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Veegvog
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Quote Veegvog Replybullet Topic: Knight animation
    Posted: 31 December 2015 at 6:49am
I made a knight sword draw animation. Tips for improvement would be appreciated.

It's 9 frames.
Here it is without the sword and slowed down (just in case.)
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RebeaLeion
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Quote RebeaLeion Replybullet Posted: 31 December 2015 at 5:45pm
I think he should increase speed of the swing over time.

Here's quick edit of what i mean (frame5 -> f6 - it needs a bit more of work; or you could just go with your current swing as it's ok), +1 extra frame to kneel down helped:
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Veegvog
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Quote Veegvog Replybullet Posted: 01 January 2016 at 3:09am


I took your advice. I am not really sure how to make his swing look like its accelerating? I added an extra frame to his squat, modified frame 5. (now the 6th frame)
I also tried to make the scabbard pull look a bit smoother by adding in another frame.
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Quote RebeaLeion Replybullet Posted: 01 January 2016 at 3:19am
A bit better! I moved with a hand-grip glove at one frame, try that too. (check my animedit for that grip).
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Veegvog
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Quote Veegvog Replybullet Posted: 01 January 2016 at 4:18am
I think I saw what you meant


Is this what you meant?
On the upward part of the swing?
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Quote RebeaLeion Replybullet Posted: 01 January 2016 at 4:23am
i think you improved your animation. I am struggling with my animations too. Sometimes small details help. You can always adjust different body parts and see how the result looks.
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Veegvog
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Quote Veegvog Replybullet Posted: 01 January 2016 at 4:25am
Really? I thought your edit was very good
It was extremely helpful too. I'll try and play with some more parts.

added a small hip change before the squat. I think it looks more natural.
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Quote retroguy Replybullet Posted: 02 January 2016 at 1:02pm
It's smooth, but personally what looks wrong to me is that, as I understand it at least, the sword should be worn on the opposite side to the hand that draws it, ie a right handed swordsman would wear their scabbard on their left hip.
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Quote Veegvog Replybullet Posted: 02 January 2016 at 9:00pm
Originally posted by retroguy

It's smooth, but personally what looks wrong to me is that, as I understand it at least, the sword should be worn on the opposite side to the hand that draws it, ie a right handed swordsman would wear their scabbard on their left hip.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94c88HfACfQ
Not always. A lot of English longswordsman wore their sword on their right hip.
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Quote Veegvog Replybullet Posted: 02 January 2016 at 11:07pm

Modified his sword draw, and got rid of his foot extension.
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Quote retroguy Replybullet Posted: 03 January 2016 at 3:49am
Originally posted by Veegvog

Originally posted by retroguy

It's smooth, but personally what looks wrong to me is that, as I understand it at least, the sword should be worn on the opposite side to the hand that draws it, ie a right handed swordsman would wear their scabbard on their left hip.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94c88HfACfQ
Not always. A lot of English longswordsman wore their sword on their right hip.


That was a fascinating video, thankyou.

Alright then, I think the problem with your animation, is that the squat the knight performs when flipping the sword is too deep. Try making the motion yourself, it'll be slightly different for everyone, but I personally find that when I do it, the extra momentum to get the sword the right way up upon the tip leaving the scabbard comes with a small push from my toes, with very little knee movement involved.
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Quote Veegvog Replybullet Posted: 03 January 2016 at 9:08am
I only added the squat to try to dramatize the motion, and make it look heavier than necessary in a way. I felt it made him look more intimidating. I will try and work on his squat later.
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Quote Friend Replybullet Posted: 05 January 2016 at 11:37am
try having him squat BEFORE he begins to draw the sword, and as he pulls it out, make him draw his body and arms and shoulders inward to emphasize to generate necessary momentum and strength to pull it out so fast., then as it is pulled out, have him open up his inner body back near to a standing pose, slightly stretching his core vertically to draw rigidity up towards his shoulders so he has enough stability for the sudden stop of momentum to not throw off his balance...so, by the end of the animation, he should be still, yet tense, at least until momentum his ended, then he can relax again.

chun li demonstrates what im talking about



most inner body motion and momentum naturally occurs *during* the actual action, not at the action's completion. You've done the opposite by havinig his body stretch right as the move finishes. the effect is that it looks like he is drawing the sword leading the action with his arms, even though you tried to generate it from the hips. yet for such a movement, though momentum would begin in the hips, the rest would come from the core and shoulders




also, for the sword swish bit to emphasize movement, i'd take away the second color because it's distractig. i'd also have the sword swish take less time. speed up that part of the animation so it is less seen but more felt.

im no animator, just some suggestions
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Veegvog
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Quote Veegvog Replybullet Posted: 06 January 2016 at 7:58pm
Great feedback! I was actually trying to have him draw the sword mostly leading with his arm and the end squat was supposed to be him compensating for the impact of his sword on his shoulder.

I tried to add his squat during the draw like you said, and removed the other color from the swing. I also sped up some of the frames during the swing motion


I will try to make his draw more "explosive" and remove his other squat as suggested.
Edit: After some thought, I am going to keep this current animation actually, as I'm feeling satisfied enough with it. I am currently working on an attack animation now.

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Quote bozolino Replybullet Posted: 14 January 2016 at 5:57am
I am not a pixel artist, just curious. I like the drawing and the animation is fine, but, shouldnt the knight be using his left hand to draw the sword, or shouldnt the sword be on the other side, so he could draw it with the right hand ?
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Veegvog
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Quote Veegvog Replybullet Posted: 14 January 2016 at 7:49pm
I already responded to this question in an earlier post.
There's a link to a youtube video that explains drawing a sword from the right hip, if you're right handed. Roman legionaries, english longswordsman, and cavalry, commonly drew their swords from the right hip.
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Quote bozolino Replybullet Posted: 15 January 2016 at 12:55pm
Humm, that makes sense.
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Quote Veegvog Replybullet Posted: 25 January 2016 at 5:12pm

Working on an attack animation for the knight now. I might change his scabbard to his left side now, because a lot of people don't get the history behind right sided drawing, plus I might give him a draw attack.
Criticism to this animation would be appreciated.
Also I am refraining from adding motion blur to the swipe at the moment.
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Quote MrHai Replybullet Posted: 26 January 2016 at 2:44am
Yup, at some point every artist faces the choice between accuracy and popular convention. Do you want to be historically accurate, or do you want people to understand what you're trying to convey? Maybe the right sided drawing would look more natural if he had a shield.

In your attack animation, the sword currently looks weightless due to no wind-up/wind-down in the attack. I don't know how many frames you have to play with, but something to think about at least.
"Work is more fun than fun"
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