Hey gang,
Here are some roughs of a sprite for Jake, the cowboy lead character in my upcoming Wild West adventure-comedy. I stress the word rough, by the way. These are just to get the ball rolling, and (among other things) lack a lot of detail that will be added later.
He's also looking a wee bit bowlegged and angry (especially on the walk from behind). Also they all need one hookup frame to smooth it out.
Anyway, enough of the preliminary comments. I'd be grateful if you could take a look and offer comments on how to improve. Anything from "his head really ought to move a little when he walks" (and I agree, it should) to anything else you can think of.
(http://www.chapter11studios.com/production/episode_01/animated_sprites/jake_rough_walk_F.gif)(http://www.chapter11studios.com/production/episode_01/animated_sprites/jake_rough_walk_B.gif)(http://www.chapter11studios.com/production/episode_01/animated_sprites/jake_rough_walk_L.gif)
Nice sprites. I like how he is bowlegged. I'd imagine if you spent most your life riding a horse like they did, you'd be bowlegged too. I personally think you should keep that in. I like the certain something it adds.
Critiques : The lines on the shirt. They stay perfectly vertical as he moves. The fabric would move in reality, causing the lines to bend a bit here and there as the shirt moves.
On the rear view, his gun/holster is missing.
Other than that, they look good.
I "feel" (and I can be wrong) that for some of the movements you've used the "rotate" function... I dare to appreciate a "blur". Anyway, rotating or not, you seem not to be very upset with stiff arms, so... why don't you go to MOJO? I think it would look perfectly with that animation, and it could be an easy way to animate chars (You seem to have problems with them) in a profissional way that would look supperb for your game... which looks supperb.
/me receives a commision from MOJO
(Sorry for not putting the URL, I can't find it... :-\ Surelly some wiser than me will help, or look it in the big list of programs)
Yea, MOJO or Flash animation would really suit that cartoon style you're looking for. It would make the animator's job easier, especially when you're dealing with such large sprites. As traditional cel painted frames (a la Curse of MI) are impractical, vector animation presents a nice alternative, allowing you to make large, smoothly moving loops.
MOHO (http://www.lostmarble.com/)
The only critic I have is for his side view. I in vision western heroes with good posture, Jake's head is set very far forward. This head position also makes him look angry, like he is a temperamental guy or something.
Moho, with H! That's why I just found lots of pages related with Monkey Island when googling! Thanks Strazer!
Moho is great, but of course you'll have to learn how to use it.
I found these Moho tutorials to be quite helpful: http://www.steveryan.net/Moho.htm.
Good luck!
--Erwin
Shouldn't the hips twist slightly? That'd stop it looking like his legs are independent of the rest of his body.
He is looking towards the right while walking forward.