Running animation

[Sherman Gill]

Ah, but you don't use the entirety of your foot. I mean, you can, and I did as a child, but it hurts like hell after a while and makes you move slower.

[Joseph]

I really only changed the legs a bit in a couple frames and helped with the coloring/shading in some spots.
I moved his back foot down in one of the frames.  it's like he snaps them down as he steps forward.  I think I improved the snapping so it's a bit smoother, but you'll need to do more to completely fix it.

don't ask about the background.  promotion couldn't figure out what colors to choose for the palette...

[Feron]

Whats with the dissapearing knee highlight.... very distracting.

its improved, but it still doesnt look very natural....

[robotacon]

Here is an edit that addresses most of my issues.



I leaned him forward a bit.
The leg is stretched out more when taking the step.
There are proper contact frames when the foot hits and leaves the ground.
I tried to get a more distinct arm movement, like he's putting some effort into it.
The head moves along a circular path.
I tried to put some bounce into the hoodie.

/robo

ps
I bumped it up to 12 frames. I'm sorry about that. 8 frames is probably easier to animate because you can draw the inbetweens much easier.

[coffee]

Hi again!

sorry i kept you waiting
Its great that you help me this much!

Edit:


(sorry for the black dotts from his foot in the right corner)

I changed 2 foot frames when he is landing so he is now doing the famus heelstrike 
I leaned him forward some and gave his body a little movement...

better now? 

[Shrike]

Hey, welcome!

you have improved quite a bit, but the run looks mechanic. it like... snaps from position to position. more fluid like in robotacon's edit. a more prominent heelstrike would be good, and lean him into the run a little.

great work!

[robotacon]

You have four frames that look very similar where one leg passes over the other.
During those frames the foot in the air travels a very short distance.
I have some of that problem in my edit as well.

This is a recolor of your latest run cycle with some trace data.


From these traces you can see that the foot travels at different speeds on the ground too.
Just move frames 2 and 6 back one pixel and it looks much better.

The arm movement is pretty good now, probably better than the one in my 12frame silhouette.
In frames 3 and 7 I guessed where you have the hidden arm. I'm not sure that was where you intended it to be.
In my version I'm hanging a little longer on the arm movement when the arms change direction but I'm not sure that's better.

EDIT:

here's your and mine next to each other

It's obvious my version has a few issues. I've messed up the speed of the foot movement as well.
And nothing really moves in a smooth path and I have no idea of how I was thinking about the arm movement.

I wll might make an new edit, 8 frames full color, that I can feel happy about.

[alkaline]

it's a little sloppy but i think it can help if you look at this



as robotacon said, the tweening needs to be fixed in some areas.
also, there is too much forward and backward movement going on with the head, and the body is practically still.
what happens is, when one of your feet lands in front of you, it is bent forward, right? so your whole upper body lowers.

my edit is still a little strange looking actually but it covers most of the important problems.

also: the selout is a little harsh looking 

[Opacus]

Yeah, I explained the whole outlining thing to you. Now go use it on this sprite!

[robotacon]

what happens is, when one of your feet lands in front of you, it is bent forward, right? so your whole upper body lowers.

That is true but I wouldn't throw away the contact frame where the leg is straight for a catch frame with a bent knee.
You can have them both in there but with only 8 frames to work with it could be a hassle.
I've got a catch frame with a bent knee in my 12 frame version but I try not to go too deep.