Run animation for an RPG Beatemup

[Fizzick]

Making a game with a friend. I want to make a realistic run animation that's simple enough to create lots of armor for.

I'm fine with something looking cartoonish, but this seems jolty and unnatural. 

[thebombsauce]

You might want to lower the complexity, at this complexity its probably going to be 8 frames or bust. You can either go the way of terraria and make super simple sprites. Or the way of starbound and just become such a skilled spriter that you can knock out full sheets for every set of armor.

[32]

You've got 6 frames there which is enough to create a pretty decent run cycle (though as thebombsauce pointed out 8 is really much better) but you only have 4 unique frames which is unlikely to ever work at this scale. Have a google for run cycles, the animators survival kit is always a go to. Note that the knee lifts as it passes. Your main poses are also very extreme which is not helping the jumpiness, you would usually not see that amount of torso and head twist, especially in a realistic style animation. Your other major issue is that the legs and arms are moving in step, remember the arms counterbalance the legs so if your right leg is forward your right arm is back.

I always like to start any animation using just the main masses, ie. the head, torso, waist, feet and hands. Just draw them as circles and make sure the cyclical motion looks nice and weighty, then you can worry about making it look pretty.

Good luck

[Gil]

The main problem is that your arms and legs are wrong. When the left arm goes back, the left foot should go forward. The way that guy is running right now is physically impossible.

[Fizzick]

Reworked it to be simpler and follow the traditional run cycle better. Only four frames this time.

[Fizzick]

So worked on it a little more. C&C appreciated.

[Tapsu]

I think you are either

1) trying to make the viewer believe that you are rotating the mid-section, which looks strange as the belly seems somewhat round and when it rotates it should not add those extra pixels, while not rotating hips at all

or

2) trying to do some deep belly breathing at every step, I don't think it could be so fast.

It doesn't look too awful (considering the 4 frames) unless I try to pay attention (which most players won't), but if you need more improvement, maybe looking at some running videos would help to understand what the hips and butt are doing while running.

[Manupix]

The head points to his right, the torso a little less so, the legs not at all.
The legs might even be seen to point slightly to the left, as his right leg doesn't extend as far back as his left.
The head vs torso thing isn't that bad, but you should definitely fix the legs.

I think the head should also rotate slightly, as does the torso.

Good readability, this is on the right track =)

[Fizzick]

Thank you very much for the C&C. Attempted to bring in what you suggested.

Any more comments?

EDIT: By the way, most of the time after the very beginning of the game this will be completely covered in armor. My main priority is to get the movement right enough to look good in that case.

[Gil]

I think I like it. I have some reservations about what it will look like in-game. Is the game going to feature scrolling backgrounds or not? I'd like to see a small mockup of the guy running in-game. Depending on whether the background scrolls or not, I might have some more comments.