Pixelation
Critique => Pixel Art => Topic started by: jahasaja on March 11, 2016, 09:49:43 pm
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Continuing the snail pace updating of the A Bastard's Tale.
Trying to make one more crow enemy. Not sure if got the head animation correct.
(http://www.skadedjursbekampning.nu/uploads/walkingheadpoping.gif)
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The head motion is fine, but it's a bit choppy and the shading seems to be a bit inconsistent around the torso area.
These are not necessarily bad things if you're going for a "this shit ain't natural" vibe though, long as you have smoother animated stuff to contrast against.
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Thanks for the Input. I tried to make the shading better.
I also exaggerated the head movement to make it more bird like.
(http://www.skadedjursbekampning.nu/uploads/walkingheadpoping0312new.gif)
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The shading is still rather inconsistent, mainly towards its back. It appears to me, rather than the light being transferred to different parts of the body, the body is being warped. Keep the light source stationary, let the body move into the light. Not move the body with the light. Think reasonably about what would possibly be creating those shadows in the first place.
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Thanks Roach.
Did some changes to the shading still not perfect but better I hope.
(http://www.skadedjursbekampning.nu/uploads/walkingheadpopingnewest0312.gif)
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(http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/bb417/spaghettiman666/editbird_zpsyworpdwo.gif)
Your light source is still inconsistent. I made a quick edit to try to explain. the biggest problem I found on this, was in its stomach. His abdominal muscles awkwardly lit up rather than keeping their consistent color. Speaking of the stomach, his abdominal muscles seem to warp extremely awkwardly. try to find a way to keep them consistent. also if you can see detail from his torso at this angle, you should be able to see some detail on his back. I made a quick edit to his side, adding a hint of a lat, its not perfect, just an idea of what you should do. If you touch up on these you're a step closer to making a really dynamic sprite.
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Thanks for the edit Roach!
I tried to follow you advice as well as improving the stomach and chest.
I also made him taller but that was mainly for gameplay purposes.
(http://www.skadedjursbekampning.nu/uploads/walkingheadpopingtaller.gif)
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Very good work, only problem with i have with it, is the head, if you pay close attention to the head it feel's like it moved by itself while not being attached to the chest, if anything i'd reduce the movement of it, and made it stick to the chest more, but that is just me
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I think that may actually be more of an issue with how birds work.
See, the reason (many, not all) birds bob their head is because they can't move their eyes, so they have to rely on stabilization of their heads in order to see well. Like with us, we can keep our eyes focused on a thing while birds have to move the entire head.
Because of this, those birds try to keep their heads as static as possible when they move, resulting in the forward-bobbing motion many people associate with them when they have to move the head to keep up with their body.
You can see it here on these pigeons:
(http://45.media.tumblr.com/545882fc254d376cd0b3fb1daf7e62d3/tumblr_o35y2fZI7O1t1ig6no7_400.gif)
In terms of fixing it on the sprite, I'd say quicken the bob so the head juts forward every step they take, like above.
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I can't help but be bothered by his right arm, the one further back, as he walks. It has the look of it being sort of dragged/ it lacks the energy of the left arm. Something I learned in school was for more realistic animation is the successive breaking of joints. His whole arm moves as a piece together, rather the Upper arm> Fore arm > then hand being swung forward fluidly. Although more simply, as I look at it, it seems that the energy that the other arm has comes from the "flick" at the end with it's blade. The right arm's blade just sort of hangs there are the right arm comes forward.
I really like the style of this. Reminds me of some creepy pixel games I've played/seen.
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ok so i have a few concerns about this and finally got some time to adress them. i hope you can take anything from this.
You rely a lot on parallel lines and tangents, which makes the animation itself hard to comprehend. sure you see whats going on, but blades covering blades, legs covering blades, blades covering legs. its just hard to see what happening in each frame specifically, it turns into a visual blur if parallel lines.
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/12237727/Art/wotp/jahasaja_bird.png)
Another thing that is really hard to see for me is which leg is which. the motions itself seems to be correct (alternating arm and leg movement) but at the same time it seems wrong.
The mood i get from the sprite and animation itself is a brutal, fearless, stalkery kind of "i will end you". The extreme head bobbing is actually detremental to the whole feel and adds a comedic element that feels completely out of place for me, at least how it is down right now.
As for the actual sprite, the things that tells you BIRD is obviously the head and the feet, but the rest of the anatomy is humanized so much that it feels like someone just put a head on a human. i don't know what you're going for so i just played around with different design ideas to make it more birdy.
In order to get a more bird like appeal i looked for things that birds have, that humans dont but that could be easily applied without changing the silhouette too much. I tried to go for more flush shoulders, slightly more wing-shaped arms and obligatory chicken legs (:D) since other features are likely taking away from the original design (tail, puffy, body, short legs (since most of the leg is hidden under the feathers))
On to finally adress shading. Your sprite is lit straight up from the front, which in my experience makes it very hard to shade, to bring out forms and features, as well as having a uniform scheme going on. i dont know why you chose that lighting scheme, maybe it fits in your game, in which case it is fine, but generally it is recommended to work with a top light source (sun/moon/ceiling lights etc) to get a more consistent environment design.
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/12237727/Art/wotp/jahasaja_bird_2.gif)
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This is creepy as !@#$. Love it. But the balance isn't right... with a head that large he would just topple forward. I actually like the slow animation style though and parallel lines, it's different.
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Thanks for all the feedback!
KonradGM Yeah I am trying to make it birdlike like mystermeats pic. Not sure if fully succeed.
Mysterymeat: I am trying to jut the head forward in every step. Do you think it should be more pronounced?
Hellpug: I tried to fix the arm. Not fully perfect though.
wzl Wow, thanks for all the feedback.
-I think it becomes more dynamic if some parts cover up others in some frames. But I tried to make it more pronounced and with less parallel lines.
- Yeah the legs are hard to see which one is which (easier if you look at the cloth). The legs are actually not alternating like it should do but instead the "wrong" way to make it more brutish/hulking.
-I like the head boobing since makes it more animal-like and just not any other brute.
-I did put a bird on a human. (Or actually a bird on a dog head another enemy in the game (http://www.skadedjursbekampning.nu/uploads/monsterwalkinglatest.gif))
-amazing remake your skills are miles ahead of mine. I looked at that and tried to create similar chicken legs (without the muscles)
-Yup the whole game A Bastard's Tale has lightning from the front My first game so I did not know what was the best.
(http://www.skadedjursbekampning.nu/uploads/walkingheadpopingtallenewle.gif)
"Roclfler" Yeah He might fall forward.. Perhaps the edit makes it a little bit more balanced.
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Thanks for all the feedback!
KonradGM Yeah I am trying to make it birdlike like mystermeats pic. Not sure if fully succeed.
Mysterymeat: I am trying to jut the head forward in every step. Do you think it should be more pronounced?
Hellpug: I tried to fix the arm. Not fully perfect though.
wzl Wow, thanks for all the feedback.
-I think it becomes more dynamic if some parts cover up others in some frames. But I tried to make it more pronounced and with less parallel lines.
- Yeah the legs are hard to see which one is which (easier if you look at the cloth). The legs are actually not alternating like it should do but instead the "wrong" way to make it more brutish/hulking.
-I like the head boobing since makes it more animal-like and just not any other brute.
-I did put a bird on a human. (Or actually a bird on a dog head another enemy in the game (http://www.skadedjursbekampning.nu/uploads/monsterwalkinglatest.gif))
-amazing remake your skills are miles ahead of mine. I looked at that and tried to create similar chicken legs (without the muscles)
-Yup the whole game A Bastard's Tale has lightning from the front My first game so I did not know what was the best.
(http://www.skadedjursbekampning.nu/uploads/walkingheadpopingtallenewle.gif)
"Roclfler" Yeah He might fall forward.. Perhaps the edit makes it a little bit more balanced.
Definitely looks more birdlike in motion. I think you should try to work with the original speed though, this strikes me as a sort of pyramid head-y "slow but gon fuck you up" type character
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I tried to keep the spirit of your animation but fix the main problems. The biggest change came by deleting frame 7 which was redundant. Other changes: Added knee joints which make it easier to track the thin legs. Adjusted upper body weight back on about half the frames for balance. Made legs a bit more rigid at the knee and lift slightly higher on pass-through keyframes. Tried to exaggerate impact of front foot. Head was tweaked a bit, but could still use a little more work to get it in sync properly.
(http://i.imgur.com/kittFLg.gif)