AuthorTopic: Punch Animation (woud love to get critic)  (Read 6240 times)

Offline eishiya

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Re: Punch Animation (woud love to get critic)

Reply #10 on: March 17, 2017, 03:42:50 pm
By leading with the arm, I mean having the art at the front of the motion, with the rest of the body's weight behind it. You've animated the body largely static and the arm swings around it, which is why it looks more like flailing than an attack. Punches, kicks, etc involve the entire body!

Offline DieMango

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Re: Punch Animation (woud love to get critic)

Reply #11 on: March 17, 2017, 04:39:47 pm
By leading with the arm, I mean having the art at the front of the motion, with the rest of the body's weight behind it. You've animated the body largely static and the arm swings around it, which is why it looks more like flailing than an attack. Punches, kicks, etc involve the entire body!

I see...so when i remember the words of my Photoshop-teacher, then i shoud make the shoulders spin with the punch and the hips go in the other diraction (and also he shoud lean over a bit)

Right? I make a rough edit and clean it up when things look better...

Offline eishiya

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Re: Punch Animation (woud love to get critic)

Reply #12 on: March 17, 2017, 05:02:24 pm
Yes, but also have the torso move, following the motion of the punch. The rotation of the shoulders is what allows the arm to go forward more, and the rotation of the hips keeps the body balanced. Make this punching motion yourself, punch the air wtih all your might, and try to feel how your body moves!

When animating, try keeping the unseen environment stationary and show the character's motion relative to that environment, i.e. have the "camera" be stationary instead of being attached to the character. So, you'll be drawing the character moving as they shift their weight into the punch and lean forward. You can always re-align the frames to be centred on the torso later if you need to. Putting the motion in context like this should help you avoid some of the issues you're having.

Also consider where the counter-force is going. If this character is flying in space, then there's no ground for them to brace against. This could change the dynamics of punching quite a bit!

Offline DieMango

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Re: Punch Animation (woud love to get critic)

Reply #13 on: March 17, 2017, 05:30:38 pm
Helpful Advise...

I wish i saw this comment earlier...



Super dirty edit...have to aply the camera thing tomorow and make the body shift so that you can see it more...

But is the general direction of this edit better?

BTW how does ,,hovering'' change the Punch?

I did alot of airpunching and noticed that dont lean much forward but instadraise my shoulder...shoud i copy that? (i am used to punch in a arc rather then a hook from the side...not sure if that blurs my thinking of punching)

I have to do some other work so i will clean and edit tomorow...



Offline eishiya

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Re: Punch Animation (woud love to get critic)

Reply #14 on: March 17, 2017, 07:53:35 pm
If you're not leaning forward, are you putting your weight into the punch? Is it a strong punch? In a strong punch, even if I don't set out to lean forward, the motion of my arm pulls my upper body forward. It's certainly possible to punch without shifting your whole weight into it (boxers do it all the time), but it's a weaker punch and doesn't read as clearly. When animating, it's usually best to exaggerate these things.


As for hovering and punching - you've probably heard the law "for every force there is an equal and opposite force." When we stand on the ground, the ground pushes back at us. When we direct energy forward, like in a punch, the rest of the body moves backwards, but the ground stops it, and reflects that energy back into us. When the punch connects, the fact that we're on the ground is the reason we don't fall backwards (from the opposing force of the object we're hitting). In fact, this can happen even when there is the ground, if your feet aren't positioned in a way to redirect that force into the ground - poor footing can throw you off-balance because it doesn't brace you against the ground.
In space (or suspended underwater or in midair), there is no ground. Inertia keeps things where they are, but if a part of that object moves in one direction, then the rest of it will move in the other direction (the distances depend on the masses of the different parts). A punch that doesn't connect will necessarily direct parts of the body backwards, though the center of mass will remain where it was. A punch that does connect will send the puncher and the punchee in opposite directions unless the punchee is braced (if they are, then the puncher will be sent flying backwards! Probably not what the puncher intended!).

In other words, if characters aren't braced against the ground, you'll probably want to show where they're getting the force that keeps them moving forward, such as rocket boosters on their backs. The positions of these boosters might in turn influence the kinds of attacks the characters can make. For example, if their boosters are on their back, then they can only send them moving forward. If they try to do a punch that twists their body to the side (like most punches done by humans), then they'll no longer be facing the way they want to face! If you put rocket boosters on their arms and they punch in a rotating motion, then you'll likely want the booster on the non-punching arm going during the punch, to counteract the rotation produced by the punching arm.

If you want a demonstration of these principles in action, try finding a rolling chair that rolls easily, and a smooth floor. The easier it is to set that chair rolling, the better it'll approximate "space". Sit on it with your feet off the ground, and punch the air with all your strength. You'll most likely notice the chair move slightly backwards! Mine has pretty bad wheels, but even so it moves back several centimetres with every punch, and I'm weak! I could probably roll myself all the way to the kitchen if I punch enough :] If you punch a wall with a lot of strength (make sure you wear gloves and that it's a solid wall that won't break, and have plenty of space behind you!), you'll roll backwards quite a bit!

Offline DieMango

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Re: Punch Animation (woud love to get critic)

Reply #15 on: March 17, 2017, 08:36:44 pm
Alot of Explaination that i SHOUD of realized but i am happy to be reminded of...

Yeah...its always the Logic that i ahve to turn on making these things. Lighting,Shadow and various other things like poses just need the right memorie refreshed.

Thanks Alot! I Probebely have to film myself punching.
BTW i punch without moving my body because i was teached that a uneven fight can be decided when your opponent attacks and you use the Law you just refreshed to me against him to throw him off balance :D

Back to the topic. The Thrusters are on the Shoulder-pads...

The questions i just have left is ,,so i know how a regular punch shoud behave put this is a fairly odd rocket punch''
The enemy is designed (and coded >.>) to detect you and charge in a straigt line to you.

The upper punch was made with the idea of punshing close to you but that woud make little to none sense when you think about how things will work in a actual game (it woudt be as reactiv/good looking or easy to time then a more simple motion )

So the idea is that the punch shoud occur normal and at the point where the punch connects/stops and i woud animate some tension where the fist snaps back a little shoud the punch just stay i place and give the illusion as if you transeffered that energy into the forward motion and fly with fist forward to connect...

Maybe i shoud just animate him pointing to your direction activating the thrusters and just animate how he gets dragged behind the punch...

Shoud be better

But i probably make some other studie to learn a punch (shoud help when i alot when i start animating guns and recoil)

Again thanks for the Advise! Will try to work my ass off tomorow...

Offline eishiya

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Re: Punch Animation (woud love to get critic)

Reply #16 on: March 18, 2017, 12:25:24 am
I think that's a good idea, showing him just launching at the player. If you want to make it more interesting, the animation that plays while the character moves can be them getting their arms into position. Alternatively, have that before the character launches at the player, so that it serves as a telegraph of the attack.

In space there isn't really wind-up, so you need other ways to telegraph attacks (such as more overt preparation animations) and other ways to make them interesting. But, by the same token, in space there's a lot more follow-through, impacts affect both characters a lot more. This can make for very exciting animations.
« Last Edit: March 18, 2017, 12:33:01 am by eishiya »

Offline Swifty

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Re: Punch Animation (woud love to get critic)

Reply #17 on: March 20, 2017, 10:21:58 am
Had a bit of a play around with the animation.




Things I focused on:
Anticipation - To give the punch power we need anticipation, so I use a quick 2 frame pull back of the punching arm, with the opposite arm stretched out to guide where the punch will land. This helps the action read better overall.

Exaggeration - Where the punching arm begins its forward momentum I stretch the arm from its anticipation frame right to its contact frame all in a single fame. This also takes note of timing. We want the punch to have power, so it needs to be fast. If we use multiple frames to get to the contact pose it won't appear to have any power.

Follow Through / Secondary Action - On the contact frame we have a subtle one pixel shift in the body down, as the momentum of the punch pulls us forward. Also the non punching hand is brought in slightly closer to the body. This is all small movement as not to take away from the action of the punch, but to still give the body fluidity.

Offline DieMango

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Re: Punch Animation (woud love to get critic)

Reply #18 on: March 20, 2017, 01:37:19 pm
Damn... the timing is so nice...

i failed alot when trying to make things not to fast and not to slow...

Nice edit! tought me alot!

Still going to make a rocket punch but this helps alot with what i struggled ^^