Animation Question

Discussions and chats related to Six Days in Fallujah.
Post Reply
User avatar
aggimajera
Posts: 154
Joined: Mon Mar 22, 2021 10:09 pm
Has thanked: 296 times
Been thanked: 330 times

Animation Question

I need to ask - I love, love what got showcased yesterday. The floodgates for hype were opened, and you guys are bound for more attention. I know you guys got the guts to persevere through the bullshit that will inevitably come your way now that you've shown you're not canned.

I need to ask though - the animation department. How current was the build showcased by the Youtubers? Your sound design is through the roof, you guys fuckin nailed it on that department. But the same could not be said for the animation. Though the animations both for the weapons and characters were not necessarily "bad", they were lacking in many areas. The characters felt artificial in their actions, the camera and weapons movement felt tight and constricted, and the reloads were a bit "straight-ahead".

I know you guys are in pre-alpha and animation will undoubtedly improve, but it was an area of weakness in the video showcases. Is there any sort of consensus in the team about that aspect?
User avatar
optimise
Posts: 29
Joined: Tue Dec 20, 2022 7:53 am
Has thanked: 13 times
Been thanked: 27 times

Re: Animation Question

Agreed, the videos that went up are absolutely amazing but animations definitely stood out and looked very artificial, really hoping they get improved down the line, especially the reload ones.

- optimise
User avatar
AmperCamper
Community Manager
Posts: 1004
Joined: Fri Jan 29, 2021 5:02 pm
Has thanked: 1169 times
Been thanked: 2244 times
Contact:

Re: Animation Question

optimise wrote: Wed May 24, 2023 12:54 pm Agreed, the videos that went up are absolutely amazing but animations definitely stood out and looked very artificial, really hoping they get improved down the line, especially the reload ones.

- optimise
Thanks for the feedback on our animations, guys. Can you share some references for animations that have the characteristics you're looking for? We want to better understand the issue here: are all animations "artificial" or is this limited to characters? What about weapons - is this a reload animation issue? What weapons?
User avatar
optimise
Posts: 29
Joined: Tue Dec 20, 2022 7:53 am
Has thanked: 13 times
Been thanked: 27 times

Re: Animation Question

AmperCamper wrote: Fri May 26, 2023 7:34 am
optimise wrote: Wed May 24, 2023 12:54 pm Agreed, the videos that went up are absolutely amazing but animations definitely stood out and looked very artificial, really hoping they get improved down the line, especially the reload ones.

- optimise
Thanks for the feedback on our animations, guys. Can you share some references for animations that have the characteristics you're looking for? We want to better understand the issue here: are all animations "artificial" or is this limited to characters? What about weapons - is this a reload animation issue? What weapons?
The reload animations is what particularly stood out to me, especially that of the M16 which looks really stiff & unnatural. Another thing I just noticed while watching Controlled Pair Gaming's latest video is the hipfire; where the weapon looks to stay overly static, here's a timestamp:
Sort of difficult to describe the latter, but I'd suggest looking at how a game like Insurgency Sandstorm makes weapons look and feel while being hipfired in comparacent, where it's still controllable but feels natural in terms of recoil control and target acquisition, this is also in large part thanks to their system which makes the weapon move around independently from the camera a little bit - this factor is huge when it comes to making handling seem organic, they had it since the Mod days in 00's and it really contributed quite a lot to how good it felt to play those games, here's a timestamp of a rough explanation of this system, would love to see something similar in SDIF;

- optimise
Khe sanh
Posts: 17
Joined: Sat May 06, 2023 6:35 pm
Has thanked: 18 times
Been thanked: 12 times

Re: Animation Question

Still not doing watching and analyzing all these videos, but after watching the latest one by controlled pairs, I think the SAW reload definitely needs some work, hipfire looks odd too, but besides that I'm really liking what I've seen so far.
oceansixteen
Posts: 5
Joined: Wed May 24, 2023 1:32 pm
Been thanked: 2 times

Re: Animation Question

for me, the weirdest looking thing was the m16 reload. like optimise said, it just looks too stiff. I'll link three videos, one being a timestamp of SDIF, a short of the M4 animation in MW2, and one of Tarkov for comparison. Notice how in the MW2 and Tarkov ones, the camera shakes slightly as the magazine is taken out and put back in and the little clunky sounds of the gun being manipulated. i think something that would help is maybe raising the gun and tilting it to the side more like the MW2 clip



https://youtube.com/shorts/D4rcBv9EOa8?feature=share

User avatar
aggimajera
Posts: 154
Joined: Mon Mar 22, 2021 10:09 pm
Has thanked: 296 times
Been thanked: 330 times

Re: Animation Question

AmperCamper wrote: Fri May 26, 2023 7:34 am
optimise wrote: Wed May 24, 2023 12:54 pm Agreed, the videos that went up are absolutely amazing but animations definitely stood out and looked very artificial, really hoping they get improved down the line, especially the reload ones.

- optimise
Thanks for the feedback on our animations, guys. Can you share some references for animations that have the characteristics you're looking for? We want to better understand the issue here: are all animations "artificial" or is this limited to characters? What about weapons - is this a reload animation issue? What weapons?
The guys already explained it quite nicely. Most of the problems lie in the reload animations.

When the character reloads weapons it just seems a bit robotic. You can see it in Controlled Pairs' gameplay when he loads his 40MM, and when he is loading his M1014. The animations are not bad, but they just aren't organic. Each action leads into the next smoothly with little deviation, little personality or humanity is in the hands, and the timing of the physics of everything just seem to match too closely. There isn't too much "cause and effect" going on here.

The best reload animations of all time, in my opinion, are right here.


They're a bit sluggish, but they're accurate and smooth and small traces of imperfection are planted - missing the mag well by a bit, the camera sway while he reaches for a new mag on his kit, having the shuffle the rifle while he one hands it. Since we are in a warzone, having a sense of urgency or even fear in the hands of the Marine during his reloads is an excellent opportunity to express fear or stress.
User avatar
AmperCamper
Community Manager
Posts: 1004
Joined: Fri Jan 29, 2021 5:02 pm
Has thanked: 1169 times
Been thanked: 2244 times
Contact:

Re: Animation Question

Thanks for all the references on this, gang. I'm compiling a list for our team, and these are extremely helpful for us.
Post Reply