attacking animation

[nizzate]

Heres an attacking animation that I'm pretty much finished with.  I'm going to add in a little bit more detail
with the shadows but I wanted to see if anyone saw any major faults in it. thanks for the help.

[ndchristie]

an attacker's foot turns on the toe, not the heel.  motion overall is rather static,....I would add some idle frames

[Colonel Mustard]

Human movements are rarely like pendulums, frame 1 -> 2 -> 3 -> 2 -> repeat, but rather like a cycle: 1 -> 2 -> 3 -> 4 -> repeat

If you try swinging something, you'll notice that you don't move the exact same way but backwards right after you've moved, spend some time in front of the mirror, or perhaps watch some clips from movies where they swing swords alot(300 or something, you'll probably find something), it might help out

[baccaman21]

Human movements are rarely like pendulums, frame 1 -> 2 -> 3 -> 2 -> repeat, but rather like a cycle: 1 -> 2 -> 3 -> 4 -> repeat

If you try swinging something, you'll notice that you don't move the exact same way but backwards right after you've moved, spend some time in front of the mirror, or perhaps watch some clips from movies where they swing swords alot(300 or something, you'll probably find something), it might help out

I'm not sure that really help colonel... I think what you're trying to say is that he needs to follow through on this motion...

I deliberate over your analogy about pendulums because I actually disagree - a lot of movement is about arcs and pendular motion, particularly when it comes to walk/run cycles... Have a look at my post from yonks ago here to see what I mean...

You are correct though With respect to this animation being that the character moves into the extreme pose and back again using the same frames - which clearly identifies this piece as being naive in it's execution.

Nizzate. - I want to focus on a few aspects of this piece as - I'm not going to discuss the rendering (which is obviously unfinished) as you've specified help with the animation.

here's a few quick pointers to help you on your way.

- You need to think in terms of silhouettes to help the character 'read' (negative space is just as important [that's the space that has nothing in it])
- You need to consider the 'keyframes' (these are the frames that help describe the dynamic motion that work as standalone pieces and help to quickly define the movement)
- You need to consider the overall movement, you should 'feel' it and 'act' it yourself... a mirror can help here
- Understand balance and weight distribution in figures - (anatomy and life drawing help here) - you need to consider the way to maintain balance often the body moves in opposites.

Keyframes, with the keyframes you need to think in terms of extremes... what are the extremes? well, have a look at action comic art, marvel, manga and so on... you will see they use the most dynamic point of a pose to describe the overall motion... you'll never see batman in mid swing of a punch, for instance... it's always the followed through extreme... after contact has been made... The same is true for animation keyframes... you use them to get a feel for the overall movement from the off...

In this sequence there would be 4 frames you need to consider... 1. the idle 2. the telegraph 3. the strike 4. the follow through


- The idle pose speaks for itself, it the beginning pose where nothing is happening.
- The Telegraph pose is the start of the movement, in this case an attack.
- The strike is the pose that is actually BEYOND the point of impact...
- The Follow through is post strike and return to idle

I've tried to illustrate these above in a very rudimentary way - note how I'm positioning the limbs in order to make use of negative space and hopefully enhancing the silhouette

Once you are happy with the basic motion of these keyframes... (they should be finished more than I've illustrated here btw)

you can move on and add the extra in betweens to smooth the sequence out... There's a couple more points to mention...

1. Anticipation
2. Over reach

Anticipation occurs Just before you start the main movement... it's usually a movement on the opposite direction where you want to go... and it's very subtle... but it helps the overall motion.

Over-reach is the opposite of anticipation and is used to add emphasis to certain movements... particularly things like punches and kicks... again, it's subtle but effective. You basically move the frame beyond it's desired settling point the frame before the point it settles at... in this case before the STRIKE frame...




Now here's the whole thing in a decent timeframe...



You can clearly see the over-reach and anticipation frames making this simple (what is essentially) a 4 frame loop much more dynamic and fluid... now imagine what it could look like with tweens...?

I've added the swoosh marks as another cheap way of showing movement... these aren't 100% necessary but it helps in this instance.

Good luck and enjoy.

[Silver]

baccaman21, I think you should and yes "should" make a separate blog and add all those helpful replies together.
It would be really great to have a talented animator notes and helpful replies in one site.
Just my opinion

 

[baccaman21]

yes I should... it's finding the time... thanks for your kind words

[Colonel Mustard]

Human movements are rarely like pendulums, frame 1 -> 2 -> 3 -> 2 -> repeat, but rather like a cycle: 1 -> 2 -> 3 -> 4 -> repeat

If you try swinging something, you'll notice that you don't move the exact same way but backwards right after you've moved, spend some time in front of the mirror, or perhaps watch some clips from movies where they swing swords alot(300 or something, you'll probably find something), it might help out

I'm not sure that really help colonel... I think what you're trying to say is that he needs to follow through on this motion...

I deliberate over your analogy about pendulums because I actually disagree - a lot of movement is about arcs and pendular motion, particularly when it comes to walk/run cycles... Have a look at my post from yonks ago here to see what I mean...

You are correct though With respect to this animation being that the character moves into the extreme pose and back again using the same frames - which clearly identifies this piece as being naive in it's execution.

The follow through is exactly what I mean, and on the pendulum matter I think we both mean the same thing, I'm just having trouble explaining mine (Not a native english speaker), pendulum might not have been the best explanation, but what I meant was that a pendulum would go from stage 1 to stage 2 followed by stage 3 and then going back to the exact same stage as before (stage 2), rather than your walk cycle example in that topic, where you use four frames rather than reusing frame 2 for second and fourth frame. So what I meant by pendulum was the actual frames used and when, rather than the actual movement of limbs/objects.

Love the post though, and I hope it's saved in that useful-things-topic I saw around here somewhere

[baccaman21]

I think what you're trying to say is the difference between a Ping-Pong (back and forth) and a Loop (start to end to start). I understand. My point about pendulums and your analogy was what I was trying to steer away from, as pendulum motion (or more specifically arced movement) is a fundamental aspect (in my experience) to Animation, and I wanted to draw peoples attention to the fact that perhaps it may be misleading from your initial post...

Not to worry. I think we've reached common ground and it forced me to make quite a comprehensive post that hopefully will help Nizzatte and others to improve their animations, or at the very least get a better handle on them?

[nizzate]

thanks for all the help, the edit will be coming soon. Special thanks to baccaman21, your advice is awesome this will help me out greatly.

[Turbo]

Sweet, another baccaman's golden critique/invaluable lesson! Thanks for sharing and taking the time and effort, it's very helpful.