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关于制作2D游戏精美动画的5项建议

发布时间:2012-09-03 10:06:40 Tags:,,,

作者:Eric Caoili

在3D游戏统领的时代,即使是《街头霸王》及《超级马里奥兄弟》的最新版本,也是采用立体人物造型,而基于精灵的2D游戏已成稀物。

由于开发者追求3D图像的刺激效果以及节约模式,许多人认为,《合金弹头》或《阿拉丁》这类游戏的精良动画制作已成为一门失传的艺术,已被人们轻视并抛弃。

merckings(from gamasutra)

merckings(from gamasutra)

但仍有一小部分华丽的2D精灵游戏不时亮相,其中有一部分带有动画师Paul Robertson的艺术色彩,比如育碧杰出的游戏《歪小子斯科特对抗全世界》(游戏邦注:它由育碧蒙特利尔工作室开发)。

Robertson的创作风格总是极易辨认,短小粗壮的人物造型与《River City Ransom》中的角色类似,每一帧都充满详尽的细节和个性。

他的最新动画会出现在《Mercenary Kings》之中,这款通过Kickstartered平台集资的2D游戏将由Tribute Games(前育碧蒙特利尔元老)团队开发。作为《歪小子科斯》和《骷髅少女》等其他游戏的动画师,Jonathan Kim也为PC游戏创作动画。

如今已有许多关于制作像素艺术的教程和讨论会议,所以Kim和Robertson在此要分享的是一些关于游戏精灵制作的相关建议,以助开发者突出自己的动画特色,吸引更多玩家。

1.发挥到极致

按照Kim的说法,目前,大多数从事2D精灵制作的人们并没有充分润色和完善自己的动画。你可以将此归结于各种各样的原因——时间或预算的限制,美工过早停笔,太过匆忙地转入下个动画制作等等——但是,这样的结果只会带来无趣的动画姿势,以及容易被人遗忘的动画。

Robertson解释道:“我只是试图去做我认为最棒且最搞笑的事情。我总会想象,当人们看到这些动画时的反应,如果它无法激起人们的兴趣,我就会抛弃此作品,又或者做些改造,直到我满意为止。实际上,这一点不仅适用于像素艺术,也是任何艺术的通用原则。

toddingram_freakout(from gamasutra)

toddingram_freakout(from gamasutra)

当然,你也不想一直纠结于同个动画人物,导致它看起来非常复杂,无法体现原本该有的行动特色。这也是为何我们应该把作品展示给他人,以便他们提些删减或增加等修改建议。

2.让每个动画都活灵活现

修改动画的部分作用是确保角色不会显得过于呆板,或者好像它们是由各个动作拼凑而成。即使是在赋予角色生命的时候,比如简单的人类似的呼吸,不能单纯让胸膛上下起伏,你需要做的还有很多。

Robertson提到要保持角色的动态效果,即使在他们笔直站着的时候。你需要为游戏角色增添弹力、拳头转动、眨眼动作,你可以添加一切事物使得角色看起来是有生命的精灵。

exosuit_idle(from gamasutra)

exosuit_idle(from gamasutra)

Robertson补充道:“你还必须配上些动作,比如头发和衣服在风中飘扬,或者随着角色的移动而飞扬,赋予它们夸张的面部表情,可爱或者滑稽懒散的动作,赋予任何动作以凸显它们的个性。”

3.创造关键帧和轮廓

当涉及到描绘精灵时,Robertson提到:“最重要的是要找到极为强烈的关键帧。这与动画的流畅性无关,如果缺少了重要的关键帧,动画仍会显得劣质。”

他指出,许多老式精灵游戏只有一帧或两帧的动画,但是它们仍然不失妥当。Capcom的《Super Gem Fighter Mini Mix》(游戏邦注:在日本称为《口袋战士》)就是这种典型例子,角色的变大,拔出武器或者完全改变外观这些动作只需两帧就可以完成。

sak_bat(from gamasutra)

sak_bat(from gamasutra)

对于没有经过正规动画训练及了解动画原则的动画师,Kim建议他们要精通轮廓描绘:“你必须注意负空间(实体周围的空间)。你要确保所有事物一目了然。你应该不想在躯干区域发现一只手臂,那你就无法判断到底发生什么状况了。”

4.尝试限制帧数

美工有时会忍不住在动画中添加过多的帧数,他们告诉自己:“哦,也许这里可以使用1-2个的分解帧。”但最好不要过多修饰你的动画,要限制帧频的数量,最好用一个出色的帧来来代替,保证动作效果不会丧失。

dog_tank_idle(from gamaustra)

dog_tank_idle(from gamaustra)

colonel_move_out(from gamasutra)

colonel_move_out(from gamasutra)

dog_men_startup(from gamasutra)

dog_men_startup(from gamasutra)

过多的帧数也会毁坏角色的定时和基调。Kim表示:“这是游戏动画中最重要的因素,你不能为了动画而设置帧数。帧数的首要目的是服务于游戏玩法,其次才是为了美观。”

5.不要过多纠结于技巧问题

精灵游戏的粉丝及动画家有时会过多迷恋像素图案,过多关注技巧而忽略了实际内容。Kim指出,当你上传自己的作品时,看到美工在网上社区对你的批评时,你会感到特别郁闷。

“人们可能都这样评论:‘这幅图画色彩太多,我都不知道你要传达什么效果。’”他们也可以是这样:‘不,你太过注重细节,忽略了整幅图画想要呈现的形象。’”

irem_vs_taito_2(from gamaustra)

irem_vs_taito_2(from gamaustra)

如果你想更多了解如何制作精美的游戏动画,Robertson表示最好的办法就是体验Taito和Irem开发的经典游戏,一帧帧地观看整部动画电影,进行相关课程辅导,阅读Ollie Johnston和Frank Thomas的著作《 The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation》。(本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译,拒绝任何不保留版权的转载,如需转载请联系:游戏邦

5 tips for making great animations for 2D games

by Eric Caoili

In this era dominated by 3D games, when even the latest versions of Street Fighter and Super Mario Bros. are made up of polygonized characters, quality sprite-based 2D games are rare.

Many now consider the process behind making beautifully animated productions like Metal Slug or Aladdin to be a lost art, forgotten and undervalued as developers chased the excitement and economy of 3D graphics.

But there are still a handful of gorgeous sprite-based games that release every once in a blue moon, and a few have had the fingerprints of animator Paul Robertson all over them, like Ubisoft Montreal’s highly-regarded Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game.

Robertson’s style is immediately recognizable, featuring short and stocky figures that look like River City Ransom characters brought up to modern standards, with much more detail and personality packed into each frame.

His latest work can be found in Mercenary Kings, a soon-to-be-Kickstartered 2D run’n gun developed by the Ubisoft Montreal veterans at Tribute Games (Wizorb). Jonathan “Persona-sama” Kim, also an animator on Scott Pilgrim and other titles like Skullgirls, is on board for the PC title, too.

There are already plenty of tutorials and discussion threads about the technical aspects of making pixel art out there — so Kim and Robertson shared some general advice for animating game sprites that really stand out and leave players wanting to see more.

Push it to the limit

According to Kim, most people working on sprite-based 2D games nowadays tend to not push their animations enough. You can blame that on a number of reasons — time and/or budget constraints, artists settling early and wanting to rush to the next set of sprites, etc. — but the results are uninteresting poses and forgettable animations.

“I just try to make the most awesome and ridiculous thing I can think of,” explains Robertson. “I always imagine other people’s reaction when they look at something I’ve done, and if it seems underwhelming I’ll push it further or add more to it till I think it’s good enough. Actually this works for any art, not just pixels.”

Of course, you don’t want to overwork an animation to the point where it looks too busy and takes away from what’s supposed to be communicated by the movement. That’s why it’s useful to have someone to show your work to, and who can say whether you need to tone it down or push it more.

2. Make everything bouncy and feel alive

Part of pushing your animations is making sure that characters never appear stiff, or as if they’re made up of independent moving parts. Even when animating something as simple as a person breathing, you need to do more than just move their chest up and call it a day.

Robertson says that you should always try to keep the character moving, even if they’re standing still. Add some bounce to your characters, move their fists, make them blink, and add whatever you can so they look like they’re living, breathing sprites.

“[You have to animate] things like hair and clothes blowing in the wind or swaying around while they move, giving them exaggerated facial expressions, cute or funny idle animations, anything that makes them feel like they have a personality,” he adds.

3. Create strong key frames and silhouettes

When it comes to animating your sprites, Robertson says “The most important thing is to have really strong and extreme key frames. It doesn’t matter how smooth the animation is, if it doesn’t have awesome keys, it’ll still look shoddy.”

He points out that a lot of older sprite-based games have only one- or two-frame animations, but they still hold up well. Capcom’s Super Gem Fighter Mini Mix (Pocket Fighter in Japan) is a great example of this, with its characters growing huge, pulling out weapons, or changing their look completely in a couple of frames.

For those without formal animation training and a grasp of its principles, Kim advises they master silhouettes: “You have to be careful about the negative space. Make sure everything reads from just looking at it against a white background. You don’t want an arm to be inside the torso area, and you can’t tell what’s going on.”

4. Try to limit your frames

Artists can be tempted at times to add too many frames to their animations sometimes, telling themselves, “Oh, maybe this could use one or two more breakdown frames.” But it’s best not to over-flourish your animations, limiting the amount of frames and just using a good smear instead, to ensure the impact of the movement isn’t lost.

Going overboard with your frames can also ruin the timing and tone of a character. “That’s the main problem with animation for games, you can’t make it good for just the animation’s sake,” says Kim. “The first purpose it has to serve is for gameplay, and then afterwards to make it as good-looking as possible.”

5. Don’t fret too much over the craft

Fans and animators of sprite-based games can sometimes fetishize pixel art, and care too much about the craft than the actual content. Kim says this can be particularly annoying when you upload your work and look for critiques from artists in online communities.

“People can be all like, ‘Hey, that’s too many colors for what kind of effect you’re trying to do.’ And it’s like, ‘No, you guys are caring too much about particular details instead of looking at the whole picture or what the image is trying to represent.’”

If you want to learn more about making great game animations, Robertson says the best way is to play classic games from developers like Taito and Irem, watch entire animated movies frame-by-frame, take relevant educational courses, and read Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas’ The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation. (source:gamasutra


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