Help with attacking animation

[Hazzy]

I'm having a little trouble getting the form right on my attacking sprite, I'm happy with the first 2 frames but I just can't get it right on the last one.

Frame 1: Dash
Frame 2: Stand
Frame 3: Swing Weapon


Using a 24x24 sprite for the guy, and then extended to 32x24 (per frame) to allow a weapon to fit in.

Sample of how it looks in game:

The dash sprite has a little ghost trial behind it (in game) which is intentional and I'll be adding other effects in once I have the sprites looking smooth.

Feel free to criticize anything I have shown, such as shading or anything else that doesn't look right. Thanks .

[Seiseki]

You definitely need a 4th frame between the 2nd and the 3rd, also a trail behind the weapon would make it look more like a sword swing.
Also, how come the sword switches hand?

Also with the dash, it's like his legs just bend sideways, it doesn't look balanced. I think you might want to make it look more like front knee is bent while the back leg is straight.

And I like the minimalistic style
But you might want to remove one shade from his face, because it's a bit too smooth where his jaw line should be.
Almost looks like he has a mask or something on, which might be intentional?

[Hazzy]

You definitely need a 4th frame between the 2nd and the 3rd, also a trail behind the weapon would make it look more like a sword swing.
Also, how come the sword switches hand?

Also with the dash, it's like his legs just bend sideways, it doesn't look balanced. I think you might want to make it look more like front knee is bent while the back leg is straight.

And I like the minimalistic style
But you might want to remove one shade from his face, because it's a bit too smooth where his jaw line should be.
Almost looks like he has a mask or something on, which might be intentional?

Well the sword doesn't really switch arms, I just failed at making the character show his back (basically his body shifts around). Imagine your holding a sword and you swing it (in an up-left direction) with a fair amount of force - That's the sort of logic I was trying to follow.
Although once I do the complete animation it'll look more natural, providing I can get the key poses right first.

Thanks for the comment, I'll start making some changes. Also thinking about adding a few more tones to the pallete so I can get stronger shades between areas. Anyway I'll post some updates once they're done.

[Seiseki]

Ah, that makes a lot of sense, although he probably shouldn't be looking over his shoulder like that (looks uncomfortable ;P)
If you just turn his head so you can only see the back of it, the pose will look more natural

Btw, for the dash pose, google "ninja run" and check the still images.

[Hazzy]

Alright an update to the dash sprite - Played around with the legs a little more and re-shaded a few areas.
Going to start work animating it to make it look like he's running and see how that turns out.

Edit:
Animated using a 2 frame loop, hopefully it looks right :p - Actually first time I've done a running animation, or rather 'dashing'.

[pistachio]

A bit tired right now, so this will be short.

Problems I have so far with the animation is that the body is completely static. It lacks a real sense of action that I think would be given off in a dashing animation, and what a 2 frame loop probably wouldn't provide without looking extremely jumpy. Only the legs and hands are moving, and even the hair doesn't seem to be affected by any sort of wind, which clashes with what little sense of movement you have. The sprite moving as a whole would seem the better option, more than bobbing up and down but rather left and right in addition. (Circular movement, put short.) Of course, there are a lot of subtle movements you probably don't really understand at this stage. Which I don't understand either. I don't know much about animation at the moment, still building on my fundamentals, so someone else may be of more help there.

Animation aside, the palette is bland and you seem to be relying on outlines and what looks like pillow-shading at this size to define shapes. And where's the light coming from? I don't see it. I know I posted this tutorial before but I think you'll benefit from reading it, as this piece (enemies count to some extent) and the piece in that thread actually share some similar problems, in terms of pixel tech.

Also note, if that's supposed to be a sword, it looks like a pole, and the little hero doesn't look very heroic. Edgy hairstyle, grey turtleneck and sweatpants of some sort? Man, all that gray is making me tired. Even in reality there's always a bit of color mixed into grays. Also of note, I am perplexed as to why s/he isn't wearing shoes especially considering the environment. Namely, the floor. Then again, do heroes like this really care?

[Hazzy]

Trying to use an overhead light source and I know the pallete is bland right now. The character is wearing rags pretty much and the 'sword' is actually a pole at this stage, just called it a sword since it'll be replaced later with one as the pole is temp. (Going along with a story flow here where his appearances will change slightly over time)
The reason why he isn't wearing shoes ties into the story as well. Hey, at the very beginning he's even nude. In his current situation he doesn't have the luxury to dress up in the 'hero' shop I'm afraid .

Anyway I'll see what I can do to reduce the gray and I'm taking a look at the links you posted, thanks
I know a lot of things are missing but getting this far is really an accomplishment for me so far, I'm still working on it!

I'm also starting to wonder if the head in general is a little too big? I see bigger sprites which have smaller heads than mine so I'm just curious.

[pistachio]

I just have a string of these short posts and edits don't I

Ah, well that explains the bland colors... Somewhat. But they're not very readable as rags. When I think rags, namely in this sort of stylized aesthetic, I think more dull, muted colors. Perhaps brown, faded blue or green, with a little line for a stitch or a patch of a different color somewhere, perhaps even a gash, something more to suggest worn and tattered rags than grays for a palette. Just not too many little details (one or two should suffice), or it'll start to destroy the readability.

Little thing I did, kinda regret the "stitch/patch" suggestion. Looks even less like rags than before... Unless I'm the only one who thinks so.

[Seiseki]

Even with rags you can use a bit of brown and beige, I'd throw in a red scarf just to make him stand out from the BG..

I had a go myself, mostly just to practice
I was playing around with shading and changed the light source a bit.

(edit: he looks a bit too much like a cowboy with the scarf now haha )


Edit: wow, pistachio, I'm always impressed how you make things look so good with so few colors.

[Koyot1222]

I dont know if that is realy the thing that youre waiting for, but who knows, maby it could be usable.

from left: 1.neutral 2.jump 3.before slash 4.slash 5.end

Animation:

1(2s)_2_3_4_5_3_1(2s)

[Hazzy]

Can't keep up with you guys...
Like the idea of a red bandana (was actually thinking of adding something similar but on the arm), makes the guy look cowboyish :p.
I can't believe Pistachio used no shading and it came out great.

I'm still playing around yet, still deciding on colors and a good excuse for whatever clothing to be where it is so that it fits in with the story.

Also thanks Koyot, that's going to help me a lot for the attacking animation.

Edit:
Here's the new look that I've done, took me a while to do as I migrated to GIMP in the process.


Edit 2:
Animation: Just the standing stance before actually do anything.

[pistachio]

I'd throw in a red scarf just to make him stand out from the BG..

Don't you think that would make him stand out perhaps too much? Such a bright color on top of duller ones would more likely draw attention to where the scarf is placed, and leave the rest of the character in the dust. Unless it's a point of interest, or somehow significant to the plot, but even then the previous point still stands. If you want to make him stand out from the BG you either make the BG darker (I think it's dark enough) or the character more saturated/brighter (I also think it's bright enough.)

@ the low colors/flat shading comments, haha, thanks for those. Always makes me feel better knowing I'm helping people. In a rather non-direct way, in this case (don't know if that made sense). At this size, it's best to only use what you need, nothing more. Don't worry, you'll learn more about that later on. This makes colors and certain details better stand out in a sprite this size. Too many colors used for the sprite, or its shading, can prove detrimental to its readability.

BTW, edit of the Globbul:

[Koyot1222]

Ive made him little bit more angry. Im still thinking that that sword would lokk beter when its hidden by person, some sort of samurai style.

[Seiseki]

I'm not sure the red band on his arm is working, and with the brown shirt, a certain fascist leader comes to mind..

As pistachio said, a contrasting color like that would just draw attention to itself rather than the sprite as whole.
Would be nice to get some color in there somehow though and a headband might work better for the character.

You should also try reducing the palette, if you use too many colors on such a small sprites you'll lose the sharpness and it will look undefined.

I went ahead and did an edit, I find this low palette style quite intriguing


I also noticed the shoulders look a bit too broad, they sorta blend in with his huge hair.

Nice edit koyot1222, the angle looks like his knees are pointing towards the viewer, which looks cool but might be hard to animate him running.
The sneaky pose is really great. I'm impressed at how you managed to get such clear definition for the legs and feet. Perhaps it is the selective outline on the feet, and heavier shading beneath his knees.

Hazzy, about the idle animation, the sword moves in a strange way, looks more like he's poking something.
I also think it might look better if the sword moves the opposite way, I read somewhere that animation is all about balancing one moving limb with a movement in the opposite direction of another. Like when do a stab attack with a sword, one shoulder goes forward and the other goes backward, well you sorta twist the body actually..

[Hazzy]

Really like Koyot's animation, great as always .

I also know my Globbul isn't the most up to date with my spriting but that's a good job you've done with the edit.
Anyhow I'll try giving less colors a go but not quite sure about the headband, since it's a typical cliche hero thing. Not that I don't like it, I'm just trying to be more unique if you get me.

Time for another alteration.

Edit:
Took out some colours, what do you think now? (Yet to add the weapon because I'm repositioning it)

[Seiseki]

It's better but I have a few pointers.

- Don't be afraid of having a larger area in just one or two colors.

- The face is shaded from the chin and up which makes it look like he doesn't have a jaw, if anything the shade should come from above.
And since his neck isn't visible the contrast between the shirt and jaw line should be sharper to make it look more like it's popping out, which it is.

- The face could be made a bit more symmetric and defined by removing a few pixels of hair above his right eye.

- What's with the two highlights in the middle of his shirt?

- More contrast between the colors of the shirt, it blends together too well.

- For the feet, you could add a highlight to make them pop out more, look at Koyot1222's edit.
(I didn't actually realize the feet were pointing towards the viewer, and the feet I edited look very weird)

And ugh, somehow I managed to make my edit really washed out, really need to look out for that >.>

[Hazzy]

- What's with the two highlights in the middle of his shirt?

You mean the highlights that are the same colour as the skin? I was just trying to make the shirt look a little ragged an torn hence revealing some skin.
Else if you mean the shirt itself, I see I need to redo the shading on that anyway.

An thanks, you've all been a great help!

[Koyot1222]

The sneaky pose is really great. I'm impressed at how you managed to get such clear definition for the legs and feet. Perhaps it is the selective outline on the feet, and heavier shading beneath his knees.

Some sort of begginers luck Ive just made it becouse i felt that its going to be the right way, i didnt think to much about it.

An thanks, you've all been a great help!

Its realy nice that i was helpfull.

[Hazzy]

The sneaky pose is really great. I'm impressed at how you managed to get such clear definition for the legs and feet. Perhaps it is the selective outline on the feet, and heavier shading beneath his knees.

Some sort of begginers luck Ive just made it becouse i felt that its going to be the right way, i didnt think to much about it.

An thanks, you've all been a great help!

Its realy nice that i was helpfull.

Woah I really like the sense of hostility he's showing, especially in the eyes
Makes him look like a beast (which was my original intention in the story hehe - reason he has red eyes).