Samurai Subpixels

[Feron]

actually yes now i think about it kingkum is right, although the lungs are not in the stomach the diaphragm muscle which is what is used for proper breathing expands your stomach to allow for maximum air flow, this is due to the fact ribcage's cant expand... so going back to this

interesting theory of breathing, considering the diaphragm muscle is under the ribs:



but whatever, i have made my point numerous times. 

[artisan]

if you are going to go into details dig deaper than the surface... know what you are talking about or admit your having a guess.

http://www.doctorrandy.com/articles_everybreath.html


"The stressed individual will have their neck back and chest muscles tense since they are using them to move their rib cage up and down in the most inefficient breathing manner. "

this is incorrect breathin the ribcage / chest moves up and down...


"To breathe properly, your stomach area must rise as your diaphragm expands."

thats how to breath correctly...

do you breath correctly?

"1. Place one hand on your abdomen/stomach area.
2. Place another on your chest.
3. Now breathe normally and deeply if you wish.
4. Which hand moved first or the most?
5. If it is the hand on your chest, you flunk."

[TrevoriuS]

actually yes now i think about it kingkum is right, although the lungs are not in the stomach the diaphragm muscle which is what is used for proper breathing expands your stomach to allow for maximum air flow, this is due to the fact ribcage's cant expand... so going back to this

interesting theory of breathing, considering the diaphragm muscle is under the ribs:

By contracting the diapragm, the lungs are pulled and expand within the body, but where this air goes in, space needs to be made, this space can only go outwards, udner the ribs, therefore the organs there are pushed and breathing therefore causes a 'swelling' around the belly area.

[artisan]

By contracting the diapragm, the lungs are pulled and expand within the body, but where this air goes in, space needs to be made, this space can only go outwards, udner the ribs, therefore the organs there are pushed and breathing therefore causes a 'swelling' around the belly area.

zing.... now thats sorted i can go back to the piece...

I am not sure what "jellyfish" type of movement you are going for, but if you want the character to simply bob up and down and have a wave of movement travel up and down his body, then it isn't conveying that.

its hard to explain what i mean... the only direct example i can think of is this http://www.homestarrunner.com/main9.html homestar runner the guy in the right corner as drawn in this version on the main page... see how he is kinda jelly like.... ish.. i dont want mine to look like its drawn on paper or anything exactly like this example but the kinda animation thats always a bit you know... (insert good explanation here)

The suggestion that you might not need so much subpixelling might not be far off.  If you know your total frame count, then why not work out the best key poses without using subpixelling and then see if a couple tweaks here and there are necessary.  If that 2 frame animation (without subpixelling) is the max number of key poses you are going to do, then I think you might want to consider an even subtler animation, since sub pixelling (at this size) works really well for shifting pixels one or two pixels at most.

my character only moves one or two pixels at the most that is each pixel on him only moves by one or maximum by two, so those two poses are the only two i can move things and it will all be differnt in.

I am actually kind of bothered by the sword and the pose he is using to hold it.  The far arm looks short to me, even though I assume his arm is bent.  Also, the sword itself is a great prop for adding uniqueness to your idle.  Maybe lower it and give it a sense of weight?  Or are you working in a size restriction?

My 2 cents,

Mobichan

i am not within any restriction i will look into changeing the sword, originaly he draged a massive swordish axe thing behind him in the one hand.... but i didnt like the prospect of him swinging it... the physics behind that would be mental and not play well in a game specialy in flash.

[mobichan]

Based on the Homestar Runner image, you might want to say you want a "sketchy" animation style.  Or "shaky line" style?  If that is what you are going for, you haven't reached it yet.  Maybe try less smooth subpixel movement and go for more blatant, exaggerated pixel jumping.  You could also try just making 3 slightly different images of the same pose and then flip between them in your frames.  Unfortunately, that kind of sketchy style will hide any subtle animation you might be trying to get across in the idle animation.

The character looks like a samurai, so I assume you want to keep him holding a katana?

[Conzeit]

you missed my point completely.

if you got rid of that ridiculous torso movement and the jumpy highlight, you wouldn't need "subpixel" .

the legs and arms look fine for an idle anim.  i think your over complicating things.

He's saying the same thing I am in a diferent way.

My critic is there is nothing "SUB" about your subpixels.

The whole point about sub pixel animation is that some parts of the shape go down BEFORE others to show small details about the edges and curves in the lines of the character that in the current frame are not visible.
 
subpixel is the pixel between the pixel, and you have nothing of the sort; you're just using AA to make one head frame MORPH it's way down one pixel; your "subpixel" does not add anything to the animation, it just makes the head blurry for a frame.

To make subpixel animation you must start thinking of the current frame of the character as NOT the entirety of him, sort of look at it as a snapshot, a snapshot that because of the pixels is a little unprecise. So every time you make a frame of him it's a diferent snapshot and it reveals different details of him, this would make the subpixel animation meaningful.

if you want a highly animated "wacky" feel, get good keyframes first, you dont just "subpixel" everything ad nauseum.

About the squiggly lines, I personally love Ed, Edd n Eddy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hmX67him18 and if you want to go for that sort of style, what I'm telling you is all the more important, that's what gives this style the charm it has....that trough all the shakyness there's a clear love for the shape of the characters beyond what a single drawing can capture

[ptoing]

Conceit, sorry but you are mystifying here. The process of subpixel-aa is nothing other but faking higher resolution, smoother transition with aa. Of course it can be applied more or less cleverly, but it still is the same process. What you are saying is like saying, and excuse the silly analogy, it's only cutting if you hold the knife in a certain way and then move it in a certain way.

That said, artisan, I do not think you are entirely successfull here with what you are trying. The sword looks very odd and I think outer aa is not beneficial. It looks OK against the sky, how about other background colours? This is why outer aa like this should be avoided in most cases, unless you wanna use alpha. The subpixelling itself should be more subtle I think, you have what looks like blinking going on in lots of places.

Other than that I have to agree with Conceit that you should rather make proper keyframes if you want a wacky feel than subpixel-aa everything to shit.

[Conzeit]

well, it doesnt surprise me that you would say that, but I think the name is quite precise and it's there for a reason: to convery a certain care for the process.

[Feron]

well, it doesnt surprise me that you would say that, but I think the name is quite precise and it's there for a reason: to convery a certain care for the process.

i concur, you can't just move little bit and roughly AA it and call it subpixel.

you must take into consideration color values, saturation, and most of all, what pixel you are putting where and why?

also, personally i don't find the base sprite that attractive.  it seems a little scrappy?


Simple forum search for you:
http://www.wayofthepixel.net/pixelation/index.php?topic=5206.0
http://www.wayofthepixel.net/pixelation/index.php?topic=1882.0
http://www.wayofthepixel.net/pixelation/index.php?topic=2784.0

[ptoing]

subpixel is the pixel between the pixel, and you have nothing of the sort; you're just using AA to make one head frame MORPH it's way down one pixel; your "subpixel" does not add anything to the animation, it just makes the head blurry for a frame.

That was what my analogy was referring to. Wether the subpixelling adds something to the animation does not matter, it still is subpixelling.

Subpixelling transition
2nd A = subpixelled for lcd displays

THAT is all there is to subpixelling really, how clever you apply it does not change what it is. Wether what artisan did works is up for debate, just saying you should try to mystify things less and make them appear more complex or deep than they are.