need help with top-down walk cycle

[xbogx]

i'm having trouble with this. do the hands look weird? the feet? should the head move? should i use more frames?
also my attempt at shading looks bad i think

all your crits are welcome. thanks

[missingno]

I definitely think that the head should move in some way. it seems very static and the way it's so immobile looks incredibly boring right now.

it's hard to do a walk cycle from this angle because the form isn't instantly recognizable as human. because of that i hink that you might want to exaggerate things, especially in the legs and the feet.

i think that more frames would help as well. it would give you an oppurtunity for a smoother and more subtle animaton.

don't know what else to say right now. i'm know there's definitely more but i'm having a hard time putting it into words. other people around here are a lot better than i am. good luck.

[xbogx]

new version:

i've added two more frames(it's 6 now) and changed the arms and legs a bit. do you think they look all right now?

i don't really know what to do about the head. i tried moving it back and forth one pixel but it looked really weird. i could try turning the head sideways but that seems unnatural since he's supposed to move in the direction pointed by the player. maybe just the hair should move somehow?

[nw15062]

You should do a slight shift in the head every so many frames by maybe a shift of one pixel width over, so it looks like his head is not a static image.

otherwise it looks good.

[samw3]

the shoulders typically shift a little bit left and right as well, and the head should nod a bit left and right too, not just move.

Here is a youtube animation of a front angle walk cycle (i couldn't find a top one).  It's very exaggerated, but maybe you can see what I'm talking about.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXmpirInEBk&feature=related

[xbogx]

ok i've tried some shifting:

shifted the head 1 pixel
shifted the whole body except the legs 1 pixel
shifted the whole body except the legs by one and the head by two

the second one looks best to me, what do you think?

[xbogx]

i chose the second one

hands bigger
hands bigger and shorter

do these look any better to you?

[d13f00l]

i chose the second one

hands bigger
hands bigger and shorter

do these look any better to you?

I like that a lot, and I think it will look really fluid sped up just a tad.  Is it missing a frame where the feet are all the way extended?  They seem to snap back.  Can't you dupe the frame before that?