Heavy combo WIP

Rmunday

Looking for some feedback on a new piece I am working on, this is the first spline pass, just worked on foot sliding and stuff at the moment to keep them locked. Other than that everything is pretty much right from blocking to spline so feel free to peel apart the animation, I really want to push this one so I am willing to go back and forth with it a lot to get it looking nice!

https://syncsketch.com/sketch/125063/

tholmes3d

Hey RMunday, I wrote some notes on syncsketch about the poses. I think you should hold off on the splines and go back to focusing on poses. I have trouble exaggerating my work too. I find it helpful to look at other animations and see how far they push it. After pushing your key poses further, you should define your breakdowns more for a few reasons. There are lots of little gaps where you could define the action more in a way that will give the character more personality (putting the sword back onto the shoulder for example). Also, by adding breakdowns you can define the timing for your holds more.  The strikes can be faster and anticipation could use more holding to build up the tension. This will keep it from feeling floaty. This is a good base to build on, good luck and keep posting! 

Hito

Hey Rmunday, pretty good start. I'd definitely stay with the poses more before going spline mode.

First swing is pretty good, pull back more in the antic like tholmes suggested. The arc is a bit bumpy. starts diagonal, then horizontal, then dips down diagonal again. keep the tip low as you roll the hand from under to over, like turning a door knob as opposed a door handle. don't be afraid to animate the weapon to different grips as you need to.

2nd swing is weaker. You're holding back in order to position the weapon for the 3rd strike. I would do less than a full step forward here, just enough foot repositioning to adjust for mass shifting, keep the right foot back behind the left. The full step here makes the 3rd stab particularly difficult as you have no choice but to step forward with opposite leg to maintain forward momentum, and leading with opposite leg in a lunge makes it look weak.

3rd stab, not my first choice as the final strike. It's a bit out of character, as stabs usually are more about precision than force. The start pose, and the 1st two swings establishes the character as a brute rather than a duelist. That said, you can still make it work if the character fully commits to the action. circling back to foot positioning in the 2nd strike, this is where I would take a full step forward with the right leg, same side as the sword, this puts more weight behind the point. If you look at medieval fighting manuals or fencing techniques, no one ever lunges with a opposite leg leading. The stab itself can go a couple different ways, following with the 2nd swing from ~154, you can go a high stab at around character's eye level, and ending with full extended left leg, weight over the right leg, and sword arm fully extended: a big lunge. Alternatively you can go lower, dip down as you push forward and rise up and trace an arc with the blade tip, pointing up at the finish, a stab version of shoryuken so to speak.

Rmunday

@Hito and @tholmes3d thanks so much for that feedback, will work on it and upload a new version soon!