Squash and Stretch
A good example of how squash and stretch has been used in games is shown in this clip, where
A bad example of squash and stretch is in the game angry birds, the birds are completely static upon impact where they pop without the slightest hint of a realistic impact. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNNzRyd1xz0
Staging, Overlapping action, Secondary action
- In this clip I have examples of staging (the cityscape), follow through and overlapping actions (making people stumble by running into them) along with secondary actions (the flapping of the tail of the coat). These are all in my opinion good examples of the 3 rules I have mentioned. What makes the tail of the coat such a good animation is the use of simulated physics that determine the animation of the cloth which is a far better judge than a person usually is.
Exaggeration
- In this clip you can see that there is a complete lack of a real static turning animation, the feet just slide on the floor. This doesn't fall into any particular category but it just shows how the animators have neglected to animate a particular action. The sprinting animation however seems very laboured which may be a result of over exageration of how a person sprints. A good example of exageration is shown here in this clip of Saints Row: The Third - Every action is exagerated but not so much that it would be completely unbeleivable. The actions look as though a gymnast could perform them.
Saints Row: The Third - Straight ahead action
As for a straight ahead actions as they are animated frame by rame a sprite animation would best be suited for this category. All of Terrarias animations are produced through animated sprites which are a pleasure to watch where as this jump animation from the NES game The Addams Family: Pugsley's Scavenger Hunt seems to make very little sense and feels odd because of the strange pose the character makes while in mid-air.
Terraria -
Adams Family - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmgS0IAgav0#t=45s
Solid Drawing
I think that Shadow of the Colossus is the best contender for this as it has convincingly massive objects in the game. The very sluggish movement of the bosses makes them appear to be gigantic in scale, which of course they are relative to your character.
This is very unlike the transformer games where the large robots animate at alarming rates which make them seem to defy physics as they look as though they are made from very heavy metal. You can see right at the very beginning it near instantly transforms into a helicopter and brings the rotary blade up to speed in an instant which is down right ridiculous. This is completely unbeleivable but this may not be too high on the developers concern as it is meant to be like the movies, a spectacle of amazing speed and power.
Shadow of the Colossus - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Y1_lQ-go2o
Transformers - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qd-SXnTi5cU
Arcs
The animation within the Battlefield 3 game is very good concerning player movement with only 1 issue shown at the end where the player is able to rotate very quickly. This issue is only present on the PC because of the lightning fast speeds a mouse can provide. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHc_vFjijjE
One of the worsed games I can recall where the joints of the characters don't seem right is Giants: Citizen Kabuto - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Sh_VuxYqBY
The characters legs don't seem to bend very well but instead jolt up and down when they walk. The elbows bend in all manner of directions and peoples feet don't seem grounded, they slip backward as the character doesn't keep up with the speed of the animation.
Timing
In Assasins Creed Revelations your characters animations are very fluid and seemingly plausible as a result of what i beleive to be good timing on the animators part.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qlg9Lrzygtc&feature=youtu.be
Anticipation
In GTA4 the jump animations are delayed for realism in the animation where your character will take several steps to run into the jump to make it flow with the running animation. While standing still your character will bend at the knees to prepare for the jump.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHZfI6-o30Q&feature=youtu.be
