For the character in my game, I decided to have a go at 3d.Ã, Be gentle, beyond the tutorials, this is the first 3d anything I've produced.Ã, I'd appreciate any comments or critiques.
The animation is slowed down a bit so you can see the movement better.
(http://americangirlscouts.org/agsuploads/rightMind/cycles.gif)
I like the black lines around the edges, it meshes well with the hand-drawn cartoony backgrounds that I'm producing, but I don't like the lines on the joints.Ã, Those odd edge lines are caused by the cartoon renderer I used.Ã, I can't seem to find a way to get rid of only those unwanted lines.Ã, However, it renders the outlines to a separate layer, so I can go through and frame by frame erase the bits that I don't like once I'm happy with the animation.
Interesting posture.
Animation seems good. Basically I think if you get rid of the joint lines (or at the very least soften them up some (use a different color and not all the way around)) then it will look good. But that's just me.
[EDIT:]
That's just me at 3 in the morning.
That looks good, may ask what software you used for animating and then rendering?
What I don't like is the arms. They animate well, but they look too.. gay :P
Also, I don't seem to see the feet touching the ground. Try bending the toes where the foot is supposed to step and never have them pass the ground. I can't really explain, so...
\_ <- foot in right direction - in left direction -> _/
I hope that makes sense
If your planning on using it in a game, make the lighting come from the top instead of the side, it just tends to make it fit in much better with a lot more backgrounds. Also, the weight of the figure is leaning back way to much, it REALLY looks like it is going to fall over backwards. Slowed down it looks like a kind of, erm, happy skip? But I assume it looks more like a run when sped up a bit, so tilting the body more towards the front would be more characteristic of a running pose. Generally, the faster a character is supposed to be going, the more it can lean forward without looking like it will fall over. And finally, the hands. It is not a bad thing, but the pose of the hands outward the whole time is a kind of 'gay' stereotype. If that is not intended that way, you may want to have them face more forward.
Yeha I think it needs a body twist and the front laying forward not back! Think about it when you run you tilt your weight forward. Other than that I agree take the frames and take out the joint lines etc.
@Monkey: Thanks, I'll definitely get rid of the joint lines before putting it into the game.
@Guybrush: I did everything in Swift3D (http://www.swift3d.com).Ã, And the "gay" is kind of intended.Ã, The character is a fairly flamboyant little alien.Ã, I intended the walk(run?)cycle to be more of a "prance."Ã, I see what you mean with the bending toes.Ã, I'll take it into consideration for an edit.
@LilBlueSmurf: You're right with the lights.Ã, I'll make adjustments.Ã, As for the posture: I want the run cycle to express character more than looking realistic, so I like him leaning back.Ã, But, I don't want him looking like he's going to fall over, so I'll see what it looks like if he leans forward a bit more.
@Afflict: ditto
I'll post back with an update in a bit.
Edit:(http://americangirlscouts.org/agsuploads/rightMind/cycles1.gif)
Changes:
- Moved the light source
- Lean forward in between strides
- Increased the left-right twist
- Increased the head bounce
- Changed the animation timing to better channel "Pepé Le Pew"
What do you think?
In my opinion, the "hang time" between steps is a bit much. People don't just hang there in midair like that; they're constantly being accelerated downward--and in this respect (though not necessarily in others) I thought your first animation was actually better; the body was constantly moving up or down, without any pause in midair. I know you're going for a cartoony feel and it's not meant to be realistic, but still, even for a cartoony feel, the way he hangs motionless in midair for a moment between steps looks wrong to me.
The light source still looks like its at an 30 degree angle from the left.
Other than that Ditto
I'm afraid I don't know much about the 3D package you are using (I use Max), but if the character was skinned, and not hierarchically animated i.e. one continuous mesh, then presumably you wouldn't get the outlines at the joints.
If that's not feasable in your software, then perhaps you could make your own toon effect - these rendering techniques are generated by duplicating the object, expanding it slightly along it's normals and rendering it black without writing to the Z-Buffer so the original mesh is rendered on top.
I have no idea if that's practicle in the software you're using (or if I've explained it well), and it's probably a bit of a chew on. Ultimately, it's pretty cool the way it isÃ, :)
(Also, if it was skinned then the spine would be flexible and you could get more "natural" motion.)