GR#076 - Bird Design & Animation

[Charlieton]

Hiya, all you lovable people of Pixelation! I need help!

This first one is a traditional walk-animation. I've kept it simple by having the legs be mere straight lines (though that ain't far from what the finished product is supposed to look like), and all the other body parts be masses of a single color.



As you can all clearly see (maybe!), it's a robot-type thing with a comically oversized head, thin "neck" and tube-like arms (though only one is visible at the moment). The arm will eventually get an extra joint to move with, but for now it's just an inflexible piece of color that drags along like a useless appendix. But first I'd like to sort out the issue of the legs. It appears to me as though it's limping a bit, and also that the legs simply "glide" across the ground. I don't get the feeling of it moving with any forward momentum. But I can't pinpoint exactly where the problem is. Can you see what's wrong? Are my observations correct?


While the first one will be used for a project, this one is just a fun experiment I started doodling on, with the distinct purpose of practicing animation:



It's a bird, though I really hope I didn't have to clarify that (otherwise I really do suck!). I like the effect that the single color silhoutte gives, but I might want to give it more colors (and thus details) at a later stage. I'm also going to give it some more "actions", and I'm open to suggestions of what those might be. They should all be along the line of typical bird behaviour, of course.

Excepting the head, it's very static at the moment. I'm wondering if there are any minor movements that its body should be making, while the head moves. Or are we looking at sub-pixel animation at that point (which wouldn't work with the silhouette style, I guess?)?

When it's done (at least in the silhouette style) I think I might use it as my avatar for this forum.


Well, that's that for now. Here's hoping for a lot of helpful comments and clever observations!

Thanks!

[Charlieton]

Here's an update on the bird:





I've added in a small step forward, and back again. Also, the bird squawks now!

I feel that the squawk should have more impact though, and the wings' movement is a bit repressed. I'm thinking about adding another frame to that motion, and/or to radically change the wing motion. Instead of just kinda tilting the wings, maybe it should be opening them fully, to make itself appear larger.

Furthermore, I'm unsure of the animation speeds. Is it moving too quick at times? Should the beak stay open longer at the squawk, or should it be shorter and made more powerful (for example by making it open wider)?

[Elk]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5l9F33mweA

[Charlieton]

Thansk for the reference! I hadn't really reflected on how the legs move.

[Elk]

When it comes to Animation, the best reference for natural movement is always video material

There are also xray scans of animals moving 1300 fps but I guess they arnt released yet...only for scientists :/...

[snooch]

The bird looks like something you'd see in those old Sierra adventure games.

Overall, I think they look good (particularly the bird, very natural movements).

[Charlieton]

Thanks!

I regret that I haven't really got anything new to update with, and haven't for some time now. Sure, I've worked a bit with giving the bird the more natural walk pattern from the reference above, but there ain't much to show yet.

Also, I've been animating another couple of sprites. Might update with one of them soon.

[Mike]

Seems like you could pull off a lot with just different timing.

Even though your animation is really smooth it doesn't really help to convey a mood.  You need to make this bird look like it's thinking.  Why is it turning it's head?  Did it hear something?  These are things that should be considered when animating a living thing.

Also the bird looks pretty awesome slap some lighting on it and should be good to go.

  (this is slower in browsers than it is in Ggale or Promotion)

[Charlieton]

Updates! Yummy!

Seems like you could pull off a lot with just different timing.

Even though your animation is really smooth it doesn't really help to convey a mood.  You need to make this bird look like it's thinking.  Why is it turning it's head?  Did it hear something?  These are things that should be considered when animating a living thing.

Also the bird looks pretty awesome slap some lighting on it and should be good to go.

  (this is slower in browsers than it is in Ggale or Promotion)

I'm not sure what mood you want it to convey. Also, birds generally turn their heads all the time when sitting still. I guess it's just to look around, and not necessarily as a reaction to something else. As such, the movement doesn't have to be too rapid, as it would to a potential threat.

I don't know. I think the head-movement looks pretty natural right now (though I think I sped it up a little bit since the last one). Any second opinions?


I increased the size a bit to give room for more realistic-looking bird feet. The back-and-forth-steps were replaced with a few hops before the squawk. When watching how birds move around, they seem to hop around a lot more than walk. It varies between species, of course. The magpies and smaller birds outside always hop, while the chickens walk most of the time. I'd say my bird is closer to a magpie than it is a chicken, and therefore it hops!


Here's a caterpillar on the run. I had originally planned to combine it with the bird above, having it chase it around. I might still do the chase thing, but I think I'm going to make another bird that does the chasing instead (one that walks! Maybe a chicken, then?).

Shading is lazily done for now. If the animation seems okay, I'm going to add all the "caterpillary" details. And decent shading.


Here's also a bigger one that I'd like some crits on. For one, I wonder if I'm going in the right direction with the shading in the rightmost picture. It's not animated, but I'll include it here anyway, instead of making another thread.

Thanks for your time!

[jams0988]

I like the last maggot/catepillar larva thing a lot. The shading is very well done, imo. He looks nice and 3D. Good work!