[WIP] [HELP!] Animating An RPG Hero

[metalmac]

  Alright...
  I've already introduced myself here, and with it, I brought along my first attempt at animation...  
  I've noticed that sprite was incapable, impossible, or just plain hard to animate, so I threw it out and giving this another go around, but this time with something new...

 
Now, I'm attempting at something totally new, to me, which is 48x64 sprites.  
Through Trial & Error, I came up with a plan to rip out an outline, then use that outline to animate, then I'll take the frames of that outline and pixel in my RPG character over the outline.
Well, with that, I've even failed.  
So now, I'm seeking advice, and any kind of help at all...  
Direct me on how I should animate this thing, like how exactly should I move the arms and what not...  

PLEASE I NEED HELP...  
I've been trying for weeks to get a simple animation done, and I've yet to get any done at all because all of them have failed me...

  (Also, please don't try and write me off by sending me a link to a tutorial, I've seen them all and none of them help AT ALL)...

  My Progression/Attempt:






As you can see, I'm desperately in need of some assistance...  
And, I know this is a Pixel Art thread/forum, so I was hoping professionals on this type of matter could lend a helping hand...

[VDX]

That's alot of colorful smilies.
I'm not a proffesional but...

Your feet moves downwards while your arms are swinging in the same level as walking towards us.

The arms should be longer on the frontal position,while the arms that moves back should be the same level you have already.
Vice versa if you wish to walk towards the screen rather then down you should make the difference on the feet instead.

That or if he's meant to walk towards the screen fully, his legs should bend, which looks rather weird currently.

Any of these fixes should help you out to show the next piece of your animation, recommend tryind the bend the knees first to see if that makes the difference you wanted to see.

[metalmac]

I've tried this over and over again and this is the best so far I've made.. but, even to me, it feels lacking... not to mention I'm going for eight frames instead of four... even so, just this four frame animation I've attempted sucks... IDK, what you think? is it any better in your opinion?





Idk how to do this, in fact, it feels like I should just give up instead of beating this dead horse, but really don't want to give up and need some help...

and I thank you for your input.
it's just that idk what I'm doing when animating this thing, almost like I'm blindly pixeling it not even knowing what I need to do...
And, he is suppose to be moving down the screen, not towards it... 
Can you, or somebody direct/tell me on how to make the arms seem they're going back n fourth,
or perhaps animate a silhouette version?

[VDX]

Firstly, everything in your sprite is more or less 1:1 proportion on the angle, he looks like he's just in our straight eyeview. You need to make him look down firstly, and then reapply that setting to the rest of his body. The Red line shows you why it looks like he is walking to us, as that's the angle you see. If you move your camera more upwards into the sky instead, most of his proportion should shrink on main body, as seen in my doodle. Also tilting all the details as well.

Let's begin there, shall we?

[metalmac]

the one with the red circle around it, is it close to what you've suggested?
I don't want to shrink the sprite, or it's resolution for that matter, cause that'll be a problem in the end...
(if I still haven't got the perspective right, what can I do to keep the resolution/size, but also have you perspective?, without shrinking)

[VDX]

Here's a good hint, try and find a camera you have, any kind, and then take a photograph on yourself while holding the camera above your head's height.
That'll give you a better idea then what any words ever can say.

Sometimes it's good to have reference after all.