Animation Critique

[Calin Leafshade]

So I attempted another walk cycle but i'm not entirely happy with it. Some comments would be welcome from some animation virtuosos.

[Buckethead]

I think it would work better if he didn't swing his shoulders quite so much.

[Calin Leafshade]

Yes, We decided that it would be better described as a 'strut cycle'

[Anian]

And maybe let the pockets/hand  position be a little lower. This looks very strange like his pelvis area is the same length as his legs.

[Khris]

Yeah, the shading makes it look like he has his elbows pointing outward.

[Matti]

Not bad, but aside from the elbow there's also a problem with the legs.

At a first glance, they look quite short:



After a closer look at the shading, they look awkwardly bended:

[arj0n]

Is it me or does it look like he has no knees, like he doesn't bent his legs while walking?
Edit: I think Matti sort of says the same.

[Matti]

Sort of.

I think it looks a bit like two kids on top of each other pretending to be an adult. The high elbow adds to that feeling.

[Khris]

Yeah, it's giant doctor!

I don't think fiddling with details is helpful at this point, the general anatomy and animation need to be reworked.

I've butchered "genericman" to fit your sprite (I'm way too lazy to do the animation myself):

[hedgefield]

I'd say lower his shoulders a tad, it looks like he's got a bad case of neck cramp now. And bend the legs out the furthest at the pelvis and then fold the lower leg back in a little bit in again from the knees down. The lower leg never stretches out much further than the angle of the upper leg.

[dbryceo]

I think it would work better if he didn't swing his shoulders quite so much.

I don't know, I reckon he looks a bit dandyish with that swagger. If that is what you are going for then fantastic. And if not, I reckon it is still pretty good!

[SpacePirateCaine]

I'd say there are two issues that could be addressed if you're going to be a perfectionist on this one. The largest one, and I think the one that's probably bugging you the most without you really seeing it is that his legs are only bending at the knees, including bending backwards on his forward step. It essentially leads to looking like his torso is extremely long and his waist starts at his knees, or that he's actually two people, one standing on the other's shoulders.

You could likely pull out a few extra pixels on the forward step from within his trenchcoat, showing his thigh, to fix this problem. Reference Khris's genericman for a better idea of what I'm talking about.

The other issue is that his toward-camera turn is very well pronounced, but he only turns sidelong in the other direction. This is what is causing the swagger that everyone is noticing. If you like the swagger, then by all means keep it - it definitely adds character to your sprite.

[Calin Leafshade]

Yea, not quite sure how I missed the leg thing.. stupid leafshade.

Hw about this version?



I'm not too worried about the swagger. I'd rather an interesting sprite with some character.

[Atelier]

The trousers might look better with some more shading but I reckon it only seems like he's strutting a catwalk because there's no context (no background).

[Ali]

I think the balance is a bit off. The legs reach out much further in front than they do behind. It's like he's kicking with every step. I did a scrappy paintover. It's nothing special but I think it's a bit more balanced:




EDIT: I was rushing to leave the house when posting this, so I didn't notice that I had the legs out of sync with the torso so he has a square gait. Sorry...