Face Study

[Obsidantion]

Tocky: I really like how you've given the character more personality with that stance, more agile and a tiny bit awkward which I really like, thanks again. Here's what I came up with from that:



5 frames (4 of walking) and 1 of an idle, standing stance. I want the walking to be pretty quick maybe even a run but probably not as fast a frame rate as I have now. Feel free to criticize, I don't mind changing anything, including the 4-frame structure of the animation if you have a better suggestion. (The ankle bits are kind of rubbish I know. Oh and I will change the light source to downward facing again so that the shadowing is easier on other items in the game).

I quite like the idea of trying out 8 directions of movement, may try that.

Fizz: Hope he looks better, the walking is fairly stiff but it may have to be if I'm going to try the diagonals as well to define the direction more clearly, I dunno.

Comments please

[TrevoriuS]

Slow down the frames, you dont walk that fast

What angle does your light come from? You must note that the boots angle and light changes on torso and legs when they move and change position.
Now you just amde legs longer or shorter, not minding the feet positions or shading changes.

[Stefano]

I've spent more time than I should on this (30 min) but anyway, here's my edit.
I guess I probably have changed the sprite than I should, but when I first looked at it I thought that maybe giving this guy a more pronounced facial "topography" should look more natural. Meaning: I've pushed the eye sockets and mouth into the head and pulled the nose out, so it would look more protruded. I have also changed the hair to a less puffy volume, with more apparent individual hair clusters.

Additionally I gave him eyebrows and adjusted the highlight color to a less bright tone.



Again: I've changed more than I should. Sorry. 

[Arachne]

Ooh, I love that edit, Stefano.

Now, it takes more than adjusting the length of the legs to make a decent walking animation. As the legs move back and forth, you need to shade them accordingly.



frame 1: right leg bent; highlight on thigh, shin in shadow
frame 2: right leg highlighted, lengthened. left leg shortened and in shadow
frame 3: left leg bent, etc

[ndchristie]

These keyframes, as they are called, are the most basic and most important parts of even a simple walk animation.  There are two contact frames when the foot makes contact with the ground, and between them on both sides is a passing frame when, you guessed it, the feet pass each other.

In the front, these frames translate into something like this:



Now, this example has more extreme perspective and is highly exaggerated (though not as much as you might think); it's a pretty regular walk for a model, placing one foot directly in line with the next.  While most people do not walk with this much inwards motion of the step, there is a good deal of it even in a normal, relaxed step.  Note also the bend of the knees and elbows, and the swinging of the hips and shoulders.  Yours is a lot like a robot at the moment, adding in these simple motions will help you greatly.

[Obsidantion]

Arachne & Adarias: Thank you very much, very useful info. I shall update soon.

Please help me on how I should understand and learn from Stefano's amasing edit (I'm very confused and all I can manage is to copy it pixel for pixel).

[TrevoriuS]

Wait you say 30 mins is too much time spent on something?!

[Faceless]

Arachne & Adarias: Thank you very much, very useful info. I shall update soon.

Please help me on how I should understand and learn from Stefano's amasing edit (I'm very confused and all I can manage is to copy it pixel for pixel).

Look at the shape of the mouth and eyes. Look at the way the face curves in at the eyes, and out again to form a brow. Observe where he used outlines and where he relied on shading to convery shape. Most of all, go on google and find yourself copious references of the structure of the human face. Look at skulls, look at muscle cross-sections, or whatever helps you to better understand the shape of the human face. Pay close attention to the way light acts on the human face while you're at it.

[ndchristie]

30 minutes is typically considered time for a full edit; oftentimes a quick sketch is enough to push the person in the right direction, but more extensive feedback does of coures have its place.  I think this particular 30 minutes was well spent by Stefano.

[Feron]

Please help me on how I should understand and learn from Stefano's amasing edit (I'm very confused and all I can manage is to copy it pixel for pixel).

You have been presented with an excellent edit which, i assume, is near exactly how you wanted the piece to look, and the temptation to copy or even (as I have often felt) give-up is quite stong.   However either of these two temptations will teach you nothing.  I expect that you have your own piece side by side with the edit and keep thinking how to improve, but without copying.  This is bad, as your piece will only end up like a worse-off version of stefano's and will also be in the style of stefano. 

What i suggest is studying faces in general, to see how light falls and forms are created etc....  After that spend between 10 and 30 mins looking at the edit perhaps making notes of the techniques used to convey the knowlege of fascial structure.  I would then return to your piece without looking at the edit and continue working on it with your own style and ideas in mind.  It will be a good excersise as you will get used to pixelling without reference, aswell as helping you understand the techniques you are applying.

I have spent countless hours studying thousands of pieces, and i think it helps as you begin to recognise how the pixels work together to build up the image.

Good luck, looking forward to the coming edits as there are some very helpful posts in this thread.  If you play your cards right - it might eventually get featured!