Main Char Walk Cycle, etc..

Seleceus · Sat 07/01/2006 01:44:21

I'd like to pre-introduce Slate Gray, the not-quite-ready-for-in-production character. I've been fussing over setting, style, and oh so many other details, that I needed to put a face to the idea. Here's the face, and it wants feedback. So I'm throwing myself to the mercy of my peers.

This is my first walk-cycle animation, and I've fiddled with this for long enough (a couple of months). It's staying greyscale, for obvious reasons, but other than that does anyone have any suggestions for improvement?
We're walking...

Edited:

..and then a static pose

Shouldn't be more than another couple (9?,10?) of months to finish the side movement, maybe even diagonals.

Then, if this wasn't enough...

Something isn't quite right with these, and I can't seem to put my finger on it.

EDIT: Added head bob.

EDIT2: Fixed head/hat bob. Shifted Rear leg placement. Added slight torso movement. Added blink (it doubles the loop so it may not make production, but it looks cool here). Fixed some odd shadow movements.

Mordalles · Sat 07/01/2006 02:00:23

wow, that is an awesome main character! i cant wait till you finish the whole game. i really wanna play it.

Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens · Sat 07/01/2006 02:10:57

A few things-

This guy looks great. It looks like you took a photo of Robert Mitchum as Sam Spade and worked from it since the features look similar (and the name). The issue with the walk animation is that while you have adequate arm and leg movement, his torso and head are completely still. Have the suit turn to the right when his left arm comes up and to the left when his right arm comes up. A slight bob of the head on each down step may help as well, or some hat movement. The only other thing is his leg motion. If you look you will notice that his forward steps are with the foot arched outward but as the foot moves back it is perfectly straight. With this kind of motion the foot would stay tilted and his leg would actually bend behind the other leg as he walked somewhat. The black eye and white pupil thing makes him look like Data from Star Trek, so if that is something you want to avoid I would either draw the pupil dark or just have a crease instead of an eye. Nice work so far.

Seleceus · Sat 07/01/2006 02:35:58

Spot on, ProgZmax! A studio still of Mitchum was indeed the inspiration, although the name came from a joke I made, while presenting the original idea to my wife. Let me see what I can do with those legs. -Thanks.

Edit: The eyes are drawn that way, on purpose, for reasons that will become evident when the story is revealed.

InCreator · Sat 07/01/2006 02:40:25

It's quite cool, but about walkcycle...
for a character so large, I would expect more movement, somehow. Like his head, torso, etc moving too with his feet.

He looks like.... a wooden doll. Maybe you could give some movement, especially for head/torso?

edit: Oh, Progz already mentioned that... eh, well, doubles the need!
Didn't read through thread? Well, Progz doesn't format his text

El_Pablo · Sat 07/01/2006 03:05:44

wow, that's a cool character, i am waiting to play the finished game :o

abot the torso and the legs i think they look just fine for me, but when i see the perfil pictures i think that the first one should be darker than the third one, just like the front picture the left side is darker than the right side

this is hard to explain, but, look the pictures carefully and you will understand what i mean Seleceus

ScottDoom · Sat 07/01/2006 04:08:51

That's an awesome character... Great work... You need a bit of sway in the chest shown by the slight movement of the clothes (maybe wrinkling or the bottom swaying) along with head movement... You could also double-loop the animation and throw in a blink to make it more alive...

Oh, and I have a full story and puzzle design written out for a character and world just like that which will blow your mind if you have any interest...

Gregjazz · Sat 07/01/2006 06:27:43

It's great art, but it seems like the animation could be more dynamic. That's the hard part about having very detailed, large characters, is that unless you are willing to redraw them completely for some frames, it's hard to make their animations look very dynamic.

Mugs · Sat 07/01/2006 06:37:54

Looking at the four shots of the guy's head...

Why is there shade on the one where he's looking towards the left of the screen and not on the one where he's looking to the right. Does the light scource change with the angle of the character?

Anyways, I like the character, good work!

Seleceus · Sat 07/01/2006 15:37:12

Thank you folks, for all of the great feedback.

Quote from: Old stile man on Sat 07/01/2006 03:05:44..., but when i see the perfil pictures i think that the first one should be darker than the third one, just like the front picture the left side is darker than the right side...

Quote from: Mugs on Sat 07/01/2006 06:37:54Does the light scource change with the angle of the character?...

The light source is at about waist level, to the right, and fairly bright. I'm toying with the idea of making loops with different light sources (direct front, left), and then using the appropriate ones for each background.

Quote from: ScottDoom on Sat 07/01/2006 04:08:51... You could also double-loop the animation and throw in a blink to make it more alive...

Oh, and I have a full story and puzzle design written out for a character and world just like that which will blow your mind if you have any interest...

Good idea. I'll see how much it impacts the size. I don't want to bloat the loops, too much, I'm already working at 800x600, and don't want to build the first ever 3GB AGS game.

I'll PM you about the ideas thing. The world design/puzzle philosophy may not be what you expect.

Quote from: Geoffkhan on Sat 07/01/2006 06:27:43It's great art, but it seems like the animation could be more dynamic. That's the hard part about having very detailed, large characters, is that unless you are willing to redraw them completely for some frames, it's hard to make their animations look very dynamic.

It's not as bad as all that. I've created layers for each moving object, in PSP 8, and just 'Copy Merged' for the correct visible objects, then paste into Animation Shop, for the frame. So not everything needs to be redrawn, for every little change. Thinking of which, I'd better get to work.

vict0r · Sun 08/01/2006 14:21:12

Quote from: Seleceus on Sat 07/01/2006 01:44:21
EDIT:Ã,Â Added head bob.

No, you added hat bob. The head still dont move at all. You need it to be much more fluent than that if you want it to look good. But otherwise, it was a great character!

Seleceus · Sun 08/01/2006 15:41:35

Quote from: vict0r on Sun 08/01/2006 14:21:12No, you added hat bob. The head still dont move at all. You need it to be much more fluent than that if you want it to look good. But otherwise, it was a great character!

Point taken. Changed the 'Edited' ani-gif.

Main Char Walk Cycle, etc..

El_Pablo