Kick and Punch Animation

#1

Hello,

Here is a new animation I am working on that I would like to add to my demo reel. There are still a few things I need to add to it to make it complete. Just wanted some fresh eyes to point out any problems that there may be. I’d appreciate any comments or critiques that you may have that can help me make this better.

Thank you in advance for watching this, and I hope you enjoy it.

P.S. - the right hand will be holding a knife on the next update[hopefully]. The fist couple of frames has the character flipping the knife in the air, which is why his arm moves that way.

Kick and Punch Playblast

#2

looks good but on the hits hold them for 2-3 frames more to show the hit an power make it tighter right now feel like he jus going through the motions. hope that helps

#3

thanks for your thoughts. I’ll keep your comments in mind while I work on the update

#4

yeah, put some more weight into it and it should look great

#5

hello again.

Here is the update I have made for my animation sequence. Let me know if there is anything that stands out. Any comments or critiques are greatly appreciated, especially on the weight behind the hits since those were commented on in this thread before.

Thanks again for watching, and I hope you enjoy

Kick & Punch update

#6

lookin good jus add a frame or two on each hit, make each hit mean something

#7

the updated version definitely has a little more umph in some spots, I would really try and do the same for the kick though, it really doesn’t feel like it has a lot of power. It is a pansy kick =)

#8

Yeah I agree, more exaggeration on the hits and kicks. By doing this I think you’ll get more contrast in the movements as well. I think It’s definitely coming together though man, good work.

#9

I will definitely be polishing the hits to make them stronger. Thanks for your advice and comments.

#10

Deffinatley put some meaning into the hits as above postera have said.
I would also like you to take a look at the second pose he hits.
It looks as if hes foot is gliding.
Hard to tell without seeing frame by frame but again I think you need to have a look at the weight shift. Especielly when it looks so good in the rest of the animation.

dew

#11

Moving this out of the Focused Critiques forum due to the lack of response from the original poster.

#12

You got a good sense of balance here. That’s pretty hard to do in situations of rapid action like this. The one thing I want to point out is during his first front kick (“Sparta kick”, chest kick, I don’t know what you want to call it) he brings his body forward and it pops. When you do a pushing kick like that, the body doesn’t come forward with it, is actually pushes away to counter the forward force of the kick to keep him balanced. If he was doing a high kick where the force is mostly vertical, the body then moves forward to maintain the center of gravity.

When you fix this, it should clear up that pop in the middle of the kick, but be careful because the balance of your next stab is going to change a bit once you change the body position.

#13

Great work. Your second posting is definitely a big improvement on the first.

Here’s some feedback to help push it a bit further…

  1. Watch for over extending limbs. You cleaned up a lot of this since the first video, but there’s still that little pop here and there that you get when a limb goes to full extension. You can usually fix this by pushing it back to 99% extension and still get exactly the same motion without the popping.

  2. Lead into moves with the head a little more. This is only a problem on some moves, but at times (like on your first real forward stab), he’s starting his punch before he knows where he’s looking. Plus it’ll help with the weight and balance of your moves.

  3. The knife is moving like it has a weight on the end of it (like a hammer). The weight of a knife is evenly distributed, so there’s not going to be much drag when he slashes. It also might be stronger on the slashes to have him holding the blade pointed along the same line as his forearm, kind of like he’d grip a flashlight or a scalpel. Certainly when he stabs forward at the start, the blade needs to point down the direction of the thrust (it looks more like a punch at the moment with a little wrist twist at the end).

  4. When the guy takes his first big stab, just before the kick, his body needs to hit it’s key pose at the same time as the arm. Currently the arm hit’s full extension first, and then the body and the foot twist round into your ‘hadouken’ pose several frames later. This would have more impact if the arm and the torso twist and strike as one.

  5. On the first kick, you should push the torso so it’s tilted back a little, and push the pelvis slightly past the planted foot, like this. This is a stronger pose (stronger lines of action), and it’s a little more on balance.

  6. When it gets to the horizontal slashes, you’re mostly using just the arms and upper body. You’ll get a much better result if you use the whole body and lift the heels off the floor a bit on the follow through (see Assassin’s Creed’s combat).

  7. You’re not getting as much impact as you could on the final kick because the key pose before the strike (pose number 2 here), has the pelvis and torso already twisted forward, so it’s already taken some of the energy out of it. Again, back to point 4, the impact on your strike poses will be better if the twist of the body is hitting the pose at the same time as the leg thrust. Also, that same pose (pose 2), could do with you pulling the foot back and up a bit more, really crunching it up so that when you then strike, you’re releasing that coiled tension.

There are a few other little things, but nothing serious, and hopefully this should be more than enough to keep you going.

Hope that helps. :slight_smile:

#14

Headless,

Thanks so much for your input. I will definitely be going back to adjust my work with your opinions, they seem to be right on point of what I need to make this a stronger piece. Hopefully I can have a new version of this sequence very soon.

dpumpa, thanks for your input as well, I will also keep your comments in mind as im adjusting the animation.

Thanks again to everyone for commenting on my work.

#15

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