Please help me with this walkcycle?

sameera · Fri 27/06/2008 11:53:27

Hello guys,

Well I have already made 3 games using AGS and my graphics have not being that good. But I think I have improved somewhat

. This is a character I did in paint and one of my biggest problems is that character seems to drag when they walk. Any help to fix my walkcycle would be greatly appreciated. Thankyou

.

Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens · Fri 27/06/2008 12:03:50

Hello sameera! The biggest issue I see is frame 1, which looks like a standing frame. Remove this frame and steady his torso movement (keep him from rocking back and forth) and you should be fine.

sameera · Fri 27/06/2008 12:09:23

Thanks for the quick reply progzmax. But if you don't mind could you please edit this sprite fixing the torso movement. Then I can break that into frames and use it as a reference to future walkcycles. It would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!!

Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens · Fri 27/06/2008 12:49:54

Sure.

1. Removed frame 1 so the animation is an even number of frames. I find that even numbers work best for most animations.

2. Balanced him so he does not sway back and forth.

3. Adjusted his up and down motion so he moves up a bit less on an up step and down less on a down step, though you had the right idea.

4. Adjusted his arm motion to move more naturally and added the left arm to move behind him as well.

5. Adjusted the leg movements so the feet always hit the ground at a specific height. This is so the leg motion looks less like he's dragging his feet.

6. Some general touch ups (removed black pixels around the image, etc).

Hopefully this helps, and I think you're on the right track. I think looking at some actual videos of people walking and some anatomy references would help you out a lot.

Brad Newsom · Fri 27/06/2008 14:29:19

get a book on Traditional Animation. I suggest 'the Animator's Survival Kit'. Came in use all the time when I worked at Disney.

Matti · Fri 27/06/2008 14:53:08

Or use templates like this one from MrColossal and paint them over:

Brad Newsom · Fri 27/06/2008 15:45:48

Quote from: matti on Fri 27/06/2008 14:53:08
Or use templates like this one from MrColossal and paint them over:

If life were templates, we would lose the frustration required to make us learn.

Matti · Fri 27/06/2008 17:01:07

Quote from: Kadji-san (BradN) on Fri 27/06/2008 15:45:48If life were templates, we would lose the frustration required to make us learn.

I don't think that learning requires frustration. A template like this is just a good thing to start with and to enhance your ability to animate. No one draws a picture without ever have seen one. And if you want to draw a walk cycle, why not take a look at a ready one? You don't have to draw over it, but that's okay too..

Akatosh · Fri 27/06/2008 18:07:43

And you can still fail at paintovers.

Brad Newsom · Sat 28/06/2008 00:51:45

Quote from: matti on Fri 27/06/2008 17:01:07
Quote from: Kadji-san (BradN) on Fri 27/06/2008 15:45:48If life were templates, we would lose the frustration required to make us learn.

I don't think that learning requires frustration. A template like this is just a good thing to start with and to enhance your ability to animate. No one draws a picture without ever have seen one. And if you want to draw a walk cycle, why not take a look at a ready one? You don't have to draw over it, but that's okay too..

I'd disagree. Its the journey that makes the person, not the destination. By making a shortcut, you cut the journey in half, only giving the person partial experience.

Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens · Sat 28/06/2008 07:29:27

This isn't a philosophical board on whether paintovers are good/bad, guys. Let's keep this on topic and relevant to helping the poster with his/her actual problem

.

Thanks!

JennaAbbott · Sun 06/07/2008 05:54:58

Could I please ask how I could obtain each frame from the GIF?

Brad Newsom · Sun 06/07/2008 09:13:54

What do you use to make your gif animation? Save the animation template, then import/open the file in the program you used to create your animation.

Ghost · Sun 06/07/2008 15:29:56

AGS can grab single frames from a gif itself if I'm not mistaken- just import it there if all else fails.

JennaAbbott · Sun 06/07/2008 19:48:27

Thank you so much!

sameera · Fri 11/07/2008 12:15:03

First of all really sorry for the late reply guys

. First all thanks heaps for the redo of my character progZmax

. Looks much better

. I just tested it on my game and it was nice to see a smooth walk

. Well I have become bit busy these days so I decided to postpone making my new game until the holidays. I have already made the first cutscene though. Thanks once again ProgZmax and everyone else who replied to this topic.

srsiete · Sun 13/07/2008 10:31:04

Personally, I think you should do your own art, using something like this for inspiration.

paolo · Sun 13/07/2008 10:40:44

Quote from: Ghost on Sun 06/07/2008 15:29:56
AGS can grab single frames from a gif itself if I'm not mistaken- just import it there if all else fails.

I found out just recently that you can import an animated gif into AGS as individual frames with minimal effort. In the sprite manager, right click and select "Quick import GIF/FLC frames". Choose the transparency setting, then select your gif. The gif is imported as individual frames in one go.

Oops, I didn't read Ghost's message properly. Sorry about that.