Walkcycle critique.. Updated with new animated gif.

Started by poc301, Thu 16/04/2009 22:00:46

Previous topic - Next topic

poc301

So with Kastchey's help from my earlier thread : http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/yabb/index.php?topic=37490.0  I came up with what I think is a good female sprite.  It fits into the existing character sprites great!

However, I animated it into a walkcycle, and something doesn't seem to be flowing..  Its 6 frames long (7 if you include the standing still frame which isn't in the below animation).  It almost seems jerkey..  Like something is missing, and I think it is a frame when the one leg passes the other on the forward stride..

EDIT NOTE: This is the original, updated one is below..



Anyone have any thoughts for it?

Thanks,

-Bill

GarageGothic

She looks like she's ice skating! Sorry, I had to say it - that was my first reaction, and I'll address it below.

I think the sprite itself ended up well, but as you say the animation doesn't really flow. Framerate is an issue of course (at least in my browser the animated gif is much too slow, it looks a lot better when I import it into AGS and run it with a delay of 5), but I think one of the main problems is that your end-positions are quite extreme and the low amount of frames make the jump between them quite sudden. 6 frames is in itself quite few for a hi-res animation, but it doesn't seem much of a problem when played at a higher framerate.

Instead, try in-betweening some of the elements and make the end frames more subtle. For instance her torso seems to be rocking back and forth like a boat (very noticeable on the neckline a breasts) in very sudden jumps between frames. I also think the final hand position in front of her is too extreme, it seems she's behind her wrist rather than just moving her lower arm forward. And as for the "ice skating" issue, I think it would help a lot if her legs moved inward rather than to the sides when they bend backwards.
There's some minor problems with the shading of the dress (the vertical shadow appearing on her thigh is somehow distracting) and the shoes look a bit lumpy in the forward position, but that's something to deal with when you've perfected the movement itself.

All that said, I think this is very good work for someone who (as you said in the other thread) doesn't consider themselves very artistic. If you can achieve this level of movement in just 6 frames, you're well on your way to becoming a good animator.

poc301

Quote from: GarageGothic on Thu 16/04/2009 22:41:28
She looks like she's ice skating! Sorry, I had to say it - that was my first reaction, and I'll address it below.

I think the sprite itself ended up well, but as you say the animation doesn't really flow. Framerate is an issue of course (at least in my browser the animated gif is much too slow, it looks a lot better when I import it into AGS and run it with a delay of 5), but I think one of the main problems is that your end-positions are quite extreme and the low amount of frames make the jump between them quite sudden. 6 frames is in itself quite few for a hi-res animation, but it doesn't seem much of a problem when played at a higher framerate.

Instead, try in-betweening some of the elements and make the end frames more subtle. For instance her torso seems to be rocking back and forth like a boat (very noticeable on the neckline a breasts) in very sudden jumps between frames. I also think the final hand position in front of her is too extreme, it seems she's behind her wrist rather than just moving her lower arm forward. And as for the "ice skating" issue, I think it would help a lot if her legs moved inward rather than to the sides when they bend backwards.
There's some minor problems with the shading of the dress (the vertical shadow appearing on her thigh is somehow distracting) and the shoes look a bit lumpy in the forward position, but that's something to deal with when you've perfected the movement itself.

All that said, I think this is very good work for someone who (as you said in the other thread) doesn't consider themselves very artistic. If you can achieve this level of movement in just 6 frames, you're well on your way to becoming a good animator.

Thanks for the critique.  I appreciate the help with this.  I added 2 additional frames to the cycle, adjusted the final hand position, added some "in-between" movements, and adjusted the breast and neckline animations.  In the process I also inadvertantly created a bit of "bounce" when she steps.  I HONESTLY didn't mean to do it, but it is kind of neat.  I wonder if I should leave it in, or if people will thing its gratuitous "jiggle" for the sake of sexuality.  I adjusted the torso rocking motion as well as the way the legs bend in instead of out, creating the sort of ice-skating motion (which I totally see now that you mentioned it).  Finally, I upped the knee location, making the legs bend a little higher up.  Otherwise I realized it made her thighs look to be waaaay too long if you figure her hips are up just above her wrists..

I couldn't quite figure out the shading needs on the dress, but I tweaked it a little bit to try and make it nicer.  I also tried cleaning up the shoes a little, but I don't know if it made much difference.. 

I sped up the animation speed on this one too, making it similar to the speed it will be in the game.  I don't know why I made the original so slow :)

Again, any comments or critiques are very welcome, I am kind of enjoying this :)



-Bill

markbilly



All I've done here is delete some frames, it is still far from perfect. This was just to illustrate how many frames were 'wasted'.

I recommend this template, though it's massively exaggerated, just so you know how many frames you need and what positions the legs/arms need to be in for each stage of the cycle...

- from a really useful website.
 

SMF spam blocked by CleanTalk