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.
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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.