GR#148 - Slashing Animation

[HezaKey]

I actually noticed that if you stare at the animation too much you can actually switch which leg is right/left. (kind of like that optical illusion with the twirling ballerina.)

Maybe just a little more shadow/definition/something will make that effect go away.  Although, I'd still buy this as a very convincing slash animation if implemented in a game, as is.  It's fun to watch, and I can see bad guys flying in it's wake.

[PixelPiledriver]

Looks good. 

Here's the original with the 1 delay frames changed to 2 delays:


The hand stops instantaneously after the first swing and creates a sticking effect.
This pulls a lot of attention because the hand/knife is the focus of the action.
Try to apply subtle motions to balance your broad motions.
Here's a bunch of slightly different edits.

[HardcoreBadger]

PixelPiledriver, I see a difference between your edits but I can't see which one lol I know they are differents but still I cant define why. It looks so easy for you all to animate characters o_0

And thanks for the input on Wolfenoctis example which is great ! I didn't see it first !

[Zizka]

Looking extra nice as usual, Pixel Pile Driver. Thanks!! 

@HarveyDentMustDie:

I did a bit of research and actually found quite a bit of games which didn't show ''the front'' of the character, some of them as popular as double dragon:





In the Double Dragon shot, the character actually turns even farther away from the player. The character's legs are also in about the same position as those in mine. I don't know, it looks fine to me. Just wanted to share what I found out.

[astraldata]

In the Double Dragon shot, the character actually turns even farther away from the player. The character's legs are also in about the same position as those in mine.

The only difference that makes the leg position so awkward in yours versus the Double Dragon sprite is like someone said previously -- it's too easy for the eye to be tricked into thinking the back leg is the front and vice versa. Even with proper lighting, your issue is with the readability of the silhouette, not with the pixels themselves.

If you moved the back leg farther back, making the character appear to almost kneel when slicing or even just shifted the back thigh forward to turn with the hip as it turns the front of the character forward in 3d, it would fix this issue.

Since there's no indication of a knee in the back leg to give a sense of 3d depth (in terms of shape+size), it makes it very hard for the eye to recognize what's going on at first glance. Unlike the Double Dragon sprite, if you turned your character sprite entirely one color, you wouldn't be able to tell which leg was in the front on your sprite. Thus is the difficulty of dead-on 2d views in animation.

[PixelPiledriver]

I know they are differents but still I cant define why.

Sorry, sometimes I don't take the time to write about my edits.
It's important to study how animation changes from frame to frame, so if you ever have questions of what you see download the gif.
All of the edits have slightly different timing and spacing.

The first few edits work on the hand stickiness.
The hand stops at the end of each slash instantly and holds position.
Adding progression in motion helps resolve actions.
And subtle motion helps smooth transitions and create focus.


The last two edits play around with making him lean back before the first slash to give him more space to lean forward, creating more change, speed, and impact.

[YellowLime]

Always leave it to PixelPiledriver and his high-quality, detailed edits to save the day!

[HardcoreBadger]

I know they are differents but still I cant define why.

Sorry, sometimes I don't take the time to write about my edits.
It's important to study how animation changes from frame to frame, so if you ever have questions of what you see download the gif.
All of the edits have slightly different timing and spacing.

The first few edits work on the hand stickiness.
The hand stops at the end of each slash instantly and holds position.
Adding progression in motion helps resolve actions.
And subtle motion helps smooth transitions and create focus.


The last two edits play around with making him lean back before the first slash to give him more space to lean forward, creating more change, speed, and impact.

owww ok I thought u didn't edit the frames in itself, only the timings

this one is the best for me

Imma analyze these later ty for the explanations

[HarveyDentMustDie]

I don't know, it looks fine to me.

Your game, your choice. That was just my opinion.

Also, another thing crossed my mind. You will have to make animation that will move character from idle position to this "back turned" fighting position, to keep everything smooth.

After PixelPiledriver edit, animation looks pretty good. 

[HardcoreBadger]

Also, another thing crossed my mind. You will have to make animation that will move character from idle position to this "back turned" fighting position, to keep everything smooth.

Yes you must do that if you want the perfect thing, but think about the Warcraft 3 animations for example (as I know them a lot), they are pretty detailed because it's 3D but there is no transition between some animations, like when a unit runs then suddenly stops and changes to the attack animation.
It's the same thing in World of Warcraft where the animations are pretty good (not for all units though).

So HarveyDentMustDie is the advice for the perfect work, mine is the advice for the less frustrating work xD
But he is more qualified than me ofc