Elite Guard Arches His Back And Cricks His Neck

[god_is_my_goldfish]

Both work perfectly fine for me in winamp and Windows Media Player.

 

The chainmail skirt is clipping through the fabric around it, not sure what would need to be done to fix that however.

[Springheel]

Much better now. Although the shoulder guards need to be changed as well so they don't look like wings.

 

http://www.mindplaces.com/darkmod/guard5.jpg

 

This got me thinking that our elite guards should probably play these kind of idle animations a lot less than the others...I have a hard time being afraid of someone when they obviously have a sore back.

[sparhawk]

On my home machine I can see it. Don't know wether it is because of the new upload or wether my office machine can't run it properly. Still it looks quite unnatural IMO.

[oDDity]

Don't start pestering him aboiut clipping and pauldrons, I will sort that out in maya before export.

[SneaksieDave]

Mplayer plays virtually everything, and it's open source. You only need it, and the all codecs package, and it plays everything, without stupid ass Quicktime, windoze media player version 10475Xci91, or whatever other bloated shit.

[Domarius]

Well this anim can be applied to any character, so its not a problem if we don't use it for Elite.

 

However, this guy doesn't have a sore back - he's just been standing in the one spot too long and is getting stiff, so he's popping his joints.

 

Does anyone else agree with spar that its still unnatural? If it's just one person, I won't be as concerned (I don't hope to nessecarily exceed the quality of the latest games), but if other people agree then I will see what I can do.

[Springheel]

Don't start pestering him aboiut clipping and pauldrons, I will sort that out in maya before export.

 

Don't the pauldrons have to be animated as well?

 

Does anyone else agree with spar that its still unnatural?

 

It does look a -little- unnatural to me, but that could just be because the facial expression doesn't change, rather than anything about the animation.

[Domarius]

The pauldrons will follow the body, so it will be pretty easy for oDDity to correct the clothing.

 

I would like to animate flowing cloth, but nesecity dictates that oDDity has maya and all the bone controls for the clothing, so its probably best that he does it.

[Domarius]

It does look a -little- unnatural to me, but that could just be because the facial expression doesn't change, rather than anything about the animation.

 

Alright. I want to get one or two more opinions still.

 

I assume you all know its not actually a human so its going to look unnatural no matter what, just as they did in T2 and T3, but if you have actually seen anims in games that look good and you're hoping to see that level of quality here, and you're not, then tell me what game, hopefully there is a vid I can look at.

[Darkness_Falls]

Looking better, Dom. Here are my thoughts/opinions though:

 

* His left arm (speaking from his own vantage point) seems to move unnaturally. The forearm and wrist move and turn kind've like he's a marionette and then unnaturally accelerate up and then come to a complete stop as if the hand/arm have slid to a 'stop here' point. I suggest the following:

• Move the elbow out a little as the arm animation begins, and keep it moving consistently in relation to what the lower arm is doing. This will bring the upper arm out as the lower arm goes in. When I do the animation shown myself, my upper arm almost invariably always goes out. To me, I feel this would make it look more natural
  
• Rather than keep his left arm static once it has reached its ending position, keep it moving a little. Maybe he could subtly rub his back with his hand there or something. By having the above elbow/upper arm sync, the upper arm would then raise/lower just a tad as he rubbed his back. In the end, his left arm just seems to move too static/wooden to me.
  

* The neck bends are much more realistic this time, though I might even tone them down even more.

• With all that head gear he has on and the chain mail neck, it seems like it would make it harder for him to tilt his head that far. (That is, unless chain mail is a lot more flexible than I thought.) He seems to have the flexibility as if he's wearing a flimsy cotton fabric. I've never worn chain mail, so maybe I'm wrong. But I've seen it before, and I always thought it was kinda stiff when you try to bend the linkages (they get in each others way).
  
• I, personally, never noticed anyone doing that head tilting/snapping thing until the 5 or 10 years. I'm sure it's always been done, but it also seems like a new fad, in a way (at least around here). Like something that doesn't need to be done, yet people learn to do it from mirrored behavior of others (e.g., family/friends). I've seen the mannerism pass from brother to sister before, for example; and there usually absolutely no reason for it. I've had to stop myself from subconsciously doing it after hanging around someone who does it all the time. So when I see that, I think 21st century; which is another reason I'd prefer it toned down. But that could just be a personal taste. Anyone else feel this way?
  

Hope this helps...

[Domarius]

This is good feedback, thanks.

 

Although I don't expect people to give these kind of detailed suggestions (it's enough to say "his right arm moves wierd"), I certainly appreciate that.

 

Hm, neck popping. Well, after all I did think this anim up myself, its not on the list, it was only an excercise.

 

On a slight tangent - I've spoken seen a bone specialist (forgot what they're called), and a physiotherapist, and they said sometimes its good for you to unstiffen joints by popping them as long as there's no pain asociated with it, and it's not assocated with "degenerative joints", its popping a build up of some substance that can cause a bit of stiffness.

[Darkness_Falls]

This is good feedback, thanks. Although I don't expect people to give these kind of detailed suggestions (it's enough to say "his right arm moves wierd"), I certainly appreciate that. Hm, neck popping. Well, after all I did think this anim up myself, its not on the list, it was only an excercise.

Oops, sorry. I didn't think it'd be helpful or detailed enough to just say, "his arm moves weird." Now I know...

 

On a slight tangent - I've spoken seen a bone specialist (forgot what they're called), and a physiotherapist, and they said sometimes its good for you to unstiffen joints by popping them as long as there's no pain asociated with it, and it's not assocated with "degenerative joints", its popping a build up of some substance that can cause a bit of stiffness.

LOL, that's awesome! Friendly medical advice

[sparhawk]

(I don't hope to nessecarily exceed the quality of the latest games)

 

Why not? If you already settle for less before you even started, then what do you expect you will get in the end? Well, at least it supports the notion that "a bunch of amateurs can't do better then *AAAHHH* professionals *OOOHHH*".

 

And with all your game development experience I wonder how you can settle for anything less then the best you can do?

[sparhawk]

I assume you all know its not actually a human so its going to look unnatural no matter what, just as they did in T2 and T3, but if you have actually seen anims in games that look good and you're hoping to see that level of quality here, and you're not, then tell me what game, hopefully there is a vid I can look at.

 

How about recordingh yourself with a video camera or standing in front of a mirror? You know an important trick for animators? Look at your own body and use a stopwatch to get the timings for the different kind of movments. And don't forget to do use asynchronous movements as well. A body doesn't move with all parts at the same time.

[Domarius]

Thanks spar but I already know all that. Unfortunately I don't have access to a video camera so I have just been using the mirror. Also you got the wrong idea about what I was saying, but rest assured I'm already doing my best.

 

At any rate, I feel I've got enough feedback at this point. I'm going to move on to churning out the essential animations.

 

If I've done my best and people still think the anims aren't good enough, then at least they will do untill a better animator comes along and re-creates them all.