Need serious help with animations *updated with a new animation*

[Mouth for war]

Here´s a version of my little guy walking. I´m not really satisfied with the arms...if someone could correct them for me i´d be most grateful

[Cluey]

Straight away, the only animation you've actually given him is a bit of arm swing and some leg movement, while these are both ok, you might want to make his head and hips bob up and down to give him a bit of weight.

[HillBilly]

It's a good start. I can point out some of the obvious stuff:

-The head and upper body is completely still. When you walk, you bounce a bit according to your steps.
-Your side view looks funny. Try looking at each leg individually. The front leg slides way too slow on the floor when he touches it, while the back leg spends way too much time behind the butt and then rushes a kick ahead. I'd also recommend tilting the foot a bit upwards when they're in front of him. Take a stroll around the room and notice how your feet move.
-Work a little on your hands. I know you wanted criticism on the animation but don't be afraid of drawing fingers.
-Your back view isn't that bad at all. A little shaky and maybe a bit too much sliding, but otherwise fine. I'd concentrate on making the upper body work with the legs.
-Again, individual leg movement: In your front view the right leg stops for two frames while the left one is constantly moving. I'd also try fixing that twitch in his arms.

You'll also find plenty of walkcycles online you could work after, but don't get too dependent on them. A tip is to make 4 extreme frames, then fill in the movements inbetween.

[Cluey]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqhqZtL3_8Y

This is a bit rough, andnot excellent, but it should give you an idea of the weight I'm talking about.

I'm  doing animation at uni, and this was the first thing I ever did ever.

Yay.

[Mouth for war]

Here´s the latest addition. Oh these arms, they are driving me crazy hehe. I´m desperate here

[Jakerpot]

the characters head isn't bouncing, try to move it a little when walking.
J-

[Mouth for war]

i know but that´s not the issue...i need help with the arms only right now

[Jakerpot]

it's good but, HE DONT HAVE HANDS?

[Matti]

I agree to jakerpot, it looks like he doesn't have hands.

Try to work on that. Now it looks like the arms just end somewhere, tentacle-like..

[Travis Anthony]

      

This would be my first post in the critics lounge.  Howdy All!

Well, I saw your character and I had the urge to animate him!   haha hell I was also bored with nothing to do.
I have not made a game, yet...  I have animated a couple of character's walk cycles for a game on the go.  This would be the fourth walk cycle I've created.  I'm happy with the results.

I took the liberty to create a character still as I didn't see one in here.  I posted the second still for a template.  It's the still I based the character's animation from.  As that is the way I animate.

I didn't do much else with the hands than you did.  Besides, animating a character with clump balls for hands is much easier if you have troubles with animating.  Grabbing items, interactions, expressions, etc.
I decided to change his pant color as I'm not a big fan of black pants on a character.  If the character moves in front or behind a black object it blends with it and you're left with, "where's his legs?"
I also changed his shoe color and design.

I do horizontal movement of the character for the front and rear walk cycles, and vertical movement for left and right.

This work is not perfection but feel free and use it if you want.
Oh, also, it looks like you animate your work on a white background.  Try to pick a color that is common in your backgrounds.  I took that green from one of your backgrounds from some other post.

[Mouth for war]

Trting to make a digging animation for my character...I'm not satisfied with this one...any suggestions? i know that the shovel needs work...i'm talking about the animation in general...something i should change?

[poc301]

The right arm's movement doesn't look quite right (the character's right, the screen's left).  Also, on the final version in-game, you might want to put a delay in there when the shovel hits the ground and then slightly slow the rest of the 'tossing' animation, simulating the resistance of the added weight in the shovel.

-Bill

[rbaleksandar]

As poc301 says - right hand. And I'll add - the showel strangely disappears behind his body and then appears again. As if the guy is playing that basketball trick with rolling the ball around hips.

[Raider]

Whenever I dig graves holes, I use my foot to push the shovel into the ground. Also I would have the shovel closer to the body at more of a vertical angle as you would have the most strength. Then again it depends how big a hole he is digging.

[Mouth for war]

Here's a slightly updated version...hope it's better

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

To make the most out of it, why not randomly use both animations?  I think both of them are good enough for a short sequence people are only going to see once or twice.  If this is something he does often in the game then I would add a few more frames to make it look less jerky.  Otherwise I think you've done a fine job.

[Jakerpot]

i think it`s almost good, just the shovel look a little buged for me, you should make more frames (2 or 3) between the ground contact and the throwing earth away frames, will look more smooth.

[Trent R]

He's gonna hurt his back! I was always taught to dig with the legs, not the back..


~Trent