Pixel Blocks
 

These are quite possibly the coolest things ever: http://www.pixelblocks.com/

They're little interlocking blocks that you can use to make stuff, namely pixel art. The stuff that people do with them are just too cool:

http://www.doofyfuel.com/members/spidie/pix1.jpg
http://www.doofyfuel.com/members/spidie/pix2.jpg
http://www.doofyfuel.com/members/spidie/pix3.jpg
http://www.doofyfuel.com/members/spidie/pix4.jpg

If you can't afford the blocks, you can always do beads: http://www.insertcredit.com/features/beads/

I can't believe I never thought of doing this. I remember making stuff out of these beads at school when I was little.

I'm going to run to Michael's and try this stuff out. Problem is, I don't know where to start. Mario? Zelda? Final Fantasy? Too many choices.

I'm so getting some of these this weekend. Thanks for the link!

I know EXACTLY what I'm doing first. -biggrin-

Cool, and a retailer here in town. :)

I'll start with Zelda, then do some Metroid. :)

I remember those beads. Those rock! So tempted to try it myself... although i'm not very crafty :(

Here are some more cool bead pictures: http://www.farazansari.com/beads/

I like the Samus and Mario Karters.

Anyone know a good resource to use as a guide to make those? I know there are sprite pages out there, but do any have them blown up with all the colors identified?

Another question... how many colors could the NES and SNES use (and how can I find out what they are)?

I think I just found a new hobby... use the more expensive pixelblocks as a temporary display, then make the design permanent with the cheaper beads. Repeat by changing pixelblock design periodically. :D

Ah, I just now saw that link about the beads in the original post. Good stuff!!

The SNES could display 256 colors, and the NES could display 16. Search for game sprites online. There are a ton of pages out there with sprites.

Here's a nice site of sprites with each sprite broken up into grids and colors: http://www.smashboards.com/fzero/emblems.php

Let me guess...

http://www.smashboards.com/fzero/emblems/metroid_s.jpg

Link: http://www.smashboards.com/fzero/emblems/metroid_l.jpg

:lol: No, but I'll probably do that too. First will be Slimes from Dragon Warrior, all 3 of them.

But keep in mind that individual sprites are limited to 16 (SNES) and 4 (NES) colors.

I ran out and bought some beads today. 11,000 beads for 10 bucks. Way more beads than I need.

Here's what I made: http://s87617422.onlinehome.us/pictures/beadsprites.jpg

Sorry for the thread crap but, Beads = Gay in my book.

:up: pretty sweet

I made this beautiful suncatcher...

http://www.facetedbeadart.com/images/AuroraDreamsS.jpg

(arm'a gunna glued it to mar trailer!)

Awesome, thanks for letting us know. With that ultra-masculine statement, we'll know not to question your sexuality in the future.

Only someone who caught teh gay would say that!

U R A MANS MAN! YOU GOOD!

http://s87617422.onlinehome.us/pictu...ritebeads2.jpg

My happy family, now with Megaman.

These things look pretty high quality from a distance. Instant nerd decoration.

Beef, excellent work.. excellent work.

Nice job!

Where could I get some of these beads locally? What stores do you look for?

Wow, these things look pretty cool. It reminds me of this place that sold somewhat expensive stickers you could put on your walls that looked like space invaders. Now you could just build some with beads for hella cheaper.

I'll have to go snag some of the beads from the local Crafts 2000 later today.

They sell beads at Jo Ann Fabrics, Hobby Lobby, Michael's, and some Walmarts. I've come across two brands, Hama and Perler Beads. I bought both in different colors, but found that Hama beads are slightly smaller than Perler. So you have to iron for longer to make sure that all of the beads fuse together. I bought a big bucket of 11,000 Perler beads for 10 bucks at Michael's, one square Hama board for placing the beads on for around 5 bucks (also came with other, useless board shapes), and a bag of 1000 black colored beads from Hama for 2 bucks. I suggest buying a bag of black beads because you're going to be using a lot.

My son and I stopped by Hobby Lobby before the movie this afternoon and found the Hama brand beads for 15,000 for $10, but they had no square boards whatsoever.

I'll stop by Michael's next week.

BTW, they had two types of Hama beads, opaque and transparent. Which are better?

Has anyone tried the Pixel Blocks yet as well? I found those locally, but haven't looked for beads yet.

When I bought the bucket of Perler beads, it came with both opaque and translucent beads. I usually use the opaque beads, but the translucent ones are helpful when trying to get differents shades of one color.

http://s87617422.onlinehome.us/pictu...ritebeads3.jpg

This thread is quickly becoming beefyjerky's show and tell. I made the caped Mario, and my grandma made the Mog. The clear beads were useful in giving support to Mog's atenna or whatever that is.

Beefjerky, how did you decide which color bead to use for each pixel's RGB color values in the sprites? Was it just your best guess or something more precise?

Yeah, best guess. Luckily the tub I bought had a lot of colors. I've completed entire sprites only to find that I can't find the right color on the last little part, so I have to start over with a new sprite. Mario was hard to do because colors on the sprite look fine when they're small, but in the scale that I made him, his shirt and hat would've been purple, and his skin would've looked like it had an infection. So even though the colors I originally had matched up almost exactly to the sprite, I had to replace colors to make it look like Mario. Still not happy with the way it turned out. 16 bit sprites had way too much detail to try to reproduce them with beads.

These things are a lot bigger than I thought they'd be. My Walmart only had the lame pegboard shapes included with some beads, so I found one that had a couple of 14 by 14 squares. I can't even fit the entire hat of the black mage on one of them. I guess I'll have to wait until I'm in another town with a crafts store to get another pegboard and more beads.

beefjerky, do you think you put a dollar bill or something similar in the next picture you take? It would help give some frame of reference to help comprehend the size of these bead sprites.

I can't believe that a bunch of grown men are going to craft store looking for beads.

... and that I'm one of them. ;)

http://s87617422.onlinehome.us/pictu...adsprites4.jpg

I made Ness on a bike and a 1 Up mushroom.

Grown or not, I'm a nerd at heart. These things are addicting to make...and a pain in the ass.

Making these are no different than doing a puzzle.

Nice! Have you found any other good sites of enlarged sprites, or just the one you posted earlier?

tsgk.captainn.net/

1.) Go there, download whatever sprites you need.
2.) Open the sprites up in photoshop (or Paint Shop Pro).
3.) Copy and paste the sprite you want onto a new canvas.
4.) Zoom in until you can see each individual pixel.
5.) Lay a grid over the sprite.

Instant enlarged sprite with each pixel boxed. You can also open up your pixels with MS Paint, but you can't use a grid to help you out.

MS Paint has grid functions.. enlarge in MS Paint and hit CTRL+G.

:lol:

I had no luck Sunday. I hit Michael's, Jo-Ann's, and Immigrant-Mart and while each store offered a variety of the Perler Beads and kits, nobody had any decent sized boards. Hobby Lobby is closed on Sunday, so I'll try there on my way home from work tonight.

http://s87617422.onlinehome.us/pictu...ritebeads5.jpg

My sprites, now with more Yoshi and Goomba.