The VG Resource

Oh, damn, forgot to post in here more often. Not that there was much to post though, been just working on some commissioned animations, and on a side project for SRB2, since after I had finished Knuckles, people were expecting me to remake Sonic as well. I thought I'd do it, but not as a complete remake, just more so of a revamp. Here's a sample of the differences on it, mostly for the sake of consistency and good aesthetics:

->

I also recently got back to do animations for Hitmonchan. The guy who commissioned him hasn't come online since a while, but it bothered me to keep it on hold, so I decided to do something simple such as a jab.

The animation is nice, but some about it looks off. The back fist should probably be more still since the jab seems to be very controlled. Hmm.. Maybe it's weight distribution? I'm still learning animation myself, but it seems like the weight is always centered between his feet. Have his hips move forward a bit (so its a bit more on his front foot) along with his front foot remaining where it is, just slightly bending forward instead of moving. That should add a little power instead of removing it (the front leg/foot movement seems to remove visual power)

I don't get what you're saying about the other fist staying more still. Actually, I don't really get most of what you tried to say about the whole weight focus just for doing a jab, although I updated it partially based on your feedback.



Now with colors~

Sorry about that, I'm terrible at explanations. I see what you're trying to aim for so I guess things look okay. (But, outside of the animation style, the ref you showed is very weightless and twitchy =/ In game, it's probably fine)

TheShyGuy had a point. Your Hitmonchan has terrible form compared to Dudley, which explains why the jab looks off. The animating itself is really smooth, but the pose could be better. Hitmonchan can't pack a lot of strength in the punch as it is curently, it doesn't feel fully extended and it's a low blow. Not only that, but the back foot doesn't flex like that either irl. It's awkward to fight with one leg facing one way and the other another when you're boxing.

Here's an edit of two of your frames taking into account Dudley's frames:

Note the height of the arm and how it is roughly level with the eye. The chest goes from front to side, too. I haven't edited the other glove, but I'd say it goes up far too high: if you consider that in the first Dudley frame its top touches his chin, and in the second frame it's slightly above the level of his mouth, aswell as next to it.

Anyway hope it helps!

I like how smooth the punch is on the recoil, but the extension looks really weak, kinda like a sissy punch. I think you should add a blur and cut out a couple frames to make it look stronger.

@Midi: It's a jab. Also known as Low/Weak Punch. Adding blur to it would be exaggerating it for such a weak punch.

Ah, I see. Still seems kinda slow to me, even for a weak punch.

The back leg looks like it moves instead of bending. The front knee looks like it pops. Also, a weak punch doesn't equate to little effort. There needs to be some power coming from the hips and upper shoulders, not just the arm.

Well, I was just thinking of finalizing the animation as it is, but since I recently wanted to make his upper body turn a little for his shoulder go better along the jab, the shoulders as they were bothered me, as they didn't seem to fully turn like the chest did, so I tried something.



How are the shoulders now?

So, assuming this is a jab (since that's the Dudley animation for his jab) there are a few things you'll want to keep in mind for a realistic boxing jab.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1I_nmhujs2k#t=274

As shown in that vid ^^^^, a jab is quick and all about forward momentum. Simply bending your knee doesn't allow for enough push, so when executing a jab you'll want to step forward completely, then pull back after.



Bit sloppy, but this is the jist of how a boxing jab would look. Hitmonchan also has muscles in his arms, so a straight line doesn't really work for him (he'd also appear quite weak, which doesn't seem right ). I also made a few changes based on references I found of him from the anime and promo art, dunno if those will be of use but thought I'd throw them in there.

Another thing to keep in mind is that a jab is quick, so the animation should be quick. Going directly from a slight bend to the straight jab is a great technique for this, and the one used in Dudley's animation in 3S. Your's is verrrrry close to that and it'd be fine as is, but just a little quicker on the rise up and it'd be perfect.

Your sample looks... rather muscular for Hitmonchan, although yeah, I was confused about how his arm should look when stretched. There are so many references where his arms are just sticks, so it's confusing. I'm going to try to make his arms more defined looking while still being kind of thin. Thank you for the video, by the way, it will really help for reference on future animations (yes, I'm gonna have to make a whole playable character). Gonna make his foot step a bit forward, but not too much.



Also made the later half of the animation a little faster, so it would make more sense as a jab.

This one's done, now I can move on to his other animations and some other commissions of mine.