I am starting to make Geno in battle. Here is his idle animation.

Somebody get Star or Ridge in here!

Well, crap.
I was just about to pm you, Ton, about unlocking this. He sent me a pm about this.
I should be like..an M&L Mod for these sort of things lol

LET'S BEGIN:
He looks a bit..flat. Especially around the part where he is wood. There is no definition to it and lacks proper shading. It's all blocky(heh..wood..blocky..)
Some of the poses are hard to read. I'd suggest making things more clean.
Also, Geno could be a bit bigger. That way, you can work on making the details show properly.

Animation wise..it's really not that bad. It needs work though. Too energetic for someone like Geno though. I don't like how the yellow symbol on his move is stationary, yet the back of it moves.
The legs bend so weird. It's like they're broken. I'd suggest taken more in mind of his joints.

I think..that's about it.

First off, the perspective is wrong. Look at the luigi sprite you based your style off again if you can please.
Second, for an idle animation: Its very strange and doesn't feel like an idle.
Third, the yellow symbol doesn't move at all.

And last but not least, like Star said: You should make him a little bigger. Helps alot really

I think this should be the correct size for Geno.

(07-27-2012, 01:45 AM)Star Wrote: I should be like..an M&L Mod for these sort of things lol

hello

MegaMario, Before you try to change anything else on this battle pose, I would suggest making other views first, namely a front and side (profile) standing/direction sprites. It will help you tweak not only size issues but also proportioning him correctly. (The diagonal pose should be your in-battle base; characters around Geno's size use the same parts for overworld and battle.)

Getting more specific:
Palette - Your palette is crying for help. First off, try to make colors more saturated and shades more contrasting. Right now, this almost looks like PiT style (that's a bad thing).
Steal Mario's blue and try to make a pallet of 5-6 colors for his body/wood (use the darkest for his shoes and shade them with black). You shouldn't need more than one yellow; you can use his wood shades to shade the yellow on his cape and hat. For the reds/hair, you only really need 2-3 colors, the darkest of which you can use on the eyes...
Size - Please get rid of Luigi, he's completely useless to you here. Get a real size comparison with Mario/Geno from both SMRPG and BIS in a standing pose.
Details and Shading - Once you refine your palette, you need to work on shading and detailing Geno correctly. Instead of using only dark outlines everywhere (ex. his face, chest, and knees) you need to smooth things out with blending/shading/AA.
Animation - This is the last thing you should worry about. You need to get a static standing pose completed and ready to go before you even try to revamp the idle.
Anyway, As others have pointed out, the idle animation isn't that bad, but it doesn't fit with Geno. Geno is more stoic and doesn't move very much; he's a wooden doll, almost like a robot. Also, you need to add more frames so the animation is smoother overall. BIS isn't Superstar Saga, you can't just bounce between five frames.

(07-27-2012, 01:45 AM)Star Wrote: I don't like how the yellow symbol on his hat is stationary, yet the back of it moves.

Don't shoot me for this, but after seeing enough of Geno, the yellow symbol on his hat (to me) really is a symbol, not an actual bow or something. So I don't see why it should move.
The hair, however, does need to move a little.

Hopefully the amount of text in this post isn't off-putting to the point of skimming, but trust me, I'm not just throwing out random criticisms. You need all of them.

YO MAN, I'm gonna have to shoot you anyway about the symbol thing.

Nah, just kiddin. Love ya man.
Like Ridge was saying, it may seem like a lot to read his criticism, but it's crucial to read. If you ever have long critics like that, theyre the best feedbacks to read because the person behind the feedback is dedicating THEIR time to FULLY analyze your art. Instead of just passing by the piece like most people do.(I'm guilty of that) lol

(07-27-2012, 01:48 PM)Star Wrote: I need to talk to you about a project idea sometime

OH FRACK YES.

(07-27-2012, 01:48 PM)Star Wrote: YO MAN, I'm gonna have to shoot you anyway about the symbol thing.

Now, hold on there! Let's be civil about this! Just... Put that Louisiana gun away, pal... We don't need no vi-o-lence...

(07-27-2012, 01:48 PM)Star Wrote: I need to talk to you about a project idea sometime

oh god
what do you want from me

Let's discuss that somewhere else; personally I'd like this to be the last post about a project not by MegaMario, since that's not really fair to him. Catch me on Skype or something.

On topic, MegaMario, the larger Geno is about how tall he should be, but not with his knees bent. His hat could also be too tall, but you'll figure that out. Like I said, just get a good reference and scrap Luigi and you'll be fine.

(07-27-2012, 01:48 PM)Star Wrote: I need to talk to you about a project idea sometime

All of my boners.

Here is Geno's front pose. I will do the side pose next.

This is a way better start than trying to jump into an in-battle animation. Still, there is room for improvement
-eyes need to be bigger
-a different blue hue. More lighter
-About the palette itself, listen to what Ridge said about them. I'd be pretty much repeating what he said. You still have that palette problem going on.
-Needs more depth
-His boots should not be black like that


I believe this official artwork of Geno will help you out alot.

Here is an updated version of the front pose, a new side pose, and an updated battle pose.

Update. I just made a new idle version of Geno. I'm gonna start on the Geno Beam.

It doesn't look so much like the cloth is billowing and it looks more like it's just growing outwards.