AuthorTopic: First Walk Cycle  (Read 4864 times)

Offline DTE462

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First Walk Cycle

on: January 20, 2018, 07:52:54 pm


Here's the star of my video game.

I've had this animation for a while and it always seemed a little stiff. I just added the bouncy coat today and it improved the feel quite a bit. But are the buttons on his jacket moving too much? They looked weirder when they didn't move. I kept wanting to do something with his beard too but figured it would be the same as the buttons but worse.

And it's not animation related but I'm not sure about the coloring of everything either. He had a gray jacket before that I liked more but someone pointed out the drab colors didn't make him look like the main character and I had to agree.

If anyone has a critique of my first walk cycle I'd love to hear it.

Offline MysteryMeat

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Re: First Walk Cycle

Reply #1 on: January 20, 2018, 10:22:30 pm
I think the problem here is the head, try having it move left some when the camera-left leg hits the floor, creat a bit of a sailory swagger!
PSA: use imgur
http://pixelation.org/index.php?topic=19838.0 also go suggest on my quest, cmon
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Offline DTE462

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Re: First Walk Cycle

Reply #2 on: January 21, 2018, 03:29:58 am


Yeah, that does help. Thanks!

Offline MysteryMeat

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Re: First Walk Cycle

Reply #3 on: January 21, 2018, 04:57:11 am


Did my own quick lil' edit, gave him kind of a limpy sway both to imply age and experience. All good sea captains got a trick knee, such is the way of the world!

Y'arr.

EDIT: shoot, I actually didn't pay attention to the legs while doing this, reverse the stride order there in your own version if you decide to take cues from this!

DOUBLE EDIT 2X COMBO:
I also fixed his belt not raising enough. Remember to keep your volumes rigid!
« Last Edit: January 21, 2018, 04:59:54 am by MysteryMeat »
PSA: use imgur
http://pixelation.org/index.php?topic=19838.0 also go suggest on my quest, cmon
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Offline DTE462

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Re: First Walk Cycle

Reply #4 on: January 21, 2018, 05:05:38 am
Ha! He actually has a leg injury in the story, but I had no idea how to convey that. It looks great.

Offline MysteryMeat

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Re: First Walk Cycle

Reply #5 on: January 21, 2018, 05:44:58 am
Ha! He actually has a leg injury in the story, but I had no idea how to convey that. It looks great.

That's an easy one! Just have him lean more to one side than the other when he's walking! For bonus styling, have his hurt leg move out a bit stiffly rather than bend as much as the other one.
PSA: use imgur
http://pixelation.org/index.php?topic=19838.0 also go suggest on my quest, cmon
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Offline DTE462

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Re: First Walk Cycle

Reply #6 on: January 22, 2018, 04:56:27 am


Not sure. It's definitely more lively which is an improvement. But I can't pinpoint where it goes wrong. I really liked the idea of the hat dipping I just thought it was distracting that it hit his eyes. I tried dipping his hat in a bunch of other ways and none of them looked as good as the one where the front dips down to touch his eyes. I'll have to think on that one more.

Maybe his whole body should dip down instead of just his right side when he uses his bad leg? I do really like how his bad leg doesn't lift off the ground as much. That's a great suggestion.

Offline MysteryMeat

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Re: First Walk Cycle

Reply #7 on: January 22, 2018, 06:19:04 am
you know a solution might be to, instead of drawing individual eyes, just sort of shade the socket area and let abstraction fill in the rest of the details in people's heads. It's a technique I use a lot and lends a lot of impression of detail where I can't actually fit it in.

As for what feels wrong, the head still moves a bit too jerkily there. Try letting it rest at one side a bit more before returning to the middle. It should also start moving a frame earlier than it does, it feels out of synch with the body as is!
PSA: use imgur
http://pixelation.org/index.php?topic=19838.0 also go suggest on my quest, cmon
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Offline DTE462

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Re: First Walk Cycle

Reply #8 on: January 22, 2018, 06:38:20 pm


I messed with it a bit more and I think it's a lot closer. I couldn't really get the abstraction of the eye sockets but I like the vague brow thing I came up with and it works with the hat bounce again. Also makes him look a little more stern.

I'll get there step by step. I really appreciate all the tips and advice.

Offline MysteryMeat

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Re: First Walk Cycle

Reply #9 on: January 22, 2018, 06:53:27 pm


Here, I fixed a small detail with the hat bounce but more importantly showcased what I meant. The light source is from the top right, so you can easily flub a triangle shaped shadow over the face from the browline down and leave only the nose highlighted. This also has the bonus effect of making him look a bit more serious!

The korean manga Hellper does this quite often to really great effect and it's where I've drawn the technique from:

PSA: use imgur
http://pixelation.org/index.php?topic=19838.0 also go suggest on my quest, cmon
MAJOR BORK TALLY: |