AuthorTopic: How to Handle Instance Animation on Moving Charackter? (Solved)  (Read 6261 times)

Offline appo

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I want to get into Pixel Art&Animation for Gaming in Combination with Learning Unity so i am new with all that Stuff.

The Question i have right now is about how do you handle/structure a Instance Animation which happens during a already Triggered Animation. For example the Robot below. Lets say i triggered the Jump and the Animation happens but during the Jump i fire the Weapons which should get animated too (currently no example). How exaclty do i have to structure that to have a gun fire Animation when i want to shoot while being in all these different Char Animation States?



Update - Original Size Version and Sheet




« Last Edit: July 19, 2019, 10:06:36 am by appo »

Offline Kiana

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Re: How to Handle Instance Animation on Moving Charackter?

Reply #1 on: July 15, 2019, 10:33:38 pm
If you want the guns to move independently from the rest of the sprite, then I recommend separating them onto a different layer and animating the "firing" animation (like recoil or rotating the guns) separately from the jump. When you implement the sprites into the game, just parent the motion of the guns to the body so they move together as though they're connected. Bullets, projectiles, or particle effects should be their own sprites as well so their frames and motion don't have to depend on anything else.
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Offline appo

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Re: How to Handle Instance Animation on Moving Charackter?

Reply #2 on: July 16, 2019, 11:25:21 am
If you want the guns to move independently from the rest of the sprite, then I recommend separating them onto a different layer and animating the "firing" animation (like recoil or rotating the guns) separately from the jump. When you implement the sprites into the game, just parent the motion of the guns to the body so they move together as though they're connected. Bullets, projectiles, or particle effects should be their own sprites as well so their frames and motion don't have to depend on anything else.
makes sense, thx for the tip!
i knew about the separate projectile stuff but i was not so sure with how to handle chars.
this example from metalslug which i digged up today shows what you mean. the legs for the jump and walk are separate from the upper body parts to do what i want to do.



i guess things like the little idle animation up and down of the guns can be then made in unity ect. by changing the height of the separate "container" or do i need there separate pixel frames too with different heights?

ps: does the reply captcha thing goes away after a period of time being a user here? kinda...annoying...

« Last Edit: July 16, 2019, 11:34:02 am by appo »

Offline eishiya

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Re: How to Handle Instance Animation on Moving Charackter?

Reply #3 on: July 16, 2019, 12:56:55 pm
The captcha should go away, I can't remember the last time I saw one.

If the only change is the position of the gun sprite, then you might as well use one sprite and just change the gun anchor in the character's animation, so that the gun moves with them. That also would make it easier to have multiple guns or multiple characters who might hold the gun, since you wouldn't have to animate all their bobs :D

Offline daramon

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Re: How to Handle Instance Animation on Moving Charackter?

Reply #4 on: July 17, 2019, 08:46:47 am
I love the character!

The landing looks a little soft though. I'd expect more impact for something that looks that heavy. It seems like it's gently easing into place when it hits the ground.

Either play the landing frames much more quickly than they are right now, or remove a few. Also an exaggerated bounce of the central section on landing would help convey the feeling of weight and inertia.

Unfortunately the original you posted looks like it's blown up in size, so I can't make an edit. For future reference, if you post artwork at the original 1-to-1 pixel ratio then we can click on the image to expand it to taste.

Offline appo

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Re: How to Handle Instance Animation on Moving Charackter?

Reply #5 on: July 17, 2019, 09:33:01 pm
The captcha should go away, I can't remember the last time I saw one.

If the only change is the position of the gun sprite, then you might as well use one sprite and just change the gun anchor in the character's animation, so that the gun moves with them. That also would make it easier to have multiple guns or multiple characters who might hold the gun, since you wouldn't have to animate all their bobs :D
good to know, hope its just a time limited thing and not bound to the amount of posts.
i will try that then. sheet to test that stuff out is done so i will give it tomorrow a try in unity and see if i can fit all together.


I love the character!
The landing looks a little soft though. I'd expect more impact for something that looks that heavy. It seems like it's gently easing into place when it hits the ground.
Either play the landing frames much more quickly than they are right now, or remove a few. Also an exaggerated bounce of the central section on landing would help convey the feeling of weight and inertia.
Unfortunately the original you posted looks like it's blown up in size, so I can't make an edit. For future reference, if you post artwork at the original 1-to-1 pixel ratio then we can click on the image to expand it to taste.
nice, didnt know this forum has this kind of feature. updated the startpost with the original sized ones.
the whole animation frames are not set in stone which is why i didnt worked them out and let em rough. its for now more or less a placeholder to have something  for unity to work with, but feel free to give it a go. just because i am not done doesnt mean i take no feedback on that part. i dont wanted to lose myself in details before i managed to learn the whole working process and solve the issues which occurs on that road. my initial question as a example was one of them and there will be for sure more to come.

when the whole basic unity stuff is set i will focus then more on fleshing the pixel art part out and i will most likely come here and ask for feedback again for certain things. btw, since this is a pixel art forum and not a unity one...do you know any good place where i can get some help on that part /unity workflow for sprite based games/ when issues pop up or do you guys are into it so that i can ask here?

Offline daramon

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Re: How to Handle Instance Animation on Moving Charackter?

Reply #6 on: July 17, 2019, 09:51:56 pm
I'll have a go if I get some time, but I've been caning this forum recently and I have my own sprites to get into Unity! I might wait until you specifically ask.

I'm certainly up for Unity talk, but I can't talk for the rest of the board. This section is more about technique, there may be a different area on here? Maybe "Devlogs and Projects?"

Offline Kiana

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Re: How to Handle Instance Animation on Moving Charackter?

Reply #7 on: July 17, 2019, 11:21:40 pm
does the reply captcha thing goes away after a period of time being a user here? kinda...annoying...
Yeah, I'm not sure what the internal settings are exactly but that's only for new users to help cut down on spam.

btw, since this is a pixel art forum and not a unity one...do you know any good place where i can get some help on that part /unity workflow for sprite based games/ when issues pop up or do you guys are into it so that i can ask here?
You can post a thread about it in "General Discussion" if you have a specific issue or need tips on workflow, etc. Plenty of people here work in gamedev so I'm sure you can get some help. You can also post a devlog for your project in "Devlogs and Projects" if you want to spread word about it and get feedback on your updates.
To achieve mastery is not to be able to work without thinking; rather it is to have total control of one's choices.

Offline appo

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Re: How to Handle Instance Animation on Moving Charackter?

Reply #8 on: July 19, 2019, 10:06:00 am
i think i will open then a thread in the general section. thx for the infos.