AuthorTopic: First work - A Viking draws a sword  (Read 2361 times)

Offline SkilledCookie

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First work - A Viking draws a sword

on: July 18, 2016, 03:49:36 pm
This is my first work.
Had always been into art and design but I didn't make any animation or something like Pixel Art.
I immediately fell in love with this form of art, but throughout the whole process I questioned whether trying to animate as a first work is too ambitious.
I am kind of satisfied with what I've made, though there are subtle animations which I tried to add but they look absolutely horrible in hindsight.
So, I will save up words, because you'll encounter lots of them coming from me in the upcoming time.


My Questions:
-How does it look?
-Any suggested free Pixel Art programs which allow exporting animation?

Cheers.
« Last Edit: July 18, 2016, 03:58:50 pm by SkilledCookie »

Offline MysteryMeat

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Re: First work - A Viking draws a sword

Reply #1 on: July 18, 2016, 05:41:07 pm
Too slow, if you're drawing a sword chances are you should be going for it FAST so you don't die!
Remove some of the intermediary frames and try to remove the odd bounce save for a couple frames, he should only really go down as he swings his sword towards the camera unless he's a character in a rhythm game I think. You also need to make his knees BEND, shift his feet! Don't just shift his knees, legs don't work that way and it looks like his legs are changing chape rather than moving.
The shield needs to be more stable or the readjustment he does more defined, the shading changes for a couple frames and I'm not sure why. Might be a better look to just move the shield in a small circle and shift the arm a bit as it moves.

The chainmail looks like tinfoil right now with how it creases and folds, might help to put some work into crosshatching that instead of normal shirt shading to give it that linked texture.

Here's a few samples I whipped up, there's a lot of ways to go about chain texturing ranging from simplistic on to more abstract looks:



The first and second are pretty similar but achieve different effects through the shading, with the first looking more "chainmail" and the other looking more like "scale mail". The last one is a different style altogether, using some copy-pasted circles linked together to create  a sort of mottled appearance, which would fit with how chainmail behaves with light.

Finally, try to match the hips with the legs. He looks kind of like he has no waist, but you can fix that by straightening out the lines between the skirt and the mail to link up straighter.
PSA: use imgur
http://pixelation.org/index.php?topic=19838.0 also go suggest on my quest, cmon
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Offline SkilledCookie

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Re: First work - A Viking draws a sword

Reply #2 on: July 18, 2016, 06:01:02 pm
Appreciate your informative comment.
But I have to say that the purpose of the animation isn't necessarily a wild Viking that savagely draws a sword.
It is about the motion of the sword, it comes from the back and flips until it points to the screen. And I know it pretty much sucked, I will apply your tips in the next one.

Have a lovely day/night.

Offline MysteryMeat

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Re: First work - A Viking draws a sword

Reply #3 on: July 18, 2016, 06:12:13 pm
No no, I understand! But the motion looks too slow to be realistic.
 Take a stick or pole or something on hand and try to do the same motion you are going for here, it doesn't go as uniformly or as smoothly as in your piece.
PSA: use imgur
http://pixelation.org/index.php?topic=19838.0 also go suggest on my quest, cmon
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Offline 0xDB

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Re: First work - A Viking draws a sword

Reply #4 on: July 18, 2016, 06:18:41 pm
In addition to it being too slow, it would benefit greatly from proper foreshortening. Currently it just kind of toggles between displaying the lower side of the handle and seeing the tip of the blade from one frame to the next. Drawing a side view and using parallel projection guidelines will lead to proper foreshortening.