Project Annie...In Motion!

[Sparties]

yeah but this isn't based on strictly the game style, it's a 3D project
:\\\\\\\

 

[Fumako]

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

They're using the model to make 2d animation easier.
So, no need to worry about it being awkward!
E:
IT IS BASED ON THE GAME STYLE, PEOPLE ACTUALLY THINK THIS JUST A 3D PROJECT NOW???

 

[Skittylover228]

OK :3

 

[Sparties]

They're using the model to make 2d animation easier.
So, no need to worry about it being awkward!
E:
IT IS BASED ON THE GAME STYLE, PEOPLE ACTUALLY THINK THIS JUST A 3D PROJECT NOW???

yeah but this isn't based on strictly the game style, it's a 3D project
:\\\\\\\

strictly

 

[DukeMagus]

You can try the rigging part with something from daz3d or maya.

maybe even blender, if you have the guts to learn that behemoth

worst case scenario, seek help in the XNALara/XPS community

 

[Fumako]

stuff

The thing is, you called it a 3d project.
I don't think that's what this really is, though.

 

[Sparties]

The thing is, you called it a 3d project.
I don't think that's what this really is, though.

referring to karla's bit
not the entirety

 

[Fumako]

I'm confused now, let's just get back on topic~~

 

[Kuzlalala]

I always want to try animating Skullgirls-style, but I cannot find the free time to do it atm.

 

[Karlaaldana]

I'll just ignore the obvious misunderstanding that is happening on the last posts--

@Skullmageddon You make a very vital point, and since I think that making animating the model viable for anyone who wants to join the project could backfire... I was also thinking about making the effort to make more people interested in joining the animation process (by making the model more easily accesible).
But you are right, the best way to go thrugh this is actually making the Blender file avaliable, and set a lot of standards so anyone talented enough can help.

 

[Ninja]

sigh... i wish i can help, but my understanding of blender and 3d animation is non existent. I remembered saying i would do something here for this thread. And I will keep up on that. I'll be back in a week with something. idk maybe one of her normals.

 

[Skullmageddon]

Damn, why people be talkin' so much?

@Skittylover228 Like Fumako said, the purpose behind Karlaaldana's 3D model is to provide a reference, from which others may rotoscope. The final product is a completely 2D, hand drawn animation. The 3D model and animations are just a means to an end. Also, none of the SG sprites use 3D models in their final implementation. The animators use 3D models as a reference for various things (the Hurting, Eliza's staff, parts of Big Band, etc.), but the end result is a fully illustrated sprite.

@SecretlyEngarde Hello, how you doin'?

@Karlaaldana Having more people join this project isn't necessarily a good thing. If you want a fan based project to move forward then you need a small number of committed people who know what they're doing, not a vast number of half-baked ass tarts who daydream about Annie Doujin while hugging their Filia daki. All you should worry about at this point is properly rigging the model. We'll worry about whether or not anyone is willing (or able) to help animate once we get there :P

@Skullmageddon you're drunk, go home

 

[Karlaaldana]

@Skullmageddon That's what I was trying to say.. The search for the right people begins once I finish the rig.

 

[North888]

Those Annie frames I was working on never really got anywhere. Combination of lack of time and issues with my tablet...and by issues I mean both mine and my mom's completely dieing on me DX I've lost basically all the sketches I was doing. I'll try to hand draw them, but its gonna take longer and be probably worse quality, but it'll give some idea of possible animations still...

Why do things ALWAYS have to go wrong? ;_;

 

[Cas Chronon]

Alright, I said I would try to make win and lose poses for annie later in the week (and I will) but there was an intro concept I got stuck in my head that I just had to doodle as fast as I could. Tell me what you guys think of it. I hope it's coherent enough.

Spoiler: Annie Intro Concept

 

[Tank]

I like the idea of the sword falling out of the sky. It could probably have like a shooting star effect as it came down to keep with her theme. Then when it gets stuck in the ground little star sparks flash. The sword would be kinda scary coming down. Then she comes down a little more "magic girl" like

The way she picks up the sword needs to be more flashy. Like maybe a spin, pick up the sword, then pose. kinda like a sailor moon type thing.

Not this long or anything just this idea.

 

[Karlaaldana]

Well.. I might research a bit more about inverse kinematics, making very complex poses is a bit tough with my current IK setup.
(I'm still asigning correct vertex weights for everything, clipping and joint deformation will not be in the final rig).

 

[MysteriousJ]

Don't know what your skill level is in rigging, but these are my go-to videos when I forget how to use all of blender's crazy bone constraint shit: http://www.blenderguru.com/tutorials/introduction-to-rigging/

 

[Karlaaldana]

Don't know what your skill level is in rigging, but these are my go-to videos when I forget how to use all of blender's crazy bone constraint shit: http://www.blenderguru.com/tutorials/introduction-to-rigging/

Wow this is really usefull.. I will start using their tips to make a more complex rig!

 

[Cas Chronon]

I like the idea of the sword falling out of the sky. It could probably have like a shooting star effect as it came down to keep with her theme. Then when it gets stuck in the ground little star sparks flash. The sword would be kinda scary coming down. Then she comes down a little more "magic girl" like

The way she picks up the sword needs to be more flashy. Like maybe a spin, pick up the sword, then pose. kinda like a sailor moon type thing.

Do these updates sound cool?

Sword Fall
+stars plonking out of the ground when the sword hits
+some sort of zoom line to simulate a comet

Jump Down
=Keep the same
~maybe have stars plonk out of her bg when she lands
~maybe make her swoop, flip twirl and then land

Sword Pick up
+Throw in the air
+Twirl around
+Catch
+maneuver the sword to her idle frame

You know what? I think I'll start work on this since I'm already on a roll with it.

Progress (Still getting used to photoshop animation but I think I have the jist of it. It's a rough idea. I'll extrapolate more frames/squash & stretch stuff later) Hopefully I can draw body proportions well for the swoop/fall O.O

Spoiler

 

[Tank]

I'm just guessing here but i think the longest intro in SG is Eliza's at about 5 seconds so maybe that's about the longest the animation should get. just to have an idea for a limit. so thats what about 300 frames at most.

 

[oashkoash]

I recommend focusing more on Annie's Normals and Idles first, then giving us more time to brainstorm what her Intro, Winpose, Losepose or Outtakes are. Leaving something for you guys because I have so much hope and faith for this little project. And also because I want in. :D

 

[DDB]

Yes, please join the cause. You'll be a big help.

 

[oashkoash]

I've got plans to continue my work on the Minette and Panzerfaust frames I have on my hard drive, but Annie is definitely one of those that has captured my interest. So I am more than happy to lend a hand. Also, Aeon inevitably will follow.

 

[Karlaaldana]

I recommend focusing more on Annie's Normals and Idles first, then giving us more time to brainstorm what her Intro, Winpose, Losepose or Outtakes are. Leaving something for you guys because I have so much hope and faith for this little project. And also because I want in. :D

I was going to recomend that exact same thing... I'm glad someone understands.

 

[DDB]

Probably more her normals by this point.

She's gotten a LOT of idles so far, already.

 

[Tank]

Started a thing today.

Spoiler

The way she comes back to the ground is still up in the air but the launch seems to have a solid start. I'll work on it more later. gota have those effects.

in case you can't see it the way i got her to go from left hand reverse grip to right hand reverse grip was a behind the back hand swap during her crouch. That's was the quickest way i could think to do the animation since this move will likely be a DP that needs to be fast.

 

[chickenwithtie]

Is that a Guilty Gear reference
Holy shit

I'm in for the concept art of basic moves, btw; I have a few myself I'm working on but I'm ass at this so those who can't draw but want to contribute: drop some ideas, I may sketch some.

 

[North888]

it has a bit too much air tbh. Probably a bit more vertical movement instead of hte diagonal she gets.

 

[Skullmageddon]

it has a bit too much air tbh. Probably a bit more vertical movement instead of hte diagonal she gets.

Agreed. I think something closer to Squigly's Draugen Punch in terms of timing and distance covered would be more appropriate.

 

[North888]

The big thing with Annie I was having before both my tablets died on me was that her idle post meant she had to bend her legs forward or shuffle herself into a standing position. I feel her normals, particularly the sword normals, have her move forward on the front foot, often bending it forward.

 

[Tank]

The way the animation is shown is just to give a feel for the way it could look. The actual animation would be stationary and codeing would determine the arc she follows. At least thats what it looks like they do in the L0 streams. That said I think I'll make her jump about 1 annie high instead of 1.5 and make it more vertical.

 

[Dio Brando]

I'd love to see Annie performing a Flask/Somersault kick kinda like Guile's, with super armour frames it could be a good reversal, but since my drawing/animating skills are almost null i can't really make a portrait of it.

 

[North888]

I can't really see that Flash Kick working for Annie. Then again, she does have the legs for it...

 

[Witchfinder]

I can't really see that Flash Kick working for Annie. Then again, she does have the legs for it...

Then you got that whole "FLASH! AH-AH!" thing that she can work with befitting to her theme.

 

[Cas Chronon]

Alright! Skool is getting in the way again but here's what I have for beginning sword movements for both the POTENTIAL intro and j.mp/Crescent Cut

Spoiler: Intro (NOT A DECIDED CONCEPT)

Spoiler: j.mp/Crescent Cut

Sorry if I'm posting too much. I want to make sure I get this right since I'm a newbie. I would like some feedback on what I need to do/improve but I'll probably supplement those suggestions with a visit to the local art club at my school. I'm positive they can help further quench my thirst for learning this.

BTW is Crescent Cut a special move or did someone just make it a normal? I remember finding this somewhere.

 

[Skullmageddon]

I'm going to provide some feedback and thoughts for everyone sometime soon if I can, but one thing that I thought we should do moving forward is always animate Annie facing to the right as though she were on the player 1 side.

I wasn't 100% sure what I was doing with my original Idle animations. I knew that characters with asymmetrical features were considered canon from the player 2 side, so I simply animated her facing to the left. I now know that while they're designed to be canon from the P2 side, they're usually animated from the P1 side. As far as the original animations go, this simply means that the animations need to be flipped. Moving forward, we should just animate from the P1 side.

If I'm wrong about any of this, please let me know. If it makes things easier, I can go back and upload versions of the animations in which Annie is facing in the P1 direction.

 

[Tank]

Does it really mater as long as her eye patch side is toward the background? They need to be ale to flip to either side anyway.

 

[Skullmageddon]

Does it really mater as long as her eye patch side is toward the background? They need to be ale to flip to either side anyway.

Design wise, it doesn't matter. But if we want to animate based on L0 standards, then we would animate from the P1 side. That's how frames are both produced and, I would assume, first implemented. If we don't care about keeping to those standards, then we can do whatever.

 

[Skullmageddon]

Ok, so here we go.

@Tank, I've done my own version of Pillar so that I could make some points of comparison and provide some feedback. I haven't really provided strong feedback to anyone posting their work, so I figure this is as good a place to start as any.

Edit: I updated the animation with some minor improvements to movement and timing.

Spoiler

When it comes to building animations for Annie's normals and specials, I would focus heavily on the pose-to-pose aspects of her movement. Consider what the action of the move is. Then consider what various movements she needs to go through in order to perform that action. Next, focus on illustrating only the key poses that she must go through in order to move in such a manner. Emphasize the strongest aspects of her movement and poses. In order to convey the action well, we have to really emphasize what's important. Once you have the key aspects of the movement down, you can then focus more heavily on the timing.

@Cas Chronon, I'd like to see you focus on Annie's movement rather than that of her sword. Even if you don't feel comfortable in doing so, you should force yourself to do so. The movement of her sword is only an extension of her own action, so it's important to really focus on what Annie is doing and not what her sword is doing. Don't worry about making it look nice, at all. It's more important to block in the movement and establish the timing. You can always clean up the linework later.

Hmmm is there anyone else who has posted anything I should comment on at the moment? Ehhhh whatever, that should be enough for now. I haven't posted much in a while, but you guys seem to be picking up the pace again so maybe I'll help out around here more often.