Fighting Animation
On this page you'll find each iteration of the Fighting Animation, starting from the block-out before the final animation.
Deciding on the Wake and Moom rigs, it was important to convey each character’s personality in the way they fight and their posture. Due to the shortness of the handle attached to the Wake Rig and the stylisation of the character’s appearance, animations reminiscent of combat seen in a video game (such as the Legend of Zelda) was used as the main basis of inspiration for the style of animation in the character’s movements.
Likewise, the movements of the Moom rig are puerile and cartoonish in order to represent that character’s potential personality.
In the full animation, along with the appeal of each character’s personalities, an attempt was made at equally portraying their temperament - With Wake starting off by pointing at Moom (and Moom backing away) it denotes the dynamic between both characters, attempting at some believability that the animation is a part of a wider scene.
As the sword is attached to the Wake rig, the running animation at the end of the scene with Moom picking up the sword was keyframed with in-betweens, with the sword itself adjusted per-frame along the scene so that the sword remained in the character’s hand.
Likewise, as the Wake rig gets up and looks behind them, it was important not to rotate the rig from its base, as this would rotate the sword alongside it - To circumvent this, the base of the rig was kept in its position as the character turned away and toward the camera.
In the next iteration, made after receiving feedback, adjustments were made to the timing of the slap and fall of the Wake rig, the timing when Moom picks up the sword, the animation of the sword falling and adjusting the footing as Moom slaps Wake, giving more believability in the character’s movements while retaining their personality.
In the last iteration, slight adjustments were made to the posing and timing of the Wake rig in order to more properly feel the weight of the sword, as the character turns when swinging it. Likewise, minor adjustments were made to the fingers of the Wake rig in order to prevent clipping with the floor.