Character improvement

TheAmazingLardo · Thu 26/10/2006 22:40:17

Hey everybody,
I've got a problem :

I did a front walkcycle of a character and then I also did a side walkcycle of that
character, but I'm not quite pleased with my outcome of the second walkcycle.
So if you'd please take a look at it for me and tell me whats wrong.

I'll post both walkcycles here.
Those two gifs are flash exported, so please don't mind the strange colours.

I think there's something wrong in his posture, but I've just been looking at it for such a long time ...

OK. I'd be greatfull for any advice.
By the way, how's it about posting swf files on this forum ?

Babar · Thu 26/10/2006 22:46:33

In the side view his hands seem to be in a strange position for walking. Like he's about to grab and tweeze something. His feet also seem to be tip-toeing

Chicky · Thu 26/10/2006 23:06:35

His legs are far too short in the side view conpared to the front, look at the amount of skin showing below his shorts.

Also his arms are too bent, they need to be more relaxed.

monkey0506 · Thu 26/10/2006 23:14:53

In addition to what ~~Nathan~~ Chicky said, in the down view his arms appear to be moving side-to-side, not front-to-back; his shirt seems to be moving up and down more than the rest of his body is; and Babar, I think the way he's tip-toe-ing may have to do with the fact his feet don't really move back, just up, and they also maintain the same shape the whole time.

CaptainBinky · Thu 26/10/2006 23:28:19

On top of what the other guys have said, his hips don't move vertically - like he's stapled to the wall - his upper body stretches but his hips stay in place. Also, it's the foot swing forwards part of a walk which tends to be the quickest motion not the foot stamp, and hence why it looks more like a tiptoe than a natural walk.

Binky

TheAmazingLardo · Thu 26/10/2006 23:51:02

You know the feeling when you look at something a thousand times
and just recognize that you were blind.
I like the things with the too short legs, the motion of his feet and of course his hips.
Eventually I'll repaint his arms and hands.
But this will take some time.
Thanks for the quick answers.

This doesn't mean you have to stop complaining.

I'll ofcourse post the results in a few days.

Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens · Fri 27/10/2006 01:38:56

The artifacting and color dithering really made it difficult to edit this so please try to find another way to export your images properly in the future.

1. Made the torso much shorter to bring him in proportion with the legs.
2. Removed 1 frame. Odd numbers throw off the motion.
3. Made legs move a bit more and adjusted the feet to be at about the same height.
4. Made him move down on a down step and up on an up step.

Hopefully this will help you to improve.

Sylvr · Tue 31/10/2006 16:23:44

It looks like he trips with that last one, maybe it's the fault of the removed frame? Like the animation just stops for a split-second... I would try and fix it, but 1) I don't have the software at school 2) I just can't draw.

TheAmazingLardo · Thu 02/11/2006 18:12:39

ok
First of all, thanks for the answers

I did a few things now.
But they're all done pretty quick, so they've all to be done better again.
I'm just posting to get shure I'm going into the right direction.
I'm sorry for this but I really don't have much time at the moment.Ã,Â

So I changed tho frames in the animaton of his left foot, so he wouldn't look this 'stiff'.
I also smoothed his stiff arms a little bit and I also added an up and down movement of his hips.
And of course I stretched his legs.

@ ProgZmax :
what do you mean by odd numbers ?
8 frames is a straight number, so wouldn't it be even more odd to use 7 frames ?
And also, in an walkcycle there are always two up an down movements of the character, with 7 frames you couldn't time them in the same interval.?

ok thanks again everybody and please go on...

Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens · Fri 03/11/2006 04:40:16

Odd numbered animations generally have visible problems to the eye. When I first saw your image it seemed like more frames were being used for one side of his walk to another. With an even number you can give each leg an equal range of motion, and the results are much more pleasing in my opinion. The up and down motion looks much better, but I still think you should focus on his torso size. Even for a comic design it is making his legs look stunted. Nice work.

Davros · Tue 07/11/2006 20:28:54

It looks much better take 2 - however, from the side, it looks to me like his feet are turned outward, like a ballet dancer, but from the knee and not from the hip. It makes my tendons hurt to look at it too long.

monkey0506 · Tue 07/11/2006 21:58:15

I still think the feet should come back further. Look at yourself when you walk. Your feet actually go back behind you before you pick them off the ground. The way the sprite is right now you can drop a straight line down his back and have just about no collision with his feet. Also it could just be me, but it looks like his shorts are jumping up and down a lot.

Buckethead · Wed 08/11/2006 15:22:39

It all looks good to me. Only your image load pretty heavy. Maybe you can resize to where the actuall animation is. That makes it nicer to look at.

Character improvement

Davros