AuthorTopic: GR#157 - Robot Character - Animations  (Read 16924 times)

Offline jahasaja

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Re: [WIP] Robot main character - Newbie [C+C]

Reply #10 on: January 06, 2014, 10:06:20 am
What would be really awesome would be if the entire torso could spin with the head.

Perhaps that would make zero sense with the acctuall gameplay. But still.. Awesome

Offline sevinkydink

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Re: [WIP] Robot main character - Newbie [C+C]

Reply #11 on: January 08, 2014, 05:26:34 am
Yea - good thoughts regarding the movement.  I think I have some ideas using the lights across...

I've made some pretty substantial changes (at least I think) trying to make him look more robotic and less of just a guy in a suit.  Also - there was a really unintended Iron Man thing going on so I tried to break away from that as well.

Around the head area I wanted to include a high collar but I'm not sure how well that translated - any thoughts there?

Offline sevinkydink

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Re: [WIP] Robot main character - Newbie [C+C]

Reply #12 on: January 11, 2014, 04:03:11 am
Been working on animating the sword - rather than have it be a separate piece I thought it would be cooler to have him like manifest it.

old


new


It's 12 images with a .05s delay between them.  I added a longer pause at the end just so it wasn't looping through so fast.

Any advice on timing?  I really only tried to make the arms move, but I was hoping to get some pointers on making the movement seem more natural.  I know that he's a robot so human like motions can go out the window - I just want it to read well.

Update: Changed the highlighting a little as well as added a new frame.  I also sped up the timing between the lightning-esque frames at the end to 2x times. Any feedback would be great! Thanks!
« Last Edit: January 12, 2014, 04:17:43 am by sevinkydink »

Offline Facet

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Re: [WIP] Robot main character - Animations WIP [C+C]

Reply #13 on: January 12, 2014, 05:51:49 pm
I don't think the opposite arm needs to move in the weapon anim; seems like it's being pulled out, actually I think having the blade appear without any obvious effort might reinforce a deadly-cool-beam-of-energy feeling. The weapons are one long banding staircase atm which is kinda inevitable I guess, but you could try some alternate, less lightsabery effects like pulsing shades rather than the static neon/white/neon.

On looking less like a robot: I was thinking you could make clear that there's no-one inside by not giving them the room :P; making it a little less proportionally humanoid. I also removed some colours I didn't think were adding much, and that might make animations more streamlined.

« Last Edit: January 12, 2014, 05:53:30 pm by Facet »

Offline sevinkydink

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Re: [WIP] Robot main character - Animations WIP [C+C]

Reply #14 on: January 13, 2014, 07:11:13 am
Thanks for the feedback Facet!  Yea, I definitely agree about the neon/white/neon format but I haven't found a way to do it that I like yet.  I touched up the animation to make it more of a build up/appear mechanism similar to what you suggested and I like it a lot better.  One of my thoughts with the blade is having it continually pulsing with the lightning effect down the blade.  I'll try to whip up an idle to see how it reads.



Regarding his roboty shape I agree - I think that will become more apparent with the animations I have planned out. My goal is for him to move in ways that removes any doubt some guy is inside. 

edit:

Added the second blade into the animation.  I'm still curious if the collar reads as a collar or just some red stuff.



« Last Edit: January 14, 2014, 06:15:33 am by sevinkydink »

Offline cels

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Re: [WIP] Robot main character - Animations WIP [C+C]

Reply #15 on: January 14, 2014, 09:11:50 pm
The animation is very well done. The collar looks like it's part of the helmet, to me.  But I like how you did the chicken legs, so it's more apparent that it's a robot.

I took the liberty of doing a quick edit myself. Mostly I focused on trying to give a bit more contrast, since it's such a tiny sprite. Also tried to do away with some of the pillow shading. And I made the thighs shorter, because I don't really understand how the legs would work on your model. They seem out of proportion.

I also took the liberty of suggesting another kind of sword, because even though I like your animation, I'm not thrilled about the idea of him holding a beam of energy like it was a rod. Being a huge fan of Soul Reaver, I think I would just copy the Soul Reaver sword  :)



I could work on this sprite for hours, it was a very fun challenge. Especially after reading the cluster study thread.

Offline sevinkydink

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Re: [WIP] Robot main character - Animations WIP [C+C]

Reply #16 on: January 14, 2014, 09:26:09 pm
@cels - amazing, thank for you the shading touches.  Great tips on the shading - definitely going to study on it for sure.

Regarding the sword - I agree with your assessment, I really wanted to try to create a cool way for him to hold it.  What I will try when I can do an edit is using your idea and maybe applying some vectoring.  I also thing you address one of facet's assessments that it was a banded beam of light - yours is much cooler!

Thanks for the feedback!

Edit:

Tried some of the shading that used and I think it turned out much better.  It also help me get close to my original vision of having the chest and waist pieces as clear separates.  Also, I pushed all of the grey and black into a reddish hue, not sure how well that reads on the model but I think it makes it a little more cohesive.



Edit Part Deux:

Added some animation for the weapon draw.  I tried continuing the lightning effect but it didn't work as well, so I went for a more flame/anime style.  I feel like there should be some more motion in the body of the robot.  Went for some small movement on the 2nd gif, but it just doesn't feel right. 



« Last Edit: January 19, 2014, 04:08:16 am by sevinkydink »

Offline sevinkydink

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Re: [WIP] Robot Character - Animations: Walk In Progress

Reply #17 on: January 19, 2014, 04:07:55 am
Last Post was getting kinda cluttered, so I wanted to break it into to two pieces.

Working on walking, so far have the rough outline for the legs running.  Love to hear any critiques.  Realized I had messed up where the knee/ankle would be.



Updated walk:

Offline Mr. Fahrenheit

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Re: [WIP] Robot Character - Animations: Walk In Progress

Reply #18 on: January 19, 2014, 04:18:00 am
The legs on the previous version were a lot better I think. A more dynamic feel to it.

Offline sevinkydink

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Re: [WIP] Robot Character - Animations: Walk In Progress

Reply #19 on: January 19, 2014, 04:19:48 am
Thanks for the reply! Which version specifically?  I want the legs to be similar to the way a dog/cat's hind legs are, if that provides any context.