needs a much larger bow and much more extreme movement, this looks like a grown man playing with a toy bow. google video of someone actually drawing an arrow, the hand is back near the head and shoulder, and the arm is much higher.

yeah, totally not dramatic enough. that drawing arm needs to go WAY back. Archers pull the hand towards and past their face and aim the arrow at eye level which means they raise the bow to their face too.

think of an archer drawing back an arrow as a 'DRAMATIC POSE' get a feel for how 'ACTIONY ' it should look and feel and it'll help with the animating.

The white swooshy stuff is great though. where the arrow actually is released looks great, it's mainly the person's pose that is killing this piece. =)

if this was meant to be more of a playful cartoony kind of pose, kinda like someone not really aiming the arrow, this would actually be perfect.

If you want me to nitpick, your bow is too small and should be longer/taller. but for this style it's not much of an issue i guess.

Quick google search:



(although those arrows would totally fall out of that quiver if it was like that. =P )






From what i saw at the olympics from the gold medallist who won archery, they drew the arrow's back part to their chin area and released from there. this made them have a scar from where the bow's string would rest for each time they drew the arrow.





I think it doesn't reeally matter if you have this detail in your archer, as long as the bow is raised right and the string is drawn to the right distance with the hand at the right place you may end up with a 'relaxed ' archer pose (like the pose in the very first picture). which is passable and can look cooler than the correct archer pose sometimes.

Edited by Partack - 26 November 2011 at 2:12pm

Another edit:



Ahhh! I didn't notice my post before this one. sorry :/

edit again:



Edited by slym - 26 November 2011 at 5:35pm

New update!



Fixed back arching shenanigans. I can't tell if there is anything more to fix.

Looks good to me.

make sure you shoot that arrow straight when it releases though. just saying this because your previous version had the arrow move in an arc .

Edit: hapiel's edit #2 looks the best to me. I vote for that one.

Edited by Partack - 26 November 2011 at 6:33pm

Haha I didn't notice random pixels moving around in his crotch. Looking at it now, I think it is because in the regular stance, he has no crotch :P

I love the change you made to the original pose. You cleaned it up a ton, and it definitely is closer in appearance (not shape) to the crouch/lunge during the animation. I'll try to fix the crotch and the original pose now!

Thanks Hapiel! I tried to fix the timing of the crouch. Just realized that I forgot to fix his crotch. Hopefully this is an improvement.

Yeah, Chris  is right, perhaps the white arrow should be on a frame where the bow is already relaxed/vibrating/released

The bow should bend back just after the arrow is shot, before the archer lowers it.

Here comes version 16 :P

http://i1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff440/t_redmer/animation_fire16.gif

... and 17:



Added a couple more frames to it.

Edited by slym - 26 November 2011 at 8:24pm

And maybe make him do a long, dramatic arc with his right arm and have him hold an aiming pose for a few frames, like he's going for the dramatic long-distance kill shot.

Well it is just for fun. But I may end up using all of the graphics in the "fall mockup" for a game. I'm trying to keep him looking as highly skilled that I can, so I am afraid that by adding character he would start looking less deft. I guess I could try making his lunge to the right leg a bit more extreme. btw, I haven't mentioned this because I've been so focussed on this animation, but I can't express how grateful I am for such great critique! I would never have made it this far without it.

anyway, I cleaned everything up and here is him on the background. I also fixed his exposed armpits. I realized how awkward that was just a few minutes ago! Yay for short sleeved shirts!


(hehe version 18... he's now of legal age to enlist in the military!)

and here's version can-legally-drink-alcohol-in-the-US version:



Edited by slym - 26 November 2011 at 9:18pm

Looking good!

the armpit thing i didn't really notice 'till you mentioned it and now it looks great.


I can't offer you any more critiques I'm afraid.

Unless anyone else has anything to offer I'd say you were done =) Conglaturation!

Edited by Partack - 26 November 2011 at 9:17pm

There we go. If this was a game, then you would hold shift to load and arrow onto the bow. While holding shift if the player presses the up arrow, then the bow would be at a higher angle, or the down arrow for vise versa. The arrow will lock onto a target if the player waits for the head to move forward (cocking, thanks cristoballs for that :D). It would be pretty cool to make this into a game. I took off the weird spark things that you see in the animation with the background, and added cocking of course. I also cleaned ever pixel I could :D So here's #22!



Edited by slym - 26 November 2011 at 9:27pm

better?

Well, I just realized that the head moves back to the normal position as he shoots the arrow. So it does look sloppy. Here's an edit where it makes more sense to me at least.



I do agree that the head cocking doesn't make sense, but I do feel like it gives the impression that he is more intensely aimed on the target. It's hard to pick between having it move or not.

What would I be able to move other than the head?

I disagree. I think the arrow 'disappearing' is fine the way it is, it gives it a sense of a 'thwip' motion which basically means it's fast and accurate.

as for the head moving forward, I thought that's why you added it but I still don't like it. 's your anim though. if you like it then go with it.

the head cocking is a lot smoother now, yes. but he's slouching now. it looks terribly uncomfortable.

look back at the first three pictures I posted and notice their backs and necks are straight.

slouching is actually a common folly of inexperienced archers and riflemen. It's bad posture, bad for your back and it messes your aim up.

well then again the asian guy does slouch but he's on horse back.

Regardless,
I know that in archery you must keep a straight back and neck. I'll go look for some sources to cite.

Edit:



Edited by Partack - 26 November 2011 at 10:17pm

You'd never guess but I've never actually done archery before.

It just seems that these things would be the way it is..

For instance in any exercise you must keep your back straight or else you could slip a disc.

And when shooting an arrow, you need to aim it, so it's only natural that you would raise it to your face..

as for the neck slouching, I've played with a crappy air rifle and I know that leaning into the scope messes your aim up a lot because it changes the depth and angle of stuff. (also it's terribly uncomfortable after a short while~) *Shruggs* (no i don't shoot at animals, don't worry.)

it's common sense really..

As for the new anim, looks much better. you were absolutely right about the arrow being too fast to fit the current frame size. the head looks like it slouches still by a pixel but it's not noticeable and quite fluid. anything else that needs messing with?

Edited by Partack - 26 November 2011 at 10:29pm

Beautiful. yes. that's the touch it needed for the recoil. *Applauds*



Good job sir/ma'am. You've done really well on this animation. It's certainly a flawless piece of artistry. I commend you.

The character's animation is getting to look very good. It still feels a little weak tho. Two things I notice:

There's no transition frame for the body as he moves back to take aim. This is easily fixed.

There's no real follow through animation after the arrow has been fired. Think about it. He'll put considerable force into pulling that arrow back with his right arm and into keeping the bow steady with his left. It's a strained position and when he lets the arrow fly, the body should reflect that sudden release of energy somehow.

I tried a little edit to illustrate:


Edited by ErekT - 27 November 2011 at 6:11am

You came a long way in one day!
I agree with Erek that there could be pose transition animation if you want, but in his version the body movement at the release moment is perhaps a bit exaggerated.
You decide what you like best, your current final version is fine too!

Much better!
Maybe add more movement on the legs!

I dislike the hand movement and the movement when he shoots. The going down is better though..