[nudity] [C&C] First attempt at pixel animation

[Fulbert]

Hello gents!

A friend of mine is making a platformer game, and I volunteered to do the graphics. Now I'm pretty new to both pixel art and animation: I read a lot about them but never actually sat down and drew any. Until now!
So that's what we've got so far:


And a piece of animation:


So... I'm not sure how many of those guys are going to make it to the actual game, but any C&C would be most appreciated. Especially on the animation: I don't like the way ponytails swing but I'm at a loss how to make them look better. Any ideas?

UPD:


P.S. Please disregard the running girl's nudity, I've decided to keep her this way until I'm happy with the animation cycle, and also until I think of a piece of clothing that suits her without making her look like Curly Brace.

[zez]

Lose or at least minimize the dithering on the old guy, scarecrow, and bald guy, it just add's noise and doesn't convey any real sense of texture or depth. It works alright on the sheep to make it look woolly, but is just busy on the others.
As for the animation, that is REALLY solid for a first attempt at animation, however you are right about the pony tail. The problem, in my mind, isnt the motion itself, but the way it synchs with the motion. Currently, you have the ponytail swinging up as the girl moves up. Realistically, it should swing downwards a bit as she moves up, and swing up as she falls downwards, so basically the opposite of how it currently is. The front tuft of hair, however, looks fine. Try and get some parallel motion between the two, it will make the movement look more natural and have some flow to it.

[Tourist]

I agree with zez.  The dithering does not look very good.  I like the simple 2-shade and outline look on the woman, perhaps use that approach on the other sprites.

The animation is good.  I'd call it good enough, and start on other spites.  Then towards the end of the project, or when you get some spare time, come back to it and look for ways to touch it up.  

Maybe shorten the stomach by one pixel and lengthen the legs by one pixel.
Maybe look at some video footage of women running (there should be some track and field meets on Youtube).  

The female sprite has a square head, which bugs me.  Don't get me wrong, what you've got is fine,  it's just a style issue.  Here's a quick edit with a rounder head.  I removed one color that was barely being used, and swapped one of the hair colors to a light red to use here and there on the face (and not the hair).  Also, hair eludes me, so ignore the tweaks to the hair shades.



edit:  Ugh.  Went back and looked at the image I uploaded and thought it was creepy like a Bratz doll.  So I tweaked it.  Shrank the doll eyes, took the shine off the mouth and adjusted the hairstyle.  The second figure retains more of the tomboy character of the original while keeping a rounder head.

Tourist

[bengo]

An edit I made, tried to make it pop out more, hope it helps, good luck.

[kamol]

An edit I made, tried to make it pop out more, hope it helps, good luck.

I think the skin is too dark to have enough contrast to the hair. Either the skin should be lighter or the hair should be darker than in your example to be better defined.

[IvanX]

My take on your character.
I would go into detail about the changes, but a headache is kinda occupying my mind.

[Fulbert]

Hello again!

Thank you guys for your help. You really gave me something to think about. As for the girl's face, I built it around this sketch:


I'd like to keep her face round and child-like. But I've studied your versions and will surely refine my design when I have time.

As for now, I'm busy with animation. Below is another running cycle.

This one is 10 frames long, which makes it a slower and (I hope) a bit more relaxed. Sort of a cruising speed for the character, as opposed to sprint for when you really need to run away from that rolling boulder.

Which bugs me is that I'm not sure if that sprint animation I posted in the first message really is faster than this one. Kinda makes me feel like I've wasted a day I could've spent drawing jumping or crouching. What do you think?

[WM]

...

As for now, I'm busy with animation. Below is another running cycle.

This one is 10 frames long, which makes it a slower and (I hope) a bit more relaxed. Sort of a cruising speed for the character, as opposed to sprint for when you really need to run away from that rolling boulder.

Which bugs me is that I'm not sure if that sprint animation I posted in the first message really is faster than this one. Kinda makes me feel like I've wasted a day I could've spent drawing jumping or crouching. What do you think?

If she's gonna be running at such a relaxed speed, I suggest lessening the swing range of her arms -- as of right now it's just too dramatic for such a slow run.

Save the more extreme frames for the faster run though, because I do like them. 

[Fulbert]

It's been a long time.

I think it wouldn't be a surprise for you to hear that we've abandoned the game we've been making. More precisely, we've revised the concept, and now all these sprites are irrelevant. I think I'll post the last one here anyway, just to hear what's wrong with it. Thanks:-)