 2.0 hard disk image which I use for editing graphics for Blitz stuff. Pain in the ass to convert the IFF files, but hey, small price to pay :)

Pro Motion : is also a good buy:

http://www.cosmigo.com/promotion/index.php

Cheers

Garion

free : http://www.humanbalance.net/gale/us/

I'm checking out GraphicsGale right now... I had forgotten about that one. :)

I used ProMotion for the graphics in Easter Bonus and can thoroughly recommend it. With regards to Brilliance being better than DPaint I would have to disagree. Surely DPaint was the pinnacle of 2D pixel pushers on the Amiga and was used by a huge number of game developers in its day to great effect.

Jason.

When I was coding on the Amiga I used DPaint 3 mainly, tried 4 and 5 but couldn't get on with them. Just before I switched to PC I was using Personal Paint 6, which was also good.

I *could* use PP7.1, using my licensed Amiga Forever product - but Brilliance is still copyright, so am not going there. Bit of a faff though, if GraphicsGale can do a similar job.

Not suitable in all cases but PaceMaker can create nice looking 2d animation from 3d models !

Interesting... thanks Smiff.

I'll watch your 2D Animation tutorial vid, and see if it'll suit my needs (or even, if it'll come in useful for future projects).

http://data.forumhoster.com/forum_smiff/index.php?showtopic=101

[EDIT - 7 hours later] lol, I've gone back to Paint Shop Pro 7. Couldn't get on with GraphicsGale. I'll keep PaceMaker in mind though, for future projects.