Walking/ Running Sprite (Updated 11/28)

[Masked]

   

This is a sprite I made for my game. It's the main character. Opinions?

[Jakten]

Looks great, only qualm I have is maybe less horizontal movement on his arms in the front view. Makes it look a little unnatural.

[Atnas]

The back view is stiff armed. I'm thrown off a bit by the entirely static head because the rest of the body has such great depth.

[Masked]

The back view is stiff armed. I'm thrown off a bit by the entirely static head because the rest of the body has such great depth.

How could I make the head less static? Like, turning it or something? This was the same criticism of the last animation I posted here, but I don't see how I can make it look natural and not static.

[Zombiechao]

Make the head bob up and down a pixel.

[Masked]

That doesn't make sense. A real person wouldn't do that. I tried it and it looked like his head was loose or something.

[Zombiechao]

Ok It was just an idea. make your characters head move with his shoulders.

[Souly]

Ok It was just an idea. make your characters head move with his shoulders.

No one actually walks like that, I'd have a headache all day if I walked and my head moved with my shoulders.

[32]

i think the head turning would help with the current walk cycle, i mean its very exaggerated, nobody really walks with that much arm or shoulder swing, and they don't lift their feet that much either, id say if your gonna go with exaggerated body you have to do it to the head as well.

the legs are a bit short, and i think selout on the tie could use some work.

love the style, especially the hair

[Sherman Gill]

I don't know if the head is actually a problem 

[32]

if you watch more around the neck area it looks really unnatural, like his neck isn't actually attached to the shoulders

[Atnas]

if you watch more around the neck area it looks really unnatural, like his neck isn't actually attached to the shoulders

Yeah, that's what I was talking about. The neck causes the head to look like it's not part of the body. Maybe lower it a pixel? ._. I don't know how else you'd eliminate that impression than to put it closer to the body. I don't think it's really that big of an issue but I thought I'd point it out. I don't know if making the head turn as well would help the animation or not, but the rest of the body is already so animated it might blend in a bit better.

But if you just left it I don't think anyone would think less of the sprites in your game. 

[Mike]

Ok It was just an idea. make your characters head move with his shoulders.

No one actually walks like that, I'd have a headache all day if I walked and my head moved with my shoulders.

Animation is meant to characterize so even if we don't actually do that I think it's ok to do that in animation.  Maybe we do have some slight head rotation when we walk and it is to subtle to notice.

As for Masked(s) animation.  I think you need to add more animation to the hair bouncing.  I am thrown off by the fact that the middle fringe doesn't have any secondary animation.  (is it immune to gravity and movement?)  What Atnas and others are saying is that the head has very little animation thus making it look static which we pick up on immediately.  You don't have to have a head bob but something must happen with the head or it will continue to look lifeless.  He has all that freaking hair so I think you could pull something off with that alone.  And if that doesn't work maybe some slight...very slight head rotation.  Or maybe just do some sub pixel animation in order to keep the head alive.(I don't know how to do sub pixel animation so you are on your own there)

[robotacon]

I like it alot.
Please don't add any bouncing, bobbing or twisting of the head as suggested.
The twisting you've got is a bit radical but it looks nice so I'm all for it.

I want more of this guy.
I hope you plan to do more animations with the same character.

[Masked]

Naturally, I have a lot more animations to do for the character.  I started on a running animation today. Ignore the hair and the tie, it's a WIP. I really like how it looks like he's leaping with every step.

*EDIT* Updated with final version.

*EDIT EDIT* Changed the tie.

[Kazuya Mochu]

I think it looks just great but I would change the tie. right now its swaing along with the character. and only the knot showld do that. the rest should  have a delay. so the tip of the tie is now frame 2, what it should be on frame 3. see what I mean? go to frame 3, and draw the tip of the tie as it is on frame 2. that way, you delay it and create a nice rope/string effect. obviously you should do the rest of the tie acoordingly to unite the tip and the knot.

[Masked]

Good point. I'll fix that as soon as possible.

[EvilEye]

This is really nice.

I have some nitpicks for you:

As mentioned before, in the back view animation his arms look stiff at his side like a mummy, while the front / side view they swing freely toward his front. It doesn't look consistent.

In the side-view, his feet don't seem to bend much or show an impact with the ground. They also don't look much like real feet. It looks inconsistent with the other views.

[Masked]

Updated. His running is now 100% done. Comments?

[NaCl]

This is a crit I've given for another run animation, and I think it applies here too. At least, I have found it usually looks good.

Try making the arms snappier. That is, right now they move at a constant speed, and then at the height of the swing they immediately reverse their speed. If they move faster at the bottom of the swing, then delay at the top of the arc a bit, I think it would make it look a bit better.

This is fairly minor, and I like it overall. Good work.

[Masked]

Well, I've pledged to stop dwelling on one sprite, so I'm going to leave it as is for now. However, I'll definitely take your advice for the next sprites I make for the same game. Thanks for the comment.