Animation is one of the main components of game graphics. No matter how good the models and effects are, if they are poorly animated, the game will fail.
Animation concept development
Animation can not be done without a clear plan and understanding of the game mechanics. Specialists first make a concept document in which they describe all the necessary animations: what kind of action it is, who performs it, and how it should look and feel. For example, in a first-person shooter, a powerful weapon must reload for a long time – this should be taken into account when creating the animation.
All the additional animations must also be specified: loading indicators, cursors, and other interface elements. This helps to bring the animation to a unique style and make the game more memorable. If you are looking for a company that will create high-quality animation for you, check out this one https://kevurugames.com/game-animation/.
2D animations
2D animation is used in all games. First of all, the animation is used for interface elements: different highlighting, movements, and changing icons when hovering the cursor over them. 2D makes interface development cheaper and improves game performance.
2D character animation is the most in-demand type of work. Characters must move. Otherwise, the game will look boring.
Animators use keyframe sketches – the highlights of all the movement – to animate characters. Animators draw intermediate frames that bring the character to the state of the keyframe.
Another way to animate a 2D character is to use special software like Spine or Toon Boom. The animator redraws the character in layers-fragments: head, torso, legs, and arms.
Game engines allow you to overlay these fragments on top of each other and set the motion with code without drawing separate frames. This method of animation is great for games in which the player can change the appearance of the character. For example, put on a new helmet or give him an ax instead of a sword. Then you don’t have to redraw all the sprites with the new helmet in place.
2D background and environment animation
If the game already has animated characters and an interface, you need to animate the environment. The easiest way is to add a parallax effect. To do this, artists draw the background in several layers. Then, animators make the layers move at different speeds relative to the movement of the main character.
Animators can also make other environmental effects: leaves and grass movement, wind, snow, or rain. Additional effects and animations will help to liven up the levels and make them more interesting for the player.
Pixel art animation
Gamers love pixel-art games, but pixel characters animation is much harder than working with sprites. The hardest part is maintaining the proportions and recognizable silhouette of the character. To do this, we use so-called inner animation, where the illusion of movement is created by changing the color of the pixels inside the silhouette but not the silhouette itself.
2D Animation in Unity and Unreal Engine
The work with 2D doesn’t end with creating an atlas of sprites or a skeleton model. A designer should also implement and customize animations in your chosen game engine.
3D animation
Two-dimensional animation is mainly made by artists, but the three-dimensional one – is a task for individual professionals. Players often criticize games with good mechanics for sloppy animation.
3D model rigging/skinning
Rigging is the creation and customization of a skeleton within a three-dimensional model. The complexity of the skeleton depends on the needs of the animator and the complexity of the model. For example, to make a simple human skeleton, you need 21 bones. And if you want to make a skeletal brush animation, you will have to add 54 more bones.
Next, the rigging specialist adjusts the behavior of the skeleton:
- Combines groups of bones and joints.
- Sets the maximum angles of inclination and rotation of joints.
- Builds a hierarchical sequence of bones.
This allows the animators to control the body like a puppet and not worry that the legs in the knees will start to bend the other way.
When the skeleton is ready, the expert proceeds to skinning. He “attaches” to each bone the corresponding parts of the model. He also assigns areas of influence for each joint. In these areas, the model will bend with the joint so that other parts don’t fall inside the model.
Skeletal animation in 3D
Animators describe the skeletal movement with functions and tie these functions to different states of the character. For example, if the player walks forward, the engine triggers a function responsible for the movement of the legs.
Skeleton animation allows you to do so-called mixed states, where the character does several things at once. For example, the player can just walk, or he can change or reload weapons as he walks. Animators do not need to create separate animations for each combination of actions. It is enough to separate the functions and prescribe mixed states.
Mixed states also allow you to create a continuous flowing animation. For example, stopping a character while running can look like a sudden freeze in place. You can make a separate stop animation for a simple game. But the best effect is a natural transition of the character to a resting state: the speed decreases smoothly, and the legs slowly return to the position to start the resting animation. This is possible only with skeletal animation.
Animating the character’s face/hands
The hands and face are the most mobile parts of the human body. A hand consists of 27 bones, which move 9 tendons and 5 muscles. Making natural brush movements with a skeleton and mathematical functions is very tricky because the movement of one finger causes the movement of the rest of the bones. That’s why game developers rarely show close-ups of the hands. But sometimes you can’t do without it, for example, in the animation of reloading a weapon or picking up an object.
The face is made up of two bones and 21 muscles, which are tied together. Each emotion is a combination of different states of all the muscles, which not only contract but also expand during movement.
As you see, game animation development is a complex task. It requires a whole lot of different skills from a specialist. So the best decision is to find a good outsource game development company.