Running Sprite

[platnium]

Newest:


I am starting to work on a sprite but first need to have better knowledge on animation, I am experimenting with stickman and making them walk and what not, This is my third try at it.

It will probaly be half the size like this:

Is there any advice for this....

[platnium]

started another.

[Ignacio]

Well... Some critics...

I wouldn' t use a stickman...You can't know which leg is closer to the observer, same with legs... I would use a 5 colour guy... red and dark red for the arms, black for torso and head, blue and dark blue for legs, the closer leg to the observer the brighter... Also, remember that white background is not your friend... When you colour, you' ll think the colours you are using to colour your guy are too dark, and you will use too much contrast (Contrast? I might be pissing off here, I still lack of approppiate terminology) to "fix" that... which would be an error.

Then, you seem to have some problems with anatomy... forearms seem to be too short for me, for example.

Your guy does a horseshoe when does the recoil... soften that a bit... Also, I would never move the torso to left and right in my animations... I mean, I could "move" the shoulders, showing the chest of the character a bit in the contact frame, the back a bit in the other contact frame, but that's moving the torso through an axis that remains quiet... You move the "axis" of the torso. I *think*, (unless a more experienced artist contradicts me) that' s a no-no.

For me, it seems that you "imagined" what a person do when walking, and you made it... Which shows that you have good eye for animation, because you basically nailed the typical poses experts use to make a walkcycle, congratulations, but I would encourage you to research a bit and nail it even more... One reference I like to use is the famous:

[platnium]

Newest one, still looks a bit stiff, but IMO it's looking better.

[Helm]

Do you not notice that the head and spine of the character are flickering about horisontally?

[platnium]

Do you not notice that the head and spine of the character are flickering about horisontally?

Hmm.. yes, I thought that would be the recoil for when it springs down, but I was think that if it didn't move horizontally then it will look as if it is still, also when I export it, it seems to speed up so I need to fix that some how.

[Shrike]

Not sure if this is intentional but the anatomy is really screwed up.  The arms are far too long, and the body should also be shorter, giving more room for the legs.  And don't avoid feet!  They are a very important part of a walk.  You can try messing with Pivot 3 (Google it, download it it's free) for another way to practice walks, but posting here is a great way to get critique.     Keep practicing!

Also, pay attention to arks.  Trace a line through the path of the head and see what it looks like.  Do this with all the limbs.  If it's not a smooth ark, do your best to make it so.

Toodles!
Shirke

[32]

Stickmen like this are bad for animation practice (or any practice, really) because they don't have shoulders or hips, which are important in keeping your balance, when adding shoulders/hips remember that men and women have different proportions and this effects the way people walk, generally men have shoulders as wide as their hips and women have hips wider than their shoulders(which are thinner than mens). What this means really is that men balance with their shoulders (more shoulder swing) and women with their hips (more hip swing). Just keep that in mind when adding the shoulders and hips. Its also good practice to add a rough torso between the shoulders and hips.

[platnium]

Just clean it up a bit... Looks a bit better but when I upload it, it speeds up too much.

[lollige]

Its the hips that should go up and down, and therefore automatically the head goes up and down too.

Why is his body that tall, and are his legs so short? And why are his legs alwayd bend? Try walking like that yourself.
An in my opinion important part of drawing is how the feet are being used. If you draw feets, your animation might get better, or easier to understand what is happening.

You have colored those arms and legs differently, but it makes no sense. You only animated half of the cycle, so there is no right or left arm anyway. Whats the use of having those 2 differently colored, and why not make the full cycle?

I wouldn' t use a stickman...You can't know which leg is closer to the observer, same with legs... I would use a 5 colour guy... red and dark red for the arms, black for torso and head, blue and dark blue for legs, the closer leg to the observer the brighter...

Think before you exactly do what other people say. It might help you someday understanding what people say. As I said earlier, make it YOUR artwork, not ours.

Success