AuthorTopic: A first go at a character: animated spaceman.  (Read 8430 times)

Offline daramon

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Re: A first go at a character: animated spaceman.

Reply #10 on: June 16, 2019, 08:14:19 pm
Thanks! That's all really useful stuff. I'll have a play with the foot movement in the run to see if I can remove the judder.

Jump: you're probably right. I like the animation, but it probably won't work for a platformer. I'll see what I can do with something like a push off from one leg and a raised knee on the other...

Breathing: I'd worked out that I needed extra rest frames in there, but I'm a little bit limited by my editor (Pyxel Edit) and laziness. Adding extra frames is an annoying task, which I'm happy to leave until I get to the Unity animator (where it's really easy.) I hadn't worked out that the sequence was wrong though, I'll have a play. There was something that bothered me and it could easily be that.

Scanning: I tried shortening the reflection but I couldn't manage to make it look convincing. It came across a bit flickery, but there may be some options I haven't tried. I might try halting the movement and making it less intense at the extremes as well, as it annoys me that it gets so near to the edge of the visor for some reason. It could help suggest a shape as well, like a glass visor that protrudes a bit from the front of the helmet.

Offline daramon

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Re: A first go at a character: animated spaceman.

Reply #11 on: June 27, 2019, 08:57:15 pm
New smooth running

Rearranged breathing

Scanning with new glint. I prefer this as it's asymmetrical.

New upwards jump

Huge thanks for the tips. In particular, the smooth running issue would have had me scratching my head for ages. Amazing insight!

Offline pistachio

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Re: A first go at a character: animated spaceman.

Reply #12 on: June 28, 2019, 09:38:26 am
Timing of the running needs to be adjusted, now it's more of a fast walk or a stomp.
Running, you use the last step to launch yourself, but I see no midair frames and the vertical timing/bobbing is many frames off here.
ptoing made a diagram of this ages back (running vs walking), in pixel art and even with the same proportions as your fellow here, I'll go digging for this.
Would also push the shading more...

Offline daramon

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Re: A first go at a character: animated spaceman.

Reply #13 on: June 28, 2019, 05:07:48 pm
You're right, it's a walk! I'm using the wrong term, apologies!

I'm good with that though; I don't feel a need to change the whole animation for the sake of semantics. However, if the game ends up playing like it needs a run mode to get about more quickly, I'll definitely draw one up.

I have a couple of different sets of run cycles lying around for inspiration, but if you have a good one to share I'm all eyes! :) More information is always welcome, and I'm using books about traditional drawing media rather than pixel art specifically.

Shading: yes, I'd like to get more detail in here, but I this is kinda where I'm stuck.

When you say "push the shading" do you mean I should use darker shades or cover more of the surface area with shading? I'm worried I'd lose the lightness of the figure, who's supposed to be wearing a light-colored material.

There are areas that I could put into shadow because of the positioning of the helmet, or the bend of a leg though. I'll have a go at some of those.

I work well by being visually inspired. Do you have an example of a well shaded character I can learn from?

Offline daramon

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Re: A first go at a character: animated spaceman.

Reply #14 on: June 28, 2019, 05:49:56 pm


I've added extra shading so the helmet now actually blocks some light and the legs and arms have deeper shadow areas. Is this what you mean? :)

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Re: A first go at a character: animated spaceman.

Reply #15 on: June 30, 2019, 08:26:42 pm
RE: the jump, his feet shouldn't be paralell with the ground through the motion. Instead, try giving them more diagonals. People land heel-first in a good jump.

PSA: use imgur
http://pixelation.org/index.php?topic=19838.0 also go suggest on my quest, cmon
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Offline daramon

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Re: A first go at a character: animated spaceman.

Reply #16 on: July 03, 2019, 09:01:55 am
Thanks for that! Great idea, diagonal feet look a lot more dynamic. I'm updating, I'll post the results.

I mean, the pose in the photo is very realistic, obviously, but I'm not sure I like it. I'll see if I can take elements from it. The heel thing is a really good point, I need to make the landing have a bit more impact.

Offline pistachio

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Re: A first go at a character: animated spaceman.

Reply #17 on: July 03, 2019, 09:19:10 am
yes, I'd like to get more detail in here, but I this is kinda where I'm stuck.
This is just my take but try out something like this:



The key is usually less detail, not more actually. Especially at small rez. Just keeping it simple, a lot of core shadows which look nicer and are actually easier to animate. Some small changes to the design in that vein too.
« Last Edit: July 03, 2019, 09:21:12 am by pistachio »

Offline daramon

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Re: A first go at a character: animated spaceman.

Reply #18 on: July 03, 2019, 08:18:41 pm


That's just adorable! And there's a lot I love in there. The way the helmet visor looks indented is pretty genius, and the arms look like they grow in width as they reach the hands in a pleasingly cartoon-like way. And it definitely has a lot of shape and weight. Which is great.

I have my work cut out. Back in a few... months?

Oh, and thanks for putting the time in, it really means a lot!

Offline daramon

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Re: A first go at a character: animated spaceman.

Reply #19 on: July 03, 2019, 10:22:26 pm


OK, so something like this. I tried to give it my own twist, but I love the rim you got around the visor so much! Let me know if you think I'm too close.

After looking at a few photos of space helmets I decided to use more pin-prick style reflections on the visor to emphasize the shininess. And the grey band is there to represent the reflections of a generic landscape.

I might try adding some more red detail. It feels like the whole thing has solidity and shape now, so detail will make sense.

Thanks again, you've set me off in a really interesting direction! I feel like I've learned a very important lesson.

Now I've only got, what, 51 more frames to shade up? :o

E2A: I may have missed the point a bit. I'm using way more shades so it'll probably take a lot longer to animate him. And you specifically mentioned simplification.

Oh well, I like the look of him now. It comes down to whether I can pull it off for positions where you haven't kindly provided me a template... And whether it turns out to be fun or not.
« Last Edit: July 03, 2019, 11:31:41 pm by daramon »