Knock out or signature moves

In fighting games there are unique signature moves assigned to each character. These moves aren't likely to be used often as they require more energy or the opponent has left an opening giving the opportunity for these moves to hit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJc6Ns57c6w – heavy hay-maker (7-14 seconds)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sS2mWXNs88 – flying knee (13 – 30 seconds)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHI4jhoHQh8 – superman punch (10-15 seconds)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bj3xL9zoY1M – spinning hook kick ( 7 – 11)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKeGWKi4m7w shows 10 special moves in video game

I will be doing two of these signature type moves. The two that I have picked is the Superman punch and the flying knee. I tried attempting these moves but found them difficult to pull off so I used reference footage online following a tutorial on how to perform these knockouts.

Superman Punch

FightTips with Shane Fazen -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrxEe0Hxtyc  – superman punch

Following the steps form the tutorial on how to perform the superman punch. I froze the video footage for moments I thought were key positions in this move. by doing this I was able to move the rig into positions and shape according to the reference footage while adjusting the time line so that the animation ran smoothly.

Here are the key frames I took from the footage that I thought needed to perform the knockout.

Fight stance

  

 Preparation before the punch

lift off

Punch

Land

Back to stance

To perform the superman punch it comes across as a jump but in fact it’s more of a push because you’re pushing your body into the opponent. And the force is generated from the push of the ground and also the thrust of the opposite foot to give it power.

Comparing my animation to the video referencing I find them very similar in the way they move which has made this a successful animation. There were some issues with popping joints but using the graph editor and changing the tangents levels I was able to create shaper and fluid movements to help me achieve this knockout punch.

The end result animation of my superman punch

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-e0nFhFex0&feature=youtu.be

Flying knee

Carlos Condit's Flying Knee - MMA Surge, Episode 42 video reference

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvHgpUB0DYY  - flying knee

Using this video footage I was able to create the flying knee. I tried to get self-footage but was unsuccessful as I couldn’t pull of this move correctly. So how is the flying knee performed?  

From your left fighting stance you throw your right foot forward bringing the right knee up. Once the knee reaches the highest point you jump bringing your left knee up and drive it forward towards the opponent.

Breakdown of important key frames to perform the flying knee

Pose 1

 Pose 2

Pose 3

Pose 4

Poise 5

 Pose 6

Pose 7

Pose 8

With constantly looking at the reference video stopping and at key moments to try and capture the form of the body while he performs the flying knee was difficult but it turned out really well. Here are the finished videos of the flying knee showing one from the side and one from the front.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ez2IMUIsOA  - flying knee front view

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zBdRZDQxGc - flying knee side view

the most difficult part with working out this movement was to establish where the models hands were going once the model was in the air I kept them balanced but natural as possible. using the graph editor i was able to fix some of the popping from the joints which also made the animation run smoother. One of thing I am not sure of was the landing in the flying knee but overall it appears to look like the reference footage which is what I wanted to achieve.

Combination 2

Combination2

Continuing with combinations I found video footage that explains how to do a five hit combo but I decided to change the last hit in the combo to something of my own.

Mark Dellagrotte - Elbow Knee Elbow Combo - UFC Personal Trainer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9_F-b1J5cU

The great thing about this video is that he explains step by step on what parts of the body moves to attack opponents while protecting you from strikes by keeping up guard. It also shows a great breakdown of how the combo is executed and afterwards he executes the full combo so you get a good visual sense on how the body should move.

The combination he executes is a left screw jab, right screw cross, left elbow, rear right elbow to a preparation stance before delivering a knee blow. I liked the whole combination except for the last bit of the combination because in a real situation you are unlikely to be able to prepare a stance like that before the knee.

To fix this combination to my liking I filmed my own reference of what I could add onto the end. I knew I wanted to keep it as a knee strike so I used what was taught to me when I attended Muay-Thai kickboxing classes. I would execute a grab around the opponent’s neck or head and using the body weight bring their body down towards me while at the same time drive my knee upwards like a spear towards the opponent’s body and returning back into my original fighting stance.

footage of grab, knee and back to neutral position

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erut5rri08Y&feature=youtu.be

To start this animation I grabbed the key poses from my references which are;

Left screw jab key frame 10 on timeline

Right cross key frame 16 on timeline

Left elbow key frame 26 on timeline

Rear right elbow key frame 36 on timeline

Grab key frame 48 on timeline

Knee key frame 55 on timeline

The tricky thing about this combo that’s different from the first combination is the shifting of the feet as they barely leave the ground between transitions of the moves but still appear fluid and not sliding on the ground.

Trying to improve this combination from the first one I tried shortening the key frame distance so that the model was able to move quicker with sharper movements to make a combo look like a combination of attacks and more realistic.

I also flatten some parts of the graph editor to maintain a sharp movement.

I was pleased with the end result of this animation as it appeared to be fluid in its combination attack. The reference footage from the trainer was amazing help in making this animation as he was able to break down the movements of each pose. I hope that by continuing to do my own referencing will increase my knowledge on which muscles and parts of the body function so that I can apply that knowledge to animation.

  Here is the end result of my combination animation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddqQl7h6Jgs

Introduction

Introduction Animation

Looking over my animation plan I decided to change it slightly instead of having stance I changed it into introduction. This would mean I would create an animation on how the fighter would greet his fans or audience before a fight.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Qa6Ifbiijo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4u2hABlX02Q

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLbgD1GSPxs

There are some elements of these videos that I liked but I wanted to create an over confident impression. To do this I done some of my own film reference.

http://youtu.be/O-fkSjrhL8s      - reference 1

http://youtu.be/ylW_55XxxVc      - reference 2

To start this movement I positioned the feet and torso so that the model would take small steps then prepare to raise its arms.

http://youtu.be/VwJ4Zx47uXE

After preparing the feet and legs I positioned the hips and arms into position I didn't focus on the hands at the time. I wanted to get the positions right before going into the hands for the clapping. I was quite pleased with the results so far. I then set a constant movement for the head moving the positioning up and down.

From here tilted the back and raised the arms up to begin key framing the hands signalling. This is what I had created so far.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0FPWcWGQYY&feature=youtu.be

From here it was only a matter of adjusting the hands to form claps as they met. The introduction animation has turned out the way I wanted. The positioning for the elbows was difficult as they kept popping out of position as well as the wrist of the hands when trying to create a wave motion in the air.  

This is how my introduction for game animation turned out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUPXLkPt1b0

the outcome of this animation was good if I was to try this again I would like to look more into the timing a bit more and perhaps have more movement on the feet instead of walking into a static hold.I would keep the movement of the arms and upper body the same as I like the movement I have captured in making this animation.

evading and blocking

Dodging

In fighting games there is also an opportunity for you to evade or block your opponents so I want to be able to show that I can animate these procedures. Again the first thing I did was research into how the body tries to evade being hit by their opponents. I found this video;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGrcmEEEevw

The technique he uses is understandable but I don’t know if it was the right kind of evasive movement I wanted so I filmed my self-dodging.

For the dodging I imagined being about to be struck by the four combination punches I had filmed previously and how I would react to dodge them.

Here was the outcome of the footage;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WDaKB2xvLo&feature=youtu.be front view

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLzIW3HjF9U&feature=youtu.be – side view

By using the footage I would combine the dodging combination with my punch combination to make a scene where the character would dodge the punches. First thing to do was to get my key poses down which are;

Stance position

Dodging positions

  

Skip back positions

These would be the key frames that used to help me create a dodging animation.

After this I would go in and tweak the in-betweens using the graph editor to smooth out the transitions and fix any popping motion by adding key frames were they would be needed. The skip back process was difficult to create as I wasn't trying to create a jump but a subtle skip back barely lifting of the ground. I think the finished animation was really successful as I feel it captures an evasive movement fighter would use during combat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Vu6SDuC4BE&feature=youtu.be

Blocking

Another defensive measure that fighters could use if they are unable to evade would be to defend themselves. I also filmed footage of myself blocking and defending against.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfNUT6wV0zw&feature=youtu.be – front view

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAeo5iAihWs&feature=youtu.be – side view

To make it simpler I took three poses that I like for blocking in these videos to defend against punches and a kick.

Here are the defensive stances I will be using

Stance

Neutral Stance

Defence Positions

I've chosen these positions because it shows how to block attacks at the head and the body as you will notice the model will always have its hands near the face to guard from attacks. Keeping the hands up protecting the face is the goal of this animation.

Between each of the blocks I've put in a neutral position so that you can see the different transitions between the blocks and also the different parts of the body to block.

Again once I lay down the key positions I had to move certain parts of the body to stop it from popping and try to keep within the limitations of the rig I found the elbow and knees difficult to adjust because of certain positions the joints were placed. 

This piece of animation was really enjoyable to work on and because I performed the reference video I understood how and which part of my body was moving. Using that knowledge I transferred it into the rig.

animation of blocking;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pf67sRbtmVU

4 combo punch

When I researched into fighting games I found great excitement to be able to perform a combination of attacks. Going by my animation plan I’ve made a punching combination. The way I achieved this was firstly looking at research online showing different combinations. With this knowledge I thought why not try my own combination.

Because I have also trained in various martial arts I thought I would apply my knowledge to help me create a combination that I was familiar with. When I trained in Ju-Jitsu I was taught a four punch combination it consisted of being in your left stance. The attack started with a left jab, right jab, left hook and ending with a right upper cut.

With the aid of my cousin he was able to record me performing the 4 punch combination.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31jBTCyY_m0&feature=youtu.be – front view

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XHKgZuXZzw&feature=youtu.be- side view 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7v4rGdYCxI&feature=youtu.be – side view 2

This footage was recorded using my IPhone. It was really great because the advantage was that when recording movie clips with the phone I’m able to go in and stop and scroll to the right key poses needed to create my punch combo animation.

I began laying out the key poses the lists of key poses are;

 - Beginning and end stance

-left jab

- Right jab

- Left hook

-Right uppercut

There were some moments where the rig wasn’t very cooperative during the in-betweens but experimenting with the graph editor and putting in key frames I was able to make the animation look a lot smoother and not cause the rig to break.

The hardest part in making this animation was getting the speeds of the punches to seem consecutive which is how combinations should be. Another issue I had creating the uppercut as the right hand was freaking out as it was to go into the position to thrust. Overall I'm pleased on how it has come out and hope to put it into a scene with another character.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPMR4sZdvdw

Run animation

Moving onto the running animation I used another tutorial from digital tutors to help create a run animation. As a run is faster than a walk it means that there will be less key frames as a walk was around 30 frames for a cycle but the run in this tutorial is round 15 frames to complete a cycle. Similar to the walk cycle I used this image provided by digital tutors to get down the most important keys down.

After posing the rig in the appropriate places I started to work on the feet. Working on the heel joints and how they would look during the run cycle, while being careful not to create any jumping joints or deformation.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRaMBUyC1XI&feature=youtu.be

Here are some stills of the running animation showing feet placement.

I then worked up to the hips creating the up and down positions as well as twisting the hips before proceeding to the arms. Using the same technique with the feet I used with the hands and torso before moving back to the feet.

The next step of the tutorial was to adjust the motion trail so that the feet were moving in a circular motion.

To finish off the run cycle I tilted the foot as it went back and forth so that it created a more realistic run and to make asymmetric.

The run cycle I've created will help me with game animation as it is an essential movement in games. I'm content with my run animation as this is the first one I've made. Here is the end result.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7UsHj97IbY&feature=youtu.be

walk animation

Following my animation breakdown plan I started of creating a walk cycle using the tutorial provided by Digital Tutors. I found this a good form of practice to further understand the functions of the rig. And also create a better walk cycle than my earlier attempt.

Following the tutorial was challenging as it started off with simple key framing which I was familiar with from experimenting on the 11 second club animation. But then further into the tutorial using the graph editor was the challenging part trying to grasp how it functions as well as how it would benefit the flow of my animation.

Using this image and tutorial to guide me I began to put the feet into position in the appropriate frame number. Here is a quick play blast of the result so far.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-Pfa0LdB4s&feature=youtu.be

After doing this I proceeded to work into the in-betweens such as just before the key moments to adjust the feet so that it looked more naturally when stepping and lifting of the foot. This process was easy as to get the right positioning for both feet I just copied the right foots translations and paste them on the left foots translations on the frames where they would be at that time so that it would look symmetrical.

Going into the graph editor was new to me but the tutorial was a great help as I started to finish of the motion in the feet  I began to understand the graph editor a little bit better.

I then worked up the body adjusting the hips as they turned when walking. Moving on to the hand movement I originally made them quite straight with no arc motion. This is issue was easily resolved by adding key frames to show an arc motion.

I am quite content on how the walk flows it comes across to be quite serious and that’s what I want to portray like a fighter walking towards the ring.

Here is a quick play blast of the finished walk.

http://youtu.be/RKkv6I4kxdk