Pixel Joint Forum: Animation help

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   Hello there.

I am fairly new to creating animations and animating characters, with that said, I want to make a running animation.

Here's the subject, I already have an idle animation, but like I said, I want to make a running animation, but here's the deal, I want to create it with 4 frames only.

Any help will be appreciated. 

Author	Message
Level 1 Seaman Joined: 30 June 2011 Online Status: Offline Posts: 28	Topic: Animation help Posted: 14 April 2014 at 8:20am
	Hello there. I am fairly new to creating animations and animating characters, with that said, I want to make a running animation. Here's the subject, I already have an idle animation, but like I said, I want to make a running animation, but here's the deal, I want to create it with 4 frames only. Any help will be appreciated.
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AshCrimson Commander Joined: 24 April 2020 Online Status: Offline Posts: 606	Posted: 14 April 2014 at 8:50am
	I'm not versed in animating unfortunately, but there's a few tutorials out there on the subject: http://www.manningkrull.com/pixel-art/walking.php (Includes 2,4 and 8 frame walking animation) http://finalbossblues.com/walk-cycles-p1/ Hopefully both of these will help, if i find anymore i'll make sure to post them. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5eAQK42ezs (deals with Run cycles) Edited by AshCrimson - 14 April 2014 at 8:52am
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yrizoud Commander Joined: 03 May 2021 Location: France Online Status: Offline Posts: 343	Posted: 14 April 2014 at 9:08am
	4 frames is not much, so you'd better select them well. It's probably a good idea to pick the two frames where the legs are the most extended, since these are the most recognizable of a run. Then for the two in-betweens, you'll make 2 where one leg is touching the ground and the other is crossing it. Also, you may want to avoid a "perfect side view", because in this case the frame 1 and 3 have the same silhouette, and frames 2 and 4 have the same silhouette. As a result, it would look too much like two frames "blinking".
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Level 1 Seaman Joined: 30 June 2011 Online Status: Offline Posts: 28	Posted: 14 April 2014 at 9:31am
	Well thanks to the help, I have come up with the 4 poses, now I have to work on being able to display them correctly.
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Level 1 Seaman Joined: 30 June 2011 Online Status: Offline Posts: 28	Posted: 15 April 2014 at 12:32am
	Sorry for the double post. Here is some progress, but the problem now is that I am not sure how to get the body to fit in with the legs.
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Hadi Seaman Joined: 16 April 2014 Online Status: Offline Posts: 26	Posted: 15 April 2014 at 1:12am
	Try becoming level 2, should help.
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r1k Commander Joined: 01 April 2014 Online Status: Offline Posts: 336	Posted: 15 April 2014 at 1:29am
	you have the idle pose at kind of a 3/4 angle which is good, but try more of a side on view for the running animation, that might make it easier to draw the body.
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Noburo Commander Joined: 10 June 2014 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 279	Posted: 15 April 2014 at 6:56am
	Keeping the 3/4 view is entirely doable, and is considerably easier for trying to retain consistency in the art. The hair especially is what tends look incorrect when redrawn at a different angle. Here is an unfinished character sprite I made a while back. It has more frames, but it does retain the 3/4 view in the run cycle. My personal preference when animating the torso/arms is to draw the torso and arms separately, and then place them together. This not only tends to helps speed things up, it also helps to ensure that the body form isn't incorrectly assumed where it is hidden behind the foreground arm in certain frames. Edit: As a side benefit, it also give you a lot of assets to go back and reference or reuse for other animations. Edited by Noburo - 15 April 2014 at 7:01am
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Level 1 Seaman Joined: 30 June 2011 Online Status: Offline Posts: 28	Posted: 16 April 2014 at 8:59pm
	I edited the idle animation a bit to a more relaxed look
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Hadi Seaman Joined: 16 April 2014 Online Status: Offline Posts: 26	Posted: 16 April 2014 at 9:12pm
	He looks like he needs to pee or something because he keeps bobbing up and down. Try not animate the idle too much, maybe try and keep it as is without his legs moving.
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Level 1 Seaman Joined: 30 June 2011 Online Status: Offline Posts: 28	Posted: 17 April 2014 at 12:24am
	Well he is in a battle, he has to be quick in his feet, that is why he is bouncing, to make sure he has a good stance to dodge, or jump. But I will see what I can do. Also, the reason why he is bouncing so much is because this is retrained to only 4 frames, so after the fourth, it cycles in. I do agree he does this a bit too fast.
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Hadi Seaman Joined: 16 April 2014 Online Status: Offline Posts: 26	Posted: 17 April 2014 at 12:33am
	*Originally posted by Level 1* Well he is in a battle, he has to be quick in his feet, that is why he is bouncing, to make sure he has a good stance to dodge, or jump. But I will see what I can do. Also, the reason why he is bouncing so much is because this is retrained to only 4 frames, so after the fourth, it cycles in. I do agree he does this a bit too fast. If that's the case then you should've kept the first one.
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Level 1 Seaman Joined: 30 June 2011 Online Status: Offline Posts: 28	Posted: 17 April 2014 at 12:39am
	I am reconsidering it actually. I edited it a bit, made the arms look less stiff
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Hadi Seaman Joined: 16 April 2014 Online Status: Offline Posts: 26	Posted: 17 April 2014 at 12:51am
	Much better
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Noburo Commander Joined: 10 June 2014 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 279	Posted: 17 April 2014 at 6:10am
	I'd say to keep both. Having an extended idle animation is always a nice touch. Just change the fast bounce to some subtle chest movement for breathing and you've got another animation finished without having to make any new keyframes. Easy peasy!
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