Yeah...like the topic said...is this good enough to use in the game? I've been staring myself blind for a while looking for errors hehe...So I thought I should get your opinions instead. How the arms are moving is not the main issue for now...I'm more worried about the leg movements. I guess I'm somewhat satisfied with it but if anyone see something immediately that should be corrected...you're more then welcome to do a paintover ;)
(http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/q492/Alcotrash_79/walking.gif)
It seems like when the leg moves forward (bended) it sort of snaps from a bended position into a straight one, like when you're trying to shake something off. Try tracking a point on a foot and see if it makes a nice curve.
For the rest:
Add a left to right movement to the shoulder (so the whole arms move), just a pixel will probably do it. That'll give the impression of the torso slightliy turning while walking, it'll look less rigid.
You also might try a little up and down head bob as well (that's just a bit/frame later than the whole body bobs up and down), again a pixel of movement is probably enough.
Thanks for the input :) Yeah the "Shake something off" was the feeling I had as well but now I KNOW thanks to you hehe. I'll see if I can do something about that!
I like it!
The only two things I would nit-pick are:
1) the back arm (his left) at it's farthest back frame it feels like it just blinks into place and then vanishes... maybe one extra visible frame in there to "ease" it back/fwd a bit might help!
2) the torso bobs up and down (this is good) but has zero side-to-side movement ... even just a little would really polish this up a bit! Probably hard to do since there's nothing to really indicate this but maybe just altering the shape a little could pull it off.
Changed the legs a little and the arm Darth talked about.! Is this better so far? Seems a little smoother now at least
(http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/q492/Alcotrash_79/walking2.gif)
YES! Much better (on the arm thing) and the legs are improved too (though they didn't really bother me too much in the original!).
Now; about that torso rotation... ;)
"Now; about that torso rotation... ;)"
Haha yeah...Trouble is...I don't really know how to animate that...I think...It's likely i will just mess it up ;D Ahh...I think this will have to do. The game won't be out for some time though so there's no immediate rush
You could pull off the illusion of torso-sway by simply making the arm move back and forth (from the shoulder)!
So when the arm swings back make the shoulder joint 2 pixels farther back, and the opposite for when it swings forward (this would be easier if you have the arm on it's own layer).
This is, of course, just a suggestion. I'd be perfectly happy with it as-is if I saw it in a game!
An easy way to simulate movement is through the use of highlights and shadow. If you add a highlight to the top of his torso/shoulders you can animate that tilting towards and then away from the camera to create the illusion that his torso is also moving, though you will want to accompany it with arm movement as Darth recommends.
Here is an example of both methods applied to your animation:
1. Highlights applied to top of torso to simulate the character turning towards the camera when his arm is back and away when his arm is forward.
2. Added a neckline to the shirt to assist with the effect.
3. Brought the shoulders back when he lowers his arm and forward when he raises it.
4. Moved his head forward one pixel to break up the straight posture a bit.
(http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr218/ProgZmax/walking2.gif)
Something else you should consider is bending his torso forward somewhat as people only walk rigidly when marching or something similar. Also, he looks like he's wearing clown shoes to be honest; I would shave off some pixels to make them at least proportionate with his legs. This will also likely improve the appearance of movement for his feet as the front of the shoe never quite makes contact with the ground.
I hope this helps!
That cycle looks pretty awesome.
It looks great and is already a million miles better than I could achieve myself. However my only comment really would be maybe to have a tiny amount of movement in the hair as he walks?
Guys, this post is over 3 months old. Necroposting is strongly discouraged unless you're the post author, so please avoid it okay?
I'm going to lock this thread until Mouth for War decides he wants an update.