Yah, maybe the other one is more visually interesting but I don't think it was selling the "barrier/force field" effect. Also, I thought maybe I could reduce my animation workload by creating some simpler effects. My aim was always to create simple Megaman X type animations (that way I can pump out artwork faster) but I also want to push myself and exaggerate and show extra attention to some animations. I can still experiment with the previous electricity effect though, even if I don't use it with this robot, I can use it with another.
So I was having some fun and created a spin move. The robot would spawn energy balls from its hand and shoot them at all angles and speeds. The balls would move slower than the baseball pitch.
A poster from another forum suggested I make energy come out from the robots hands to really sell the unblockable barrier effect so I created an animation for that too. I really want to go with this animation since it could potential look visually dynamic (and make up/distract from the simpler barrier fx

). Right now, the pose is looking very stiff though. I originally thought the shoulder pads shouldn't move since it kept things consistent-looking while animating. But maybe they should move when positioning the arms for the "barrier blast" animation? Hopefully it won't look weird.
Again, I really don't want to create too many frames or go too expressive with some animations. Maybe this one can be one of the little simpler ones. Is there a middle ground between simpler/minimal frames of animation and interesting, expressive animation with character? Hopefully one or two extra arm frames of animations can achieve what I'm going for. I imagine an cool pose, little details and interesting special effects can make an animation look pretty epic, even if it has minimal frames. I'd appreciate any feedback, help on animation or thoughts on how I can fix the pose.


