Let's talk animation

·

4 min read

Let's talk animation

Today I have switched from coding back to art. In order to prototype fun gameplay I need more animations. They are the backbone of any action game and since action is a good part of the prototype I have in mind, I need more of them. And I need them as good as my inexperienced self can possibly create.

The idea for the combat system I am making is very similar to that of the first Dark Souls, with heavy, kind of slow, physical animations. I like how much you can feel the heaviness of a hit in that game and I would like to recreate the same feeling. I have started researching on the topic and I figured out that a key part in getting whatever I am looking for, is to get timing and spacing of keyframes right.

Inspired by this amazing video on how attack animations are crafted in Smash Bros, I focused my attention on the role of the following phases:

  • Wind Up
  • Strike (Execution, more in general)
  • Follow Through (or Recovery)

Based on how long each phase will be, the result will be very different. The time between Wind Up and Strike will help give the feel of how powerful a move is (the longer the Wind Up the more it looks like the character is charging up energy to release). Follow Through is a crucial phase for gameplay because it dictates how long I want to leave players vulnerable before giving control back to them. The Strike is important because it is where the satisfaction of the hit comes from so it should be cool to see.

The first thing I've done has been revisiting 2 old sword attach animations I have made some time ago. I have eyeballed the duration of each phase which is not the best method for a beginner. Anyway I have made something decent and here are the results:

slash.gif

This animation has roughly 6 frames of Wind Up, 8 of Strike and 16 of Follow Through.

For the following attempts I have decided to take recordings of Dark Souls gameplay and study how many frames are there per phase in the moves I want to replicate. For example, an R2 attack with a Longsword is divided roughly as follows: 6 Frames of Wind Up, 12 frames of Strike and 14 of Follow Through.

Once I will be confident with the results oI get from this approach, I will move on to animate my models in my own style but in order to establish a foundation for my skills I do not feel bad copying :D So, thank you Animators at From Software, whoever you are.

It's going to be tough but once I will master the basics of animation and modelling, since the two topics are quite interrelated, I will fear nothing! Maybe.

Till the next time, with new updates!