Trying to make time for this project again. Here is my latest design test. I'm pretty happy with these basic character body shapes. Wanting to portray under-represented ethnicities, but also wanting to use less human-y colors. So still working on colors and clothing in that regard and for background separation and color appeal. The frog is supposed to be wearing splash goggles, but they sort of just look like glasses.
One tiny comment:
Her left arm should be completely extended showing the force made to hold the arc. Also the arrow should be parallel to the line that connect the feet from her to the feet from him. This is the perspective that the viewer perceive if she's pointing with the arc to the boy.
-G
Building on what Genete suggests, she should also be leaning back instead of forward when pulling the tension - everything should be pulling back from the extended front arm.
Thanks for your comments! I will work on your suggestions for the bow and arrow pose when I get to the storyboarding. This is actually three different parts of the scene, I just wanted to get the characters all on the background and in the same view to get some consistency as I finalize designs. I think I these are getting pretty close. [edited to show most recent designs]
okay, think I have the clothes and colors figured out for this scene. Also relative character size. Now I just need to figure out how the frog looks from different angles, especially the goggles.
Honestly still not sure what program I will use for what. I'm pretty sure I will use AS for backgrounds (so I can easily change the line width for different shots) and the special effects (some of which is character animation). I want to animate frame by frame in a limited style so planning to try Toon Boom Animate for character animation, but have never had much success with it in the past. But I'd also like to get more textured line art (which my version of Animate does not support) so I thought about bringing photoshop and/or illustrator into it. But I don't think it will be worth the work flow. Not 100% sure yet.
I love the simplicity, colour key and sparseness of the original designs -- some of that seems to have been lost somehow. I think textures would just take you further away. It's just my opinion...
You can't have everything. Where would you put it?
Thanks for the feedback, jahnocli! I can see what you mean. I think the line width and zoom of the samples contribute to that impression. There is also more detail on the characters in the later example because they have props that are needed for the story. But it is definitely something I will look out for to keep some level of consistency between the long shots and the close ups. The kind of line texture I am thinking of would be extremely subtle, as in, you can hardly see it when you're actively looking for it. I just want a slightly less glassy, sleek looking line.
As you're using Photobucket to host your images, I've never been able to view them at work. I finally remembered to check at home and indeed, this is a great character! I also always like seeing the process of going from sketch to Anime Studio. Definitely an art I have not mastered, and almost certainly never will.
Here is a rough animatic for my first sequence in this story. The voicework is temporary and the sketches are rough. just trying to workout dialogue, direction, continuity, composition etc. I would love to hear any critique you have so I can improve it. Thanks!
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stephenx and danimal--thanks, these are just drawings, not in AS yet. I have been experimenting with AS 9.5 and with all the improvements over my last version, I think it's going to work really well.
