My first ever animation

[Gil]

There shouldn't be a frame where the foots are on equal heights, you never do that while walking.

[candiru]

I didn't read the whole thread, but I think you should look at Gil's edits(the first one is hilarious btw) and correct the things that are out of whack in your animation - i.e., the legs don't bend at the knees, the arms don't bend enough in the elbows and don't move in a big enough arc...

Try to imagine how a human walking would look from that perspective - maybe look out the window at someone on the street.

When animating, keep in mind how the motion will be perceived as the frames change. The most important frames are the ones that stay visible longer - in a walk animation, these are the frames where the legs move the slowest, i.e. when a new step begins/ends and legs are wide apart.  The least important frames are the ones where legs move fastest - i.e., when one leg moves ahead of the other and they are close together. Of the three frames in your animation, two are important ones, and one (that gil mentioned) is not important and is actually hurting the animation. If you wanna add more frames (which you should for a sprite that large, I think) choose important ones. This will help you I think:

http://www.idleworm.com/how/anm/02w/walk1.shtml

[Snippa]

It is amazing how much an effect such a slight change has on the animation Gil.
Here's my update:


So simple and easy. Thank you for clearing that up for me.
You guys think I should work on the arms more, or are they fine how they are? As I said before, I don't want them moving too much, he is just walking afterall.

I think I'm about ready to start working on the other directions unless anyone has any objections?
Thanks again for all the help and input guys, it has been a major help.

This updated version is so refreshing to the eyes after staring at him sliding for so long.

[Dusty]

I say you've came a long way with this animation and learned a lot about form and movement, and even go as far as to say it'd be a good feature pixelation.

[ndchristie]

yeah, id say you've taken it about as far as this base and frame number will allow, though it would be nice to seee his hips rotate counter to the shoulderline.  any changes besides that now are not to the animation, but to the sprite itself - cosmetics rather than motions.  Once you have a really good sprite moving with clothes, hair, effects, etc, then you can try adding a fuller range of motion, but this nake guy is moving about as much as can really be expected.

[Sharlenwar]

Well, the reason for the naked guy is because of the game engine. This character will be paperdolled, so that means he will be able to wear armour, swords, shields, etc. Thus, the nakedness is because I want there to be something underneath the clothes when you change your equipment.

[ndchristie]

Well, the reason for the naked guy is because of the game engine. This character will be paperdolled, so that means he will be able to wear armour, swords, shields, etc. Thus, the nakedness is because I want there to be something underneath the clothes when you change your equipment.

then i'd say polish the structure so that it has a bit clearer anatomy and then move on to the accessories post-haste

[.TakaM]

This was originally going to be a PM response to snippa asking me for some help, but it got to the point I should just post it here.

Basically, I don't think I have the best grasp on animating, and everyone who has been helping snippa out has been a great help, so I don't think my input is really needed.
and even though your cycle is only four frames, I think this is a great reference for any walk cycle:


keep up the great work snippa, and I think once you've got your base finished this topic should be up in the news box  

[Snippa]

Update:
Been slowly working on the east walk animation... mostly trying to get the legs right.
The final east facing still sprite edit was made by Sharlenwar (tweaks to thin him out mostly, and a curve to the arm).
I feel the head could use a bit more work, but this is mainly just work on the legs right now to get him moving.

->->

I need to pick up the legs a bit, and I am about to go in and add the other half of the arm and face animations as soon as I'm done posting this... I'm very aware the first one looks like absolute crap lol ... it was saved like that pretty much just to try and get an idea of how the legs were going to look, and is just the "right" side of the sprite that is actually moving.

I'll have another update in a little while with the changes to the arms and the head, and probably the tweaks to the legs that will look like a more complete animation.
Any thoughts on the general look of the legs (aside from the fact that they need to be picked up more when he's walking)?

Edit: updated with the changes I stated I was going to make in this post, you may begin picking it apart piece by piece

[mangust]

Hi.
He needs more brutal, like on front view. Work with forms you person than do animation.
Now you animation for different persons, not for one.
Animation from this side is too flat and not enough move shoulder.