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At 2/6/10 02:27 AM, ZuluCS wrote:

At 2/5/10 11:51 PM, Fawx wrote: but 6fps??

Well some of them were 8 and some were 12. The very slow ones would either be 2 frames too fast or too slow.

Anyway I think the extremes are probably more important and you can see them this way :P

This is good practice for rhythm and timing.
Mia used tell me about it. It helps allot.

Unless you are doing a project, You do not have to animate at 24-30 or so on.

good stuff you have so far, I really admire your talent to express emotions.

At 2/8/10 02:06 PM, HDXmike wrote:

At 2/8/10 01:44 PM, GKoolaid wrote: only real 'REAL' differences i notice are the skin and hair. like of course they are all the same exact mold recolored but you can definitely feel that she's a Disney princess can't you.. just look at her... FEEL IT lol. and if you see that Rapunzel or whatever it is, don't have the Disney feel. ..know where im coming from?

Definatley , shes got a more individual expressive build not only to her body but especially her face , i see a hint of pixar in her face , hust enough to set it apart and make her look extra hawt but not to much for her to get facial features not of this earth

Nah, That is just production art,
When the time comes and movie comes out, you will see it more like the same style Disney uses.
This is not done by accident though. They do this on purpose to preserve a certain continuity and "look" Disney is known for.

Anyways, anyone remember A land before time?
That was one of my favorite movies as a kid, I just recently went back and watched it.
It holds up pretty well, And damn sad.
This was a pretty big none Disney movie.

Also went back and watched The Secret of NIMH (was on HDNET)
Can't say i remember it allot growing up, So for me was like watching it for the first time.
Over all i was really impressed for a movie that came out when i was born, It was pretty epic in parts. and seemed a bit ahead of the curve for action animated animals.

I think im going to go study A land before time, The movement of the big dinosaurs was amazing in terms of weight, mass and fluidness.

is fluidness a word? is now

At 2/9/10 01:46 PM, Zyphonee wrote: Well, you guys should probably know that you are most of you are likely wrong about your definitions of what a tween is. Tweening is just the process of motion though which a subject gets animated from instance 1 to 2 though inbetween frames, not the F6+F6+Right Click > Create motion tween process. That is what is called a MOTION TWEEN, because you're having the program do the motion in the tween for you, instead of frame by frame.

Thing is, tweening is done by frame by frame, ergo, it's not the same as motion tweening.

A tween is when a static (same image) is moved from one point to another, Doesn't matter how, or what method is done to do it.

A pan is when the location of point (visual) is stationary, Then goes from one direction to another.
A Trech Is when a viewpoint is moved from one location to another, This is most commonly used with Tweens.

Point? doesn't matter if you or a program does it, A Tween is a Tween, Just like a Roll is a Roll and a Toll Is a Toll.

back to topic:

I think most people tend to over complicate the basic walk cycles
It is by no means a easy task to start out on, But it can be over whelming when lost in tutorials and having now idea where to go.
My basic advice for you is to start simple.
Walk cycles can be very easy, Or very complicated, Depending on your needs, or how you go about it.

Look at easy sprites (as you mention) some only have 2-4 Frames of animation for a cycle.
Try to duplicate them yourself, In a way you see them and understand them
Once you start getting a grasp on the concept and flow of movement, start trying to do more frame cycles.
Just start from one point and animate to another. ( Go from point A to B and then animate in between)

At 2/9/10 02:49 PM, flashero wrote:

At 2/9/10 02:43 PM, PBass wrote: Ah I've done this test before and I also found out that it does look better with a stretched frame than having it simply appear, It's one of the times I disagree with Williams.

Although, if you're stretching the arrow longways, it's width is going to get thinner.

I might try that out

Stretching and squishing are common techniques in animating, But one rule is.... They dont work with lines...
That is called skewing.

Well fro starters, dont compare your self to front page, or anyone else.
Be Inspired? Yes
use if for motivation? Defiantly
Compare? never.
Why? Because you are not them, Nor are they you. They may have had more practice, More time, More help, Different inspirations, Different Ideas.

If Egoraptor wasn't talked into submitting Metal Gear Awesome, he never would have, He felt it would have gotten Blammed because of whats on front page, and the quality of other animations out there.

Some of the best, and often most funny are not super over the top amazing animations.
Sure you want to push your self, Drive for perfection, But perfection doesn't exist. Nore will you learn anything from hording all your work and never letting it out there to get criticism or praise.
Also know there are lot of talented people here on Newgrounds that in fact have had there stuff blammed before.
Sometimes it can be heartbreaking, Sometimes you put more into a project then what it gets . But you just have to pick your self up and dust yourself off and keep moving.

then with practice and time you just get better and better.

done with my speech

At 2/5/10 05:41 PM, helmutlord wrote:

Ani-X - I have never seen Morgan make that face, but it still captures him! Well done.

Thanks but im using a reference photo.
Wish I could say its all me.

I made a boo boo.
What I showed you was not Line of action, It was in fact Line of mass, Opps (been a wile for me.)
Line of action is the line in which a characters movement flows a certain line or arch, Its along the same principles.
I made a new example.
It is messy but you get what the idea is.

you can use both to help guide you. and when it comes to multiple angles, or multiple characters on screen, It is the same, just keep applying it.

It really depend son how you set it up,
whats your structure like? how many bones and joints do you have?

post up a Screen shot of what you have. We may be able to help you more.

In general you will want to pair your middle jaw joint with the head bone. Have a shift for your mesh around sides of the face.
That way you can move the bones in the jaw, with the head staying in place.

Most will just pick apart a nurb and structure around that. But then again it just depends on how you set it up

At 2/6/10 12:37 PM, flashero wrote: Yeah I might pick it up so

only as good as anything else out there,
meaning if you don't apply it and practice, it wont do you much good.
If you are a inspiring animator, it is one most will tell you is a must have.
I will agree, but it is not my favorite.
my fav is Animation by Preston Blair.

not as in depth and such, but really helps me get my brain around things when I start feeling stiff or cluttered.
Its simplicity and brilliance just gets my mentality back.

actually animating for games and regular animation is different.
Im surprised there is not really many tutorials on this.

One of the biggest things is timing. You can over animate a game sprite.
also there is a lot to go into when it comes to fps, object reactions and so on.

When you are animating a movie or cartoon, the sky is the limit, you make it happen.
when it comes to games you have to set things up in was that can be played back, programmed, reactions and positives.
also you will be using more nested animations and loops, things that wouldn't look good in a movie are much needed and looks good for games.

Now trow in the fact that you have to make things in a way that must be programmed and on a constant play back.

I may just make a tutorial on this, But right now i am a bit swamped and a little behind schedule.
I'll probably do it Sunday, Monday unless I find time before.

If anyone is interested, just make sure bug me/remind me.

At 2/4/10 02:06 AM, JustinWatkins wrote:

At 2/4/10 01:47 AM, DaveBlazer wrote:

I plan on buying both. (:
Anyone else with any tips?

you can read all the books you want, and listen to all the top animators, But one of the most useful things to do, and something everyone from the Pro's to inspiring animators do is simple.

Just go outside, or look out your window,
Have a pad of paper, and a pen(or pencil) and just start drawling the world around you, People walking, Birds. wind blowing the grass, leafs falling from a tree.
Draw these in motion, start off at a decent pace, then slowly start to challenge your self, how fast you can do it with it still looking decent.
You will find your self not only getting better at pace, but also grabbing a great grasp on creating life out of motion. Then you can start to apply real world, to the magic that is animation just from with in your head.

At 2/4/10 07:07 AM, BeefyBoy12 wrote: I know, it's not even an animation...

still, its the only way to give you feedback at all.
i tried to pause it and hit forward, but after a few frames of the same art slightly moved, I stoped.

its a good rule of thumb to go slower then what would be used, that way you can sit and look, and take in each frame, judge the continuity and even timing better.
This is most important with lip syncing. SO space the frames out some so we can see what is going on, even if it is just a few words, or syllables.

At 5/29/08 10:33 PM, Kirk-Cocaine wrote:

At 5/29/08 10:31 PM, McJesus wrote: So a B-Flat, G-Flat and an E-Flat walk into a bar, and the bartender says "Sorry, we don't serve minors."

That was a noteworthy pun.

you could say it was well orchestrated.

At 2/3/10 04:58 PM, BeefyBoy12 wrote: Might want to pause it with back or forward...

http://spamtheweb.com/ul/upload/030210/6 0047_PHENOMES.php

Did I do it right?

You should space your frames out.

Example:

At 1/26/10 09:58 PM, DrClay wrote: There is another program that I would recommend everyone to stay away from. It's called MOHO.
It says that it can export to flash, but its VERY poor.
It basically can only animate images in flash, which is pretty bad, also when an image is zoomed in, its not pixels, its just blurry.
Its only $100 but stay away from it, its a lie.

Its more or less for videos

MOHO, or anime studios 5 as its called now is awesome.
You can get it around 40 bucks now, and it is not bad at all.
You just have to learn it.

It is a bone rigging system, something seen in 3D, If you know how to do it it is very powerful and useful.
If you don't know how to rigg or used to inverse kinematics, you will hate it.
and of course its for movies, what else would it be for? lol

here is a
Anim8or
Free 3D based program

pencil animation is one to check out.
easy to use, one of my favs, I particularly like how you can save it, it makes a folder with all your frames in it.

and he was all like "whoa"
and im all like "whoah"
then we was like "whoah!"

At 2/2/10 03:22 AM, Ani-x wrote:

A real challenge to 3D would be Sony pictures vs Disney 3D, Or vs Pixar in a few years

Actually now I think about it, I will trow the gauntlet down and say Sony Pictures vs Pixar.
And that is a tough one to me.
Sorry I am going derail this topic for a moment, Only because i don't think this needs a new thread based on the same thing.

I mean Pixar started the trend, and keeps resetting the bar, But Sony has not really made a bad 3D movie,
Pixar has...well badish

So in terms of technology, they are both pushing the bar, No one movie looks better then the other (given the time they came out) So that is a tie to me.

Story telling and characters, Hard say, Sony has some great story telling also. They also have characters that are inviting and make you care and feel also. But UP was probably one of the most moving kids films in a long time.

Comedy, I have to give that to Sony, Not only because of Cloudy with a chance of meatballs. No pixar movie has made me laugh like that.
Also not just because one movie, Sony Pictures seem to have a nice combo of comedy and pacing trough out their movies (Surfs Up, Open Season, CWCM)

Right now i would say Pixar is better, Only because they have a lot more titles under there belt, And they are pretty consistent with there movies. Sony/Image works only has a few movies to its name (but none are bad)
Given a few years, I think it will be neck and neck.
I expect Sony to really get onto the scene with the release of The Smurfs next year.

ok Back on topic

If you want to be technical about it, Pixar is not Disney, Just joint.
Disney does in fact have its own 3D department.
So it would be movies like Bolt Vs Monster vs aliens, or Kung Fu panda.

Sorry, I just had this wet blanket laying around.

Anyways I still go with Disney, The story telling and characters are still a lot better (love that hamster)
Although I did like monsters vs aliens, It just didn't have the story appeal, and the timing of the jokes seems off and rushed.

A real challenge to 3D would be Sony pictures vs Disney 3D, Or vs Pixar in a few years

At 2/1/10 11:18 PM, M-Shack wrote: What you are looking for is called 'Phonemes' Don't follow any tutorial if they call it lip syncing shapes or anything like that. You want the mouth shapes which are Phonemes. There are a few sheets you can find on google, use which ever works best for you, just make sure they cover all the letters of the alphabet.

Phonemes

I also forgot to note that good lip syncing is a lot easier at higher frame rates,
Reason for this is you have more frames and space to work with ( get the vowels down and transitions)
I like 30 for animating. I find that gives a good amount of space to work with

when lip syncing, go mostly for the the vowels.
A-E-I-O-U.

Those are the most important when trying to get it on.
Get the motion and mouth shapes from that.

Practice that a bit and i am sure you will see improvement fast

weird looping? can you describe that more?
and do you mean the animation quality? or the program? because you can adjust the animation quality.

At 1/31/10 04:12 PM, Ani-x wrote: I want to be that guy who does nothing all day but walk around with his arm at that 90 degree angle as he holds his coffee and peaks in at the animators from time to time.

I don't know his official titled but yeah, pay me for that

This job is also available in the game industry also,
but instead of just peaking at the workers, he will make random comments and hover over your shoulder wile telling you to do something, as you are doing it.

I would like his job also

I want to be that guy who does nothing all day but walk around with his arm at that 90 degree angle as he holds his coffee and peaks in at the animators from time to time.

I don't know his official titled but yeah, pay me for that

At 1/30/10 06:18 PM, PBass wrote:

At 1/30/10 04:45 PM, poxpower wrote: Generally, it's ambiguous.

Yeah, that's true. It'd depend solely on the specifics of the situation.

Their entire perception of what is good or bad stems from their preconceived notions on what should be good and bad and what they already know to be accepted by "experts" as good or bad.

I couldn't agree more. High Art now has become something that absolutely lacks communication. People have to figure out why a piece is good, or study it to learn what it means. Properly appreciating art has become a 'skill' that only can be learned by those who have money and social standing. If a piece of art is good it should be obvious. Yes, opinion is relative, but it shouldn't take some self appointed critic to tell you how to come about forming your opinion.

If anybody has ever seen a painting (or even a good duplicate) by a renaissance artist, such as Michelangelo in person. The artistic value is obvious, it requires no formal training to appreciate, it's simply just amazing.

The way I look at it, the 'high' art critic crowd is akin to a man with too much access to porn. First he's fascinated by it, then he searches for better and better porn, then, after much over-stimulation he becomes bored and delves into the weird, stupid, and plain bizarre.

Yet in art, that's an admirable trait, who'd have thunk it?

This is nothing new, its been this way since snobs had money and found new ways to turn a nose up at weaker wallets.

the truth is a value of a painting is not the feeling, skill or emotion behind, its what the person paid for it so they can hang it over there mantel next to there Sarah pallin/rush books that lay on there coffee table.

btw im a republican, but that statement is just sadly true

At 1/31/10 12:51 AM, Xcyper33 wrote: http://www.newgrounds.com/dump/item/1635 6eb61f1c9b7f29e89770813a6b2f

Did this in a 2-point perspective running cycle in about 30 mins

add some bounce to it, maybe every 3rd frame and you are gold.

That is a really good cycle for that perspective. but not yet a run,

I like it anyways.

At 1/31/10 02:49 AM, azn-trickz wrote: http://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/1141 970

what do i think?
To start i think "AZN" is not cool, nor a way to pronounce a race, nor show any for of pride just because you have the blood of a region shared by most,
nor is it cool.
Mostly used by asian teens in a form of some self rebellion or to stand out, but in the end azn means Asian, and to find pride in ones race is servery lacking and shows you flaws or faults in ones personal self.
It also makes me wonder if anyone who can use the word"azn" knows anything about there own heritage or what pride really is (Pro tip, it doesn't come from race)
More so how a asian from a country, say,...Korea could get annoyed by the simple syllables AZN.
anyways.

I think you are linking to a topic in general that also has no place.
we have a thing called "under judgment" where all users and none users are alike, and treated equal to vote on what they do or do not like
(guessing at your "AZN name you probably have some sort of feeling of self worthor in entitlement that is not deserved)

just a guess

but no, a commity for flashes is not needed.
If ppl need em for games, its called QA, or they can ask for feedback before posting.
something like this is better suited for youtube

anyways im giving you shit because i hate the word AZN, its degrading and wrong, but Im guessing your young so its ok, don't take it personal, Im part serious and part fucking with you, you figure out which part

but anyways, no need. This is the animation forum, It is for discussing animation and techniques,
Your topic is best for general, maybe (Maybe) flash forum

same way as you normally do.
as for direction and cams, I forgot to mention you can change the line of sight, From the center mass, to leg to head. or what ever is really moving.
Ill get around to something tomorrow, I am going watch the fights :)

Ok, here is 2 fast examples.

Basically the line of actions is your focal point in which you want to animate around.
think of it kinda like a anchor.

You want to start with your line of action, next skeleton, then sketch animation, Then your line. Then ink. color etc

here the first example. I dunno where i was going with this, But anyways you will get the point.
I made the line of action in bold red.

Line of action 1
You will notice how all the weight and movement revolves around the line, the focal of the movement.

Next is a bit more.
This one i wanted to do kinda of a air action kick.
Again you will notice the movement around the line of action.
again, i started with the line of action, Then my skeleton, Then sketch.

line of action 2

and here is one with some sketch to it, To give you idea on the process and how it starts to fall in line.
Line of action 3

I am a bit rusty on it, sense i have not used it in years. but i think you get the idea. when you combine it with another, It really helps with the flow, rhythm and action.

here is the FLA in case you want pick at it.line of action 1

Line of action 2

yeah, sorry, got side tracked (day off)
I will do it now.