Pixelation

Critique => Pixel Art => Topic started by: snowsoft on July 16, 2009, 10:09:39 pm

Title: New wip, animation/anatomy help? (updated)
Post by: snowsoft on July 16, 2009, 10:09:39 pm
I have a front and back view male template that I was trying some costume ideas out on, and a female I have started. I have gone over these with a few friends and gotten some feed back, but I think it is to the point where I should come here seeking some more advice. I know the people are looking a little large, but after talking with them some, i think they are about the size we want them. A little smaller maybe, but not much. The style is more or less my own take on some of the old snes RPGs like Secret of Mana, Secret of Evermore, and the like. This is very much just a for fun sort of thing for now, as there are only 3-4 of us working on it, and me being the only artist, and the main programmer has been creating his own engine for this. The view is along the lines of those games as well, sort of top down, but not "true" 3/4 view.

Well, enough huff and fluff, on to the arts.

(http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/meetgavin/malefemsofar.gif)

(http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/meetgavin/Boredomcopy.gif)

(http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/meetgavin/gobbo-walk-and-spot.gif)

latest attempt at male walk
(http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/meetgavin/malewalk3.gif)
added hair
(http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/meetgavin/malehairwalk.gif)
added top clothes
(http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/meetgavin/maleshirtwalk.gif)
Title: Re: New project wip, animation/anatomy help?
Post by: EvilEye on July 17, 2009, 03:54:10 am
Looks pretty good. Especially the animated goblin.

Before you go too much farther you should know the back view is taller then the front view. Its because your putting the heel in the back view where the toe is in the front view. The heel should go just a little farther down then the heel in the front view.

This caused a consistency problem when I was editing your sprite which is why I bring it up.

Anyway, here is my edit, notice the height difference:

(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w104/chris_6713/edit2352111.png)

I wasn't sure what to do with the feet and hands so I more or less left them alone.
Title: Re: New project wip, animation/anatomy help?
Post by: snowsoft on July 17, 2009, 06:47:14 pm
Awesome. I felt like something looked off but I couldn't put my finger on it. I'll double check my goblin, too. Wouldn't be surprised if I did the same to his back view.

Thanks Evileye.
Title: Re: New project wip, animation/anatomy help?
Post by: Vermolius on July 18, 2009, 03:02:58 am
The cat and dog are hilariously awesome! The little porkers are so happy!
Title: Re: New project wip, animation/anatomy help?
Post by: snowsoft on July 18, 2009, 03:39:00 am
Ha! Thanks Vermolius. They are my wife's favorite thing :P
Title: Re: New project wip, animation/anatomy help?
Post by: jedzed on July 18, 2009, 09:07:46 pm
I couldn't help but have a crack at it myself...

(http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h116/jeddyweddy/lol-1.png)

I reshaped the body a bit the arms were too short and the body had no waist, so i added that in...

I utilized the fact that males generally have longer bodys than legs and i tried to put the muscles into some sort of proportion, It may not be right but its as close to being right as it can be...

Title: Re: New project wip, animation/anatomy help?
Post by: snowsoft on July 20, 2009, 09:34:49 pm
Hey Jed, I appreciate the edit, but thought I would point out a few things. I don't know where you got that "males have longer bodies than legs" but that is just not true. Draw your own legs up and hug your knees. My knee hits just below my shoulder, and I've still got my entire lower leg and feet to go way past my head (if I was that flexible :P),

The way you have edited him makes him look sort of ape-ish, because his arms are so long and his legs are so short. Again, I appreciate the effort, but I wanted to try to offer some help back.  ;)
Title: Re: New project wip, animation/anatomy help?
Post by: snowsoft on July 28, 2009, 05:34:11 am
Haven't been able to work on this much, but I did a little refining with evil's edit in mind and also my side view. I think it looks pretty solid, but a pair of fresh eyes could point out something I have missed or screwed up. (hopefully not too badly :-[) I may simplify his torso a bit, as it looks a little noisy/messy, but I'd like to hear some opinions on that.

(http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/meetgavin/male_update_1.gif)
Title: Re: New wip, animation/anatomy help? (update 1)
Post by: misterj on July 30, 2009, 11:59:59 pm
The one obvious thing that sticks out to me is that when he faces away/toward the screen his hands look like they're falling back naturally, rather than aggressively forward in the other poses (ie the elbows look bent).

I also don't think his feet when facing away should be shaded so much. Notice how his lower back looks indented in with the shading but you're getting the same thing out of his feet. He also looks too short there, but I didn't examine it enough to determine if it's just moved up or not.

Looks good so far.
Title: Re: New wip, animation/anatomy help? (update 1)
Post by: snowsoft on July 31, 2009, 04:46:48 am
Hmm, I can see what you are saying about his arms in the side view. It does look like a more aggressive stance. Not sure if I want to make the other stances aggressive looking, or change the side view. I've been blowing a lot of time on trying to make some decent tiles. Blech.
Title: Re: New wip, animation/anatomy help? (update 2)
Post by: snowsoft on August 24, 2009, 02:58:42 am
Wasn't sure if I should post this here or in a new thread, I realize this one is rather old.

First crack at some walking.
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/meetgavin/malewalk.gif
Title: Re: New wip, animation/anatomy help? (update 2)
Post by: 32 on August 25, 2009, 05:47:41 am
That has to be one of the best front view walk cycles I've seen. Only complaint is that his whole torso bulges out at the sides.

The pillow shading on the head is hurting the piece, I think, with all the anatomical correctness of the body the face could use definition, it would also get rid of the banding on the chin.
Title: Re: New wip, animation/anatomy help? (update 2)
Post by: snowsoft on August 25, 2009, 08:20:49 pm
Ok, is this torso looking better? It doesn't appear to bulge out like the other, but does it seem too static? I also noticed a stray pixel and got rid of it.
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f294/meetgavin/malewalk2.gif

As for the banding around the chin/pillow shaded head, I am not really sure what to do there. It doesn't bother me really, though I did attempt to fix it, but it only looked terrible.
I am trying to stay somewhat minimal with my shading as I am going to be doing a lot of redrawing/animating. That's probably part of why any of my attempts to alter the face looked so bad, because of the high contrast and lack of subtlety with trying to shade the soft features of a face.

Any additional tips/crits are always welcome. Time to start whittling away at some more animations.  :blind:
Title: Re: New wip, animation/anatomy help? (update 2)
Post by: Jigsaw on August 25, 2009, 11:37:01 pm
I think the animation looks great, but the shading on the arms really bothers me. It seems really strange that his biceps are somehow lit even when the lower arms are in shadow. To me it would make more sense if the biceps are completely covered in shadow for at least one frame, and the lower arms are covered in shadow more gradually.

I'm also not so fond of how you got rid of the slight sideways shift of his chest/abs, I think it robs the animation of a lot of its character. It just looks a little more mechanic now.
Title: Re: New wip, animation/anatomy help? (update 2)
Post by: 32 on August 26, 2009, 08:08:59 am
With the bulging I would suggest leaving the outline alone and rotating the shading only, what you did helped but its much less interesting now. I also see what you mean with the face shading, I just tried it, did not end well. Maybe at least a shadow above the eyes (and fix up the shadow on the top of the head, unless you intend for all characters to have hair), and round out the chin a little more. There's some banding on the wrists when they're extended fully towards us. Another thing I noticed was that the ears stick out more in the front view than in the side view.

Definitely agree with Jigsaw on the arms.
Title: Re: New wip, animation/anatomy help? (updated)
Post by: snowsoft on August 28, 2009, 12:32:13 am
Tried adding back a better/smoother twist to the body, and modified some arm shading. I don't know how I even missed that earlier.