Perhaps it is indeed flawed, but it's definitely more concise and easier to read + understand the gist of what you're getting at than the resulting tutorials you posted (no offense intended -- it's just that it's a lot more clear the basic idea you're trying to get across in the link I suggested than the series of tutorials in the link you posted, which are more exhaustive, but are a longer and more meticulous read -- plus, I'm not just providing the link because of your post in that thread either since another post in that same topic also teaches an interesting way to approach layered textures [i.e. trees], which means 2 very useful techniques for the price of quickly skimming just 1 topic). Anyone trying to learn new pixel art techniques quickly can't argue with that.
Also, as you've placed threads you've posted in on here, I think it won't hurt if I do the same. I just want to help out folks who want to learn some neat pixel art techniques quickly:
http://wayofthepixel.net/index.php?topic=16364.0Anyway, I've seen a lot of topics in the past few months about making sword animations, so I just made a fairly base-level post on the subject in that thread since I've not seen any posts with examples that really go into that much detail on the basics of how to construct one of these sorts of animations. It should help with any kind of animation for staff-like weapons or protrusions though. I think we need more quick technique description + examples like these here on pixelation -- preferably all in one place.
Don't mean to stir up any trouble or show any disrespect though. Just my 2 cents.