06-13-2009, 08:38 PM
(This post was last modified: 06-13-2009, 10:17 PM by Omegakyogre.)
Q: What's hue shifting, and how is it helpful?
A: Hue shifting is, strictly speaking, gradually shifting from one color (say, yellow) to another (say, orange). One of its most useful applications applies when it is combined with shading to make a sprite look more interesting. For instance:
![[Image: HueShifting.png]](http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u33/omegakyogre/HueShifting.png)
1. This is an example of not hue shifting. For the three darker shades, the only thing changed was luminosity (how bright the color is); the hue (the base color) of the colors remained unchanged. Compare this to the other two. This one looks the most flat, and the most boring. This is where hue shifting comes in.
2. For this sprite, luminosity changes are combined with hue shifting towards red: For every darker shade, the color is 'shifted' towards red a little more. This adds depth and it makes the sprite more interesting to look at. Because the two are combined, there is more contrast between the shades than in 1 or 3, giving this sprite the harshest light source of the three. This isn't necessarily worse than 3 - it's a matter of what style you're going for.
3. The outline looks slightly different on this one. For this sprite, the luminosity changes between the shades are significantly reduced, so most of the contrast you see is purely from hue shifting. This does a few things: It gives you the same soft lighting as in the first sprite while adding more depth via contrast, and, like 2, is more interesting to look at.
For colors other than yellow, you typically don't need to use as much hue shifting, but it's still very useful. If your sprite is red, for instance, you may want to shift it towards purple in darker shades - but keep in mind: this will change the overall look of the color of the sprite and may not be what you're looking for. Yellow-green shifts well to dark green, and cyan (blue-green) shifts well to dark blue.
A: Hue shifting is, strictly speaking, gradually shifting from one color (say, yellow) to another (say, orange). One of its most useful applications applies when it is combined with shading to make a sprite look more interesting. For instance:
1. This is an example of not hue shifting. For the three darker shades, the only thing changed was luminosity (how bright the color is); the hue (the base color) of the colors remained unchanged. Compare this to the other two. This one looks the most flat, and the most boring. This is where hue shifting comes in.
2. For this sprite, luminosity changes are combined with hue shifting towards red: For every darker shade, the color is 'shifted' towards red a little more. This adds depth and it makes the sprite more interesting to look at. Because the two are combined, there is more contrast between the shades than in 1 or 3, giving this sprite the harshest light source of the three. This isn't necessarily worse than 3 - it's a matter of what style you're going for.
3. The outline looks slightly different on this one. For this sprite, the luminosity changes between the shades are significantly reduced, so most of the contrast you see is purely from hue shifting. This does a few things: It gives you the same soft lighting as in the first sprite while adding more depth via contrast, and, like 2, is more interesting to look at.
For colors other than yellow, you typically don't need to use as much hue shifting, but it's still very useful. If your sprite is red, for instance, you may want to shift it towards purple in darker shades - but keep in mind: this will change the overall look of the color of the sprite and may not be what you're looking for. Yellow-green shifts well to dark green, and cyan (blue-green) shifts well to dark blue.