Violett Valkyrie - Shoot & Idle

[abcnocturn]

So here is my second try of an animation in a new style
Guess I would need more frames maybe or is it enough ?

One big problem I have.
I can draw the word in 45 or 90 degrees ...
But anything in between looks awkward ...

Does anyboy have an idea how to hold the sword 72 degree ( between ) or something else ?
Cheers !

[32]

Generally speaking with something like a sword you want to keep each "step" of the pixel the same length. So ideally completely straight or 45 degrees like you have now. But you can also do something like 2,3,4... pixels per step. These positions are generally where you want the animation to "rest" however once you're in motion it isn't so important. Generally you just want to keep the line relatively straight (or not, depending on the animation style)

Use the line tool If you're using graphicsgale hold Alt to lock the line to a even step. Other pixel software may have a similar function.

In regard to your animation in general, add an anticipation frame. This is a frame before the animation where the character moves in the opposite direction, like "winding up"

[CFKaligula]

Edit:

Here are some ideas to give the animation a bit more bang. The main way to show that an attack has a lot of force is to add anticipation, the longer the build up, the stronger the attack. From your animation this seemed like quite a fast attack, so i tried not to add too much anticipation.

Moreover, I made the frame where he releases the bolt have more impact by adding the big flash. I also removed 1 frame and added it in this release frame as a smear. If you download the edit you can see that for yourself.

I think your 2 frame idle animation looks fine, if you were to add more frames, you should look into adding secondary motion, like with the cloth between his legs and his hair.

[abcnocturn]

Generally speaking with something like a sword you want to keep each "step" of the pixel the same length. So ideally completely straight or 45 degrees like you have now. But you can also do something like 2,3,4... pixels per step. These positions are generally where you want the animation to "rest" however once you're in motion it isn't so important. Generally you just want to keep the line relatively straight (or not, depending on the animation style)

Use the line tool If you're using graphicsgale hold Alt to lock the line to a even step. Other pixel software may have a similar function.

In regard to your animation in general, add an anticipation frame. This is a frame before the animation where the character moves in the opposite direction, like "winding up"

Just can say you are right.
Tried to use the line tool instead of doing the lines manually and it works wonders.
Thanks for the hint
Btw., I use Aseprite, it has this function too.

For the animation, CFKaligula made an anticipation frame and it looks really better

Edit:

Here are some ideas to give the animation a bit more bang. The main way to show that an attack has a lot of force is to add anticipation, the longer the build up, the stronger the attack. From your animation this seemed like quite a fast attack, so i tried not to add too much anticipation.

Moreover, I made the frame where he releases the bolt have more impact by adding the big flash. I also removed 1 frame and added it in this release frame as a smear. If you download the edit you can see that for yourself.

I think your 2 frame idle animation looks fine, if you were to add more frames, you should look into adding secondary motion, like with the cloth between his legs and his hair.

Thanks for your edit !
I see what you mean and the animation has a littlebit more "bang" and is way more fluid
I looked at every frame, but the best edit is your change of the starting hand. It makes the animation more readable.
The idle animation is fine currently for me, since I'm still learning and try not to be too much of a perfectionist, as I'm often too critical to myself and my pictures :/

Btw., this shouldn't be a dude, it was supposed to be a female ^^
Any ideas how I can change that with shadows :/ ?

//EDIT:
Played a littlebit with the shadows and colors
Hope it is more readable in this image that she is a woman ?

[CFKaligula]

The broad shoulders are making her look very masculine, try making her have more of an hourglass shape.

[32]

I read the character as female just fine. I have found that, unfortunately, unless your female characters are the aforementioned hourglass shape you're going to get a lot of people assuming they are male. I recommend NOT forcing your female characters into that one body type. Women come in all shapes and sizes too. You can make it clearer through portraits, in game text etc. Just calling her a Valkyrie made it pretty obvious from the start.

[abcnocturn]

I read the character as female just fine. I have found that, unfortunately, unless your female characters are the aforementioned hourglass shape you're going to get a lot of people assuming they are male. I recommend NOT forcing your female characters into that one body type. Women come in all shapes and sizes too. You can make it clearer through portraits, in game text etc. Just calling her a Valkyrie made it pretty obvious from the start.

Guess that will be the case, as I'm still learning and doing some pics
But with a portrait and some text to explain it should be obvious enough

The broad shoulders are making her look very masculine, try making her have more of an hourglass shape.

Yeah, the shoulders were supposed to be kind of an armor ...
But that is quite hard to see ^^

I made some different sizes of LiMing ( Wizard from heroes of the storm or diablo )
Here I made an hourglasse shape as you suggested
The breasts are still not 100% perfectly shaded, but it's getting better with every day of practice!