Ninja: Sidescrolling run

[Kable]

So a while back, I posted this thread requesting critique of my idle animation, which I did finally update to take into account specular hilights.

[From thread] [New Edit]
         

I took what I learned from that and went on to do a run animation, here's some phases of creation, because their always fun to see...



[Final so far]


and my friend DayDream did an edit as well

[DayDream]


There's a few things I think could be wrong with the run sprite, I'm curious to see if other people see them too, or if i've just been looking at it too long.

I really want to make this sprite / anim the best that I can, so don't be afraid to crit harshly.

[skeddles]

He looks like he's stomping and punching, like he's angry. And he leans to far over to be walking. For running, I think he should get off the ground a some point, and lift the legs up more.

[joe123]

If he a ninja, why don't you try the normal style of ninja running when the hands are straight behind?

Yeh as Skeddles said, he seems to be leaning back and too much force are into him hitting the ground.

With Daydreams edit, the force on the feet, is smaller since the moving speed lines are there.

Good job though :]

Now i need to get round and do mine

[Ben2theEdge]

I don't think there's quite enough up/down movement for a run so fast it leaves speed lines. Remember that in normal walking each step is a controlled fall, but when running each step is a miniature jump, there should be a moment in each step where both feet leave the ground. Right now he looks like the fastest speedwalker ever.

[AlexHW]

his arms and torso dont seem long enough.. if he is hunched over in the idle anim, then shouldnt the toro look longer if it is straight in the run anim? check all your proportions relative to the idle anim.
looks more like a policeman with a kevlar suit thing than a ninja, but i like it regardless.

[Kable]

Yeah, that was the problem I noticed too Kon, since you noticed it as well, I guess I have to fix it

[Conzeit]

hurm....the whole charm of the concept piece you posted was the posture, the attitude. Your run seems way average for this character...

Hum, I see you took all the quirkyness out of the character for the run, and judging how your "bounce" was added only to the head (bounce should be on the whole torso) and how little variation there is between the 1st step to the 2nd I conclude this is your first run loop.

You should try a a more average character first and THEN go back to this, specially if you really love the concept, wait until you can portray it like you should.

I say this specially because the stance pose is specially showoff, and running is the most likely animation you're to go into after the stance, so it will look choppy whenever the player does anything, you should re-do the run to atleast be a reasonable position to go into from the stance.

[McStinkus]

usually I don't like the head pivot in run anims.  But here it adds something, maybe because its fairly slight.  I wonder if it would look better or worse if it was even slighter...

[AdamAtomic]

For a run, his feet are on the ground for an AWFULLY long time!  He looks more like he is walking into a very strong wind.

[Kable]

I've made some tweaks based on feedback, I agree with camus, the idle has a lot more 'tude then the run. I'm not sure exactly what to do about it with 6 frames though.  The idle is a nice 3 frame idle, and the animation is very subtle. With a run you are trying to represent this very volatile movement in 6 or 8 frames. Most animators say you can't really do it in less then 8 and have it be accurate.
[From Above] [With Edits]
       

just as a  point of reference, this is the spiritual successor of what I'm trying to capture...