Pixel Art for Video Games

This course is aimed to give you the tools and knowledge you need to start creating simple art for video games made in the Unity game engine. Through the aesthetic of pixel art we will explore artistic principals like shape language, color theory, and composition as well as show you a step by step workflow for creating assets that you can use to make your own games. The course is broken into 4 main modules, props, environments, characters, and animation. Each of these courses will have a series of video lessons alternating between artistic and technical skills culminating in a peer-reviewed project based assignment. The last module will challenge you to take the knowledge learned in the previous 4 and use it to create your own pixel art asset pack.This course is aimed at art novices who are interested in creating art for their own games or contributing to game projects. If you are a game designer or programmer, you will find this course helps give you a glimpse into the world of game art. You will be able to better work with artists, or create your own prototype or final artwork. If you are an artist or visual designer who is interested in bringing your style to the world of video game development, this course will give you the workflow to properly interface with a game engine and help contextualize how your artistic sensibilities can enable gameplay.

If you have ever wanted to start making art for video games but have no idea how to start, this course is the perfect for giving you a solid foundation while teaching you usable practical skills. Our goal is to give you a sense of the whole pipeline from creation to setting up in a game engine.

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Syllabus

Syllabus - What you will learn from this course
Week 1
Week 1: Introduction to Pixel Art
Week 2
Week 2: Pixel Art Environments
Week 3
Week 3: Pixel Art Characters
Week 4
Week 4: Pixel Art Animation
Week 5
Week 5: Pixel Art Project

FAQ

When will I have access to the lectures and assignments?

Access to lectures and assignments depends on your type of enrollment. If you take a course in audit mode, you will be able to see most course materials for free. To access graded assignments and to earn a Certificate, you will need to purchase the Certificate experience, during or after your audit. If you don't see the audit option:

What will I get if I subscribe to this Specialization?

When you enroll in the course, you get access to all of the courses in the Specialization, and you earn a certificate when you complete the work. Your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page - from there, you can print your Certificate or add it to your LinkedIn profile. If you only want to read and view the course content, you can audit the course for free.

Is financial aid available?

Yes. In select learning programs, you can apply for financial aid or a scholarship if you can’t afford the enrollment fee. If fin aid or scholarship is available for your learning program selection, you’ll find a link to apply on the description page.

Do I need to use Photoshop?

You can use any image manipulation program you like, however as Photoshop is an industry standard image tool and works directly with Unity, we chose to instruct the course with it in mind.

Why do I need to learn to import things into Unity if I'm an artist?

Projects and companies can vary wildly between who is responsible for what. Even if you end up working on a project where you as an artist simply create the art and are not required to handle the engine side of things; understanding how to prepare an asset for a game engine and the work involved will make you a better team member. You should always strive to have some understanding of how your work interfaces with others.

Wow, this seems like too much work!

While the style taught here is simple 2d game art designed to get you up and running quickly, you will find the difficulty of the projects has a lot to do with the complexity you attempt. If it is your first time tackling these subjects I recommend keeping it simple for this course. You can always spend more time later improving and polishing your work. Perfect is the enemy of done!

Reviews

Really Enjoyed this course. I learned a lot about pixel art ,i.e., from making a concept art to making the actual sprite itself and a bit about 2d animations.

This is amazing, helps a lot...especially when you are a programmer and you need some art support... Thanks Coursera, thanks Michigan University Staff...

Lectures and pipeline of the course is very well constructed in my opinion. There are a lot to learn in this course.

game dev Michigan Spartens gone n broke the internet!