Character (again)

[Alynn]

Ok you have probably seen me post someone very similar to this. The main difference between that one and this one is I toned down the sprite colors (first go around was really saturated).

Anyway, I'm happy with the style I have, it fits with the rest of the game perfectly, so the only thing I want to know is if he looks proportionate, or if I should shave a pixel here or there.  Lengthen the arms a pixel, you know, tweaks.

This is the part I've been dreading about this game. I've now completed all the rooms, which means it's character time, something I struggle with, and I haven't even gotten to animating them, which is even scarier.... Anyway

1X:

2X:


His face does seem a little squished, but I couldn't figure out a way to give him a more rounded forehead without him looking slightly alien. I even tried to just round his head more, but it make him look more like he had a balloon for a head, so any suggestions on that would be cool.

[Illustrious]

hi there, i like the sprite and yes i do remember it posted wuite a while back, my 2c proportion wise started with a search on google for 'human proportions' I found reference images and tried to edit your sprite to fit the 'proportions'.

here it is:


I based the edit on the current size of the head, I found that I  would have to do quite a lot of editing to get it just right so I stopped without completing it. ( I only stretched his body and widened it a touch)

What I thought from doing this however is that if you decreased the size of the head, you would be able to get the proportions in without too much hardship.

I can understand that maybe you are happy with the proportions, afterall, it is a cartoonish sprite and in reality (or to me at least) it doesn't seem too unusual.

Actually, I'm thinking that if you were to use the correct proportions with this charactor he'd lose some of his charm. I'll be looking forawrd to other peoples replies, and maybe learn what can be done proportion wise with this sprite.

[zabnat]

About the proportions. I would usually observe the proportions only body wise. Forget the head and forget that a human is eight heads tall. That's not even true except for some ideal heroic alpha male Just get the body proportions right, usually just see if legs are long enough as this seems to be the problem usually. When body proportions are okay then put in the head and just see that it looks good. One can take liberties on the proportions as long as it looks good

I think your proportions look pretty good. But for the side view I would give him a bit of a hunchback to make him look a bit older (as I remember the character is in a retirement home).

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

The proportions work in the context of the character, but since you wanted to know how to improve the head I made an edit.

1.  Redrew the head as an egg shape and shaded it using one less color than you used.

2.  Used existing colors to shade the character and make him look rounder.

3.  Made the hands look more like hands.

4.  Altered the curve of his back in the side view.



The main thing I noticed was you had an extra skin tone color that was close in value to another so I removed it.  Also, the mid range blue for his robe looked wrong so I altered it.  The versions on the right do not stick to your outlines.  Hopefully this helps.

[ThreeOhFour]

Woah! Way to work a palette ProgZmax! That's awesome!

[Alynn]

Hrm... Interesting ProgZ... One of these days I really hope I'm able to be that good. By mid tone blue I'm assuming you mean the color that's not the outline, but the shadowy color of the main robe. To be honest, that was nothing more than a 10% opaque black overlay. In my origional versions he had no shading whatsoever, but since I added simple shading to all the rooms (again 10% black overlay) he needed something.

I'll see what I can do about adding more shading to his robe and pants. The only problem would be having to change all the backgrounds so he doesn't look out of place. The whole style of the game is rather simplistic basically solid colors with slightly darker shadows, all outlined.

When I get home (I'm at work presently) I'll download your edit and take a look at what you did, If anything, replace my shadow blue color with yours.

Although I have to say you gave him a butt... Didn't you know that old white men don't have a butt?

[seaduck]

Looking good,

I just did some color tweaking.

[Alynn]

Well, thanks for the repaint seaduck, but uh, he's old, not colorblind .

Ok, well, I decided that he just didn't look right in the context of the game with the fancy shmancy edit of prog. However, I widened his face some in the side views so he doesn't look so flat faced, and it worked out much better. So I decided to try my hand at animation, which as I said before, is really not my strong suit.

All I had completed was his legs, so yes, he will be kinda stiff looking, however, I think they look decent enough to post.

1X:


2X:


The left was just my test one. The right pic is more game speed.

I understand I still need a bob of the upper body, and need to move the arms, just wanted to see if I was on the right track with the legs.

[Mazoliin]

I would say that you make him bend his legs more when they are moving forward. Try to make the light go longer down, so it would look that if they were more stretched, more straight if get my point.

[Alynn]

Ok... so after a day or so of tweaking, I found something I like... he still needs some cleanup (already tested him in game) but other than that the down view works perfect in game

[Illustrious]

I have to say, i really like how you have created this animation. The limbs look great and a good use of shading creating a simple but effective representation of someone walking.
I would maybe suggest that you experiment with the torso, at the moment it seems too static, maybe make it shift a pixel to the left and right according to which arm is raised.
As 'his' right arm comes forward shift the torso to the right.

You could animate his dressing gown tie around his waist, maybe a little waver.

And a nice touch to many a walk cycle would be for his head to bob up and down.

Great work so far!


EDIT just noticed the opening of the gown on 'his' left leg, it seems to snap open when he puts his left leg forward, mayb a bit too nitpicky, but maybe smooth it out with an extra movement in the frame(s) previous to the one when it's fully open 

[seaduck]

Well.. what I meant was:

- I toned the blues of the dressing gown down to look more natural
- I changed the pants color for two reasons:

(1) usually you won't have the same colour pants as your dressing gown (since they aren't parts of the same clothes)
(2) the whole character was too monochromatic which I didn't like and felt like it was straining my eyes

I know I overdid it a bit with the greenish slippers, but I stand behind the pants color. Anyway it all depends on your character and I obviously don't know anything about him, since you didn't tell us.

My first impression from the blue color was that he was not meant to be dressed very fashionably, so I went for the washed-out blue/brownish-orange combination. If I wanted to make him look like he still cares about his outfit, I would choose a completely different color scheme with more lively colors and perhaps some pattern.

Cheers

[Oliwerko]

I would add some shading, he looks kinda flat.
Also I would move his shoulders more in the animation, it'll be more natural.

He reminds me of teenagent, similar style, I like him 

[fouridragon]

Uhm... What about twist?