Adventure Game Studio

Creative Production => Critics' Lounge => Topic started by: Nacho on Wed 05/07/2006 11:38:55

Title: Help on side/up and down walkcycles...
Post by: Nacho on Wed 05/07/2006 11:38:55
(http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a214/La_Lore/Critics%20Lounge/SideWalk.gif)

(http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a214/La_Lore/Critics%20Lounge/DNorthwalk.gif)

(http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a214/La_Lore/Critics%20Lounge/FrontWalk.gif)


Hello. Inspired by the amazing simplicity of "the Shivah" graphics, I started to mess with the style. Here are the results... I am almost 100% happy with the side walk, 75% happy with the south animation (the third one) and not very happy with the north one (the one in the middle). Any ideas? I will clean all the "jumping " pixels, so, that's not an aspect to crit, but I need help about the pose, and specially the paceline on the "north" animation, which looks "ruse" (even being a flip of the south walkcycle...)

It will help a bit any suggestion, or paintover about how making him less "Shadow of the comet", but have in mind that I will probably change the pallete, since it's the same...Ã,  :)

Thanks to Ian AKA BigBrother and ProgZmax for the private help...

EDIT: Ok... I know why the north wc looks so energic, missing frame, sorry :)

Still not very happy with it, though...
Title: Re: Help on side/up and down walkcycles...
Post by: SSH on Wed 05/07/2006 13:19:19
I think that on front/back walkcycles, the "bob" should be less noticable. Also, the south one's shading looks like his jacket has a big horizontal stripe across the shoudlers.

When I made my walkcycle generator, I turned off the bob completely on the front walkcycle.
Title: Re: Help on side/up and down walkcycles...
Post by: Babar on Wed 05/07/2006 14:08:58
The front and back views make it look like his jacket is on tight, but the left view makes it look like it's loose. Something strange about the shading in the 2nd view where the jacket looks very much like it's hugging his ass. Also, his neck looks wider in the side view than in the front/back views.
Just a general (and probably skewed) observation, but he looks scruffier in his side view than in his front/back views.

PS: Don't coats have a small "tail" on their back?
Title: Re: Help on side/up and down walkcycles...
Post by: Nacho on Wed 05/07/2006 14:30:44
SSH... bob? What's that? Sorry, the translator does not translate it...  :-\

And Babar, you are probably talking of a levite or a tuxedo, I can't think in any equivalent to a "tail" in a jacket...  :)
Title: Re: Help on side/up and down walkcycles...
Post by: SSH on Wed 05/07/2006 14:58:57
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bob

Maybe it would just translate as saltar? Anyway, he shouldn't go up and down so much.


Title: Re: Help on side/up and down walkcycles...
Post by: Kweepa on Wed 05/07/2006 15:49:06
These look great, and moving around in a game will probably look even better.
They are perhaps a little too purposeful - he looks like someone acting out a walk cycle.
I think the main problem though is the position of the hip joint in the side view, which is below his hands. If you paint a stick figure skeleton over one of the strike frames it'll be most obvious.
Title: Re: Help on side/up and down walkcycles...
Post by: Uku on Thu 06/07/2006 12:31:08
i think they are quite good
Title: Re: Help on side/up and down walkcycles...
Post by: Nacho on Thu 06/07/2006 20:26:46
(http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a214/La_Lore/Critics%20Lounge/FrontWalk.gif)

I am attempting a different approax which goes totally against Steve's advise of being more "subtile" with the motion :)

(http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a214/La_Lore/Critics%20Lounge/Frontalalternative.gif)

(I am changing the palletes, so, don't worry about the "jump" of colour of the face...
Title: Re: Help on side/up and down walkcycles...
Post by: Kweepa on Thu 06/07/2006 20:47:37
Noooo!
Don't paint over "that" walkcycle!

Your character subtends a small camera angle, so you shouldn't see such extreme perspective on the character.
When he takes a pace forward, given how big his foot gets in the animation, you would expect him to grow to twice the size.
Title: Re: Help on side/up and down walkcycles...
Post by: The Ivy on Thu 06/07/2006 23:41:46
Wow, those crotch pixels are really going to town.
Title: Re: Help on side/up and down walkcycles...
Post by: Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens on Fri 07/07/2006 00:18:20
Ivy, is that a criticism of the walkcycle or a joke, because either way I don't see how it will help Farlander improve.

As for the walkcycle, I made a quick edit.

1.  Made the shoulders move in relation to the wide arc his arms take when swinging.
2.  Made the leg movement less extreme. 
3.  Made the torso move a bit.
4.  Reduced animation to 6 frames.


(http://members.cox.net/progzmax/FrontWalk.gif)

(http://members.cox.net/progzmax/FrontWalk.gif)

Something that makes the walk cycle look a bit odd is the length of the legs in relation to the torso.  I think the waist should start about 4-8 pixels higher.  Aside from that I think you've done a good job.  Here is a version with the waist altered using color.

(http://members.cox.net/progzmax/FrontWalk2.gif)

(http://members.cox.net/progzmax/FrontWalk2.gif)


Title: Re: Help on side/up and down walkcycles...
Post by: Mordalles on Fri 07/07/2006 00:39:36
Quote from: The Ivy on Thu 06/07/2006 23:41:46
Wow, those crotch pixels are really going to town.

hehehe.
lighten up, progz.  ;) we dont all wanna become robots.

i really like the walkcycle! and good job with the hair progz.
Title: Re: Help on side/up and down walkcycles...
Post by: Nacho on Fri 07/07/2006 08:46:58
(http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a214/La_Lore/Critics%20Lounge/Front1.gif)

Thanks for the reply... I don't want to give the impression that I am not taking attention to the crits, I am applying everything, and now I am quite happy with this new version, a mix of the stiff realistic movement and the "Mr.Colossalishadventurishy" one...

Thanks for all. I'll use this space for a complicated animation I am going to do, I am not very sure how to make the approax.
Title: Re: Help on side/up and down walkcycles...
Post by: Evil on Fri 07/07/2006 08:58:55
The new one looks good, but the leg doesn't have enough forshortening when the knee comes up. Maybe something like this?

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v458/evil1359/far_knee.png)

I dunno.
Title: Re: Help on side/up and down walkcycles...
Post by: Kweepa on Sat 08/07/2006 00:15:16
* I think the foreshortening is too much
* The highlight on the leg is a bit bright
* The crotch is too low
* You should just poke ProgZmax in the eye and steal his animation :=
Title: Re: Help on side/up and down walkcycles...
Post by: Neil Dnuma on Sat 08/07/2006 03:22:54
Quote from: ProgZmax on Fri 07/07/2006 00:18:20
Ivy, is that a criticism of the walkcycle or a joke,

Could be both!


I think he's too much like a soldier in the last one, very stiff upper body and high knees.

If the somewhat noisy "jacket-twist" in progz' edit could be omitted, it'd be damn near perfect, IMO.
Title: Re: Help on side/up and down walkcycles...
Post by: Penguinx on Sat 08/07/2006 03:27:26
I like the newest version with the more desaturated pants and the determined but not robotic walk. I say fly with it.
Title: Re: Help on side/up and down walkcycles...
Post by: Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens on Sat 08/07/2006 08:09:53
QuoteYou should just poke ProgZmax in the eye and steal his animation

No need for violence! ;o

I think the altered colors look good, but so do the darker range.  It really depends on the background.  Move that waist up, Farlander! :)  Also, it could benefit from some torso animation.  Keep at it.
Title: Re: Help on side/up and down walkcycles...
Post by: Helm on Sat 08/07/2006 10:48:45
As was said, legs too small on your latest. Half of your full height are your legs, and the other half your groin-torso-head. It's not difficult to keep check of this, Farl.

The downwards animation by eric you've used as inspiration in my opinion cannot be used to good effect. Progz's edit is the way you should go.
Title: Re: Help on side/up and down walkcycles...
Post by: Nacho on Sat 08/07/2006 11:11:02
Actually I was not using Eric's sprite sheet. I just was not happy with the first version when the legs go totally parallel... Whereas more realistic (I do walk in that way better than the duck walk I made in my second attempt) I wanted to get the feeling of the early 90ies walkcycles.

I use the spirit of Helm's sentence "Send reality to hell! Just make what you want to see!"  ;)

That's why I took a look to SSH's wc generator and took the idea... Of course, Eric's sprite sheet was (unconsciently) there, I pressume...

Now I see that the legs are too small... I thought you guys were commiting the mistake of confusing the hips with "torso" because of the jackett, but now I see it, the movement of the legs starts too short, it should involve some pixels above, 1 or 2... Fixing it.
Title: Re: Help on side/up and down walkcycles...
Post by: Nacho on Tue 11/07/2006 17:09:33
(http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a214/La_Lore/Critics%20Lounge/South.gif)

(http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a214/La_Lore/Critics%20Lounge/North.gif)

(http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a214/La_Lore/Critics%20Lounge/SideWalk2.gif)

(http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a214/La_Lore/Critics%20Lounge/Shooting.gif)

Updates! I am quite happy with the motion of all of them, specially the shoot one, because I did it looking to Flashback ripped ones, that can never make a bad result (Some frames are not totally finished...)

But I'd like to have any advise about how making the "static" part of the sprites more professional, specially the jackett of the guy when walks to the north. If you need the sheet I am using, here it is.

(http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a214/La_Lore/Critics%20Lounge/DefinitiveSprites.png)

And what you see right below is not the main char dancing break, but a silly attempt to make a "wall crawling animation", or a cornise walk... I am not really how to do it, so, any silly sketch on paper would help me.

Thanks a lot.

EDIT: I'll take a look,Penguin, and I've noticed that there are two dark extra pixels in the up side of his back in the north side, fixing it...

RE-EDIT, and mental note for me. The clear line that is the upper line of his head in the north walkcycle, change it for two darker pixels in the extreme!
Title: Re: Help on side/up and down walkcycles...
Post by: Penguinx on Tue 11/07/2006 17:52:36
Looking good!

I really dig the shooting stance. No real crits on it; by your own admission, a few frames are still in need of polishing.

The sideview walk might benefit from his arms swinging higher up. I haven't matched them to-the-pixel, but they appear to come more forward in the front and back views.

Even left as is, they're great.