How to Pixel Art Like Ace Attorney | Render Breakdown

Render Breakdown is a show where we take official video game artworks, break down its art style, and try to replicate it in the end.

This episode is all about Ace Attorney, and how you can make sprites in that same funky pixel art art style!

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00:00 Intro
02:03 Part 1 - Background History
03:44 Part 2 - Art Style Analysis
05:25 Part 3 - Breakdown Process
13:30 Part 3.5 - Replicating the Art Style
14:48 Part 4 - Results
15:43 The Great Ace Attorney for DS Gameplay
17:56 Credits
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MUSIC

"Prelude of an Adventure"
"Objection! (2015)"

"Render Breakdown"

"Godot"
"Turnabout Sisters"
"Objection!"

MISC

TGAA UI textbox made by
FieryExplosion / @FierySprites

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This video took too long to make lol

[thomoclock]

Hello! This video got a lot more attention than I expected, but hey. Glad you're here!

A couple disclaimers: I used Photoshop because I figured the entire process (shrinking down illustrations) isn't typically what you do to make pixel art artworks in a normal setting. I honestly hesitated titling the video with 'Pixel Art' to begin with. That said, a couple people have pointed out great alternatives to Photoshop:

- GIMP is an image editor like Photoshop. It's free, and more importantly, also features the Indexed Color feature.
- Aseprite is a great program that a lot of pixel artists use to make pixel art artworks, and it comes with the Indexed Color feature. This is probably the program that you're looking for.

Lastly-- I can't claim that this is exactly how Ace Attorney sprites were made, but this is a great way to simulate the look and feel of them. That's all, and thanks for watching! Lemme know what you wanna see next :^)

[CT-dbjl]

I need a whole 2D ace attorney chronicles. These breakdowns amazing. You know how to pinpoint art styles so well. Keep up the great work!

[RaitoADV]

One important thing to point out about the art style of the first 3 Ace Attorney games (mostly for the first game) is that the original artworks of the sprites were designed with a slightly washed out and bright color palette to accommodate for the GBA's non-backlit screen. These artworks were also reused for the DS ports without any color changes, despite the DS already having a backlit screen on release.

If anyone wants to recreate something in the style of the first three games, please keep in mind making the artworks brighter and less saturated to have a more "authentic" feel.

[kennnnny]

Here from Tumblr (thank you haiku bot!)— this isn’t just impressive, it’s also informative. As someone who wants to replicate more art styles but doesn’t have the arsenal for it yet, I really treasure videos that are willing to dissect what gives these art styles a “feel”. Thank you so much for this video!!

As for art style recommendations, it’s a long shot, but what about one of the Project Moon games? All three of them have incredibly distinct art styles that still share common DNA, I think any of them would make for an interesting breakdown

[blueskythlikesclouds]

years ago i remember experimenting with this, i took phoenix's HD sprites and scaled down to DS resolution and it looked eerily similar to the original pixel art sprites... i was like "huh, that's cool."
cool to see someone else experiment with this

[mertensiam]

This is amazing!
I love how it turned out!
However, something I feel I need to point out, is that 2D/pixel Ace Attorney talking sprites always have the same pattern, they go from closed mouth, to an "A" shape, then an "O" shape, then an "A" shape, then a closed mouth again, and then repeat. Other than that, this looks legit like if it was made for the DS games!! Astonishing!

[entropy-cat]

Pretty sure GIMP also has color indexing available. It's pretty much the go to free image editor.

[Lester.Desicle]

Problem of Apollo Justice in DS that unlike Previous trilogy, it's actually has several layers with own shading and palette that is being put on top of others layers in game so Apollo's Justice sprites has better shading and amount of color than older DS AA Trilogy Sprites.

[Jman-]

awesome to see another render breakdown episode. I was pretty stoked for this when I saw the impromptu announcement video since, despite only having three episodes, this series has entered my "eating while watching a video" hall of fame. Also, might I suggest disco elysium for a render breakdown episode? It has a very vivid and memorable art style that I just haven't seen anywhere else, which I think would make it interesting to tackle.

[CFlandre]

Nicely done!

A bit of criticism: The Great Ace Attorney was originally released on the 3DS, sporting a resolution of 840x240, vs the GBA's resolution of 240x160. The larger resolution of the 3DS allows for smaller proportioned body parts to "read" more easily.

However, when you translate a larger "sprite" to a smaller screen size, details can get lost and not "read" as well. This happened with your Ryuunosuke sprite, especially around the eyes and hands.

You notice how Phoenix' eyes and hands are the biggest part of his body when he's pointing? They take up most of the screen real estate.

[henke]

The DS has two palette sizes: 16 colors and 256 colors. And that's including one transparent "color". You can have multiple objects with different palettes, but ace attorney character sprites never use multiple palettes.

[cyanrazorCel]

Dude thank you for your shoutout to court records. I've been their reporter for the past couple years, such as posting the latest news on the new AJ Trilogy.
Totally agree with you about wanting to bring back popularity to the forums/community there. The more core members have been busy but they still have plans to grow it.

great vid

[DESTINED_OFFICIAL]

Gotta say man, you made The Great Ace Attorney Investigations possible.

But seriously your an amazing artist and this way of making characters is super creative! You broke down step by step really easily and it was great to follow along to. Absolutely amazing work dude keep it up

[GramGramAnimations]

Aseprite is probably the best tool for making pixel art, and it comes with color indexing. I use it a ton for quick pallet swaps

[loserchips]

This video couldn't have come at a better time! I saw the video before it got posted but it was estimated 5:00am for me so i didn't drop in

I've been getting super into ace attorney (again) but specifically the DS version so I can now enjoy the sprites and this video!

I've always loved your stuff man, keep it up :)

[justnoahherehello]

This video came at the perfect time, holy shit. I'm working on making an ace attorney fan game right now, this will come in handy if I decide to make the art myself! Thank you!

[NemoSaybloo]

This is INSANELY impressive. So much thought and care was put into this project, and it really showed in the final product! Also loved how you documented the whole process, very insightful...

I just wanna know: how did you made it look like 2D Jezaille Brett was on your DS??? That was some next-level sorcery lmao

[OozoTheClown]

I've been replicating the Ace Attorney sprite style myself so I was excited watch this when I saw the thumbnail, curious to learn from your methods. Much of it is the same as what I figured out on my own, while there were also many tips I hadn't considered. After your watching this video I took a look at your channel and to my surprise you had another video on the OTHER style I've been figuring out: the Smash Ultimate mural style. I'm excited to have found your channel and I'll definitely continue following your work since we seem to be on similar artistic paths. Thanks for making these videos and keep up the good work.

[lostinpencils]

So happy I found your channel! I feel like not many perfect people have covered content that reveals how games get their signature look and it’s everything I’ve ever wanted!!

[naelpontes]

Hey, dude. The final result is incredible! I love this. Can't believe you made it all in AE instead of, e.g. assembling it in a game engine! A question, though. In 15:43, how did you port it to a cartridge and played it on the Nintendo 3DS as if it was a full-fledged game?