My very first (non-Poser) walk animation

[TerranRich]

This was done in Flash:



Guys, tell me what you think. I know that there's something odd with her legs and her arms are kinda stiff.

If you're well-versed in Flash, it would be an even greater help. Any tips or tricks I could use to make her look better?

By the way, her name's Andrea and will be the main character in my new game.

[Kinoko]

Not too bad but there are a few things you need to fix.

Her arms are a little stiff, but the right arm in particularly looks like it's constantly hitting a wall. The left arm is much better and seems to be softly going back and forth, so you need that kind of look.

I think her bum needs to move - a TINY bit. Remember that the bum is just the tops of the legs.

You should try moving her feet, too. By which I mean, making the angle of her feet shift up and down. The best thing, I think, would be to make them fall down at the front as she takes a step.

I think it'd be nice to see her hair move a tiny bit too.

If you want to make it look super, you're gonna have to have her torso move a little too, to reflect where her legs and arms are.

All that said, I think it looks surprisingly good for Flash.

[Reminder]

It's a good animation. I agree with kinoko in some terms.
Have you heard about Moho Animator? Try it.

[Squinky]

The feet seem too small.

[CaptainBinky]

Nice!

If nothing else, seperate her head from her torso so that you can add a bit more dynamisism (is that even a word?). It currently makes her look just a little bit too stiff.

Impressive for Flash, though - wouldn't have a clue how to animate a character in that!

[HillBilly]

I think you got the walk itself pretty good, it's everything else that seems a little rough.

The right arm, as kinoko said, seems to be hitting a wall. Also, her shoulder seems to dislocate. This is a common mistake when using motion tween in flash. To fix this, delete the whole arm animation except the first frame. Right click > Free transform on the top arm symbolm, and drag the little white circle that'll appear from the middle to the top of her shoulder. You can try rotating it to see if it works smoothly, as this is her new "Joint point". (try doing this with her hips too)

Personally I've never liked using tweens for the walk, since it usually looks like s/he is walking in a circular slope, and not straight ground. You did a good job, though.

I don't think I can suggest anything that hasn't been suggested yet. But work on the upper body.

[TerranRich]

You're right, the feet are too small. I didn't realize that until now.

As for the butt, I'm not really sure what I can do about that. And the shoulders do seem to dislocate, but I have already specified the proper rotation (pivot) points at the natural joints.

I'll see what I can do about the front (right) arm as well.

The hair suggestion is a great idea, I'll work on that as well.

The head is already separated from the torso, but I didn't really know what to do with it, but I guess I could rotate it a tiny bit to give it a bobbing effect.

I'll redo it later today and post it for more crit.

[Sean]

Shouldn't her boobs move a little too?

I can tell from the picture you don't want to promote her as 'slutty' but unless those things are artificial they'll bop around a little. 

Looks good so far everythings a bit stiff and unnatural but I'm eager to see your revised version.

Good luck with it

- Sean

[TerranRich]

I was thinking about the boobs, too. Nothing wrong with a little jiggle. Thing is, each body part is stored as a Symbol and I've been having trouble in that area. When I change a feature, it changes it thruoghout the entire animation. SHould I just make it a Group instead of a Symbol?

[TerranRich]

Okay, here's version 2:


I just noticed that there's something odd with a few frames of her head, how it moves oddly.

As for her boobs and hair, shape tweening NEVER works for me. It jumbles up the lines and shapes, even for a simple boob jiggle. I might have to forego that.

[MrColossal]

make the pony tail part of her hair into a symbol, transform it so it slightly rotates and stretches down and up as she walks.

Leave her boobs alone. Or better yet make them smaller or saggier.

[TerranRich]

Yeah, they are kinda blocky. And I've done what you suggested:



The feet are now separate, and her hair (both bottom part and ponytail) bob and up and down.w

[Gilbert]

Nice

One thing that annoys me is that she's holding her hands so tight that makes the pose uneasy, unless she's an anger amazon, who's about to knock your head off with a punch!

[Corey]

maybe her boyfriend broke up coz she's blond??

[Nine Toes]

I don't really know what kind of pointers to give, but she's still too "stiff", even after all of your edits, imo.

[Kinoko]

It's a -big- improvement. The hair in particular really makes a difference.

I think the point about the fists is good... she just looks really angry.

You've improved the arm but it still has a bit of that "hitting the wall" look to it. I think you should make it even smoother ^_^

I think a teeny bob of the boobs would help. Like, a tiny one. One pixel.

[DonB]

The hair is a great improvement indeed! Looks very naturally now.. especially if she's angry..

[TerranRich]

Okay, I've made a few tweaks:



Also, the reason why she has her fists clenched is because I suck at drawing hands. I bet if I have the thumb loose, though, it would look not-so-angry.

[Nine Toes]

Aha!  I've got it!

You should drop her shoulders a bit.  It makes her look a bit too buff.  Maybe if you could, lose the top of the shoulder (the round part).

[TerranRich]

Like this?