Muscle definition

[Mnots]

This week, I've been messing around with character designs. I've got a very basic walk animation done. 8 frames, based around the Castlevania series sprites.

I'm going to make my guy naked, so that I can apply different sets of equipment to him in-game, but I figured I'd get a bit of feedback on detailing body muscle before I jump in.

Here's what I've got so far:



Any advice is appreciated!

[yrizoud]

There is a distracting color inversion in a frame where the front foot should be light, and it's dark instead.
Overall, seems ok to me. Very reminiscent of the old Belmont.
Maybe the head is a bit too far forward. It's quite visible in some frames that the head is very far from shoulder.

[Mnots]

There is a distracting color inversion in a frame where the front foot should be light, and it's dark instead.
Overall, seems ok to me. Very reminiscent of the old Belmont.
Maybe the head is a bit too far forward. It's quite visible in some frames that the head is very far from shoulder.

I moved the head back a bit. Does this look better?

As for the weird color inversion, I don't think it's inversed in the actual frames, I think it's just showing oddly when the two legs are lined up. The leg closest to the camera is always the lighter of the two colors. 

[dpixel]

I see the color inversion too.  It's in frame 5.
Fixed:

[Iceaxe]

Proportions an animation are looking great. The behind arm is just doing a few wierd things. Looks like it gets amputated when it pops out the back. Also the shoulder popping out the front when it shouldn't. Considering a direct side on view I would imagine the behind arm to mirror the in front arms motion and proportions. Like if it were me I would just copy paste the front arm behind him, change it's colour and put it out of sync... if that makes sense. Just remember it won't always be visible in reality and as much as you might want to draw it, remember to leave it sometimes. The great thing about the animation is that you can imply that things exist in one frame by the frames before and after even when they might not be drawn.

[Mnots]

I see the color inversion too.  It's in frame 5.
Fixed:

I totally see it now! Thanks for the correction.

Proportions an animation are looking great. The behind arm is just doing a few wierd things. Looks like it gets amputated when it pops out the back. Also the shoulder popping out the front when it shouldn't. Considering a direct side on view I would imagine the behind arm to mirror the in front arms motion and proportions. Like if it were me I would just copy paste the front arm behind him, change it's colour and put it out of sync... if that makes sense. Just remember it won't always be visible in reality and as much as you might want to draw it, remember to leave it sometimes. The great thing about the animation is that you can imply that things exist in one frame by the frames before and after even when they might not be drawn.

I see what you're saying about the arm. The elbow isn't rested as much as the front arm, and it looks like he's drawn his hand up toward the shoulder instead.

In this edit, I fixed the color inversion and mirrored the front arm's motions to the back arm.

[Mnots]

I started coloring the piece today. I finished the first frame. Made some changes to the basic shape of the front arm, since his bicep seemed waaaay too bulky for anybody except a world-class weight lifter. lol