An Archer Animation Proposal

[Stan`]

Hello, made this animation today. I plan to use it for a mod, but maybe it could be used in the main game. It's for the new units mesh

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNdWPMZXi8w

Edited December 28, 2014 by stanislas69

[Loki1950]

Get a 404 on that link Stan

Enjoy the Choice

[Lion.Kanzen]

Me too( 404)

[Stan`]

Edited first post, sorry bout' that.

[Lion.Kanzen]

For me is perfect , I like time takes shoot, all archer units ( except cavalry archer) can have some time before shooting. Actually they are like machine gun very fast and this give them advantage.

But the action to tense the bow...

May be the tecnique is not the best

Edited December 28, 2014 by Lion.Kanzen

[Stan`]

Thanks for that video Lion. I was no trying to copy the Han Dynasty style though. I have been a bowman in the past.

[Lion.Kanzen]

Thanks for that video Lion. I was no trying to copy the Han Dynasty style though. I have been a bowman in the past.

ok I don't worry I figure the

European archery is different

For long bow

Edited December 28, 2014 by Lion.Kanzen

[Stan`]

Thanks for that video too. No doubt it will be useful in the future when a skilled animator comes around =)

[Lion.Kanzen]

You are skilled, best than That may be capture motion but your performance is good.

[Stan`]

You are skilled, best than That may be capture motion but your performance is good.

Thanks. Maybe one day I'll figure out how to use my kinect to make some.

[LordGood]

You want to draw in one motion, the sooner you stiffen your left arm and bring the weight into your right into your shoulder the better. Half-drawing would be unstable and tiring. dropping of your right wrist should be the only indicator of shooting, and the stance is way too wide.

lol I shot for two years, that would absolutely kill my shoulder after a few shots, and those arrows would be all over the place.

[Loki1950]

Yeah been shooting myself for about 50 years LG properly you draw with the back muscles not the arms there is some difference in follow though between Mongolian and Mediterranean draws as well.

Enjoy the Choice

[LordGood]

ah, putting the energy into your shoulder blade is what I meant.

It would be interesting for basic rank archers to make rookie mistakes like pluck, bend their arms, no follow through, or hold for too long

[Stan`]

Soo... You just want me to remove that little time between half drawing ?

[greenknight32]

The biggest difference with the Mongolian draw is the use of the thumb instead of 3 fingers to draw the string - note in the Manchu archery video, the thumb ring which is used to protect the thumb. Of course, that's not going to show in the game animation.

[LordGood]

Well yeah, that's a start. The stance is pretty wide and your archer really shouldn't break line of sight with his target. A well trained archer should know how to reload his bow without looking. You could try looking at eastern/western follow throughs for after shooting an arrow, it could be as simple as holding the bow up for a split second after shooting

also, irrelevant, but I have an excuse to post this

ha

but somewhat related, you could animate the bow too if you're feeling ambitious, just have your keyframe percentages between set up shooting and follow through sync up to the bow's.

unicorn longbow's normals are inside out

eeeh

[Stan`]

Well yeah, that's a start. The stance is pretty wide and your archer really shouldn't break line of sight with his target. A well trained archer should know how to reload his bow without looking. You could try looking at eastern/western follow throughs for after shooting an arrow, it could be as simple as holding the bow up for a split second after shooting

also, irrelevant, but I have an excuse to post this

clip0017.gif

ha

but somewhat related, you could animate the bow too if you're feeling ambitious, just have your keyframe percentages between set up shooting and follow through sync up to the bow's.

unicorn longbow's normals are inside out

eeeh

I'll animate the bow if it gets into the game I attached my reference. On your pony one they actually look down, are ponies bad archers ?

The biggest difference with the Mongolian draw is the use of the thumb instead of 3 fingers to draw the string - note in the Manchu archery video, the thumb ring which is used to protect the thumb. Of course, that's not going to show in the game animation.

Well we don't have Mongols for now. But if you look closely at my anim you'll see that the hand is opening. Therefore, adding a ring to the thumb is easy, and we could do it.

Mon film.mp4

Edited December 29, 2014 by stanislas69

[Loki1950]

Well we don't have Mongols for now

The Han used the Mongol draw as do most cultures east of India as well as the Turks,

an other difference is the side of the bow the arrow is set your ani shows Mongol style ie. arrow on the finger side this is important as do so with the three finger draw causes the arrow to swing into your face off the bow shelf.

Enjoy the Choice

Edited December 29, 2014 by Loki1950

[Stan`]

Oh yeah of course. I used the chinese mesh cause I like to showcase it mostly

I'll post another wip when I get home.

[Stan`]

Been a little cocky on that one Lordgood. Went from 255 frames to 199. Improved drawing, arrow drop, arrow pickup, and a little bit feet movement.

[Loki1950]

Better stan now for the bow

Enjoy the Choice

[Stan`]

Thanks !

[wowgetoffyourcellphone]

I think this one looks good:

[Loki1950]

Way too many polys in the mesh though it does indeed look good in the Unity game engine but no arrow shown and the draw looks rather shallow and kinda abstract but it does say a WIP.

Enjoy the Choice

[wowgetoffyourcellphone]

Way too many polys in the mesh though it does indeed look good in the Unity game engine but no arrow shown and the draw looks rather shallow and kinda abstract but it does say a WIP.

Enjoy the Choice

Yes, I think her draw is aimed at an enemy at medium or close distance. In the game maybe we can have 2 or 3 animations, for 2 or 3 distances? A long range archer animation would look a lot different than when shooting at a closer targets.