Messages

Ah! You are getting there indeed. That flip is pretty cool too.

Now, just to prove I'm a glutton for punishment, I thought "Wouldn't it be better to make an animation with that sprite, to demostrate something?" What that something is, I do not know. However, I thought I'd do it anyway. First thing I did was kill all detail in favour of good o'l black lines - this makes it a whole lot quicker to animate, and then you can colour her up afterwards. Note that this version doesn't have flowing hair or anything - I just wanted to show how I think (note - opinion present - not necessarily correct) things should move around, flow, etc, whatever...

I thought I would do it in the different stages, as before. (And hey, sorry the face ended up looking like some freak that was beaten with the ugly stick - I laughed so much when I saw this monster I had created that I just HAD to keep it!

Ok, Step 1. Nick picture of person on forums, trace basic outline in MSPaint (the only program to use!!!) and get rid of all colour.



Told you I made her ugly, didn't I?



Basic legs...



"Chest Fluctuations" (I love that term!!!)



Hips... mmm...



Now unfortunately, though I tried 3 times, this one would work as an animation - it didn't loop, just ran once, so I thought I'd just post the frames to finish up the legs and you should get the general idea.

Now I know there are still heaps of things to fix - arms especially (oh yeah, and face!!!) - but this took me 2 hours, so I'm kinda sick of mucking around. Could have probably done it quicker if I hadn't accidentally deleted one whole stage, making myself start again...

Lemme know what you think. If it helps, great. If not - well I love wasting time on any ol' thing that comes my way, so at least I've amused myself.

One little suggestion - try lightening the colour of the trousers, or making the outline in a lighter colour - with no clear outline, it can make it hard to tell which leg is in front.

I'm done. Peace.

Glad you like it. Now that I come back and look at the animation, I realise I should have put a bit more effort in. But like I said, I'm lazy.

I couldn't imagine doing my animation on paper first. I do it all frame by frame in paint and then use the Windows picture viewer thing to view each frame, so I can click the next button repeatedly to get an idea of how its looking.

And perhaps if you wanted to solve the person getting closer problem, you might use a treadmill? Just a thought...

Hi. I love the static images. LOVE. I think the exagerated-ness of her walk is absolutely fantastic - the way you've got bits going everywhere is really cool.

I just don't think it looks like she's walking that much. Bits are moving around, but we need some smoothness here. Seeing as I absolutely HATE doing walkcycles, and am a glutton for punishment, I decided to show you and example of what I mean. Note - I'm not claiming my version is better, I'm just giving out ideas of how smooth I think it should be.

Start off with Miss Basic Image. I'm not going for sexy here - just demonstration, so plain Jane should do this.



Innocent, isn't she? Ok, so now we've got our image, lets get those legs moving!!!



Beaut! Just what is needed for walking! Legs. Ok, so I'm feeling a bit silly. Stick with me!



Add "Chest Fluctuations" (that's not a proper term). This is a less exagerrated version, but still ...erm... bouncy...



Who could forget those hips? Mmm... hips... Not so innocent now, is she?



Now cross those legs over a bit, catwalk model style.

Here ends the example.

Yeah, I know she needs and extra frame. But I'm lazy and gave up doing more, because 5 steps is too many to have in a crappy example like this anyway! What was I thinking???

She's still not too smooth - more frames and faster animation will do that. But to tell you the truth, each example is only 3 frames - then those three flipped and copied, so it isn't that much drawing. Lemme know what you think.

And Haddas... wow. I'm gonna have to try animation like that one day. So smooth!

And yeah, n3tgraph is right. They are up and down and up and..... no I mean maybe a little less exagerated on the hips and chest side would help. But the exageration is still cool.

Peace.

Ok, gang, how are we looking with a heads a-bobbin' and colours a-showin'?

You may think they're stiff, but I think they look very nice. I think the style is very good. Unless you want to set a comedy sort of feel, this style is good. I think that the style feels cold, which is what I think you were trying to achieve with the colours... perhaps I am wrong. I particularly like the sky.

Ok, so I did a quick paintover (And yes I realise that he doesn't look like a teenager... just get rid of the stubble on his chin and that should fix it) to demonstrate how you could keep it looking cartoony but still go for a bit of realism.

-As suggested, people's arms aren't stuck on pivots... they naturally flow into the shoulders, check in the mirror for how your bicep meets your shoulder, which in turn meets your chest, its all interconnected. Also, our arms are not squares. Neither for that matter are our torsos or legs. Thighs are thicker that calves, people tend to either bulge out or curve in at the midriff and chests taper from the shoulders to follow the ribcage.
-Heads tend to not be that round. I actually think that a rectangle is a (slightly) closer representation of a head that a circle because heads are rather square at the top. Note the defined chin.

I know this is quite different, but I did try and stay close to your style. Look at the work of forum members like Krysis and Progzmax - proportion is key when making characters.

And yes, I would reduce the saturation if I wasn't so lazy.

Ok, I had a shot. I hope its better. Please be better!



I tried to make the shoulders sit still, and also tried to make the arm-leg alternations better... I hope it worked.

I've included the frames in case there's a specific problem in one of the you wanted to point out.



Tell me what you think.

Glad you like it. I'll give the back walkcycle a shot in black and white now (I hate hate hate doing walkcycles. Hate.) and see how I go. I've saved a picture onto my hd of that one of the baseball t and hoody - I'm planning to use some of that on another character, let me get back to you on that one.

EDIT: And this is why I hate walkcycles. Dunno how long I've spent on this, maybe half an hour. Which bits should I improve first? And more importantly, what am I doing wrong?

If you check out a thread it the critic's lounge called "Cartoon character - getting the right posture" or something like that, its got an example of one of my characters in there. With walkcycle included.

Ok, newer fixes:



Hajjamujja: Let's see... van windows fixed, fence altered (tell me what you think), tree... well I dunno yet. Give it a while and see whether it grows on me or not.

MashPotato: Tree altered as suggested. Much, much better. Fence... I tried to sorta do a mixture between your version and my first one to give it less detail... see how it works I guess. I'll have a go at implementing some crookedness into the gas station.

dsg_charly: 3d is not really my thing... I like cartoony, not boxy, but I had a go. Any better? (And because the house is face on, I purposefully didn't show any side walls - because the vanishing point is towards the centre of the screen, it wouldn't make sense to show them)

Wow - big response like not anticipated - cool!

Here is a newer version as suggested by you kind, kind forum members:



DKH: Fence details ahoy! I hope this is sort of what you meant. I'm not much of a texture person (Can you tell?) but I did my best to make it look more like boards, without destroying the simplicity. Hope it worked, tell me if not.

Obi: You are very kind. I don't know about shading, because in the past I got way too caught up in having good shading and ended up with an empty room bar three shaded tables.

Hajjamujja: The lawn is intentionally a bit empty (yay for excuses to be lazy), because as I've included in this as a demonstration, a car will be parked outside. I thought I would exclude this the first time round so it didn't detract from the picture itself. And the leaves are taller now. Any better? Glad you liked the chimney. Sorta Dr. Seuss inspired, that one.

MashPotato: Can I just say I'm very flattered that you're even looking at this... I checked out your website the other day and wow... you put me to shame. *ahem*... bumpy bits added as requested (Hope they look ok), path fixed, plank colour fixed, leafy bit bigger. Anything else bad?

Maltjik: Bubbly as commanded. I haven't changed the branches yet as I want to see how this version goes down before changing anything else. Will definitely keep this in mind, though.

Fred: As suggested, I have made the back fence and side fences with support posts to show that they are in fact fences, and not a monstrously proportioned cardboard box hiding behind the fence. Although that does give me an idea for a cool inventory item... I sorta thought that making it (The fence) with no detail plank-wise would make it look more distant... if you see what I mean.

Ok, so if you have anymore changes that need doing, please tell me. This second backround is (in my humble opinion) WAY better than the first thanks to your suggestions, so keep em coming.

You guys rock!

EDIT: Just out of curiosity, how does this backround that I did tonight compare to the house one?



It is supposed to be a fuel (gas, as the citizens of the USA call it) station... are the styles too dissimilar? (And yes, I just noticed that the grey fence and the fuel station are on different eye level plane thingies... I will fix this.)

And should I redraw that van with more cartoony windows like the ones in this new bg?

Oh dear - I have met with a dilemma now.

That hoody one is so cool!

And now that I look at my rework of the second one he looks like a much fatter person than the side on view (especially in the rear)

*sigh* - back to the drawing board.

EDIT: Ok, so before I try and incorporate a hoody or baseball t, I thought I'd at least try and get the legs of his trousers correct first:



Ok, so I think I've managed to get it less bulbous up top and more straight up and down...

What needs fixing now?

Hello. This is a backround I completed for a little project I am currently playing with.



A quick run down on the style - yes, its a little cartoony and a little minimalistic. 640x480 is my resolution of choice. I'm using 32 bit colour.

Now, the question. I do not like the shape of the tree. I'm not sure which part needs the most improving, the branches or the leaves, but I would appreciate any suggestions as to how to improve this tree.

Of course, any other parts of the backround which strike you as unworthy, please feel free to comment on those as well.

Ok - after having a look at those comments, how does this edit do:



Changes:
-Made shoes more square
-Made hips, shoulders and midriff wider
-Raised and rounded shoulders to show hunch
-Made arms look better (I hope)
-Made trousers hang a little lower
-Added in the leg pockets on trousers

So, is it ready for colour yet?

I have not heard of (or seen) these Triplets de Belville - I googled for it but couldn't find anything that seemed relevant. What do you think about the pants? I get the feeling that they don't sit right from the back view.

I like the idea of wavy motion. Like those amoeba brother guys in Powerpuff girls. Its pretty simple (I think) but it looks great.

Yeah, I know, its been AGES since I updated this but I just got back into it and I'm stuck again.

I think I've sorted out the walkcycle from side - on now:



But I'm having trouble getting the back view to look right:



Please help!

I like cake. The other day my boss and I were bored at work so he got his playstation out of his car and we played it and ate cake. Lots and lots of cake. And a customer caught us playing playstation. And then we laughed and ate more cake.

I wish I had a jacket for 41e...

The whole thing with the shading was to show which leg was in front and which leg was behind.

In frame 1 the shading is complete because the left leg is completely in front of the right leg.

In frame 2 the shaded patch is smaller because the left leg doesn't completely cover the right leg, I only shaded the area where I thought the left leg's shadow would hit the right leg.

In frame 3 the right leg is further forward and the left leg is further back, therefore the shadow cast on the right leg is smaller.

In frame 4 the shading is complete because the left leg is completely in front of the right leg.

In frame 5 the shading only covers where the left leg's shadow would hit the right leg.

In frame 6 the shaded patch is smaller as the legs are once again further apart.

I guess for this I was assuming that illumination was coming from straight on. Perhaps I need to make the shaded areas smaller...

Corey - Hard to see without the actual animation? The actual animation is there! Click on the little picture above the frame image, that should load up a .gif file.

Haddas - Agreed. Have changed this in my latest animation.

GarageGothic - Yeah, I know I am gonna have to fix the pocket, but I still do want to keep the pocket kinda low, I think it makes it look like his pants are hangin' low. See what you think when I load up the next one.

In the meantime, however, here's one I prepared earlier (After reading the comment by Haddas):

These are the frames:


And here is the animation:


I dunno about the shadow... it looks sorta cool but does it actually work properly? And have I managed to fix the head bob?