artisticdude's Art

[artisticdude]

Yes, I am planning on attempting some animation, but I've never really attempted to do more than just move-the-arm/rotate-the-sword on any of my previous units, so I'm going to need a lot of help. When the unit is finished and all TC problems solved I'll take a shot at animating him. I reworked the helmet lines a bit and tried to fix the glove (how does that look?), but I'm a bit worried the pommel and hilt aren't shaded right. Any comments on that? And to add one more question to the list: should his sword be a bit longer? At the current length it looks (to me anyway) too much like the swordsman's.

Edit: No one's responded yet, so I'm going ahead and including my latest version of the masterswordsman. I lengthened his sword and brightened up his right arm. The sword is shaded a bit funny, maybe someone has some critique for that or will try working on it? TC still an issue, but I'm leaving that till the sword/arm/pommel issues are cleared up. By the way, the pommel is still a problem in my eyes. What do you think?

[artisticdude]

Here I am double posting again. I've been fooling around with the sword and the alignment with the hand and pommel, and I think I've got something here. Anything wrong with this one? If not, I'll take a shot at animating him. Any suggestions about that? Like what motions he should make for attacking/defending (I'm assuming an idle animation is superfluous for the time being)?

PS: I think I fixed the TC but I haven't tested it yet, so I can't say for sure yet.

[Speedbrain]

I know it is a WIP, but remember to fix the shadow under (or is it behind?) the sword. The shadow should not disappear in a line around the sword tip.

By the way, I think this looks awesome. More armored guys = win.

[artisticdude]

Thanks for telling me about the shadow, Speedbrain! I didn't notice that. Here's the shadow fixed up (how many versions of this guy have I done over the past several days? ).

[xbriannova]

I've been watching your progress nearly ever since you signed up on this forum. I wonder if you're available for other assignments?

[artisticdude]

I wonder if you're available for other assignments?

I'm only really working on two projects right now, this sprite and a campaign, so I'm definitely available for other assignments. I'd love to help out in any way possible.

[melinath]

I made a few modifications to the right arm to try and clarify it and fixed the TC.

sword-master.png (2.96 KiB) Viewed 3397 times

If you're okay with the right arm like this, I'd say start animating! Have fun!

[artisticdude]

Wow, fantastic work on the arm! This has turned out to be a great sprite, thanks to everyone who participated! Any particular ideas about the animation? Should he draw his arm back and stab, raise his sword and slash, or bring his sword over to the side and swing sideways, or something else? I want to get some feedback before I start anything, though I personally feel bringing his sword upward and slashing downwards would be best.

PS: maybe it's time to change my avatar, it's getting a bit outdated now...

[artisticdude]

Double-posting for the third time. I know I said I wasn't going to do anything until I go some feedback, but I couldn't help myself. Lack of self-dicipline, I suppose. Anyway, I took a shot at doing the defense animation. He needs the shading on his hilt, a bit more elbow, and perhaps a tiny leg movement. So overall this is still pretty rough. But I thought I'd post it here anyway for some other people to critique. (I hope the GIF works this time around, I seem to have lots of trouble with these.)

[melinath]

Hey, artisticdude.

Important thing about animations: the whole sprite has to move. Right now, you're just shifting the sword and the shield. For comparison:

swordsman_defense.gif (1.6 KiB) Viewed 3358 times

royalguard_defense.gif (3.08 KiB) Viewed 3349 times

The most important thing that you're missing right now is the body moving away from the attacker and down a bit. Then, that the legs need to react by moving a bit. Then, that the right elbow should bend.

[woodmouse]

Important thing about animations: the whole sprite has to move. Right now, you're just shifting the sword and the shield. For comparison:

He said that himself already, btw:

He needs the shading on his hilt, a bit more elbow, and perhaps a tiny leg movement. So overall this is still pretty rough.

[melinath]

He said that himself already, btw:

Gah! Okay, now I feel silly.

[artisticdude]

Hey, don't sweat it, melinath! I've made some far worse mistakes (i.e. posting in a thread four months old, that one still nags me ). And it goes to show that your criticism covers all the details. I've tried a few things, and ended up copying the swordsman's defense pose at least as far as the legs are concerned. I figured all swordsmen would recieve the same basic training as to what defense stance to use. I also gave the elbow more definition. Is the sword too short in the defense frame? I can't really tell. Hope this GIF works. I'm slowly getting better at them.

[Zerovirus]

Maybe a tweening frame for the sword, with a slope of 1/2 in geometric terms. That is to say, 2 pixels to the right per pixel up.

[woodmouse]

I think he could lean back when he moves his leg like that? Might be just me, though.