skeleton character walking

[RosenCrantz]

I have done a character; this one :

I want it to walk, and I have start to animate it
for the moment only the first leg is animate, and I would like to know i her's something wrong
>>

[Malor]

This walk looks like the skeleton is on a skateboard. Don't make the foot slide back, just make it move back and forward...if that makes sense.

[EyeCraft]

When I animate, I rough in the basic figure of all the frames first before I go through and do all the detail. That way you can get the motion right before you've committed a lot of your time. So I say just rough it in first, as your method stands at the moment, I think you'll run into some troubles ahead if you don't. 

[RosenCrantz]

@ Malor : it's looks like a skeleton on a skateboard because I have animate only a leg
@ EyeCraft : you're right, I will try do animate only the rough and put details after

[RosenCrantz]

[Sherman Gill]

Needs upper body motion! Scar should sway in the wind! as his left leg goes forward, so should his right arm.

[Malor]

Needs upper body motion! Scar should sway in the wind! as his left leg goes forward, so should his right arm.

Yeah, I was not going to mention that, because I assumed it was only in the early stages, but now..it is in desperite need of upper body movement, and now that I see them both moving..it looks better..my bad

[RosenCrantz]

Yes I know, that is envisaged

[Reo]

You could make the skull look more like a skull:
edit:

[RosenCrantz]

It's not a skeleton but a man disguise in a skeleton, so the head isn't a skull but a mask

[Reo]

But don't you think it would be good if a skull-mask looked like a skull mask?

[RosenCrantz]

I prefere my version, because i think the head proportion is better, and stylized

[Jad]

I prefere my version, because i think the head proportion is better, and stylized

Yes, no need to dwell on that, then, the arms need to move, though, and he needs a stylish little bob, I think. Just one pixel would be allright, just so that the impression of him actually taking the steps works.

[RosenCrantz]

with animated arms :

[Xion]

Give him some torso rotation.
His far arm swings farther than the near one.

[Souly]

It's looking alright however there are a few small things that are bugging me right now.
- The skull on the mask is too flat and doesn't really fit how it is.
- Most of the body has a black outline, but the chest doesn't also the scarf doesn't either.
- The body seems way too stiff time to add a little movement.

[RosenCrantz]

I have tried somethink, what do you think about it :

[Obsidian]

The head should be constantly rotating left then right, but slower, less, and of course, no pause. And the scarf still needs to move. At the speed he's walking though, it would'nt be up that high unless there is some wind.

Nice progress though.

[RosenCrantz]

I'll animate the scarff later, now i'm working on the head

[Souly]

Way too exadurated of a head turn there.
Looks more like he's checking the hot chick at 9:00 rather then just walking.

A little more suttle head turn should be good.

[Turbo]

haha i'm loving this
i usually find it easier to animate starting from the body motion up and down, simultaneously with the legs motion, and then do the rest
apparently you're comfortable with doing it the complete other way around
keep the head facing straight, when we walk only our shoulders and hips rotate back and forth, our head stays facing the way we're going, or we get headaches from too much swingin

[c0th]

.

[Colonel Mustard]

In my opinion, this is not the easiest way to animate a walk, because for each move of say a leg, the rest of the body moves to, so rather than animating parts, you should draw keyframes, and then fill in the frames between. So if you're aiming for a "correct" walk, you're making it hard for you by doing it piece by piece, since you'll need to eventually puzzle together it with corresponding movements in chest, arms, neck, head etc.

[EyeCraft]

In my opinion, this is not the easiest way to animate a walk, because for each move of say a leg, the rest of the body moves to, so rather than animating parts, you should draw keyframes, and then fill in the frames between. So if you're aiming for a "correct" walk, you're making it hard for you by doing it piece by piece, since you'll need to eventually puzzle together it with corresponding movements in chest, arms, neck, head etc.

Exactly my thoughts.

[PypeBros]

maybe it's just part of your design, but as i watch it walking, it seems too much "wandering around" for a skeleton...
I'd have expected a skeleton to have a more hesitating walk ... but well, i wouldn't have expected a skeleton to wear a scar either ...

[Ben2theEdge]

The animation is nice and fluid, but he's leaning impossibly far back - it throws him off balance and "bothers" the eye when looking at it. I think you're trying to make him look silly or awkward, but there are ways to do that without breaking the laws of physics - study the way the Disney studios animate Goofy, for example, and you'll see what I mean.

[RosenCrantz]

I lil' edit, but I have always the same problem : the head, hand I don't know how can I fix it

[Souly]

The reason for that problem is the way your animating.
Your animating each limb on it's own.

Instead you should have done a simple wireframe animation and then added the body details to it.
It's much easier to animate and make everything look right that way.

[Elrinth]

haha I love this one.. if only his upper body would go up and down this would be priceless!

[Colonel Mustard]

What you need to consider with your walk cycle is the path of action. Each moving part has it's own path of action, some more similar to others, I've chosed to draw the curve of how the torso stays in a continuing curve, because that's what seems to be the big problem with your animation, the body stays in the same position all the time, because the legs just cycle round

Edited from http://www.idleworm.com/how/anm/02w/wlk01.gif

You can draw similar paths for hands, feet, head, and they will all differ depending on your characters personality and depending on the way he walks, sneaks, runs, etc.

Hope that helps some

[Skull]

Hi!

Sorry, had to.
Anyway, it looks rather good so far, for a small sprite, the general look of the body is rather impressive.

Seems weird though that the walk seems to make the character lean backwards. He's a pimp I take, then.