Platformer practice: Stage 1

[gliding]

Hey guys. I've been lurking around a few old topics and found myself staring at some of the amazing platformer mock ups. I also realized that I have very little experience making them; therefore I hope to spend some time going through that process for educational purposes. I'll be doing this on my free-time in various stages, so please feel free to comment, critique, and edit at your leisure.

Thanks.

Stage 1: Character sprite.

Leslie, age 20; demon huntress? XD


My original idea was wielding a pistol. I'm hoping to bring that idea back in a future version; hence this dagger was used as a placeholder until I manage to figure how to make one that doesn't look like crap. I'm also still trying to work on the palette, rendering of the character, and the concept. Boredom is no friend to the uncertain =[.

[Garreth]

I admire your pixels.

All I see is that her legs and shoes seem to be less outlined than the rest of her (but then again, what do I know...), and of course, the stubby dagger.

Moar, please.

[gliding]

I admire your pixels.

All I see is that her legs and shoes seem to be less outlined than the rest of her (but then again, what do I know...), and of course, the stubby dagger.

Moar, please.

Appreciate your comment, thanks! I'm not 100 % finished with the sprite, so the outlining style might change a bit.

Currently working on a run animation (I'm a terrible animator, so I could use some pointers /tips from some pros).



I'm sleepy but I can't wait to see what insight some of you guys have to offer!


6 Frames:



Forgot to mess with the transparency in Gale, so bear with the white for now please. This outline is clearly quite rough and is only 4 frames due to my noobness. I wouldn't mind increasing it a bit.

[zez]

Not half bad, your 4 keyframes look pretty good, and assuming you add in the last tween I think the runcycle should work. There is a little stutter thing that happens during the sub-pixel animation on her head well she is rotating, but once again assuming you dont have the subpixel stuff start then go back to using the original head frame you shoullld be fine. Id make you an edit, but sadly Im using the free version of GG.

[gliding]

Teach me! lol, I'm using the free trial, myself.

[McSkippy]

You can use this link for a reference to a walk cycle:

I doesn't really have to be too complex, I've made mine 10 frames. But that was because I wanted it to be kinda smooth. 

[gliding]

Wow that's neat. I'll study and post back soonly. Thanks =]

[Helm]

Please, before tweening, keep in mind that right now your character moves from sideview to 3/4 with each leg. The keyframes need drastic reworking. Don't rotate the torso and head for a run!

[gliding]

Don't rotate the torso and head for a run!

Aside from preference, why not? I've moved my head while running before, so I'm a little bit confused 

[McSkippy]

Don't rotate the torso and head for a run!

Aside from preference, why not? I've moved my head while running before, so I'm a little bit confused 

It kind of depends on the character I guess, I mean, he's got to look straight to kick ass, right?

[gliding]

it's a girl with short hair so i want her run to be a little less masculine

[Helm]

gliding, don't do it because it seems like she runs one step straight ahead and one step half-towards-the-screen. It doesn't work for a platformer. And although you might have managed to run while swerving your chest and head 45 degrees let's say, it doesn't mean it's useful for a videogame sprite on a 2d plane.

If you want to keep it, alright. But I don't think it can be rationalized away because it emotes something about the character or whatnot. They're just keyframes that do not work together.

edit: to get her to run less masculine is all about arms and shoulders movement (less of it. the apex of the arm not reaching high at all would help), smaller strides, more hip movement.

[gliding]

gliding, don't do it because it seems like she runs one step straight ahead and one step half-towards-the-screen. It doesn't work for a platformer. And although you might have managed to run while swerving your chest and head 45 degrees let's say, it doesn't mean it's useful for a videogame sprite on a 2d plane.

If you want to keep it, alright. But I don't think it can be rationalized away because it emotes something about the character or whatnot. They're just keyframes that do not work together.

edit: to get her to run less masculine is all about arms and shoulders movement (less of it. the apex of the arm not reaching high at all would help), smaller strides, more hip movement.

That's certainly a valid explanation, thanks. I'll try to incorporate some of those points for a more effeminate walk. Appreciated; hopefully I can pull it off, lol.

EDIT: currently redrawing the key frames.
Latest Attempt:

[Helm]

Okay, first of all, taking the timing away and centering the head of the character some problems become immediately apparent



Now look at how irregular the placements of your 'triangle' (the nodes in the joints) are. Should her waist node move all over the place like that? Also, look at the shape of the back leg as it drops from '1' to '2', not only does it morph, also notice the hell. It goes APEX (on 1), drops some (on 2) and then goes BACK UP (on 3). This doesn't happen when someone walks, and you'll note it's not in the ptoing reference either.

I suggest you keep the horizontal of the head constant as a newbie to animation, and if you need some vertical head bob, apply it in a pendulum, sine-wave type motion, not so jerky as you have it now.

On the bright side, the form of the front leg looks excellent to me on '1' and '2' and '3'

I hope some animation expert takes over from my critique soon though, heh

[gliding]

Thanks a lot. I'll try to mess with the placement some more.

EDIT:

Latest version. I paid more attention to Leslie's torso, and I also tried to fix the bobbing of her hair.



It still seems a bit jittery to me, though.

[NaCl]

I think torso rotation is important in a good sidescroller run. Without it, the character tends to look very stiff and lifeless. Same with keeping the head horizontally still, it sucks the life out of the animation. \

I think you were much closer in your initial one, but there were a few problems. First, there was probably too much rotation. Second, the angle was changing to a bit more top down view in the extreme frames. The shoulders were not horizontally aligned anymore, and more of the top of the head became visible. The plane of where the feet land also seemed to change to a more top down view. Third, his head was jerking all around. Keep the movement of the head smooth and constant, it should be the anchor of your run animation. Don't keep it static, but do move it smoothly.

Here are a few examples to show torso rotation and varying levels of head movement.
http://www.pixeljoint.com/pixelart/40955.htm
http://www.pixeljoint.com/pixelart/7255.htm
http://www.pixeljoint.com/pixelart/18632.htm
http://www.pixeljoint.com/pixelart/15613.htm

[gliding]

Thanks. I'll study these and come up with an edit. The last link was a piece I was looking for and couldn't find. I really loved that run cycle.