New custom monster? [DISCONTINUED]

[Streetboat]

Can you make him drag the mace on the ground for the run and adopt a kind of 'lurch-run' similar to how gorillas run? It looks like it would be more fitting to the lopsided nature of his character and the animalistic nature of it would be more frightening.

I was actually kind of thinking the same thing, but I think just having it drag the mace only when it's walking would fit better (having it do that while running wouldn't look very menacing, and considering it's running it would probably have a lot of momentum ).

Yeah good call, it would look good while walking too. Similar to the brute. However, the lurching gorilla gait would be very threatening. Here's a good example, with the sideways gait and dragging the heavy part of the arm behind him:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rK1PQnt1C0

[Traggey]

Am I the only one bothered by the size of the mace, and the thin handle? It looks like it would snap under its own 100 pound weight. :x

A wizard did it.

In all seriousness though it's only thin on one end, I've seen stranger things.

[Kazakarumariou]

The animations I was expecting a bit more dangerous looking. the running hit looks fine but the others look like it would just be pushing you like "Get out of my way, bitch"

[xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Oho, what do we have here? Greetings, fellow animator!
In case you'd still like to have some feedback, I noticed a few things that could be improved. But first of all, could you maybe show the animations in their actual speed? I find it a bit hard to tell if the timing is good if I don't even know if the animation is playing at 1/2 or 1/3 speed...

Walk:
- the feet look like they're sliding a bit. Now hear me out, I know the guy is walking in place so they obviously have to slide across the floor, but it somehow feels like they would be sliding even if he was walking forward. I don't know your workflow or what program you use, but in case you don't already know, heres a neat little trick to avoid that:

1: animate the character actually walking forward, so the feet are firmly planted were they belong. If you know the speed he will later have ingame, you should use that to calculate the the exact translate values for the feet and pelvis (for example 250 units per second)
2: copy the keys from your pelvis control to the world/main/root control (the highest control in the hierarchy that moves everything) and invert them so the main control moves backwards with the exact same speed your pelvis control moves forward.
3: Voilà, your character walks in place and his feet won't slide in the game!

I'd also recommend offsetting the motion of the upper body from the motion of the legs. It would give the character much more weight, if the body would fall forward after the leg hits the ground not at the same time. You can then further offset the motion of the club-arm or the head from the body so the force from the foot hitting the ground moves through the whole body over some frames. (I really hope that was understandable, I'm struggling a bit with explaining stuff in english sometimes)

I would also put a bit more up-down movement in the pelvis, again to give him more weight. (passing>up>contact>down>passing...you know the drill )

Attack1:

Like I said, I would like to see it in actual speed. What I can already suggest is, see if it would look better if you make him put his right leg forward during or shortly after the swing. That club is heavy and very off-balance after all, so it would make sense that he'd have to stumble forward with one leg to avoid falling on his face from the momentum.

Swing launch:
Again, the club is lacking a bit of weight here. In attack1 he has to move it with his whole body, but here it looks like his arm stump is doing the most of the work on its own. Adding some stumbling in the legs instead of leaving them in the "default" running animation might look good too - swinging that thing while running can't be easy!

Run:
I'm not sure if this animation is at real speed or slowed down (if its real speed its too slow). It should also have more pronounced movement in pelvis and spine compared to the walk. Otherwise same points I already made for the walk.

Sorry for the wall of text - I hope I could help somewhat and that I mentioned at least some things you didn't already hear from someone else. Keep up the good work, I'm looking forward to the next iteration of macedudes animations!

[Traggey]

Oho, what do we have here? Greetings, fellow animator!
In case you'd still like to have some feedback, I noticed a few things that could be improved. But first of all, could you maybe show the animations in their actual speed? I find it a bit hard to tell if the timing is good if I don't even know if the animation is playing at 1/2 or 1/3 speed...

Walk:
- the feet look like they're sliding a bit. Now hear me out, I know the guy is walking in place so they obviously have to slide across the floor, but it somehow feels like they would be sliding even if he was walking forward. I don't know your workflow or what program you use, but in case you don't already know, heres a neat little trick to avoid that:

1: animate the character actually walking forward, so the feet are firmly planted were they belong. If you know the speed he will later have ingame, you should use that to calculate the the exact translate values for the feet and pelvis (for example 250 units per second)
2: copy the keys from your pelvis control to the world/main/root control (the highest control in the hierarchy that moves everything) and invert them so the main control moves backwards with the exact same speed your pelvis control moves forward.
3: Voilà, your character walks in place and his feet won't slide in the game!

I'd also recommend offsetting the motion of the upper body from the motion of the legs. It would give the character much more weight, if the body would fall forward after the leg hits the ground not at the same time. You can then further offset the motion of the club-arm or the head from the body so the force from the foot hitting the ground moves through the whole body over some frames. (I really hope that was understandable, I'm struggling a bit with explaining stuff in english sometimes)

I would also put a bit more up-down movement in the pelvis, again to give him more weight. (passing>up>contact>down>passing...you know the drill )

Attack1:

Like I said, I would like to see it in actual speed. What I can already suggest is, see if it would look better if you make him put his right leg forward during or shortly after the swing. That club is heavy and very off-balance after all, so it would make sense that he'd have to stumble forward with one leg to avoid falling on his face from the momentum.

Swing launch:
Again, the club is lacking a bit of weight here. In attack1 he has to move it with his whole body, but here it looks like his arm stump is doing the most of the work on its own. Adding some stumbling in the legs instead of leaving them in the "default" running animation might look good too - swinging that thing while running can't be easy!

Run:
I'm not sure if this animation is at real speed or slowed down (if its real speed its too slow). It should also have more pronounced movement in pelvis and spine compared to the walk. Otherwise same points I already made for the walk.

Sorry for the wall of text - I hope I could help somewhat and that I mentioned at least some things you didn't already hear from someone else. Keep up the good work, I'm looking forward to the next iteration of macedudes animations!

Excellent wall of text sir, thank you very much! I'll make sure this gets to Oblivator right away!

[Acies]

Very interesting following your thoughts. Just out of curiosity, what is your previous experience concerning animation?

Rarely see any form of talent around here :>

Oho, what do we have here? Greetings, fellow animator!
In case you'd still like to have some feedback...

[Kazakarumariou]

Rarely see any form of talent around here :>

I can easily rip my tongue off and lick my elbow, that's talent.

[xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Very interesting following your thoughts. Just out of curiosity, what is your previous experience concerning animation?

Heh, glad to hear someone actually read through all that text
I've been studying Game Art for the last 2 years (I'll finish end of August), focussing mainly on 3D modeling (3ds Max and Maya with sculpting in Mudbox) and animating (Maya only, I find it a pain to animate in Max). If you're curious, feel free to have a look at my portfolio, the link is in my profile.

[SilentStriker]

Very interesting following your thoughts. Just out of curiosity, what is your previous experience concerning animation?

Heh, glad to hear someone actually read through all that text
I've been studying Game Art for the last 2 years (I'll finish end of August), focussing mainly on 3D modeling (3ds Max and Maya with sculpting in Mudbox) and animating (Maya only, I find it a pain to animate in Max). If you're curious, feel free to have a look at my portfolio, the link is in my profile.

Awesome we need some more modelers and animators here on the forums Also your portfolio looked really good

[Traggey]

Very interesting following your thoughts. Just out of curiosity, what is your previous experience concerning animation?

Heh, glad to hear someone actually read through all that text
I've been studying Game Art for the last 2 years (I'll finish end of August), focussing mainly on 3D modeling (3ds Max and Maya with sculpting in Mudbox) and animating (Maya only, I find it a pain to animate in Max). If you're curious, feel free to have a look at my portfolio, the link is in my profile.

Just checked out your portfolio, severly enjoyed your work! I'm about to enroll into a 2 year course of games devin' and 3D modeling/animation myself!

I did greatly enjoy your animation work, more people with these skills is certainly needed around here.