AuthorTopic: GR#176 - Running Knightman - Animation  (Read 12245 times)

Offline IvanX

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GR#176 - Running Knightman - Animation

on: March 16, 2014, 04:55:12 am


So animations are hard and I have no idea how this works.
Any C+C wold be appreciated

Offline yaomon17

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Re: Running knightman

Reply #1 on: March 16, 2014, 06:16:04 am
He looks more like he is angrily strutting. I think he should lean forward and bit more and have his legs extend all the way out at the extreme frames. Try to go for the cliche "infinity symbol" run with his feet and work off from there.

Offline d13f00l

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Re: Running knightman

Reply #2 on: March 16, 2014, 06:55:33 am
So animations are hard and I have no idea how this works.
Any C+C wold be appreciated

Hmm?
You could have a data structure to define your x\y\w\h in your sprite-sheet.  Then, for an actual animation, you can use a vector, map, or linked list to have a list of frames.
The easiest thing to do, if each frame is the same length, is to make note of when an animation starts and base the current frame off that

Then do framenum = ((currentTime - startTime) / timePerFrame) % totalNumberOfFrames
I...think this works?  It's been a while since I wrote my own animation code.

let's say you're 500 ms into an animation that has 5 frames at 20ms each.

((5000-4500) / 20) % 5
25 % 5 = 0
You're on frame 0 of 4 at the current point in time.

How about 750ms in?
((10000 - 9350) / 20) % 5
37 % 5 = 2
frame 2 of 4

789 ms?
(10000-9210) / 20) % 5
39 % 5
frame 4 of 4


Seems to work.

Or just use some library or engine that does animations for you.

Edit:  Haha, C+C != C++.  I'd say that's more of a brisk walk, and it looks pretty good for a brisk walk.  To run, he's gotta lean forward.
« Last Edit: March 16, 2014, 01:29:57 pm by d13f00l »

Offline PixelPiledriver

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Re: Running knightman

Reply #3 on: March 16, 2014, 07:49:38 pm
The main thing missing is that for a basic run there is point where neither foot is in contact with the ground.
During a walk there is always at least one foot on the ground.
So what you have looks like a power walk.

Go outside and run around ----> no seriously.
Think about what it feels like.
Now power walk.
Think about what it feels like.
Why are they different?
Look up some videos.
Draw some stuff.

Here's a really quick edit.


Sorry, no time to edit drawings.
All I did was edit position.

Other things could be improved as well.
With the contact starting frame that you have his foot slides forward while on the ground.
I was able to remedy this by moving him off the ground, but it's not really an intentional solution.
You would have to change some of the drawings to better match the action at the current time.
« Last Edit: March 19, 2014, 03:52:58 am by PixelPiledriver »
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Offline IvanX

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Re: Running knightman

Reply #4 on: March 18, 2014, 11:45:36 pm


So I pushed his torso forward to eliminate the power walk look of things, but I'm still not content with the legs.
Something about the extremes and the frame before them seem off, but I can't figure out what looks so off about them.\

Also, sorry about responding late.
Work and dark souls have been eating up my time.

Offline yaomon17

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Re: Running knightman

Reply #5 on: March 19, 2014, 02:41:18 am

This was the frame the PPD added in.

This is an old run anim reference.
I think the main issue with the knight looking like he is power walking is that he is too grounded. He needs to bob up and down a bit more and really kick up at the extremes of the run.

Offline IvanX

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Re: Running knightman

Reply #6 on: March 21, 2014, 04:56:58 am


So at this point, I've reworked the extremes and added in 2 tweening sprites to smooth things out. I'm thinking it's good enough to start adding in details and whatnot, but any critique before I jump into that would be nice.  :)

Offline cels

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Re: Running knightman

Reply #7 on: March 21, 2014, 07:48:05 am
I think your mistake in the latest version is extending his legs so much. It's like he's leaping forward 2 meters at a time, almost doing the splits with every step. PixelPiledriver's version looked more like a person running with heavy armour, as it had smaller steps and more vertical movement.

Offline IvanX

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Re: Running knightman

Reply #8 on: March 21, 2014, 11:03:32 am
I had to step away from this for a while. It seems I was handling this all the wrong way and trying to add in more frames for more smoothness.


I dropped a few frames that weren't doing me any favors, including the  extremes, since the frame right before them served as a better extreme.
« Last Edit: March 21, 2014, 11:05:26 am by IvanX »

Offline r1k

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Re: Running knightman

Reply #9 on: March 21, 2014, 09:44:25 pm
I think that looks better but I think he should have more weight in his steps, given that hes wearing a suit of armor.  I tried making an edit, but honestly I have trouble giving my animations weight too

Offline IvanX

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Re: Running knightman

Reply #10 on: March 23, 2014, 02:49:50 am


So I think I'm just about ready to start adding detail in to this sucker.  :D

Offline thebombsauce

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Re: Running knightman

Reply #11 on: March 23, 2014, 10:23:30 am


So I think I'm just about ready to start adding detail in to this sucker.  :D

I liked what you had before better, I don't think that him just pausing in the middle of the run adds weight as much as it interrupts the flow of the actual run.

Offline IvanX

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Re: Running knightman

Reply #12 on: March 28, 2014, 11:26:55 pm
I didn't give up on this!
I've made quite some process since I last posted and figure it would probably be nice it have an update.

Offline Johasu

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Re: Running knightman

Reply #13 on: March 28, 2014, 11:48:25 pm
It's a bit of a nitpick, but the back arm (his left) is extending really far behind him.  For a perspective like this slightly angled toward the viewer, his right arm only pulls back to just near his hip, but the other arm is extending well into view for us.

It's a subtle thing, barely noticeable unless you watch it for a while.  Then you start to notice...
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Offline astraldata

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Re: Running knightman

Reply #14 on: March 29, 2014, 02:28:18 am
Nobody mentioned this, but it looks like his chest muscles/chest plate is sliding loosely forward and backwards as if he's previously been chopped in half but the top part of his body hasn't slid off quite yet. That has a lot to do with his stomach poking out past his chest and going waaay back on later frames. He's supposed to be leaning forward, right? At no point should his stomach slide forward or backwards with a simple lean or turn of the shoulders. And speaking of turning the shoulders, you should exaggerate this a bit more without shifting the chest pixels forward (which is also leading to the top-part-of-his-body-seems-sliced-in-half-look.)
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Offline IvanX

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Re: Running knightman

Reply #15 on: March 30, 2014, 10:58:54 pm
Finished up the animation with some small tweaks the chest and such.
I'm happy
My Dev is happy
It's done until I want to go back and tweak it

Offline astraldata

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Re: Running knightman

Reply #16 on: March 31, 2014, 04:07:41 am
Not bad. Chest looks a lot better following the stomach. Other than possibly a few pixels on the inside of front part of the tassle on his head possibly being shifted via a bit of subpixel animation (to make the head turn/shift read a little better), I can't see too many problems calling it with this one. The only other suggestion I could make is to add a third position of the head where the face turns to (his) right a bit more, or just omitting the head turn (since, at the moment, it reads as very jerky with the face and helmet pixels suddenly changing like that.)

But you said you're done, so I won't hold it against you lol. ;P
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Offline r1k

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Re: Running knightman

Reply #17 on: March 31, 2014, 05:20:17 am
this might be too cartoony an idea for whatever youre going for, but the visor bouncing up and down as he runs would be cool little detail.  Looks good how it is though.