AuthorTopic: [WIP] Tiny walking animations  (Read 2839 times)

Offline UncleSporky

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[WIP] Tiny walking animations

on: January 19, 2007, 01:58:18 pm
Hello all.  I was here briefly back during the "blue" era, when it was, what, pixelation.cjb or something?  Glad to see the way of the pixel continues.

Anyway, I've been working on some little animations in order to remake a really fun game I've been playing with an interface/graphics I dislike.  Probably a pipe dream, but a little pixeling never hurt anybody.

Forward walk cycle:



Supposed to be something in between a walk and a jog so I don't have to go to the trouble of both a walk and a run cycle.  ;)  I like working small because it's really satisfying to have good detail on something with so few pixels to work with...although that's where I run into trouble.

The question I have is here:



Before I get started on a side cycle, what do you think of his profile?  Is it consistent with the front view?  It doesn't quite feel like it to me.  He looks wimpier for one thing.  Anyone got any ideas?  Any c&c would be helpful.  How's the walk cycle?  I haven't done very many.

Also, does he look too pale/sallow?  He looks fine on my monitor, but on another one I viewed him on he was pretty pasty.

Offline willfaulds

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Re: [WIP] Tiny walking animations

Reply #1 on: January 19, 2007, 02:32:30 pm


When constructing a side profile, from a front orthographic pose, try drawing lines to check where everything should be (the green lines in my edit).

For instance his shoulders or the back of his body armour (hard to tell) had dropped & his hand had shortened a pixel.

In general you had made him too thin & one big trick to making a side profile look better is to make it not quite side on (this does make sense) because you can add a second eye.

I don't think I've portrayed quite your character in side profile but you should be able to pick up some tips.
« Last Edit: January 19, 2007, 02:44:10 pm by willfaulds »

Offline Wayuki

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Re: [WIP] Tiny walking animations

Reply #2 on: January 19, 2007, 08:23:30 pm
I agree with Willfaulds on drawing guidelines to see if all the parts match up. However, I don't think you should draw a 3/4 view of the head. I think he should be looking in the same direction he's walking ingame, otherwise it would look weird.

The side profile does look wimpy, so I'd beef him up. Push the shoulders and feet back for a more powerful stance. The pecs look like boobs, don't make them stick out like that! Also, make the head one pixel deeper, make his hair more squared off like the front view and include a sideburn. That will make his head much more manly.

My edit:



The skin did look very yellow to me so I edited that too, though it might be a little on the extreme side.

Offline UncleSporky

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Re: [WIP] Tiny walking animations

Reply #3 on: January 19, 2007, 10:16:23 pm
Oh wow, thanks a lot to both of you.

willfaulds: I did draw some lines across for most of him, but I must've lost some of that in the editing process.  I did know about the hands, I thought they looked better smaller but longer probably makes more sense for a relaxed walk.  I didn't notice the shortened area around the neck though, that was probably a big part of his wimpiness.
Like Wayuki said, I didn't turn his head because it didn't make sense to me to do so with a stict 90 degree turn of his front pose.  I know that straight forward and profile poses are generally boring, but they're the easiest to represent and see in smaller sprites (IMO).  I do like what you did to his front, though.

Wayuki:  Thanks, that's a very nice edit.  As I thought about it today I realized that a sideburn/more hair would work well, especially for defining an ear, and you did just what I was thinking of (probably better than I could've done it myself  :P).  However, I think he looks a little too paunchy in your edit, and following the line down to his leg makes his thighs look fatter too.  Something I probably should've said to begin with is that this guy isn't wearing body armor, more like a starfleet uniform from Star Trek.  I don't want his belly to go out too far, but I also don't want him to look like he has breasts.  In the original sideview I was trying to do a subpixel sort of thing to imply a beefier man-chest without doing any hard lines, but I think willfaulds got closer to what I was imagining.  I like both chests better than my original, though, so I'll just have to play with that.
I like the extra definition you added to his nose and jawline.  Again, I was trying to do some subpixel stuff to imply his jawline, but I think it works better being stronger like that.  Also thanks a lot on the skin color, that's much better.