Elite Patrol Anim

[Domarius]

I decided to start re-doing even the existing animations that oDDity did because I decided I can improve on them.

 

The problems with oDDity's version of the Elite guard walk cycle was;

1. Too much like the original motion capture file, and hence - too fast, and too groovy.

2. He's leaning back on such a wierd angle that I reckon someone would fall over if they did that in real life.

 

The way I created this was just used the motion capture and mimicked only the placement of the feet, which I changed a bit in the end anyway. The rest is all completely original.

 

I believe this is the way to go to create the walk cycles. They have to have their own character, so working directly from the mocaps is too restrictive. The mocaps are good for a start point for foot timing and distance placement (which must be changed afterwards), but that's it. The noble women will have to walk like they have had deportment classes (being a proper lady takes training). The fat men will have to amble in the way that only obese people do.

 

 

 

So, the idea of the Elite guard walk cycle is he is relaxed but not casual. He's walking at a pace slow enough to see what's going on, hence he's very upright, as opposed to leaning forward in a determined "go straight from A to B" walk. His legs do not spring and bend with each step, because this is a stride. His upperbody movement is fluid but not casual - he's relaxed but in control because he knows exactly what he is doing. He knows what state his body needs to be in to react quickly and flexibly, like a martial artist.

 

Because last time everyone agreed I needed to exagerate the movement, I created 2 - one that I think is finished, and one that is more exagerated.

Set your media player to loop playback, to see the walk cycle continuously. Don't worry about the tiny jump, that is more to do with the camera keeping up not quite down to the last pixel.

 

Elite patrol

Elite patrol exagerated

 

Animating creatures moving about with their limbs is the hardest form of animation, so I'm prepared for lots of critisism.

[Darkness_Falls]

I like them both I can see them in the game very easily, especailly once he randomly starts looking to his right and left every now and then.

[Renzatic]

These boots were made for walkin

And that's just what they'll do

One day these boots are gonna

Walk all over you

 

Not bad, Dom. You're getting better.

[Domarius]

Thanks guys. I'm glad you like both, Darkness. I assume though, unless we can use them both in different instances, we will have to agree on just one of them.

[oDDity]

The way you've tweaked the leg makes their speed uneven between going along the ground on the 'conveyor belt' part, and when they are in the air coming forward.

You can see that you slowed down the conveyor belt part, but when they get to the back, they snap forward like springs to the front again.

A real lesurely walk is far more even than that, the leg in the air is as casual as the leg on the ground..

It's hard to tell from that angle, but it could also be caused by IK popping when the back leg lifts up.

WHen you tweak these mo-cap walks you have to be careful to keep the timing, while adjusting the positioning.

[Domarius]

I can assure you, his feet are fixed to the ground properly. There, I updated the "exagerated" version to show the grid, but I won't do this again, because it doubles the filesize.

 

There are no conveyor belts in my walk cycles - I've just made the camera move along with him to give the illusion of him walking on the spot, for everyone's viewing convenience.

 

And he's not leisurely (which I interpret to be synonymous with casual) - he's fluid but dutiful, as I explained above.

[Subjective Effect]

He certainly looks purposeful. I like it. Both of them. Could we use both and randomise which one each guard gets? Unlikely, but I can dream.

[oDDity]

So, no one can see what I mean about the back leg popping off the ground like a spring?

BTW, it also doesn't loop.

[New Horizon]

There is a bit of a snap to the leg, also...the guys shoulder pads are sticking way up. They should be down further.

[Subjective Effect]

Yeah, actually, he does have a bit of an attitude with that step. Agreed on the shoulder pads.

[sparhawk]

So, no one can see what I mean about the back leg popping off the ground like a spring?

BTW, it also doesn't loop.

 

That's the mjoar problem I have with it. It's supposed to be a walkcycle loop, but there is a jump in between which makes it hard to judge.

 

One thing I noticed is that the tip of the foot clips into the ground when he lifts it. I guess this is where usually the boot would bend at the wrist with a real ground, but this bend is not there. Instead the full sole stays fixed.

 

Another thing is: I wouldn't associate it this walk with a patrol. When I see somebody walking like this it looks to me, as if he is on a really good mood going somewhere he is looking forward to. The speed is to fast IMO jsut for a patrlong walk, and the stance is as I said above.

For a patrol I would expect something slower and not so swinging, because he would stop quite fruequently looking around if everythign is in order. I can't see this in this walk.

[pakmannen]

So, no one can see what I mean about the back leg popping off the ground like a spring?

I see that too. Looks weird yes.

[Domarius]

Okay then... an even slower patrol type walk coming up.

 

Don't bother commenting about looping - even if the interpolation doesnt' fix it, I can tweak it later when I can use the software better. Right now its hard for me to make perfect loops.

 

And don't comment about the shoulder pads - oDDity's going to place them properly, because there's no animation controls for them at the moment.

[Darkness_Falls]

Don't bother commenting about looping ... And don't comment about the shoulder pads

I'm impressed! You're "maintaining" (your composure) quite well for being asked about it multiple times

[Domarius]

Well what can you do - there isn't a localised place where I can put "things to read before commenting on anims", and even if there was, no one would read it.

[SneaksieDave]

The problem I see is that the knees are popping - both at full extension and as was said above, when it's being picked up. The full extension pop makes me think of knee injury, ouch! Other than that, looks pretty natural.

[Domarius]

Yeah totally - I was looking at this again last night, and all the knee popping is too violent, 3 times - both front leg swings, and the back swing on the right leg, as oDDity pointed out ages ago. Don't know how I overlooked those, they really need softening up.

[Domarius]

I re-did this anim from scratch. Basically focused on spar's comment about it not being slow and intimidating enough, and also ensured there was no joint popping this time.

 

ElitePatrol3.avi

Here's a different view of it;

ElitePatrol3WalkPast.avi

 

Man movement cycles are hard. I can't wait to get onto the fun stuff.

[Springheel]

Very militant stride. Looks good.

[Ishtvan]

I like it as well, I think it could work for a lot of occasions where they're striding purposefully. You could imagine them carrying out an errand this way or patrolling their area. I would expect them to move a little differently when they're searching for you though, or doing any sort of wandering looking for something without a definite purpose, but I think you've already got that covered with a different search anim.

[sparhawk]

I re-did this anim from scratch. Basically focused on spar's comment about it not being slow and intimidating enough, and also ensured there was no joint popping this time.

 

ElitePatrol3.avi

Here's a different view of it;

ElitePatrol3WalkPast.avi

 

Man movement cycles are hard. I can't wait to get onto the fun stuff.

 

That looks pretty good. If they are the same animations they are really good now. In the first sample it looks a bit odd, but I think this is because of the angle or something. Anyway, this guy now lookes pretty selfconfident. The second anim looks much better, and I can easily imagine him patrolling along like this because he really looks determined on his job. I wouldn't call him exactly slow, but pretty determined. Perfect for an elite guard. For a normal guard I think it would be to purposefull. I could imagine that a lower uard would use a more relaxed walking. You can talk a look at police officers when they stroll along the lane without any purpose, just patrolling their area. This is often done in a rather leisurely walk.

 

Just looked at it more, and now I think I know the thing that looked odd to me. There is absolutely no secondary motion on the fingers of his hands. That makes it a bit wooden, and this is much more apparent in the first anim. When I looked at it at first, it gave me a feeling that something is not quite right, but I couldn't immediately put my finger on it. I think that it is the hands and arm movement. Not exactly the arm, but the hands from wrist to fingers on both sides.

[Domarius]

Thanks for the feedback. They are both the same anim.

 

The hand could flop around from the wrist, I can do this.

 

But I can't see how the fingers would move while walking. They are so small and stiff, they don't seem to move when walking.

[sparhawk]

But I can't see how the fingers would move while walking. They are so small and stiff, they don't seem to move when walking.

 

Yeah. I just tried it myself. I guess if the hand has slight shifts in the wrist, it should be enough. When I observed myself though I think I noticed something. When I keep my fingers in a relaxed position while wlaking, they don't move necessarily. However they are bent slightly downwards, but all of them pretty much aligned. In the animation you have three fingers bent in, while the pointing finger is sticking out. I guess this is why I expected a slight movement, because this requires an intentional motion (at least for me). I must look at collegues when they walk by and see how they carry their fingers while walking. Also both hands have exactly the same positioning. So if this is not the fully relaxed position, it looks like he is about to flex his fingers a bit, which would not really be unnatural.

[Domarius]

Okay, made a note of this. Previously I didn't know I could position the fingers, but now I can.