Pixelation

Critique => Pixel Art => Topic started by: Arne on May 08, 2009, 06:14:43 pm

Title: Walk animation
Post by: Arne on May 08, 2009, 06:14:43 pm
This is probably my first 8 frame walk animation. I've never really animated more than a few frames before.

I used the Space Quest 1 space suit for reference...
http://www.mobygames.com/game/amiga/space-quest-the-sarien-encounter/screenshots/gameShotId,266177/

... and a tutorial page on walk animations.
http://www.idleworm.com/how/anm/02w/walk1.shtml

(http://androidarts.com/adventure/walk-animation.gif)

So, here are my problems:

- Too big steps, almost a half run. This is probably easy to remedy though.
- While I did go for somewhat female proportions on the figure, the animation is not very feminine. Perhaps the figure is too hunched for that.
- The hands jerk. I could not quite figure out how to smooth recoil->passing, but I think the elbow needs to straighten out. (Marked them with color, they should be skin tone.) (Are they in the most extreme position during contact?)
- I don't know which frames the head should turn, or if it should turn at all.
- Needs more subpixel movement.
- backback/jetpack is too static.
- Should anything be done with horizontal movement (Head? Leaning the torso?).

So, I'm guessing, smaller steps, head back with dignity. Hands attached more loosely so they follow the arms rather than lead them. Less bobbing/stomping. More torso twist (although I'd need to mark the hip and shoulder with a detail to do that more effectively).
Title: Re: Walk animation
Post by: ptoing on May 08, 2009, 07:15:12 pm
Looking pretty good so far.

- I don't know which frames the head should turn, or if it should turn at all.

Only thing you have to do is try and walk a bit yourself and consciously observe how you move, or watch other people walk.
In most cases you surely would not move your head because you are looking where you are walking, which is straight ahead in most cases.

Title: Re: Walk animation
Post by: Ben2theEdge on May 08, 2009, 07:19:05 pm
Girls generally walk with more sway and less bounce. Little girls' mothers teach them to be very conscious of their posture when they walk so usually there is very very little head bob, and arms gracefully sway back and forth with loose elbows and wrists. Feet touch down gently, the opposite of "stomping" if you will.
Title: Re: Walk animation
Post by: Arne on May 08, 2009, 07:50:24 pm
Yeah, this thing was animated as a cartoon character, and I admit to turning the head just to make it a bit less static overall. I'll see if I can sketch a new one up. Maybe there's a female walk cycle on the net I could use as reference though...
Title: Re: Walk animation
Post by: Arne on May 09, 2009, 10:57:48 am
Attempt to adress some of the issues. I tried to use the hair to make the head more lively. Still a bit stompy.

(http://androidarts.com/adventure/walk-animation2.gif)
Title: Re: Walk animation
Post by: willfaulds on May 09, 2009, 11:01:56 am
A little stompy but full of character (they look determined)

I love the hand movement on the women - but it doesn't match the legs - I feel the arms look a bit like shes skipping - certainly walking carefree.

But are those space suits and are they heavy? If so the stompynss is fine.
Title: Re: Walk animation
Post by: Arne on May 09, 2009, 12:04:49 pm
The legs are a bit bent all of the time, perhaps they should be straitened out in the contact frame at least. The walk is kind of 'sloppy' now, yeah.

I wanted the +-1px vertical bobbing, even though it's a bit extreme and adds to the stompyness.

Title: Re: Walk animation
Post by: Arachne on May 09, 2009, 12:21:08 pm
I really don't see why everyone likes that idleworm tutorial so much. My main gripe with it isn't that it's exaggerated, it's that it only applies to cartoon characters with very big (and strong) feet. The reason the character bobs is because it pushes itself up on its toes. In reality, the bobbing is due to simple trigonometry. When the legs are spread, the vertical component is shorter than when the legs are together.

Here's a more realistic take on it.

(http://www.retinaleclipse.com/arneedit.gif)

Edit: Oops, their legs got way shorter. :D
Title: Re: Walk animation
Post by: robotacon on May 09, 2009, 01:06:02 pm
I don't like those tutorials either but that's only because I'm brainwashed by the Animators Survival Kit.

I'm no ace animator but...

Straighten the leg on contact where the heel hits the ground.
Make the foot travel 3 pixel on each frame for a smoother motion.
Don't raise the head after the passing point where both feet and hands switch sides.
Consider lowering the body on the contact frame instead because at that's when the characters feet are the longest distance apart which at this scale would be similar to the catch frame where he bends his knees.
Look at the hands and how far they travel in each frame and make sure they follow a smooth curve.
The turning head makes the character more alive but I'm generally against it.
Title: Re: Walk animation
Post by: Arne on May 09, 2009, 01:48:03 pm
Thanks! I'll take those points into consideration. I think it looks better. Yeah, one reason why I bent the legs was to make them a bit longer, but that wasn't very smart, I should've made the character 1px taller instead, or something. The offset of the head height makes a lot more sense if it's at the lowest point during contact, yeah. I'm not sure why I didn't see that. Perhaps because I was staring at a tutorial rather than thinking.

The reason why that tutorial is popular is because it shows up easily on google. I found that its cartoony approach didn't apply to some of the things which I wanted to do, and the arm movements were confusing.

Edit: I've been looking at Day of the Tentacle. This sprite was made in a simple flat style, somewhat like that in the Space Quest games. It's easier to work with flats when the animation is more important. I think it would be interesting to try a larger Day of the Tentacle style too though. It seems that they use less frames for the walk animations (contact and passing?). I also like how the almost abstract backgrounds keeps things loose and perhaps contributes to diminishing issues with character staying the same size even if they are further away in a room.

(There are DotT videos on YouTube, and vgmaps has the various screens.)
Title: Re: Walk animation
Post by: TrevoriuS on May 09, 2009, 02:07:16 pm
Make the foot travel 3 pixel on each frame for a smoother motion.
Depends on what you're aiming for. Completely smooth isn't a good idea at any point, but you can exeggerate and make the animation really 'snap' into position by overapplying the existance of weight.
Quote
Consider lowering the body on the contact frame instead because at that's when the characters feet are the longest distance apart which at this scale would be similar to the catch frame where he bends his knees.
On the contact frame you wish to lower the body because of the shock of gravity being stopped by the floor as well.
Title: Re: Walk animation
Post by: Arne on May 09, 2009, 02:50:19 pm
I would guess that the hands and feet travel very fast through the 'passing' frame, and kinda hang around the contact frames.

Sometimes the movement (of loose objects) caused by shock comes one frame behind, I think.
Title: Re: Walk animation
Post by: Arne on May 09, 2009, 03:59:15 pm
Straightened out my legs, made them longer, displaced vertical bobbing one frame (as well as the head, because the hair was timed, although it's a bit jittery now). Maybe I should do something about the feet the frame before contact. They look like flippers now.

(http://androidarts.com/adventure/walk-animation4.gif)

Something with the ground contact bothers me. doesn't feel connected with the ground.
Title: Re: Walk animation
Post by: ndchristie on May 09, 2009, 04:37:25 pm
i think the knees bend  farrr too much if you're going for a person's walk.  this would be a march, but even then the steps are too short.  it's like their walking in water, picking up their feet but not getting anywhere.
Title: Re: Walk animation
Post by: Arne on May 09, 2009, 06:50:29 pm
Yeah, I can agree with that. Looks like a military excursion. The leftmost one is definitely plowing through something. I should calm down the leg movements further.

(and it seems like Day of the Tentacle uses something like 8 frames, not 4 like I thought before - that would have been a little cheap.)
Title: Re: Walk animation
Post by: robotacon on May 09, 2009, 08:18:53 pm
@Arne: They seem more relaxed now which is good. I think the reason they don't seem connected to the ground is that they bob up and down at a constant pace like a sine wave. I know almost every tutorial in the world has that but I still thing you should look at what it looks like if you lower the frames were the head is highest one pixel so you get more weight in the step.

@TreviouS: I'm all for snapping but not when it comes to the feet traveling the ground. When this is put in a game later on you don't want the character to slip and slide. You want the feet to land on one spot and not leave that spot until they are picked up again.

@Arne: You're right about the hands and there is a sort of inertia in the feet as well since they will always want to stay on the ground (that travel at a constant speed) so while the heel is picked up the toes will try to stay on the ground for as long as possible. This results is the heel following a curve at the back position staying for a longer time back there than it does in the front position where the heel will start moving backwards directly after hitting the ground.

@ndchristie: I agree with you. A lot of people walk with their feet almost touching the ground when they move the feet forward. Ever stumbled on a folded carpet corner? These guys have a military look though so perhaps the high feet are legit.
Title: Re: Walk animation
Post by: Arne on May 09, 2009, 08:44:18 pm
I suppose that while the foot is in contact with the ground it will move at a nearly constant pace. Gliding could probably be countered by offsetting the character so it matches the foot movement. For stuff like sneaky steps /silly walks you probably need to do that. If a character is running then the body will have more momentum and the ground will travel at a pretty constant speed underfoot. (Guessing here.)

Perhaps these walk cycles can still be useful for soldiers, if I ever do any.
Title: Re: Walk animation
Post by: Mabelma on May 10, 2009, 09:54:51 pm
I like the walking cycle of the girl. My only actual problem right now is that on the space suit the head moves but on the actual girl only the hair is moving and the actual head isn't moving. I hope I helped in some way.
Title: Re: Walk animation
Post by: Arne on May 15, 2009, 03:56:27 pm
The helmet animation (right figure) was just something I kept. I mostly edited the left one.

I made a quick Probotector run animation to learn a little more. Pulling one foot up from the ground and leaning the leg in the 'passing' frame helped. I referenced the original Probotector animation, but it seems to be only 3 frames and cheating with which leg is in front. I kept the head, shoulder and gun part static to save time and I pretended I was limited to a certain number of tiles. The grey is extra, but it's possible to put it in there if you separate the tiles. The Probotector tile tables are very garbled and the figures are built from many smaller sprites to save space.
(http://androidarts.com/probotector/probotector_anim2.gif)

Based on my redesign of the robots on the Probotector cover art (http://www.mobygames.com/game/contra/cover-art/gameCoverId,56169/) which I liked a lot.
(http://androidarts.com/probotector/probotector_chibi.jpg)
Title: Re: Walk animation
Post by: Mike on May 15, 2009, 06:13:39 pm
I'm thinking the girl lacks hip movement.  Here is a little sprite I animated keeping in mind that it's meant to be a more girly walk.

(http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y63/vashers/basicjohnna.gif) (arms a bit long but I think it shows the girl style walk nicely)

Now I'm not entirely sure if it's right but it definitely looks like a girl walking.  What really helps sell it is the straightened contact legs, and the less bounce in the walk overall.

Here is another type of walk, kind of high society walk style

(http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y63/vashers/Johnnagirlwalk015.gif)

another thing you can do is try to exaggerate the butt during the walk.  Also I tried to keep the feet as low to the ground as possible so it almost looks like they are sliding that way it takes the stomp effect away.  If there is a big gap between the foot being raised and then hitting the ground that creates the stomp effect along with the raising of the body during contact.

*edit*

I decided to try and edit yours and here is what I came up with

(http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y63/vashers/walk-animation4edit.gif)
Title: Re: Walk animation
Post by: Arne on May 16, 2009, 07:37:57 am
Thanks! That's useful stuff.

Yeah, perhaps one must bite the bullet and only use 1 pixel of vertical bobbing. I only twisted the hips and shoulders 1 pixel or so, and it probably wasn't clear enough. Maybe the arms need to be calmer, they're a bit flimsy now, like she's stirring a pot.

I think, generally in adventure games the character only looks at an angle if it's idling or talking.
Title: Re: Walk animation
Post by: Ben2theEdge on May 18, 2009, 02:06:26 pm
in a walking animation the character I would assume the character is moving pretty slowly so you'll want to aim for subtlety - so a 1-pixel bob should be okay but you'll want some other interesting little details to go along with it. With your probotector for example you might consider actually rotating the torso on its Y-axis and tilting the gun up and down.
Title: Re: Walk animation
Post by: Arne on May 18, 2009, 02:25:33 pm
A 1px bob actually sounds more sensible for a calm girly walk, yeah.

In Probotector the character runs pretty wildly indeed. When running, the gun will move while held in diagonally front of the chest, unless the player shoots. Then the gun held statically in the direction of the aim. In the case of a diagonal aim the torso will twist a bit to the side.

Probotector always had this perspective thing going on. I never quite liked it, but I suppose it allows the artist to avoid stale 90 degree ortho views. Metal Slug has the characters a bit turned towards the viewer, and it works quite well.

I made an angle view of a turret recently.
(http://androidarts.com/probotector/metal_slug_probotector.gif)

Of course, when a character holds a rifle, the torso will have to twist a bit towards the viewer. Tanks and turrets don't have reason to do that (other than striking a stylish pose).