How can I improve my timing? Fire Wolf Attack (critique)

BrandonBerryCG

Hi fellow Polycounters! I'm wondering if I could get some critique on this animation I'm revisiting. I see some movements that need to be smoothed out, but ultimately the thing that stands out to me is poor timing all around. Can anyone point me to some resources, tutorials, or general tips? I was animating this as an enemy attack so I tried to keep it fairly slow, but it just doesn't look correct to me.

https://syncsketch.com/sketch/93eec4b410af/#495984

I'm sure there are plenty of other things wrong with this animation, so feel free to tear it apart! Its the only way I think ill be able to push it further without starting over.

Rmunday

The overall timing actually feels solid to me personally! I don't have my tablet right now so won't bother doing a mouse draw over however a few things could be pushed further. Your "TakeOff" pose is quite lacking so far. As the attack starts the wolf leaves the ground with all 4 paws at the same time, even for a magical attack it looks a bit off. I would say push off with the hind legs and really launch the wolf off the ground from that.

Also start offsetting some keys on the...I guess tendrils? At the moment they all move at the same time throughout the entire animation. When the wolf lands start to make them overshoot the body it should make for a more pleasing motion overall. Don't need to go overboard with it because they actually look like they should be quite rigid however offsetting some keys should for sure help the motion feel much more refined.

As a point you mentioned you see it as an Enemy attack, so timing wise it actually works well if it was in a game scenario, there are 17 frames prior to the impact frame which in any normal game is enough time to get a reaction from the player (Block, Dodge). For examples of timings I always find fighting games to be a solid source. When attacks in fighting games are designed they have to have very strict frame timings so the frame data can be given to players. Pick a fighting game that has that data such as Street Fighter, or Mortal Kombat and have at it frame by framing a couple of attacks. It should give you a solid idea of how timings can be pushed to their limits to make something feel punchy and weighty!

Keep on going because it is a solid piece, with a bit more refinement it could be an awesome end result.

BrandonBerryCG

Oh wow, you're right, I didn't even notice all four feet leaving the ground at the same time! I'm definitely going to have to adjust that. I see what you are saying about the tendrils too. They are a bit tricky to manage due to counter animation, but I will see if I can give them some follow-through and offsetting them a good bit.

I really do need to study street fighter. I believe there is a youtuber (and I think a polycounter too) that refers to Street Fighter for some of his animations. I'll see if I can find him again.

I'm glad to hear the timing looks fine for you. Maybe I've just been staring at it too long. I think the hop and returning to idle could use a few more frames maybe though... Hmm.

Thank you for the advice and suggestions, Rmunday. I'll see if I can post the next iteration in the next day or so.

tholmes3d

As an AI character, my main note would be that the anticipation pose change could be stronger. Other than the tendrils doing a wave and then going back to the idle pose, the tail is the only big change. The slight crouch isn't enough to sell the antic when the player is in the frenzy of combat. Anticipation is a hard thing to judge unless you can put it in game and playtest it, and it usually takes multiple revisions to get the feeling right without making the animation look wacky. Adding the white glow in the mouth from the end, to the antic could work well with the tail action so you have movement, color change, and silhouette change.

These notes may not be worth acting on if this isn't in game; but I thought I'd bring it up since you mentioned actively thinking about it as a game character. Also, cool idea. It was fun to frame through and see how far you stretched the model.

BrandonBerryCG

@tholmes3d
Hmmm... You're absolutely right on the anticipation. I'll play around with the white glow and maybe I can push the crouch a little further. I was considering adding in a small hop backwards before lunging forward, but I don't think I will have enough frames to keep it from looking too fast.

I haven't gotten a chance to touch this piece since my initial post due to another project dragging on longer than I thought it would. But I should be able to revisit it this weekend. Just scrubbing through it frame by frame makes flaws that I didn't notice before pop out more and more. I'm not sure if its because I have fresh eyes on it, I'm getting better at animation, or perhaps a little of both?

Thanks for the feedback! I cant wait to push this further!

BrandonBerryCG

https://syncsketch.com/sketch/93eec4b410af/#517212

I'm a little late, but I'm back with progress! Most of my time has been going into finishing up a separate animation project, though reworking the tendrils proved to be a quite a challenge. 

@Rmunday I offsetted the tendrils a fair amount and added some follow-through on the landing. I was considering trying to modify the rig to include an Ik Spline on the tendrils to help battle counter animation and promote fluidity, but I ultimately decided against it due to time constraints and my unfamiliarity of the process. I may go back and try and make one more smoothing pass on them with an animation layer to see if I can push it further. Oh yeah! I added in more of a "kick off" on the launch and tweaked the feet in general. 

Speaking of the launch, I also adjusted the anticipation like @tholmes3d suggested to make it more clear that an enemy attack was incoming. Though I may have went too far with the light effects...

Thank you again for all your feedback! It really did help push things a bit further. 

tholmes3d

That looks great! I don't understand why the mouth is bright white at the end, while everything else seems to be "cooling down" in terms of colors and pacing. Visually there's already enough going on after the attack that the mouth lighting ramping up and down so quickly at the end feels visually chaotic. In terms of pacing I think it's nice to settle down a bit at the end since the attack is so ...flamboyant. 

I also added some pose callouts in syncsketch for the legs because the ankles looks broken often, and a little note about the tail. Outside of those notes I think this is a solid piece. Great job!

Rmunday

@BrandonBerryCG That is looking super solid now! Amazing job.

BrandonBerryCG

@tholmes3d Thanks for the pose callouts! I'll go in and adjust them after posting this and another animation study I finished up. As for the white mouth at the end was to mainly there to enhance the growl/roar. Hmm, I guess I wasn't successful if it stands out too much. I feel like you may be right on it breaking the pacing of the attack,  I'll play around with cutting it out or at the very least reducing the intensity. 

@Rmunday Thanks! I'm decently happy with it! I still feel like its too fast at parts. But I feel I should just show what I learn in my next portfolio piece! It's always amazing how much I feel I learn from each animation. One day I'll get a studio job! One day! 

BrandonBerryCG

Alright! I applied @Rmunday 's suggestions. Fixed a lot of the broken ankles, removed the second white hot roar at the end, did my best to fix that elbow, and hopefully got the tail acting a little less obvious. 

https://syncsketch.com/sketch/93eec4b410af/#518020

Check it out!

tholmes3d

This is looking great! Personally I like it more now without the white mouth at the end, and think it would function better as a game piece this way. The tail and legs both look a log better. If you want to get super nit picky, there are still some cases where I'd rotate the paws to keep them inline with the arms, since I don't think paws can rotate side to side. I can also tell you're having to do some schenanigans with the front legs (elbows specifically) when he gets close the the ground. Anything you can do to keep those shapes simple and not distracting would help make it buttery smooth, but again, that's pretty nitpicky. Overall good job. This is a cool idea and well executed.