Hi there!

I have been away from flash a long time now, and just started animating again.
Here is a Run loop i just made, trying to make the stickman look less stiff (moving all the limbs), and a little more eased.
http://www.truploader.com/view/134746
CC is always welcome! (Just have to clarify, this is a RUNNING loop, not a sprinting loop ;))

His back should bend more to show that he's really going forward to run at high speed. His arms should go higher because he should be running fast, so his arms should be at least shoulder length. I don't really see anything wrong with the legs, just a little shaky.

Quote from Scar

His back should bend more to show that he's really going forward to run at high speed. His arms should go higher because he should be running fast, so his arms should be at least shoulder length. I don't really see anything wrong with the legs, just a little shaky.

I suppose you mean shoulder "height". Yeah, what you say is mostly right, technique-wise. But this is just running, not full speed, as you might have thought.
Also, the back should actually not bend, (I'm a runner, so I should know). You only have a forward bend on your back in the acceleration part.
Here is a video of Usain Bolt, the most perfect techinue of a sprinter. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QrlPmK4B94 As you can see, his back is not bent forward, (just slightly) But as you say, his arm go much higher. But also, if your sprinting, you don't place your foot infront of you. Thats only if you're running/jogging. A sprinter is placing it almost directly under himself. And if you look closely on my animation, you can see that he places it infront, another "hint" that shows in not full sprint :)

Weird. Most tutorials I've seen had their backs bent.

Yeah, I know, because it gives a "fake" impression of speed. But as I said, this is running, not sprinting. And i prefer the right technique over effect-techniques :)

Thanks both of you for the feedback!

Quote from Xarra

Scar's right, tweening's one of the styles you can go for, but it's not highly recommended. Nor is it recommended in the first place, to be honest.

There are other styles too, like Line, Pencil, and Brush. Most commonly used is brush. Some users prefer Line. And some actually use the Pencil. It just depends on which you feel comfortable with. If you like to have clean strokes like in line, but you prefer brush, just increase the smoothness to around 40 or 50.

And yeah I see what you mean, Tweening seems so rigid and limited to me :s I'll just stop being lazy and stick to practising with brush lol, oh and that 50 kills animation is lookin' sexy keep it up :D

Quote from JordanTheGreat

My second animation, a walk loop. I decided to go with line instead of brush this time with the help of Creative's tutorial
http://www.truploader.com/view/839018
thoughts? :)

this is a real improvement from ur last (if u don't mind me saying) slightly awkward run loop. its a bit slow and looks like he is sneaking up on someone but the quick fix for that is renaming ur anim XD or just upping the framerate a bit.

http://www.fileize.com/files/872110c3/053/Untitled-3.fla


my first animation

Post it as an swf so I can be bothered to watch it. Just press Ctrl-Shift-Alt-S in Flash.

Quote from torjus

Yeah, I know, because it gives a "fake" impression of speed. But as I said, this is running, not sprinting. And i prefer the right technique over effect-techniques :)

I've been looking through some animations and I found that bending the backs will make the sticks better. I'm not sure if it's better for it to look good or for it to thinked to be good. But it's your animation and you can do whatever you want with it :D. Most importantly, have fun, and it's no fun to 'force' yourself animating.

Quote from Nobody In Particular

Post it as an swf so I can be bothered to watch it. Just press Ctrl-Shift-Alt-S in Flash.

...Ctrl+Enter?

I made a Sprint loop in slow motion. It looked kind of "woobly". So I up'ed the framrate to make a normal sprint loop:
Slow-Mo: http://www.truploader.com/view/615418
Normal run Loop: (72 fps): http://www.truploader.com/view/334234
Sprint Loop: (120 fps): http://www.truploader.com/view/116721
The two last ones looks pretty much the same, maybe its too fast to see the difference?
I think at 72 fps it looked pretty good, let me know what you think! :)

Woah, that run looks so smooth! Way more realistic than most run loops I see done by pros, and yeah the 72fps looks the best

http://www.fileize.com/files/c558c8e6/2bf/Ball.swf

my first animation message me if you have any comments or advice thankyou for whatching

Quote from Holyanims

http://www.fileize.com/files/c558c8e6/2bf/Ball.swf

my first animation message me if you have any comments or advice thankyou for whatching

That's a really good start! I think that if you keep animating this way, basics an all, you'll improve very fast. Also, what torjus said.