[WIP] Long Time Witness, First Time Offender

[Yar]

Heyas, Pixelation Peoples.
I've enjoyed this site quite a while, so thanks!

I finally got up the chutzpah to post some sprites here, and I'd love some C&C:



They're all 64x64 isometric perspective (or meant to be) standing frames from idle animations.

Pretty standard yawny character design, I suppose. I know there are some technical flaws in there such as probably having too much detail for their size (it seems that's my new favorite problem). They're also a bit too jagged, I think. Anyway, I'd appreciate any and all help on those or undiscovered problems.

[Yar]

That bad, huh?

Well, here's something else I could use a lot of help with:
 


These are in even more of a WIP stage, as I'd like to get the motion down before I refine. I know some of the limbs are malformed, but I'd like to find out if I'm on the right track with these.
That's something especially funky about the north (3rd from left, top) and south (third from left, bottom). I think I missed a lift on the nw one, also.

[robotacon]

Not bad at all. You did however sum up the problems with the characters yourself pretty well.

You have a nice setup for the running animation, here are my crit on them.

The legs seem too far apart in the run.
I don't think the sideway wobble works either, to be blunt it looks like he's pooped his pants.

Think about what you're going to do with the arms, if the characters are carrying swords but them in there now.

Here's what I'd like to see in a 6 frame run cycle:

Two frames where the feet hit the ground, frame 1 and 4. I think it looks best when the heal makes contact. You have a couple of frames where the toes make contact which looks like you're sneaking up one someone.

Two passing frames where one leg in firmly at the ground straight down and the other leg is passing it. This is where the head could be the highest since one leg is straight down.

Two frames where the feet leaves the ground. In these frames the toes of the foot leaving the ground should still be in the ground. The other leg should be on it's way from the passing point towards hitting the ground.

This means that you won't have any frames where both feet is in the air.

When I say that you should have two frames of each type (2xcontact(hit), 2xpassing, 2xcontact(release)) I don't mean that these need to be mirror images of each other. You can mix em up a bit but I'd recommend you doing that after you've got a smooth symmetric run cycle.

There is no right way to create a run cycle (or a walk cycle) it all depends on how you want the character to move. Most animation run cycle references you'd find online is for cartoony running with a lot of  bounce. I'd think that you'd need a more realistic run cycle.

A last tip. Make sure limbs move in a smooth motion. In a realistic run the limbs move at a constant speed so there is no snapping.

[Yar]

Sorry for bumping an old post, but I'm under the impression it's alright if it's an update done by the original poste. Lemme know if I'm wrong.



These are just fills so I can get the motion right before shading.
I tried to bring the arms down a bit and relax them. It almost looked like a speed walker and a bit too forced.
(Those north and south facing ones were killing me  )

Robotacon: Thanks much for replying. You certainly know your animation, so thanks for taking the time.

The legs seem too far apart in the run.
I don't think the sideway wobble works either

I tried to tone down the poop factor a bit.

Think about what you're going to do with the arms, if the characters are carrying swords but them in there now.

Well, I see where that would be advantageous, but I'd like to get the run down well first, and then add items. There's also the fact that this hopefully will serve as the base for more than one sprite (so there could be quite a few configurations - one of which will be no items at all).

A last tip. Make sure limbs move in a smooth motion. In a realistic run the limbs move at a constant speed so there is no snapping.

I saw a few instances that might have been what you were seeing. Do you see any more in the update?

On the 6 frame cycle:
Totally right on the heel first, in fact, the feet were entirely problematic for me. However, I think I cleaned up some of the too-far-forward-leg-pass.
About the feet leaving the ground, I think I see what you mean and attempted to apply it. It does feel to me, tho, that the head and body move up when the back leg is furthest extended backwards. IOW, the body is propelled forward by that leg, and, not only forward, but somewhat up. I kept some of that motion in (for the time being).
Hopefully, I managed to incorporate some of your advice.

C&C welcome and apppreciated from any and all 

[Yar]

Well, trying to get back to these. I tried to fix some of the limb issues and hopefully some of the bad torso swaying from the last iteration. I actually went and grabbed the flashback run anim and deleted all but 6 keyframes and used that as a limb position reference. Hopefully, it helped.



C&C double-plus good.




Please?

[Turbo]

Those look great, great motion and colors. The north and diagonally oriented run cycles could use a bit more weight shift in the upper body (as in, the frames after the forward foot touches the ground, the upper torso+arms+head sag down a bit, and go up afterwards when that leg that came down pushes it up to spring the other leg forward. That's personnal opinion, i tend to do this is run cycles, maybe a tad much. Give it a try, see if you like the result.

[Code_wizard]

Neato stuff, I like your style. Only crit I have is the bottom right (yellow) one is almost totally unreadable. Might need a color change or drop a few details that are cluttering it up, not sure which.

[Yar]

Thanks for the responses, peoples! 

The north and diagonally oriented run cycles could use a bit more weight shift in the upper body (as in, the frames after the forward foot touches the ground, the upper torso+arms+head sag down a bit, and go up afterwards when that leg that came down pushes it up to spring the other leg forward.

Something (roughly) like this?


I kind of dig the motion. Which looks better to you?

... is the bottom right (yellow) one is almost totally unreadable. Might need a color change or drop a few details that are cluttering it up, not sure which.

The one running west or the one running northwest?

Ryona, why did you delete your post? It was encouraging!