Pixelation

Critique => Pixel Art => Topic started by: washk on January 24, 2016, 03:52:58 pm

Title: [C+C] A walking cow (8 frames animation)
Post by: washk on January 24, 2016, 03:52:58 pm: Hey guys. so I have been working for two years now on my game (link in signature if you want to see more) and started pixel art for as long.

So there were some progress made since this (http://i.imgur.com/wjruXrE.png) but ...

I read a lot about pixel art techniques, read a lot of topics here, and practiced as much as I can. Several times I restrained myself to post feedback, as it was obvious how I could work more and improve. But now I begin to really need this feedback to improve, even tho I know some of the areas I'm struggling with (pixel noise, clean AA). I'm not able anymore to identify all the flaws only by myself. So I will expose my work a bit more. All feedback welcome, you can be harsh, I need critic, I can take it and I want to improve badly. Thanks for your time.

The animated cow is 4 frames, I know I can't have miracles with that. I try do get the best I can have with that for now, as I want to keep control on the number of assets I need to make for my game. If I get somewhere with it, it will always be time to redo them.

(http://i.imgur.com/H40OcMz.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/ADxFeve.gif)

A simple question I have, is how to make my sprites less flat. It's "easy" when you follow a tutorial of a 3D ball lightning. I have a hard time with my own sprites.
Title: Re: [C+C] A walking cow (4 frames animation)
Post by: DracoDragon42 on January 25, 2016, 03:11:34 pm: To make something have depth, make sure you shade from a light source of some kind, and/or increase the contrast of the colors, making them easier to see.
Title: Re: [C+C] A walking cow (4 frames animation)
Post by: washk on January 25, 2016, 10:45:47 pm: So I had another go at it. Tried to lower the color count. Legs are still bad.

(http://i.imgur.com/1MqH42C.gif)
Title: Re: [C+C] A walking cow (4 frames animation)
Post by: Glak on January 26, 2016, 03:52:39 pm: Watch some videos of cows walking.
Title: Re: [C+C] A walking cow (4 frames animation)
Post by: washk on January 26, 2016, 07:16:12 pm: Well I did ... guess I best go back to it then ^^
Title: Re: [C+C] A walking cow (4 frames animation)
Post by: washk on January 27, 2016, 08:46:02 pm: So I had another go at it, I think I can't do better for now. Any comment appreciated, any tips to take it to the "next level" ?

(http://i.imgur.com/jPT7Xmy.gif)

In game context gif http://i.imgur.com/YVrZDgd.gifv (http://i.imgur.com/YVrZDgd.gifv) (a bit choppy)
Title: Re: [C+C] A walking cow (4 frames animation)
Post by: japie81 on January 27, 2016, 08:53:50 pm: The contrast is definitely better. I think the front legs seem to miss a key frame or something, hind legs look a lot more fluid.
I cant give you much advice as I have never tried animal walk cycles before but since I'm planning on making animal mounts for my game this topic might come in handy later. I'm interested to see how this piece will improve :y:
Title: Re: [C+C] A walking cow (4 frames animation)
Post by: washk on January 27, 2016, 09:01:44 pm: Yeah I think 1 or 2 frames would help. I will wait a bit, if I have a bit more feedback or anyway I will come back to it later. Thanks for your input :)
Title: Re: [C+C] A walking cow (4 frames animation)
Post by: BatElite on January 29, 2016, 06:26:33 pm: You currently only have half of a walk cycle. The legs jump from one extreme to another.
Title: Re: [C+C] A walking cow (4 frames animation)
Post by: washk on February 01, 2016, 12:31:15 am: Quote from: BatElite on January 29, 2016, 06:26:33 pm
You currently only have half of a walk cycle. The legs jump from one extreme to another.

Yeah I knew it, but once you said that, I couldn't ignore it :) So that's my final take for now.

(http://i.imgur.com/A6iNrHt.gif)

(http://i.imgur.com/ZS1oitf.png)
Title: Re: [C+C] A walking cow (4 frames animation)
Post by: vvight on February 01, 2016, 04:13:11 am: She looks like she's ice skating a little bit, perhaps try bending the knee slightly more.

(http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/files/2009/01/horse-walking600.jpg)
Title: Re: [C+C] A walking cow (4 frames animation)
Post by: BatElite on February 03, 2016, 08:04:45 pm: The leg movement should begin with/include the shoulders and hips, rather than only incorporating the part of the leg that's separate from the body. At the moment the lower leg to shrink and expand to fit the position you need the hoof to be in.

The hoofs don't come of the ground enough, so the legs look like they're sliding. I also found the colouring on the hoofs very inconsistent between frames.
Title: Re: [C+C] A walking cow (4 frames animation)
Post by: washk on February 03, 2016, 09:57:32 pm: Well thanks for advice, a proper 4 legs walking cycle is a bit of a step up from what I'm able to do, and I had noticed for a while that my characters and animals were sliding, I was able to fix that mostly for my main character, but I have a hard time with the cow.

So thanks I have a few tips/directions to try again.
Title: Re: [C+C] A walking cow (4 frames animation)
Post by: washk on February 10, 2016, 02:18:43 pm: Quote from: washk on February 01, 2016, 12:31:15 am

(http://i.imgur.com/A6iNrHt.gif)

(http://i.imgur.com/ZS1oitf.png)

Question : reading recent threads, does the cow legs characterize as "selout" ? I've been asking myself about those outlines for a while, I prefer without when the sprite is on it's own, but it's not always very readable without outlines. (Don't want to relaunch the selout topic, well covered elsewhere), just understand if the bottom of this sprite is in this category.