The following is a walk cycle test created within Adobe Flash and Adobe After Effects.

If I am to use this in the final project it would be looped.

This consisted of 4 different feet images, 4 different leg images and 1 image of the body.

I feel it works well but may need to be sped up if I am to use this. This is to avoid the image of sliding along the floor.

 
Leg Down                

 Leg Up

This image would also be rotated.

 Foot Down

Foot Up

This would also be rotated.

This week I have been researching into how fruit would move (if it could).

Comparing the fruit to humans helps me imagine the movement.
For example, I imagine an orange to move much like a overweight person. Where as a Cucumber would move like a skinny person.

In women's magazines they are often comparing their body shapes to fruit, referencing back to this is helpful.






















My Animation will following a minimalist style so I will not have a flowing motion when animating the walk. I will however have the major key poses.

I have also been taking notice of the 'Elasticity' and 'hardness' of the fruit I am animating. This will have an effect on the exaggeration, when the fruit if moving. Also the animation principle 'squash and stretch' will benefit from this research.
The following video is a Tango advertisement. It shows many different types of fruit rolling down a hill. This helped with my research.

My animation will be called:  The Ripe, The Bad and The Cutlery
Original name: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

The following is a saloon door test. It was created by drawing 6 separate images importing them into Adobe After Effects and changing the opacity on each frame.

The orange will be walking in the final animation.

As you can see in the video I have also added some movement to a poster. I feel this gives the impression of a draft when the door is opened.

I used 3D layers when creating this animation test. I feel it works well.

Over the past week I have redrawn all of my art. I am now using Adobe Flash.

I started to animate with the old art but had to stop. This was because the characters looked out of place. The lines were very thick and didn't suit the backgrounds.

Old                                                                                       New

Old                                                                                      New

In my opinion the new artwork looks a lot more professional. I have also put the images in a neater file system, so it is easy to locate the images you need.

I found Adobe Flash to be a very useful piece of software.
When drawing you are able to choose the smoothness of the lines. This gives you a neat finished image.

You can also edit the lines you have drawn much like when masking in After Effects.



This software also has an easy way to add shadows. When using the brush tool you can choose to paint 'over' under' or 'on' a paint layer.

My art style is inspired by Tom Fulp and Dan Paladin. They are the founders of 'The Behemoth' and the creators of 'Castle Crashers' and 'Alien Hominid'.

They have a very distinctive style and create all of there art in Adobe Flash.

After much research into 'Castle Crashers' and other Behemoth titles. I have realized black lines are very rarely used. This is especially used for backgrounds. 

The outer lines are usually a darker color of the fill. 

I have created a mood board containing all of the things we associate with The Wild West.

I have decided to create the animation using Adobe After Effect and Adobe Illustrator.

I have just finished the art work for all characters and backgrounds.

For the past couple of week I have done some research into realistic motion. 

The following links are youtube videos that have helped me with my research:

Tumble Weed:

Depending on the size and the strength of the wind, a tumbleweed can move in many different ways.

The video above shows many different types of the weed moving. Some don't hit the ground, when others roll slowly.

Tumble Weed (The Simpsons):

This video shows tumble weed within Animation and how it could move.

My tumble weed artwork














Saloon Doors (Animation):

This is a short animation 'TetsuyaSantos' created in 2009. It shows the perspective of the doors when looking straight at them. 

My animation will have minimalist style so the door will not be a smooth animation. I will However have the key poses.

1

2

3

4.   The doors continue to swing for a short time after they have been used.

Walk Cycle:

The walk cycle above is a personal favorite of mine. I like the way the animator has included secondary action in the hair and feet. The character is also very appealing.

We all know what a walk looks like and how it is done.  Left foot forward, right foot forward, left foot forward and right foot forward. However when this is put into an animation, it wouldn’t signify the weight (or any of the factors in this report) of the character.

Lets look at the feet.

1:  Starting position. The foot is flat to create the feeling of weight and balance.

“Keep the foot back till the last possible moment” The Animator’s survival kit [2001] WILLIAMS R Pg.136

2: The toes then remain grounded as the heel elevates with the leg. I didn’t realize how much the toes bent until research.

3: The whole foot now is elevated. The knee is at its peek for bending.

4: The foot begins to return parallel to the ground

5: The heel has first contact with the ground. This softens the landing.

The process is then repeated.

There are many ways this could be changed to show the weight, age or balance of the character. For example the easiest alterations would be to change the way the foot lands, the height the foot is raised or the way the knee bends.