redesigned the gorgon but because she is important boss i won't show her model until game is published.
But, figuring out how to animate the snake locomotion cycle took more hours than rebuilding the model from scratch and making the rig. There are a few examples online, but few are joint based. The only viable joint based example I found used an FK setup where you offset rotation going down chain. This is okay but pretty hard to iterate on and visualize. But it taught me about offsetting a cycle and I was able to apply that to my IK tail setup and then tweaking the animation exactly to my liking was easy. the basic process is to set the extreme ends of the cycle for the first control, then copy and paste that to all the others. Then offset them all a couple frames, then remove one control from the selection and repeat. its pretty much same thing if you do it with FK, but with FK the rotations can get a little funky to visualize and for gorgon its also a problem that you need the body to hover and not influence the tail. So IK seemed to be easier here.
okay a couple things got locomotion started for the kusarikku. I love this guy. i've realized that doing so much animations for so many hours, i tend to get tunnel vision and lose ability to critique my work usefully. I think its better if i just get a quick job done and then review it a couple days later. These animations will need a little more work but I think its mostly working. For the cycling animations i think its best if speed is kind of cicular throughout. For example on the walking animation on the far right, the rotation of the hands slows down slightly at the end. Maybe just me but it just catches my eye and feels bad. I think things like that need to be smooth. Perhaps it's just looking too closely though. If any animators have an opinion I'd love to hear it.
Before starting the rig and animations for the Nubian I decided to refresh his design. The original one I designed, then Fabian updated which improved it a lot, but the underlying design I just wasn't happy with. He feels a bit too toony, kind of like a pirate more than a hero, and doesn't have a tough heroic look. Right side is update, I changed his culture and went more west african. I think this feels more distinct. Some sort of ornaments in his hair might be nice but I want him to feel pretty minimalistic in style. There are a few pieces of simulated cloth already and the hair has a wobble joint so once in motion he may feel pretty busy already.
Always exited when I see updates So cool to see the creatures moving. Digging the update you did on the Heroes and the scenery is looking lush as well. Keep it up!
thanks for feedback guys @pxgeek - yeah you are right. the big guy has been challenging to animate because he has such short limbs and big body. I spent more time on him than others, but eventually got tired enough I decided to just drop it for the moment and knock out some easier things. Working on his attack especially has been a challenge, I may have to use root motion for him because... well, I'll write about however I handle that at the time I get back to it.
@Fabi_G, thanks! I am thinking I need to do some facial expressions to really bring him to life. Not sure if I should do blendshapes or joint based, will look into a little later.
feel like i've learned a lot about animation in past few days, wanted to jot down a few notes
- adding eye animation makes big difference it seems. even on low res gifs i think it does a lot to bring the characters to life. The satyr character has ears and tail which also help to add a lot of emotion. For example i do a little quiver on the tail right before releasing the shot as a telegraph. - for eye animations, stepped interpolation works well. - I bet some facial animations, even if pretty subtle, will double the effect. I have not included face animations in my schedule but I feel that I'll need to do it at some point. Without them, it's like everything is just toys. - a lot of my animations feel a little stiff, need to get better with follow through. but am able to work a lot more efficiently now so more energy is going towards the animation rather than learning workflow. - trying to make each character type have unique poses so they feel distinct. There is not a ton of enemy types in this game and the way they differentiate in behavior is subtle (but impactful). so the satyr darts around fast, stops and shoots quickly, but is quick to kill so i think a sneaky, feminine pose like that works well. I also offset the torso a lot so we can see the tail. there wont be a lot of VFX or SFX to telegraph the attack so hopefully that little quiver of tail can help catch player's eye. That's also why I make the wind up and release of the arrow overly dramatic, as if she was shooting an elephant rifle, just to make sure that it reads easily. Not only for the player but if people watch game on youtube, I think it is easier to understand what's happening if characters over-act like theatre actors. - much like modeling, in animation the more keys i add, the messier things get. The better my animations look, the fewer total keys and channels I am working on. Still have some trouble with jerky movements that are tough to find the cause of, and usually its because of some key funkifying a curve somewhere i forgot about.
next i'll do the male satyrs animations, then probably do a couple model variations for both male and female before diving back into gameplay code to get gameplay back in action. the satyrs will be most common enemy type, especially in demo, so i'll put most focus on them for awhile as far as enemies are concerned.
had to give brain a break for a few days but did a little light art. Some props and background pieces which i used to build this scene also some variations for the female satyr. i'd like to come up with something more interesting for trees but dont want to spend 5 hours per tree either. Perhaps just a little more attention on the silhouette and a little more work on the coloring will be enough though.
really enjoy making litlte panoramas like this. most of the game will be outdoors so scenes like this i'll use as backdrop for the gameplay arenas. I dont know that this art style is going to wow anybody but something about the simplicity does give a nice vibe I think.
will be interesting to see what impressions people have when they first see it. It's been so long since I was a kid getting hyped about whatever upcoming game, but i remember really looking at the box art and getting sucked into it. I don't think i can do that anymore but would be interesting if there was any way to gauge what sort of impression it will make on people like that. For example if it's a lot of scenery like this many people might expect game to be more casual or something like that, or more story based. But will just have to wait and see.
Replies
But, figuring out how to animate the snake locomotion cycle took more hours than rebuilding the model from scratch and making the rig.
There are a few examples online, but few are joint based. The only viable joint based example I found used an FK setup where you offset rotation going down chain. This is okay but pretty hard to iterate on and visualize. But it taught me about offsetting a cycle and I was able to apply that to my IK tail setup and then tweaking the animation exactly to my liking was easy.
the basic process is to set the extreme ends of the cycle for the first control, then copy and paste that to all the others. Then offset them all a couple frames, then remove one control from the selection and repeat. its pretty much same thing if you do it with FK, but with FK the rotations can get a little funky to visualize and for gorgon its also a problem that you need the body to hover and not influence the tail. So IK seemed to be easier here.
got locomotion started for the kusarikku. I love this guy.
i've realized that doing so much animations for so many hours, i tend to get tunnel vision and lose ability to critique my work usefully. I think its better if i just get a quick job done and then review it a couple days later.
These animations will need a little more work but I think its mostly working. For the cycling animations i think its best if speed is kind of cicular throughout. For example on the walking animation on the far right, the rotation of the hands slows down slightly at the end. Maybe just me but it just catches my eye and feels bad. I think things like that need to be smooth. Perhaps it's just looking too closely though. If any animators have an opinion I'd love to hear it.
Before starting the rig and animations for the Nubian I decided to refresh his design. The original one I designed, then Fabian updated which improved it a lot, but the underlying design I just wasn't happy with. He feels a bit too toony, kind of like a pirate more than a hero, and doesn't have a tough heroic look. Right side is update, I changed his culture and went more west african. I think this feels more distinct. Some sort of ornaments in his hair might be nice but I want him to feel pretty minimalistic in style. There are a few pieces of simulated cloth already and the hair has a wobble joint so once in motion he may feel pretty busy already.
@pxgeek - yeah you are right. the big guy has been challenging to animate because he has such short limbs and big body. I spent more time on him than others, but eventually got tired enough I decided to just drop it for the moment and knock out some easier things. Working on his attack especially has been a challenge, I may have to use root motion for him because... well, I'll write about however I handle that at the time I get back to it.
@Fabi_G, thanks! I am thinking I need to do some facial expressions to really bring him to life. Not sure if I should do blendshapes or joint based, will look into a little later.
- adding eye animation makes big difference it seems. even on low res gifs i think it does a lot to bring the characters to life. The satyr character has ears and tail which also help to add a lot of emotion. For example i do a little quiver on the tail right before releasing the shot as a telegraph.
- for eye animations, stepped interpolation works well.
- I bet some facial animations, even if pretty subtle, will double the effect. I have not included face animations in my schedule but I feel that I'll need to do it at some point. Without them, it's like everything is just toys.
- a lot of my animations feel a little stiff, need to get better with follow through. but am able to work a lot more efficiently now so more energy is going towards the animation rather than learning workflow.
- trying to make each character type have unique poses so they feel distinct. There is not a ton of enemy types in this game and the way they differentiate in behavior is subtle (but impactful). so the satyr darts around fast, stops and shoots quickly, but is quick to kill so i think a sneaky, feminine pose like that works well. I also offset the torso a lot so we can see the tail. there wont be a lot of VFX or SFX to telegraph the attack so hopefully that little quiver of tail can help catch player's eye. That's also why I make the wind up and release of the arrow overly dramatic, as if she was shooting an elephant rifle, just to make sure that it reads easily. Not only for the player but if people watch game on youtube, I think it is easier to understand what's happening if characters over-act like theatre actors.
- much like modeling, in animation the more keys i add, the messier things get. The better my animations look, the fewer total keys and channels I am working on. Still have some trouble with jerky movements that are tough to find the cause of, and usually its because of some key funkifying a curve somewhere i forgot about.
next i'll do the male satyrs animations, then probably do a couple model variations for both male and female before diving back into gameplay code to get gameplay back in action. the satyrs will be most common enemy type, especially in demo, so i'll put most focus on them for awhile as far as enemies are concerned.
also some variations for the female satyr.
i'd like to come up with something more interesting for trees but dont want to spend 5 hours per tree either. Perhaps just a little more attention on the silhouette and a little more work on the coloring will be enough though.
really enjoy making litlte panoramas like this. most of the game will be outdoors so scenes like this i'll use as backdrop for the gameplay arenas. I dont know that this art style is going to wow anybody but something about the simplicity does give a nice vibe I think.
will be interesting to see what impressions people have when they first see it. It's been so long since I was a kid getting hyped about whatever upcoming game, but i remember really looking at the box art and getting sucked into it. I don't think i can do that anymore but would be interesting if there was any way to gauge what sort of impression it will make on people like that. For example if it's a lot of scenery like this many people might expect game to be more casual or something like that, or more story based. But will just have to wait and see.