Sidescrolling Ninja: idle sprite

[Kable]

As promised here's the new animation... any crits appreciated

(original)    (new)

[Larwick]

Great work on this Kable.

The new animation doesn't include the subtle animation on the metal plating that the old animation had, which makes it look very stiff and copy-pastey. You may also want to animate the shoulder-plate along with the arm to make it seem less restrictive for the guy.

His skin palette looks very bland to me. Makes his face look quite flat and uninteresting next to the nice shiny metal. I suggest you up the contrast on it, add some saturation and define his facial features more, or not.. depending on your style. But make sure it's noticable as a face not a mask.

Good luck!

[Kable]

I think you are right on all crits, I'll do an edit soon!

[Corel]

i second the detail with the metal plating in the animation

i am not sure if i like that stance though! it's almost as if he's trying to balance himself from falling down. [adventures of the clumsy ninja?]
maybe if you made his angle of eyesight more direct?

[Kable]

Taking into account the subtle armor movement and a skin tone to welcome him to the land of the living...


(original)   (new)    (new++)

[Dusty]

I think it might benefit this a lot if you take into consideration the lightsource is stationary, and when you have a profound reflection and gleam, the shine shouldn't move as the object does. IE, when the head moves back and forth, while the headband moves, the shine on it should not.

[Kable]

Yeah, I noticed that when I was shading the top part of the legs. If the light area moved with the leg it looked wrong so I had to make it so it moved minimally while the legs moved.  It's a discipline that I need to teach myself when shading light, that will take some time... I'm not really an artist.. I just do it to relax and unwind every now and then.

I'm really happy with the progress on the sprite so far, I may give the light sourcing on the metal another shot...