Fire Emblem Sprite 3D Hybrid Animation Study
polycounter lvl 6
I just thought I would share something I worked on in my spare time. I have fond memories of playing the older Fire Emblem games as a child, constantly mesmerized by the battle animations of the sprites. It was dishearting when they made the switch to 3D, as their animations never felt quite as amazing as they used to. Animations for the Generals, Swordmasters, and Mages were among my favorites! After reminiscing about them a few weeks ago, I decided to try and recreate one in 3D!
Here is the reference footage that I grabbed of Lute casting a critical hit from Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones.
Yes, I know that it looks like I screenshotted every frame of a Youtube video and saved it. Because I pretty much did just that!
I used Kiel Figgin's Adventurer rig to block out the movements, complete with a cape that a friend modeled and rigged on short notice. It was fairly limited in its ability to deform but I figured it would be fine for just a study. Well... It just so happens that I got into a groove and lost track of the scope of the project! And I ended up with this!
https://syncsketch.com/sketch/cc78ed0f3f3d/#517388
Things really get out of hand when you have a lot of fun making it!
I kept the animation on twos so it would retain the sprite feel. However, I think I strayed away from this after the spell cast. Either way, I hope it feels like a proper adaptation of the old fire emblem style. Unfortunately, I feel as if I can't put this on my reel, simply because just how closely I followed the source animation. So that's a bit of a bummer... But I had a lot of fun doing the VFX, exploring Maya MASH for the health bars, and in general animating the whole thing. I learned a good bit about timing and can't wait to push what I learned on my next project.
Feel free to give me feedback and/or critique! Does anyone else have certain animation styles they miss or were inspired by growing up?
Here is the reference footage that I grabbed of Lute casting a critical hit from Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones.
Yes, I know that it looks like I screenshotted every frame of a Youtube video and saved it. Because I pretty much did just that!
I used Kiel Figgin's Adventurer rig to block out the movements, complete with a cape that a friend modeled and rigged on short notice. It was fairly limited in its ability to deform but I figured it would be fine for just a study. Well... It just so happens that I got into a groove and lost track of the scope of the project! And I ended up with this!
https://syncsketch.com/sketch/cc78ed0f3f3d/#517388
Things really get out of hand when you have a lot of fun making it!
I kept the animation on twos so it would retain the sprite feel. However, I think I strayed away from this after the spell cast. Either way, I hope it feels like a proper adaptation of the old fire emblem style. Unfortunately, I feel as if I can't put this on my reel, simply because just how closely I followed the source animation. So that's a bit of a bummer... But I had a lot of fun doing the VFX, exploring Maya MASH for the health bars, and in general animating the whole thing. I learned a good bit about timing and can't wait to push what I learned on my next project.
Feel free to give me feedback and/or critique! Does anyone else have certain animation styles they miss or were inspired by growing up?
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