The problems I saw with this animation were the movements of the head and the torso during the first and last few frames. Personally I thought the head slid around a bit too much and went out too much on certain frames. I tried to show that through this edit: http://pixelporn.talkingarm.com/khris/images/attacktest2.gif

For the torso, on frames 1, 9, 10, and 11, I think that you should redraw it so that it looks like it's properly moving with the rest of the body. The sliding method currently makes it look like the upper body is about to explode with all the jittering it's doing.

Currently, it looks cool and is definitely passable if you were to put it in the game, but those were just my nitpicks.

seakingelebit: that's his animated wireframe base for the bottom one haha.

the top one is kind of lacking well, a body, or is that magic holding her up? 

the top one is kind of lacking well, a body, or is that magic

mhmm, i see now adarias. i guess the only help i can offer is to make sure all objects move smoothly...don't get too ahead of yourself and leave too big of a gap in movement between frames. evenly distribute.

such as your sword, i can see your intentions, but i think the way to alleviate its movement would be to get rid of the first frame, and make the last frame 25/100 of a second instead of 5/100

the way it is currently moving is more than it needs to be. if you still want the sword to end up a little higher however, then still get rid of the first frame and increase the height in the last frame.

like so: http://imagehost.ensellitis.com/imagesv2/7015483571attacktest3.gif

hope that helps.

Oh no, it wasn't based on any supposed knowledge of huge-sword combat, it just looks like the sword should be pointing further back when he's in the drawn-back position.  The wireframe's drawn-back position looks more like I think it should...I'm confused as to why you didn't follow your wireframe more closely in that regard.

falk - forgot to answer yours - i was trying to show the metal glinting in the light as he angles it up, but does it look instead like a messup?
also, i can adjust the sword a bit, but i would need to look into the matter more.  so far as i know, western straight swords have always beens swung at around 120 degrees or further from the forearm except in hollywood where it's important to get both faces in the closeup.  if the observation is based on technique, ill look into making adjustments, but id need to see where that was coming from first.  not trying to be a jerk about it, but ive never heard of bringing the wrist back to deliver more power, all it would do is slide the blade longer against the target, for a cleaner if slower slice (like how when chopping meat, you dont bear down, you slide the knive along it) which is great for sabers, bad for straight swords which rely on more or less hitting a point so hard that the blade can wedge apart the connecting tissue.

killed - he steps back with his right, forward with his left, forward with his right, back with his left.  does that clear things up, or is it still visually confusing?

thanks for the comments guys, there will be some tweeking and stuff before the end to try and address your concerns about the jumps and things, particularly with frame 6 (im going to try getting rid of the line first and extending it further to see if that helps)

alk - im afraid this is unpaid production quality, not ideal artistic quality.  it's slowed down so that you can see each frame, so in game it will be better, but i cannot add more frames than 10 and expect to bang out dozens of these guys in all 4 directions, especially when one attack animation is far from fulfilling what each of them needs: this guy alone needs standing, running, climbing, jumping, getting hit, attacking with a one-handed sword, attacking with a two-handed sword, attacking with a lance/spear, walking, kneeling, getting hit while kneeling, lying down, crawling, and a few other things - mulitplied by 4 of course and you see where this is going.  any ideas on how to improve within the existing 10-frame count?  even just pointing out what is buggy about it would be enough for me to try and fix the situation.

O     M     G... THIS IS AWESOME! KEEP IT UP!!!

overall it's quite buggy and jumpy. I suggest you bump up the framerate and add more frames, including fixing the movement of things. right now everything is moving all over the place and changing shape too erratically and quickly. a lot of it will probably be fixed by making it faster though.

Wicked awesome, Adarias. Looks like a pretty realistic attack.

z'omg!!! I always love your sprites, actually have your 'Partisan Tactics Battles' thread bookmarked! Everything is just perfect, except I think the sword slashes down too fast.. Maybe add another frame when the sword is up? favv.

I like it very much, especially the the animation of he shield.  Only a few crits.

The shield seems to get a bit darker when he stops, in between swings.

His handling of the sword seems a bit weak, because the sword seems to be constantly pointing either perfectly sideways or diagonally down.  It's difficult to hold a sword straight out (that is, with your wrist bent down) and still have a strong swing, however that's what it looks like he is doing.

as soon as i saw the anim, i remembered the wireframe you showed me : D

the only crit i have is the sword seems pretty " jiggly" moves around too much.

My mind is blown.

Something about the sword swing (how there is a frame with the sword visible mid-way through the swing, makes it look like the swords stops for a half second) bugs me, but other than that I came.

Awsome, can I use it as my avatar?

Really good and and very usefull indeed.

This is truely a great animation. His movement is very smooth and correct.

Awesome!

Have to agree with the post below about the wireframe. Very helpful!

Holy shit this kicks ass. I love it.

I am stunned, that is a great animation with a lot of life in it. Only thing that looks confusing is the foot placement,  it looks like he crosses his feet when he steps forward...

omg!its great!fav

This animation, complete with wireframe, can actually be very useful in teaching some stuff to inexperienced animators (like me)... Can't find no flaws too, didn't notice the head is stationary till I read the description :)
all in all, great work :D

I can't find any flaws :( What platform is your game being made for btw?

The animation on the body is Great. There's alot of detail in the way they move.