First sprite

[sfried]

You've got a pretty large character, so its hard to say what would be best.  I (and many others) have found that using a tablet to block out color blobs in an animation program works really well.  You can mess with the timing and basic motion a lot that way, without wasting too much time trying to get the linework just right.

What exactly are these color blobs you mentioned? Also, my character is approx. 80x130 pixels (the images/animations I've uploaded have been scaled to twice the size). What exactly are the resolutions used in most platform games?

[snader]

he means to just sketch out the animations before going into detail
to give the eye something it can understand, dont just make lineart-animations, but make silhouettes of shapes
something like such:


Adam means something like the 4th frame of this animation (i myself like to do everything in even smaller steps so i make stickfigures first and add in bodyparts 1 by 1)



basically, dont get lost in small things and spend time detailing before you have the animation down

[sfried]

he means to just sketch out the animations before going into detail
to give the eye something it can understand, dont just make lineart-animations, but make silhouettes of shapes
something like such:


Adam means something like the 4th frame of this animation (i myself like to do everything in even smaller steps so i make stickfigures first and add in bodyparts 1 by 1)



basically, dont get lost in small things and spend time detailing before you have the animation down

I see.

Any sideview walking animations I can study?

[Shrike]

Yeah. get Richard Williams' 'The Animators Survival kit' from the library and read the whole thing if you can. If not, just the walks section. its huge, you should learn a lot. I did.

[snader]

google and youtube are often quite helpful for reference:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lYholakqBQ&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Xu8I88toFs&feature=related

http://www.idleworm.com/how/anm/02w/walk1.shtml
http://bp0.blogger.com/_aaGFFoUCWaw/R95jFKFgjyI/AAAAAAAAABs/5lLIA2ghozM/s1600-h/walk_2_legs(side).gif

a female walk cycle is a bit harder to find then a male cycle, so you'll have to look around a bit till you find something that fits

[sfried]

I've read those sections about animation on the links/resouces mentioned, but I have a hard time condensing those frames all into maybe 5 or 4 frames.

Also, most of the animation is too bouncy.

Edit: First frame of the walk animation:

I'll fix the hair later (I know it's wrong), but right now I just need advise on the posture.

[geerolled]

pretty good for a starter anim. you might want to animate the arm going into the pocket a bit more to show that it's actually going into her pocket. for your walk cycle... the first frame looks more like a full out run with arms up in that bent position. you should have the arms gently gliding along at her side. unless of course she's power walking, which in that case you might want to add some dumb bells to her hands.

[geerolled]

keep practicing. you'll eventually get the hang of it

[sfried]

pretty good for a starter anim. you might want to animate the arm going into the pocket a bit more to show that it's actually going into her pocket.

here are a couple samples to help you out...

Err, I believe you were looking at an older version of that animation. The latest one has more keyframes in it and a slightly different take on timing. (Or see below)

for your walk cycle... the first frame looks more like a full out run with arms up in that bent position. you should have the arms gently gliding along at her side. unless of course she's power walking, which in that case you might want to add some dumb bells to her hands.

also, here's a sample walk cycle. hopefully, it helps.

Thanks alot. It really helps. Maybe I intended for her to jog after all? I've been looking at alot of Wolfteam games for reference. If you also have sample run cycles it would be great.

[Ben2theEdge]

Latest update, now with newer and improved keyframes and better timing. I also added shadows to the back of her hair as suggested, abeit I applied it in a different manner to maintain consistency with the style.

I think I've flogged this sprite long enough. Any tips on how I should approach more drastic movements? Should I draft my animation on paper and them recreate it pixel-per-pixel, or should I just draw in the program as I go along?

I guess it's a little late to respond to this... there are two words you need to commit to memory: REFERENCE and PERFORMANCE! This animation looks robotic because her movements are far too precise and utilitarian. If you tried to adjust your glasses just by throwing your finger in a straight line towards your face like this, you would poke yourself in the eye or nose. And moving your hand that fast with the rest of your body static would only be possible if you were specifically trying to be rigid.

If you try this movement yourself in a mirror, you will see that there is a LOT happening besides the utilitarian movement of the hand and outstretched finger. You will find that humans approach their own faces very cautiously, because we have a lifetime's experience of accidentally jabbing ourselves, and also because we can't see the action as we're doing it so we have to "explore" with our hand a little bit. You might even shift your weight a little bit from one leg to the other. There are myriad other little details that you would discover if you studied this motion a little more in the real world. And they are all important because they make the character believable. Remember that animation is ACTING more than anything else. It's a form of pantemime that permits unlimited control, so take advantage of it!