AuthorTopic: Mini animation, having troubles with it  (Read 12996 times)

Offline Lachie Dazdarian

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Mini animation, having troubles with it

on: July 01, 2012, 06:37:17 pm
Hi. I'm working on a game in a mini mock-up resolution, 80x60 (in pixels), and I tried to animated a character that can fit in that screen and not take over all the scenery.

Anyway, having troubles managing pixels in such small space:

What I got so far:



I would appreciate any pointers.

Offline Lachie Dazdarian

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Re: Mini animation, having troubles with it

Reply #1 on: July 01, 2012, 09:18:47 pm
Put some more thought into it, but still something seems wrong with it.


And it's supposed to be an adventure game. This seems like marching, not walking. :/
« Last Edit: July 01, 2012, 09:22:06 pm by Lachie Dazdarian »

Offline Mr. Fahrenheit

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Re: Mini animation, having troubles with it

Reply #2 on: July 01, 2012, 10:23:43 pm
One reason he seems like he is marching is when he moves his legs he doesnt kick out his calf until the very end of his thigh extension. It should all happen in one fluid motion. I will probably either make an edit or show you a similar animation done by me.
Edit: Here it is: Keep in mind this is all perfect and i think is a little smaller then yours.
Double edit: this is NOT all perfect is what was meant to be there.
« Last Edit: July 02, 2012, 02:10:12 am by Mr. Fahrenheit »

Offline blumunkee

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Re: Mini animation, having troubles with it

Reply #3 on: July 01, 2012, 10:32:56 pm
Walk cycles are tricky. So tricky that some guy basically wrote a whole book on them.

Also, this by ptoing:

Offline Lachie Dazdarian

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Re: Mini animation, having troubles with it

Reply #4 on: July 01, 2012, 10:41:20 pm
Mr. Fahrenheit, your animated sprite gives me some useful hints. Will try to experiment emulating your solution.

I'm pretty sure I grasp the basic theory regarding walk animation. The problem is reproducing it skillfully. But isn't it always?

Edit: Oh, crap. I see now I made the hand repeat the same cycle twice inside the whole leg cycle.

Thanks for the image blumunkee. Gonna save that in my project directory. Plan to have my character run at some point in the game.

Offline Lachie Dazdarian

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Re: Mini animation, having troubles with it

Reply #5 on: July 02, 2012, 10:22:15 pm
Another version:



I really had to work against my own instincts to reduce the intensity of the walk. I think it's pretty ok now.

Any glaring mistake there?

Now I started to weight if I want my game to be 16 colors restricted, then again, in such small mock up resolution (80X60) all pixels are rather visible. Dunno. I'll experiment.

Character inside the game, with black outline and without it:

Offline Phlakes

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Re: Mini animation, having troubles with it

Reply #6 on: July 02, 2012, 11:27:58 pm
That's a much better animation, but the one big problem I see with it is that the leg should be extended just before it hits the ground. So basically make the stepping leg straight in the 4th and 9th frames.

Offline Mr. Fahrenheit

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Re: Mini animation, having troubles with it

Reply #7 on: July 02, 2012, 11:46:41 pm
Here is an edit i made to your animation.

I made a color for the foreground arm and a color for the background arm, I made him less stompy (see frames 3 & 8 he raises his foot right before he puts it down), I edited his chest shape, and I made it so his arms and legs move with each other which is more realistic. Lastly I added a head bob to make it seem like his steps have impact.

Offline Lachie Dazdarian

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Re: Mini animation, having troubles with it

Reply #8 on: July 02, 2012, 11:52:53 pm
Not sure I like the head bob, but your work on the legs is amazing. Gonna replicate that. Thanks!

Offline Grimsane

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Re: Mini animation, having troubles with it

Reply #9 on: July 03, 2012, 01:33:31 am
Quote from: Mr. Fahrenheit

the leg and arms you shaded are in synch you shaded the wrong ones in relation to each other, and head bob while a good suggestion is rarely effective with the head alone you need to do it with the entire body