Elite Guard Turn Left 90 Degrees

[Domarius]

Download the Elite Guard turn left 90 degrees preview video.

 

Sorry its such slow going - I've got 2 jobs at the moment, one is finishing soon.

[sparhawk]

This animation looks quite good to me.

[Domarius]

Whew, well if I pleased Spar, the rest of you should be easy

[oDDity]

Not really, It's a bit stiff and sliding.

There's already a motion capture turn 90 left and right, so you should use those.

There's no point re-animating stuff we already have on motion capture.

http://208.49.149.118/TheDarkMod/Files/Output.avi

[sparhawk]

Whew, well if I pleased Spar, the rest of you should be easy

 

I tried to find something to pick, but so far I haven't. Maybe I should watch it a bit longer.

[Springheel]

The mocap one is better, but I don't think there's anything wrong with having multiple versions. It looks more realistic if not every character turns the exact same way every time.

[god_is_my_goldfish]

I like both, the only thing I think Dom's needs is a slight head turn into the direction of the step, rather than having it look stiffly foward the whole time. That would make it perfect in my opinion.

[SneaksieDave]

Right, the way footstep sounds (for instance) are randomly chosen, if the same could be done for an anim, that would be way good.

[oDDity]

Lol, if only we had enough animators to do a sufficient number of different variations of every anim to warrant having to randomly choose them.

[sparhawk]

I don't think that the mocap one is so much better. Primarily because it has some twist which makes it pretty individual. Domarius one is more generic.

[oDDity]

THe timing on the leg movement isn't bad in Domarius', but the upper half of the body is virtually motionless and the body swivels like it's on a turntable.

You need side to side movement of the hips, some secondary head movement, and some arm swing.

Also, there is no visible weight shift when he moves his weight into one leg. THe left leg and body stay motionless as the right leg is lifted. What actually should happen is that the whole center of weight should be shifted over to the left leg.

Also, I can't see any leg bend at all when either foot is planted. You need leg bend to give the charater some weight.

[Darkness_Falls]

I like the 2 versions here. The one posted by oDDity is a bit more casual, and the one by Dom is a bit more dutiful. It's nice to have a couple different styles. They can both be used, imo. Dom's reminds me of the little swivel turns Thief 2 guards would sometimes do, and that definitely has a purpose.

 

For Dom's, I think the one thing that my eye picked up at first, though, was that his head seems to turn at the exact same rate as his chest, which doesn't seem natural. Comparing it to oDD's, I appreciate that it's more stiff and structured. But maybe if the head could turn just a little before the upper chest starts moving, that would solve my prob.

[Domarius]

THe timing on the leg movement isn't bad in Domarius', but the upper half of the body is virtually motionless and the body swivels like it's on a turntable.

You need side to side movement of the hips, some secondary head movement, and some arm swing.

Also, there is no visible weight shift when he moves his weight into one leg. THe left leg and body stay motionless as the right leg is lifted. What actually should happen is that the whole center of weight should be shifted over to the left leg.

Also, I can't see any leg bend at all when either foot is planted. You need leg bend to give the charater some weight.

You have all mentioned these things - but I have actually done all of them! It's just very subtle, and I noticed it's hard to see at this angle. Head movement, shoulder movement, arm swing, weight shifting, it's all there.

 

When I get home I'll post 2 more vids of the same anim - one starting with him facing the camera, and one finishing with him facing the camera.

 

Then see what you guys think, before I exaggerate what's already there.

[Domarius]

Starting from front

Starting from side

 

Hopefully you can see the head turn, weight shift, shoulder movement, and arm swing.

 

I'm worried that if I exaggerate it any more, its going to look over-stated.

 

But sometimes you need that for animations, since they're not reality.

[god_is_my_goldfish]

Okay, the head movement is in there, but it still is too stiff. I don't think it will look over-stated if you increase his flexibility a bit.

[Domarius]

Does everyone else feel the same way after seeing the new vids?

[Macsen]

It looks perfect to me. I don't think he should turn his head too much. The guard is turning because he is supposed to, not because he really expects to see anything there. He gives the impression, not of a guard on high alert, but of a man doing the same thing every night almost automatically.

[Domarius]

Oh well - I updated the original link at the top of the thread, all the aforementioned things have been exaggerated a bit, except for weight shifting - I honestly can't see how you could not see him shifting his weight.

[Darkness_Falls]

I like it much better; more natural. Good job, Domarius I don't think it looks exaggerated at all. Sorry if you feel like you comprimised...

[Domarius]

I don't really, just very cautious. I think it looks better. I think if he's moving more than someone would in real life (wich I beleive is so from doign this in front of the mirror) I think the extra motion is absolutely nessecary, since this is animation and not real life.

 

The movie "Polar Express" was critisized for everyone looking like zombies (stiff, expressionless and unnatural). This is because they were aiming purely for realism. They simply won't look realistic by definition because theuy're not real, so this must be compensated for. When you compare the animation in Polar Express to say, Shrek 2, the characters in Shrek 2 look much more alive.

[Ishtvan]

The rest looks great. As for the weight shift in the first few frames:

 

I see a little weight shift, but not enough. When he first picks up his right foot to step back, doing it that slowly, his whole weight is moving to his left foot. IMO there should be a more pronounced move of the upper body over towards the left side when this happens. The head and shoulder and hip all stay in almost the same place, making it look like there's barely any weight shift.

[sparhawk]

When the movement starts, the first thing is that he lifts his foot. IMO that is wrong, because it looks quite contrieved this way. The very first thing he would do is to lean slightly to the other side, and then start to lift the foot. As it is it looks as if he is thinking about this process of turning, like in a formal turn, but it should look casual, because he just does it on his own.

The head also turns quite perfectly in sync with the torso, as if it were glued on. I think he should start by leaning on the other foot, and a split second later, while he is still going to lean, he can already start to turn his head slightly, as if in anticipation of the turn.

[oDDity]

[ Inspector Clouseau] ...but that es what I 'ave been zaying you fewl. [/ Inspector Clouseau]

[pakmannen]

I sure hope you wont argue like this over every single one of the hundreds of animations we're gonna have to create.. Wouldn't it be better just to churn out the anims, so we can get them ingame, you can always fine tune these things later right?

[sparhawk]

As long as he asks for it ...