Animated Rabbit

[AdamAtomic]

If you want a nice animation you're going to have to draw the character more than once.

Quoted for emphasis!  Also your bunny is adorable.

[MightyVince]

Once again, big thanks for the comments and advices! I have the feeling I'm getting better everytime I listen to you guys
Didn't have the time I expected to have for working on my rabbit (friends dropping by...) but I still managed to work on a new walk animation made from scratch using your advices. I've only done the keyframes (3) in lineart for now but there's a big improvement I think.

Sprite sheet (keyframe) :

Animation (keyframe) :


I may still keep the old animation for step-by-step "precision" walking (like in the old Prince of Persia) if it still fits...

[ndchristie]

rabbits hop with the hind legs exclusively.  front legs are for keeping chin off the ground only.  shoulders never above hips.  also, try throwing the weight around like they do with those bouncing ball tutorials - they aren't just about balls!



so this sketch is totally LOL but basically - jumping with the hind legs which push the body forwards.  this also is a hop (walking) - loping (running) involves much more air time and the feet come much farther forwards.

while sketching i was reminded of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSn2aZG9eB8, if anyone is familiar/was young in the 90's

[MightyVince]

rabbits hop with the hind legs exclusively.  front legs are for keeping chin off the ground only.  shoulders never above hips.  also, try throwing the weight around like they do with those bouncing ball tutorials - they aren't just about balls!



so this sketch is totally LOL but basically - jumping with the hind legs which push the body forwards.  this also is a hop (walking) - loping (running) involves much more air time and the feet come much farther forwards.

while sketching i was reminded of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSn2aZG9eB8, if anyone is familiar/was young in the 90's

Okay, I think I get it, I'll just recapitulate to be sure... (by the way, your sketch really made me go WTF at first - looks like some retarded pig  )

Animation-wise, let's say when I'll redo those keyframes :

* the first one would stay the same (I guess the starting position is okay...)
* the second image would be the rabbit leaning forward, his hind legs fully stretched (or almost) and his front legs slightly off the ground. The body would be quite streched and slim.
* the third image would be the the rabbit only slight leaning forward, his hind legs slightly off the ground, getting ready for the next jump (cranked up or whatever you may call it), his front legs on the ground. The body would be compressed and "fat".

That's what I could understand from those "weight transfers" you were talking about (the elastic movement of the body). Or is it more for the muscle of the hind leg compressing and stretching ?

Sorry if I didn't make the keyframes to illustrate it, don't have time right now and I wanna get things straight first (will probably still give it a try tommorow anyways)

[MightyVince]

Watched some videos of rabbits hopping around, listened to your advices and came out with this new, more realistic, walking animation :



A little bit less fluid in terms of framerate but better-looking I think. There's still a leg missing in the background but it'll be done later. By the way, I'll probably use this thread to put my other animations I'll have done for this character. Comments and critiques are always welcome!

[McStinkus]

This looks much MORE fluid, not less.  I think you've learned a ton and appropriated it very effectively.  If only I could learn that fast...

[crab2selout.png]

When animating, don't be afraid to make what feels like large jumps in movement. Your bunny hop is missing a bit of kick when he hops and I think it's because you feel that if there's too much movement between one frame and the next then it will appear jerky and unsmooth.

I made an edit to give some ideas on where to go next with this and some possible secondary motions to add. I didn't add any frames, just edited the ones that were there. I edited a frame so that bunny tenses up just before hopping. I reduced the delay between lifting the front paws and kicking with the back. The hind leg is still a little wonky in my edit. Never quite got the foot movement to look smooth. Did a little edit on the tail so that it moves up more when reaching the summit of the hop. This makes it feel like the hop has more strength. I also made the ears droop. I kinda like the ears in your version better, though. Mine might be a bit too much for the animation.




If your interested in learning more about animations, there's a lot of information available in the forum.

http://www.wayofthepixel.net/pixelation/index.php?topic=4912.0 Links to threads with great animation critiques

Look in the Challenges & Activities section for the wayforward animation contests for some more great tips. You might also try looking through the posts by baccaman and Adam Tierney(he posted the wayforward contests). Adam has in the past posted some really wonderful animation critiques that I found extremely informative. EDIT:Conceit posts lots of fun animation tips, too. There are so many excellent animators here and hidden in their posts, past, present, and future, are so many wonderful tidbits

And finally, you can do a google search for animation principles.

[Dex]

I like Crab's edit a lot more- it addresses the only issues I could find. Great improvement from the original, though!

[Lunar]

Much improved 

Very smooth update.  Crab's in my opinion is a bit better.  I think the ears on yours are better though.

-Lunar