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Project Annie...In Motion!

More resurrections for Annie! Did you ever make any more progress on that model, @Karlaaldana ?
I'm still making progress but it's so small that it would be insignificant to update on the thread, lately I'm so busy with college and work but I'm still working on the project.
 
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Holy crap dude, PLEASE spoiler images this big.
Umm annie dosnt look like that she looks lik dis
Annie_ID (1).png
 
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God I wish I did more than sprites so I could help with this. All I can do is get overly detailed when think of animations! Which I plan to do at some point. I have a very clear idea of what I think her normals would look like. Of course, what I think and what they really would be are probably not the same thing...
 
God I wish I did more than sprites so I could help with this. All I can do is get overly detailed when think of animations! Which I plan to do at some point. I have a very clear idea of what I think her normals would look like. Of course, what I think and what they really would be are probably not the same thing...
Maybe you could help the project by drawing what you think the normals would look like, maybe just drawing 3 rough keyframes. That would be helpful to make more animations down the line.
 
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Sure, I can do that. I don't think I have the skill to do it necessarily in the art style, but if its just rough key frames to get an idea of what I mean, yeah I can do that. Anything to help.
 
Sure, I can do that. I don't think I have the skill to do it necessarily in the art style, but if its just rough key frames to get an idea of what I mean, yeah I can do that. Anything to help.
It doesn't necessarily have to be very exact to the artstyle, we only need to know the general motion of the move.
The thing with moves at this point is that we don't even know how would her speed be, how fast or 'heavy' should her attacks be, until we get a general move and character sheet that we can use for reference we are not allowed/capable to keep 'expeculating' about her moves.
For now we can only do rough animation and sketches or her motion, that's why I'm taking my time to do a very good 3d model so we can use it to do quick animations whenever we have the moves concepts.
 
True, that is helpful.

The moves I had in mind were mostly normals. In my head they come out fast, but I've been rethinking them to be more general. Moves that could, honestly, come out at any number of speeds. Should make deciding how to actually tweak them easier. Rough sketches and a full 3D model. God we're going crazy.
 
True, that is helpful.

The moves I had in mind were mostly normals. In my head they come out fast, but I've been rethinking them to be more general. Moves that could, honestly, come out at any number of speeds. Should make deciding how to actually tweak them easier. Rough sketches and a full 3D model. God we're going crazy.
I was thinking she would have an attack where she would dash and if you pressed a button you could do an attack with the momentum of the run it could be a rush down with mixup options...
But for now I'm just sticking with the moves that are depicted on the official "moveset".

Crazy is just another word for passionate.
 
Well, I was having a ton of ideas for normals. Based on the idle position we have, swinging you sword from that pose seems like it'd be tough without bending forward, so I incorporate a lot of that into my ideas. The areas where I'm hitting blanks for attacks is her kicks. I'm thinking that she's probably use Sagan for some kicks or crouching attacks.

I had an idea for a similar move. It was where Annie would rush forward and slam Sagan into the opponent's face, get behind them, and strike, opening them up for a further combo, or on block opening up paths into into mixups. Pressing a button early would have her skid to a stop, allowing you to use the moment for an attack if you wished.
 
I was thinking Annie would primarily use her sword for Punches while Sagan would be used for Kicks. She'd essentially have two key stances while switching back and forth with her normal, either prioritizing her sword or prioritizing Sagan. There are a few moves depicted where Annie utilizes Sagan as a weapon, like the Sagan scooter or his eye beams, or even the Sagan Kick. To put it simply, think hack and slash with a little bunny mayhem on the side.

My biggest question would be how to depict her from the P1 position. Would her eye patch be covered by those bangs or would it be a classic case of asymmetric switchery, ala Squigly's turn animation. So much to really discuss in terms of animating Annie, I think.

Also, think specials and blockbusters, and even outakes and taunts. Annie's moves are cute but fierce, and her expressions show how serious she really is about fighting.
 
A lot of the key frames I'm working on have that be kinda the case. It's more so punches are for the sword and kicks are her feet, sword, or Sagan on occasion. Her pose makes it difficult to find meaningful moves I can make even with Rule of Cool.
 
My biggest question would be how to depict her from the P1 position. Would her eye patch be covered by those bangs or would it be a classic case of asymmetric switchery, ala Squigly's turn animation. So much to really discuss in terms of animating Annie, I think.

It will likely be handled like Valentines eyepatch switch. but instead of hair covering up the switch like Val maybe she puts her sword in front of her face at one point.
 
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Do the Skullgirls sprites have alternate P1 and P2 stances due to asymmetry? I never noticed. If not...I don't see the big deal. Most if not all of us know that the P2, like with most Skullgirls characters, is the correct one from the official design.
 
Most if not all of us know that the P2, like with most Skullgirls characters, is the correct one from the official design.
like with most Skullgirls characters
Some characters have P1 as their official design????????????????????????????????????????????????????
 
Some characters have P1 as their official design????????????????????????????????????????????????????
Well yeah, but I mean most of the asymmetrical characters like Valentine have their P2 as the official. The only other example is really Beowulf who's P1 is the official. Since most of the cast is symmetrial I mean.

I may have said something stupid, b-but you all get what I meant, right? DX
 
Well yeah, but I mean most of the asymmetrical characters like Valentine have their P2 as the official. The only other example is really Beowulf who's P1 is the official. Since most of the cast is symmetrial I mean.

I may have said something stupid, b-but you all get what I meant, right? DX
No SG characters have different P1 and P2 sprites. They just flip em.
 
The only other example is really Beowulf who's P1 is the official. Since most of the cast is symmetrial I mean.
I was being sarcastic but I didn't know beowulf's official was P1, you learn something new everyday! ~-~
I may have said something stupid, b-but you all get what I meant, right? DX
Maybe.
 
Quick update!
I'm starting to rig the model, but I wanted to see if you know of a good method to export a posable model to other software where you can easily pose and animate the textured model. (preferably something that anyone can download). This way we can start posing the model to start getting some frames of animation up and running.

Annie preview 20.png


Let's design a workflow to make the process as efficient as possible so once people have access to the model there won't be a chaos.
For now I'm experimenting with the model, testing how versatil it is. I will start with simple poses and 'key' frames based on the official character reference sheet. It will all be based on the Skull's idle animation as guide.
 
I'm so happy that this project is not dead. If I could draw or something else I would help (but I can't).
 
WHEEEEEEEEEE
vertex weights. I guess I'll see you next year when you're done.
 
WHEEEEEEEEEE
vertex weights. I guess I'll see you next year when you're done.

F*king vertex weights!.. Well, they are not that bad. Since I placed the bones in the right places Blender actually did a great job at placing semi-correct weights to each vertex.
I'm now fixing the really odd ones like the bag one, that bone took all her skirt.
And... I just realized that I'm missing the braid's bones, that will be a pain.
 
Quick update!
I'm starting to rig the model, but I wanted to see if you know of a good method to export a posable model to other software where you can easily pose and animate the textured model.

I don't have a whole lot of experience with rigging or animating models outside of Maya. Not only does the rig need to work the same for everyone, but you'll also want to set up the camera and lighting so that all of the renders adhere to certain standards. You're probably best off just staying within Blender since everyone has access to the software and you're already working in it.
 
I don't have a whole lot of experience with rigging or animating models outside of Maya. Not only does the rig need to work the same for everyone, but you'll also want to set up the camera and lighting so that all of the renders adhere to certain standards. You're probably best off just staying within Blender since everyone has access to the software and you're already working in it.
I thought the same about the shaders and camera... The thing is that blender is probably not that easy to learn compared to other animation software.
I'm not too worried about the shaders anymore, since those animations will mainly be used to map out the shapes and edges of the model, and the colored parts will help map the palette boundries on those shapes.
As for the camera angle I'm thinking that slightly angulated side orthographic view will be the one we will end up using; So if I get the camera coordenates to other programs, we will be able to animate her at the same time.
 
This may be late in the game but has anyone made win/lose poses for Annie yet? I'm thinking about crawling out of the womb of computer animation into the realm of traditional animation to assist in this expedition.
 
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This may be late in the game but has anyone made win/lose poses for Annie yet? I'm thinking about crawling out of the womb of computer animation into the realm of traditional animation to assist in this expedition.

Well we don't have many of progress done, but we are picking up the pase.. so, there's plenty of place for another animator!
What do you mean by traditional animation?
 
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...The thing is that blender is probably not that easy to learn compared to other animation software...

Whether or not the person knows how to animate within Blender is not important. What's important is whether or not they have any experience animating in general, in which case they should have the ability to learn how to apply their skills to a different set of tools. I for example haven't animated in Blender for years, but I have a practiced understanding of animation principals as well as 3D animation experience, meaning I have the wherewithal to learn how to animate within Blender if needed.

Anyone who doesn't know how to animate using Blender is one of two things; An animator who simply doesn't use blender, or someone who doesn't know anything about animating. Don't concern yourself with providing something that would be easy for anyone to use, concern yourself with providing something that would be useful for an animator to use.

Model, rig, and animate in whatever program you choose. If Blender is your software of choice, then so be it. If you'd like some help deciding on the best software to use, then I'd be happy to provide as much of an opinion as I can.
 
Change her body to 2d and her weapons and clothes to 3d (make one or more of her limbs 3d in some frames )
 
This doesn't make any sense at all
Umm well if people are going to use 3d models make the sword & sagan 3d but Annie may (sorry couldn't resist) 2d (most of the characters are 2d with 3d models )
 
I don't see why Sagan would use a 3D model. He's an organic-moving character akin to Peacock's cronies. Pretty sure 3D models only apply to big and rigid objects, like Big Band's saxophone, Eliza's staff-o-phone, and Beowulf's the Hurting.
 
you know what? why don't you do that? hmmm? I feel like Karlaadana is doing something cool and I support her. ALSO THIS IS A FAN PROJECT IT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE 100% TO THE STANDARDS OF LAB ZERO.
 
Well we don't have much progress done, but we are picking up the pace.. so, there's plenty of room for another animator!
What do you mean by traditional animation?

Fantastic! Basically anything 2 dimensional. I have been doing 3D animation for a few years and I've been practicing drawing for a few months. I was thinking about creating animations with a 3d model and then redrawing it in photoshop making sure I have the correct proportions for the reference image at the beginning of this thread. I'll experiment with stuff on friday and saturday. I have some cool ideas for win/lose poses and intros. And above all, it would be really cool to make this happen so I would be willing to put in the work to make it to LZ standards if I could actually do it. I'll probably fiddle with some stuff this week to peak my curiosity and post my results.
 
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you know what? why don't you do that? hmmm? I feel like Karlaadana is doing something cool and I support her. ALSO THIS IS A FAN PROJECT IT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE 100% TO THE STANDARDS OF LAB ZERO.
I never said you have to :D its just I feel 3d Annie would look awkward do to skullgirls both eyes on one side stuyle