PLOK! Loved Plok. Great game, released at the wrong time, at the tail end of the glut of mascot platformers when everyone was pretty sick of them. (...Kind of like Startopia, but with Management Sims for that.)
@@zendikarisparkmage2938 Yeah right? There's so many great match up cross overs, like Kesurgstat and CPG Grey, Lindsay Ellis and H.Bomberguy. It's meant to be!
On short words, Link's swordmanship style is a tank. Also, hey Dan! It's been awhile since heard your smooth voice and nerd knowledge about animation. 🤣
It might have been a good idea to look at some of the older Zelda games, like Ocarina of Time or Twilight Princess, to show how they compare animation wise to Breath of the Wild.
Yes... as much as I love Breath of the Wild, the idea to turn what has long been a dynamic , freeform style of attack into a basic four combo that is the same regardless of direction or circumstance, never sat well with me.
He synced the sword swings and the scene transitions with the music beat and rythm. Nice, very nice indeed! This man knows how to make a video with proper technique.
This (and the neww frame plus video), help explain why I've liked Zelda animations more over other games. Sure, they don't always look as nice or polished, but its to serve the gameplay. Maybe the sword swinging in, say, Skyrim, is more realistic, but its never as fun.
I find it weird you open with fluidity rather than readability given that's what really stand out about his sword swing animations. They really exaggerated the start up and the jarring snaps at 5:22 exist because they want to make sure the swing starts from a strong readable frame rather than carrying momentum in the wrist as you would in actual swordsmanship (seriously stopping the sword on a dime like that will wreck your wrist). It's focus on readablitiy makes sense in combat that consists of so many effects and so much slow down, but it's need to stop into a recognisable and over emphasised wind-up key frame before doing anything means it's both feel less responsive and look less fluid than a more naturalistic sword swing would.
I....guess so. I mean, you _can_ clearly see his stance and everything when he's swinging, but I'd say it's as important as fluidity too, I wouldn't say it was wierd I picked one over the other. Both contribute to Feel anyway.
@@VideoGameAnimationStudy Oh, sure, it's all important, they are fundamentals for a reason, but readability is really what stands out about Link's animations, it seems odd to take an animation that sacrifices a lot for that readability and discuss it in terms of fluidity with a quick reference to responsiveness at the end.
I recall the animation in GTA5 were taken more than a bit too far from the function end towards the aesthetics end of the scale. It was like trying to control a life-sized meat puppet. I imagine these animations were tuned for controllers on consoles rather than the mouse and keyboard inputs I was using, and this caused the leaden character feel. It's off-putting to whip your pointer around 200 degrees to snap off a well-aimed shot, only to have to wait almost a full second for your character to catch up. An interesting thing about attack windups I've learned in my layman nerdings on melee weapons is that they aren't real. Just standing there slightly bent-kneed with your weapon at your side and your head pushed forward is asking for the nearest enemy to stab you in the face. The stance you hold your body and weapon in is supposed to be the windup, like a batter waiting to receive a pitch. For instance, holding a big sword over your head means you've put potential energy in it, like a car at the top of a hill. The next blow you make with the sword will slam down with greater force from this position. On the other hand, holding your sword in front will make it easier to quickly thrust or deflect incoming strikes. Ideally, every strike transitions from one stance to another, so you're always ready to attack or defend. Of course, very few video games work like this (Mount and Blade is the only one I can think of). Usually a character's stance is purely aesthetic, and windup time is a matter of weapon balance. It's not really fair for a video game to make a two-handed sword much more effective than a dagger at the same character level just because that's how a real-life fights work. This realistic unreality seems to be working fine for Souls-likes or BotW. Still, it's jarring to pick up a crowbar or similar object, and realize you're better at handling it than some seasoned warrior you've seen portrayed doing.
If you’re gonna put a dad joke down below, how’d you miss the opportunity to follow up on “I put a LINK in the description”??? I was fully expecting a little green boi
It's actually visible that the Link's animator was working from a reference video or rather rotoscoping outright. The breaks in fluidity come, I think, from switching to another video take.
I did actually do an episode on the history of Samus's animation, and I do briefly cover her arm canon from the Prime games, but I agree, it'd be interesting to look at that a little closer.
Video Game Animation Study Thanks for the reply! And I loved that video despite it not getting as many views as your other ones... Guess that’s the Metroid curse 🤷♀️
More Dans! More! We need a new Battle of the Dans: Daniel Floyd, Dan Jones, Dan Avidan and now Dan Root. Please break the internet and make this happen! :D
If you wanna talk about combat animations, I would LOVE to hear you discuss the animations in ninja gaiden black. I can't think of another action game that makes such ridiculous wire-fu action look so believable and weighty.
Great video, i only have one point of criticism: the thumbnail uses the Master Sword from the Wind Waker. This led me to believe this video would compare the animations of different games to each other. Which isn’t the case. I think a way to solve this issue is to either: Use a Breath of the Wild render, or specify it in the title. Instead of a more general title like the current one. Don’t get me wrong though, the video was great. I just found the thumbnail a little misleading. Still, I don’t consider it clickbait either
@@VideoGameAnimationStudy no problem. Keep up the great content. I always love people with actual knowledge of a topic who make videos about it. They are always really informative and a fun watch
@@sycoraz Oooh you're right! I actually played Twilight Princess on the Gamecube, I thought my memory was fuzzy about Link's left/right-handedness so that is why... You resolved a mystery for me, thank you kind stranger!
Hi man! This is awesome. I am very new to animation and build an RPG game using Unreal Engine. This helps me a lot! You know what would be really cool (and might even help your channel): Could you make a series for multiple animations of a character? Like the same thing you did here, just for Link's other animations (run, other weapons, ...). That'd be HUGE!
Hey! Love the video, love the breakdown, one minor thing I have trouble with is your comparison of the Vice City & GTAV animations. Vice City feels like I’m playing a video game, & of course today it looks ridiculous pivoting motionlessly around a point to turn the character, but do you think it’s fair to present this is you do in the comparison to GTAV? I understand for your purposes here it illustrates your point on fluidity, & perhaps it’s outside the scope of this video to say whether one is “good” or “better” than the other, but I think it’s undeniable that, while looking clean & fluid & interesting, GTAV’s character controls are so much worse to play. Having your character pivot & sway & swing with the momentum, especially in some tight environments in game, is really awful, & is a complete & total detriment to the “feel” of piloting the main characters. Maybe this is part of a whole other discussion on Rockstar’s obsessive cataloging of real human movement, for better or worse, in their games. Thanks for reading anyways, again I love your vids just wanted your opinion on this
Thanks for your thoughts. Yeah I don't really go into how each of those two affects the feel of the gameplay. Trust though, I'm not saying one is better than the other because of how fluid they are. Thanks for watching!
I guess it depends how hard you study. It's not a massive problem really, you have to consider how detrimental it is to gameplay and feel, but maybe a couple of transitioning foot shuffles could've solved it.
@@VideoGameAnimationStudy I'm sure the animators considered a couple extra transitioning animations in the blending matrix that were denied either due to design or budget constraints. Getting a blending system set up that has the right combination of fluidity and responsiveness is really hard to nail down and IIRC the technical animation team of titles with more realistic animations like Quantum break took more than a year to fully develop and get right.
I played 100 hours of Breath of the Wild and never noticed that Link's footwork doesn't match his spin. It's really a shame that - to make a game feel responsive - you have to shorten the anticipation of a move. Makes you appreciate games like Monster Hunter and Dark Souls which have a much less twitchy combat and are allowed these frames of anticipation to make a move look so powerful. I love that you and Dan worked on parallel videos. I absolutely adore both of your channels and I can't wait to watch the other Dan's video as well!
Hey, thanks for the feedback! Yeah I agree, it's interesting to see a game dedicated to that commitment of movement. Yeah, we planned a cross promotion by doing the same topic at the same time 😃
Hi Dan! Another Dan mentioned you, so I figured I'd check you out. Great video! You got yourself a new subscriber! Any chance of you joining the other Dan when he does the next "Battle of the Dans"? The honorary Dans are cool and all, but they're always looking for more authentic Dans to compete!
I think it would be very interesting to talk about the proceduraly generated animations of Rain World. They are based on the physics which really brings them to life and are extremely fluid because of that. It's relly a shame that so little people knows it and talks of it, it would be very interesting to study its animations.
Yeah, it is a common criticism with modern Rockstar games that they feel too fluid that it becomes detrimental to gameplay. I'll cover this in a set of videos in future.
You forgot to mention that each sword swing, be it back hand or forehand, can go into a charge spin attack. Its a cool touch and I'm surprised you didn't mention it.
How would Street Fighter 4 and 5 compare in these terms? I know 5 looks better but are they still doing the same animation mistakes or is it a vast improvement?
You should check out the animation of the Monster Hunter games, I feel there's a goldmine of stuff to study in regards to waiting for the animation to finish.
I didn't watch to the end of the other Dan's video so I didn't know you had posted 'til it was in the sub feed. Glad to see two great Dan's working together!
It depends, Red Dead Redemption focuses heavily on realistic animation, which though detrimental to its core gameplay idea, doesn't mean it's necessarily a bad approach. If the gun and combat segments weren't as important, it'd still make a fantastic game to play, if the gameplay was focused more on exploration.
I think it’s interesting that BOTW is the Zelda game that brought the Master Sword beam into 3D. It used to be that just the 2D games let you shoot beams with full hearts (except for Fierce Deity Sword) in a straight line. But here it’s kind of like they reused/adapted the boomerang animation, and it kinda feels much more fiddly and harder to aim properly
“LONG AGO in a distant land, I, Demise, the shape-shifting lord of darkness, unleashed an UNSPEAKABLE EVIL!!!... but an ELVISH samurai warrior, wielding the MASTER sword, STEPPED FORTH TO OPPOSE ME.....”
@@supersonicsaga I always try reply to comments on my videos! That's great to hear, well there's plenty of resources out there, and we're in a good time right now in that software and publishing platforms are much easier to get hold of and use!
Nice of you to start with Plok music. You have taste. Also, can't wait to hear about Metal Slug's animation. I've yet to see proof that the graphics are hand-drawn (besides being really good animation), but that should be worth a watch, anyway.
Breath of the Wild? Really? This utter abomination that ruined Legend of Zelda by having a large, empty, and boring open-world, so many repetitive shrines, unusually-few tools to play with (four or so 'runes', compared to the dozen or more tools other Links have), enemies that deal far too much damage that can be easily stumbled upon, along with two utter hindrances in equipment fragility and limited stamina? Why not look at a GOOD Legend of Zelda game, like Twilight Princess or The Wind Waker? ...I've tried to play through Breath of the Wild, to see why so many people apparently love it, but...ugh. I just _can't_ understand why. It's _disgustingly_ horrible, having so many idiotic design decisions. I could only tolerate a couple of hours exploring this barren land, slowly climbing mountains before running out of that stupid stamina, going through boring and slow fights with constantly-breaking weapons, completing a few shrines with identical and boring wallpaper (why are they _all_ blue? Why not change the colour to add some variety? That shouldn't be all that hard to do), discovering that the orb each shrine awards can give _either_ an extra Heart Container or a stamina upgrade (why not both, since stamina's a bullshit hindrance anyway?). I finally gave up when I stumbled upon a ranch in the middle of nowhere, and got one-shotted by a Bokoblin or whatever on horseback. I managed to persevere through the utter shitshow that was Skyward Sword, with its nonfunctional mandatory Wiimote usage, shield fragility, non-upgradeable stamina, stupidly-limited Pouch idea, the rage-inducing Imprisoned fights, the slow flying, and the repetitive visits to all THREE areas. Breath of the Wild is _worse_ than Skyward fucking Sword. I love five Legend of Zelda games - Twilight Princess, The Wind Waker, A Link Between Worlds, Link's Awakening, and Majora's Mask 3D - because those games DON'T have frustrating mechanics or boring worlds, because these five games know exactly what "Legend of Zelda" should be. Breath of the Wild just utterly fails to live up to its franchise in so many ways.
It doesn't help that the video thumbnail has The Wind Waker's version of the Master Sword on it, making me think you'd be covering the animations from that wonderful game...
Well everyone's entitled to an opinion. I appreciate that BotW tried something new, to invigorate the series from becoming stale, which is what happened with Skyward Sword. I totally get that the new open world isn't for everyone for fans of the series, but I personally feel it's captured the spirit of the series in more ways than other games. It is literally presenting us with legends all over Hyrule. Everything is drenched in mystery and history, which I think is what the series should be about. How it presents it is another matter. Definitely more traditional dungeons in the BotW2.
@@VideoGameAnimationStudy In my opinion, the "staleness" the series has seen recently is due to the utter lack of worthwhile brand-new releases. 2013 had A Link Between Worlds; since then, the only two new games are the abysmal Tri-Force Heroes (a multiplayer game with practically no team communication and tacked-on singleplayer) and Breath of the Wild. Otherwise, all we've gotten are remakes and remasters - Twilight Princess, Majora's Mask, The Wind Waker, Link's Awakening. They were all fantastic remakes and remasters, for sure, but...nothing "new". As a result, I can understand why people would like something different. I would've gladly gotten a brand-new traditional game over this tedious and flawed experiment, though. Hopefully they'll make one after BotW2, or whatever it ends up being called - and speaking of that game, I hope they also remove the hindrances in my first comment to streamline the playing experience and reduce unneeded and unwanted frustration. Maybe also add in Twilight Princess's Hidden Skills...? Those were awesome, and a welcome change to combat; they would likely spice up and speed up fighting, compared to BotW.
Don't get me wrong, BotW had its many issues, such as the weapon system, but like nearly every Zelda game, they're all great. They're just different. Honestly, I prefer a series to try something new and fail and learn from it than keep going with the same old, however great the same old is. Maybe even if all we take away from BotW for future Zelda games is the *climbing* system, then I'd say it was a worthwhile experiment.
My favorite is when you swing once and then start a spin attack, Link starts the spin attack with a back hand slash and continues the spin going clockwise instead of the usual counterclockwise
GTA 5 might have "fluid" animation, but that shouldn't mean that controlling humans is the same as trying to control a water bed on some bowling balls (which is what GTA 5 and RDR feel like). Nintendo always gets it right: animations are made around player input, not the other way around.
Oh no of course, you can push fluidity too far and you end up with games like Red Dead 2. This all contributes to _feel_ and you should never not feel in control when playing.
To me, these horizontal swings always feel a bit odd to me. Diagonal swings look way more natural and satisfying to me. I'm not even gonna talk about the 360 spin, which turns me off completely, but I guess I value realism more than most people.
Like in the video, it's all about the feel of gameplay. Some realistic animation, like in Dark Souls, works for that type of gameplay, as you have to plan a bit more. But Breath of the Wild is a bit more organic in that you need to make these quicker decisions.
♪ Music Listing ♪
0:03 - Plok / Beach
1:19 - Zelda orchestra medly
2:49 - Recall / MIND≒
5:17 - Ancient Cistern / Skyward Sword
7:05 - It's-a Me / Funk Fiction
PLOK! Loved Plok. Great game, released at the wrong time, at the tail end of the glut of mascot platformers when everyone was pretty sick of them. (...Kind of like Startopia, but with Management Sims for that.)
>make a zelda video
>use plok music
u wot m8
Hi Dan, an animator who's into video games! I was referred to you by Dan, an animator who's into video games.
😂
Yesss, our plan worked!
I'm glad cross-channel shout outs like this work. It's like the "Recommended" feature, except that I actually trust the recommendations!
@@zendikarisparkmage2938
Yeah right? There's so many great match up cross overs, like Kesurgstat and CPG Grey, Lindsay Ellis and H.Bomberguy.
It's meant to be!
Came over here from that New Frame Plus episode :-)
(and it sure feels wierd hearing a different Dan talking about video game animation)
Cool! Glad you took the time to watch this one too! I hope you enjoyed it.
Welcome to the official ZelDan day, where Dans talk about Zelda
I came from New Frame Plus. We need more animation Dans.
We do! There's another animation Dan called Dan Lowe, he has a RUclips channel too.
ALL THE DANS
I have a lot of Dans in my sub feed.
ALL THE DANS
Danimators, if you will.
@@Jer2d
That's a classic!
video didn't teach me how to obtain and wield the master sword in real life, un-liked and un-subscribed
I'm sorry, I should've named it how to *obtain* the master sword, and then included that.
I've unliked and unsubscribed to myself.
On short words, Link's swordmanship style is a tank.
Also, hey Dan! It's been awhile since heard your smooth voice and nerd knowledge about animation. 🤣
It might have been a good idea to look at some of the older Zelda games, like Ocarina of Time or Twilight Princess, to show how they compare animation wise to Breath of the Wild.
That was, and still is, another idea of mine, too. So, stay tuned.
@@VideoGameAnimationStudy especially skyward sword given what animation tricks they need to pull to incorporate wii-mote slashing.
@@benedict6962 That is an intriguing idea and I fully support it! I'd watch it!!
Yes... as much as I love Breath of the Wild, the idea to turn what has long been a dynamic , freeform style of attack into a basic four combo that is the same regardless of direction or circumstance, never sat well with me.
HighPriestFuneral watch are you talking about? The other 3D Zelda games (besides Skyward Sword) all have the same attack animations
6:09 Dodging arrows by using the attack animation's change of stance, now this is a galaxy brain move.
The other Dan tried to send me here. Joke's on him, I was already on my way.
But will you go back to his video when I send you his way? NEVER ENDING!
"My name is Dan, for we are many."
"and that is how to wield the master sword" he says as Link breaks the sword.
That's how I'd wield it.
@@VideoGameAnimationStudy lol I think most of us would break it within seconds. Loved the video
Thank you!
He synced the sword swings and the scene transitions with the music beat and rythm. Nice, very nice indeed! This man knows how to make a video with proper technique.
I do enjoy timing my editing to the music!
This (and the neww frame plus video), help explain why I've liked Zelda animations more over other games. Sure, they don't always look as nice or polished, but its to serve the gameplay. Maybe the sword swinging in, say, Skyrim, is more realistic, but its never as fun.
Feel is a definite factor for fun gameplay.
You should make another video about the two handed weapons and spears
Honestly find it charming that Link is just rotating around during the swing
Yeah, I find it funny 😆
There's nothing wrong with it in terms of feel
I'm feeling a bit of a conspiracy going on here.
It was New Frame Plus' Dan that sent me here. ;)
Yeah it was a planned cross promotion by us both, as there's a link his video at the end of mine.
I find it weird you open with fluidity rather than readability given that's what really stand out about his sword swing animations. They really exaggerated the start up and the jarring snaps at 5:22 exist because they want to make sure the swing starts from a strong readable frame rather than carrying momentum in the wrist as you would in actual swordsmanship (seriously stopping the sword on a dime like that will wreck your wrist). It's focus on readablitiy makes sense in combat that consists of so many effects and so much slow down, but it's need to stop into a recognisable and over emphasised wind-up key frame before doing anything means it's both feel less responsive and look less fluid than a more naturalistic sword swing would.
I....guess so. I mean, you _can_ clearly see his stance and everything when he's swinging, but I'd say it's as important as fluidity too, I wouldn't say it was wierd I picked one over the other.
Both contribute to Feel anyway.
@@VideoGameAnimationStudy
Oh, sure, it's all important, they are fundamentals for a reason, but readability is really what stands out about Link's animations, it seems odd to take an animation that sacrifices a lot for that readability and discuss it in terms of fluidity with a quick reference to responsiveness at the end.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The game makes you *FEEL like you're Link* ! 😂
I recall the animation in GTA5 were taken more than a bit too far from the function end towards the aesthetics end of the scale. It was like trying to control a life-sized meat puppet. I imagine these animations were tuned for controllers on consoles rather than the mouse and keyboard inputs I was using, and this caused the leaden character feel. It's off-putting to whip your pointer around 200 degrees to snap off a well-aimed shot, only to have to wait almost a full second for your character to catch up.
An interesting thing about attack windups I've learned in my layman nerdings on melee weapons is that they aren't real. Just standing there slightly bent-kneed with your weapon at your side and your head pushed forward is asking for the nearest enemy to stab you in the face. The stance you hold your body and weapon in is supposed to be the windup, like a batter waiting to receive a pitch. For instance, holding a big sword over your head means you've put potential energy in it, like a car at the top of a hill. The next blow you make with the sword will slam down with greater force from this position. On the other hand, holding your sword in front will make it easier to quickly thrust or deflect incoming strikes. Ideally, every strike transitions from one stance to another, so you're always ready to attack or defend.
Of course, very few video games work like this (Mount and Blade is the only one I can think of). Usually a character's stance is purely aesthetic, and windup time is a matter of weapon balance. It's not really fair for a video game to make a two-handed sword much more effective than a dagger at the same character level just because that's how a real-life fights work. This realistic unreality seems to be working fine for Souls-likes or BotW. Still, it's jarring to pick up a crowbar or similar object, and realize you're better at handling it than some seasoned warrior you've seen portrayed doing.
If you’re gonna put a dad joke down below, how’d you miss the opportunity to follow up on “I put a LINK in the description”??? I was fully expecting a little green boi
Gah, Dad fail!
It's actually visible that the Link's animator was working from a reference video or rather rotoscoping outright. The breaks in fluidity come, I think, from switching to another video take.
Dan Floyd sent me here and now I have a whole new channel of content to watch. Looking forward to catching up on all your videos!
Hey, thank you so much for checking this channel out!
I'm glad you enjoyed both videos of mine and Dan's!
Could you do a “How to wield the Arm Canon?” I would love to see how fluid Metroid Prime’s animation is
I did actually do an episode on the history of Samus's animation, and I do briefly cover her arm canon from the Prime games, but I agree, it'd be interesting to look at that a little closer.
Video Game Animation Study Thanks for the reply! And I loved that video despite it not getting as many views as your other ones... Guess that’s the Metroid curse 🤷♀️
Ha, ain't that just so.
More Dans! More! We need a new Battle of the Dans: Daniel Floyd, Dan Jones, Dan Avidan and now Dan Root. Please break the internet and make this happen! :D
If you wanna talk about combat animations, I would LOVE to hear you discuss the animations in ninja gaiden black. I can't think of another action game that makes such ridiculous wire-fu action look so believable and weighty.
Will you ever do a Metal Gear Solid animation video? Any entry would be appreciated
Never rule it out 😊
Great video, i only have one point of criticism: the thumbnail uses the Master Sword from the Wind Waker. This led me to believe this video would compare the animations of different games to each other. Which isn’t the case. I think a way to solve this issue is to either: Use a Breath of the Wild render, or specify it in the title. Instead of a more general title like the current one.
Don’t get me wrong though, the video was great. I just found the thumbnail a little misleading. Still, I don’t consider it clickbait either
Thanks for the feedback, I've been meaning to change the thumbnail for ages, as I got similar comments before. Glad you enjoyed it none the less!
@@VideoGameAnimationStudy no problem. Keep up the great content. I always love people with actual knowledge of a topic who make videos about it. They are always really informative and a fun watch
"Franklin feels super smooth" oh no
can't believe narrator dan led me to dan³
Oops, I completely forgot that BOTW Link was right-handed like Wii-era Link
Dark Jamy Wii era link wasn’t right handed, the whole game got mirrored. The actual game on Wii U and GameCube still have him left handed !
@@sycoraz Oooh you're right! I actually played Twilight Princess on the Gamecube, I thought my memory was fuzzy about Link's left/right-handedness so that is why... You resolved a mystery for me, thank you kind stranger!
Hi man! This is awesome. I am very new to animation and build an RPG game using Unreal Engine. This helps me a lot!
You know what would be really cool (and might even help your channel): Could you make a series for multiple animations of a character? Like the same thing you did here, just for Link's other animations (run, other weapons, ...). That'd be HUGE!
Hey there, I'm glad the channel is helping! If I get time that'd be a great idea!
Hey! Love the video, love the breakdown, one minor thing I have trouble with is your comparison of the Vice City & GTAV animations. Vice City feels like I’m playing a video game, & of course today it looks ridiculous pivoting motionlessly around a point to turn the character, but do you think it’s fair to present this is you do in the comparison to GTAV? I understand for your purposes here it illustrates your point on fluidity, & perhaps it’s outside the scope of this video to say whether one is “good” or “better” than the other, but I think it’s undeniable that, while looking clean & fluid & interesting, GTAV’s character controls are so much worse to play. Having your character pivot & sway & swing with the momentum, especially in some tight environments in game, is really awful, & is a complete & total detriment to the “feel” of piloting the main characters. Maybe this is part of a whole other discussion on Rockstar’s obsessive cataloging of real human movement, for better or worse, in their games. Thanks for reading anyways, again I love your vids just wanted your opinion on this
Thanks for your thoughts. Yeah I don't really go into how each of those two affects the feel of the gameplay.
Trust though, I'm not saying one is better than the other because of how fluid they are.
Thanks for watching!
I clicked faster than a cheetah wearing meth inhaler hats
Btw, I'm not a fan of Link being right-handed now.
I wonder how CDI Link would have handled the sword 🤔
My boi, this peace is what all true warriors strive for!
One week old comment on a new vid? We've been deprived for so long!
@@tacopizzafortnitegamer join his patreon 😎
Already looking forward to the next vid. Thanks for putting these together, Dan. The whole series is great!
Hey thanks a lot! I'm also looking forward to bringing you the next video!
BIAUBGOIUSHDGIU Gimme that Metal Slug!
Can't wait!
Me neither!
I might not know how to wield the Master Sword but I do know how to wield the Kingdom Key.
Hey I'm Dan
I'm also Dan
Daaaaaaannn
I would love to see someone study all of Sonic’s running animations.
I briefly cover his running in my Sonic Mania video, but I think it'd be interesting to study his running in the 3D games as well.
Disagree on some of the "not notice it during gameplay", those sliding feet scream at me during all hours and it nags in the back of my mind.
I guess it depends how hard you study. It's not a massive problem really, you have to consider how detrimental it is to gameplay and feel, but maybe a couple of transitioning foot shuffles could've solved it.
@@VideoGameAnimationStudy
I'm sure the animators considered a couple extra transitioning animations in the blending matrix that were denied either due to design or budget constraints.
Getting a blending system set up that has the right combination of fluidity and responsiveness is really hard to nail down and IIRC the technical animation team of titles with more realistic animations like Quantum break took more than a year to fully develop and get right.
It's a combination of normal animation and procedural animation, depending upon Link's stamina bar his attack animation varies, love that detail. It
Monster hunter!!!
Im loving this Dan collaboration. This was a fun look at Links animations. Super excited about the metal slug video next!
Thanks Gero! Yeah, I'm excited to do the Metal Slug video, I think it'll be interesting.
I played 100 hours of Breath of the Wild and never noticed that Link's footwork doesn't match his spin. It's really a shame that - to make a game feel responsive - you have to shorten the anticipation of a move. Makes you appreciate games like Monster Hunter and Dark Souls which have a much less twitchy combat and are allowed these frames of anticipation to make a move look so powerful.
I love that you and Dan worked on parallel videos. I absolutely adore both of your channels and I can't wait to watch the other Dan's video as well!
Hey, thanks for the feedback!
Yeah I agree, it's interesting to see a game dedicated to that commitment of movement.
Yeah, we planned a cross promotion by doing the same topic at the same time 😃
I didn't even know this channel until other Dan recommended this video. Subscribed!
That was the plan! Thanks for checking it out and subscribing!
Hi Dan! Another Dan mentioned you, so I figured I'd check you out. Great video! You got yourself a new subscriber! Any chance of you joining the other Dan when he does the next "Battle of the Dans"? The honorary Dans are cool and all, but they're always looking for more authentic Dans to compete!
Hey, thank you, that means a lot!
I'll be honest I don't really follow PlayFrame, but I'm sure he'll ask me if it seems like a good idea.
More Dans! Gotta catch them all :D
🔴
I think it would be very interesting to talk about the proceduraly generated animations of Rain World. They are based on the physics which really brings them to life and are extremely fluid because of that. It's relly a shame that so little people knows it and talks of it, it would be very interesting to study its animations.
Thanks for the suggestion. I'm definitely interested in procedural animated elements, like in Grow Home.
Very lovely video Dan! Thanks!
personally i prefer responsiveness/feel over fluidity. i think walking around in GTA V is quite annoying.
Yeah, it is a common criticism with modern Rockstar games that they feel too fluid that it becomes detrimental to gameplay. I'll cover this in a set of videos in future.
Proceeds to spin on invisible full body skewer
Love your videos, if it wasnt for NFP I would never found this channel.
Great job!)
Hey thanks a lot! Yeah, he's a good egg that Dan.
You forgot to mention that each sword swing, be it back hand or forehand, can go into a charge spin attack. Its a cool touch and I'm surprised you didn't mention it.
You'll need to watch it again
This video is great
Thanks
I came from New Frame Plus. I'm loving your channel!
Thank you!
How would Street Fighter 4 and 5 compare in these terms? I know 5 looks better but are they still doing the same animation mistakes or is it a vast improvement?
I actually haven't played 5 all that much, I'll have to give them a look.
You should check out the animation of the Monster Hunter games, I feel there's a goldmine of stuff to study in regards to waiting for the animation to finish.
The other Dan did that one, too, it's pretty good.
I didn't watch to the end of the other Dan's video so I didn't know you had posted 'til it was in the sub feed. Glad to see two great Dan's working together!
Hey thanks!
gameplay is always first... if you want to do perfect pixar animation then game animation is not for you.
It depends, Red Dead Redemption focuses heavily on realistic animation, which though detrimental to its core gameplay idea, doesn't mean it's necessarily a bad approach.
If the gun and combat segments weren't as important, it'd still make a fantastic game to play, if the gameplay was focused more on exploration.
Plok music. A man of culture I see.
Link animations in Breath of the Wild feel clunky, Wind Waker is superior in animation
They definitely look smoother at points.
I want to see you analyze the other weapons tooooo
I think it’s interesting that BOTW is the Zelda game that brought the Master Sword beam into 3D. It used to be that just the 2D games let you shoot beams with full hearts (except for Fierce Deity Sword) in a straight line.
But here it’s kind of like they reused/adapted the boomerang animation, and it kinda feels much more fiddly and harder to aim properly
These videos about link are really Dan good.
😆
Yeeeeeees.
I have played Breath of The Wild a lot and I have never noticed the final sword animation have no/little feet animation.
To be fair it's not really anything that matters, but I just find it funny!
“LONG AGO in a distant land, I, Demise, the shape-shifting lord of darkness, unleashed an UNSPEAKABLE EVIL!!!... but an ELVISH samurai warrior, wielding the MASTER sword, STEPPED FORTH TO OPPOSE ME.....”
I'm only commenting to help the algorithm.
Well that's rather splendid of you!
@@VideoGameAnimationStudy Holy crap you replied to me, big fan I wanna be a video game animator too.🤗
@@supersonicsaga
I always try reply to comments on my videos!
That's great to hear, well there's plenty of resources out there, and we're in a good time right now in that software and publishing platforms are much easier to get hold of and use!
@@VideoGameAnimationStudy Thx for taking time to reply to me, much love.😘😘😘
I hoped it would be a rundown of animations from all zelda games
That's still on the cards I think
"7/10"
*Jim Sterling wants to know your location*
What about Monster Hunter?
Hey I’m Dan
I’m also Dan
Daaaaaaan
Link, hero of the roller shoes.
Nice of you to start with Plok music. You have taste.
Also, can't wait to hear about Metal Slug's animation. I've yet to see proof that the graphics are hand-drawn (besides being really good animation), but that should be worth a watch, anyway.
Two videos about Link animation?, now this is epic
You're epic!
Breath of the Wild? Really? This utter abomination that ruined Legend of Zelda by having a large, empty, and boring open-world, so many repetitive shrines, unusually-few tools to play with (four or so 'runes', compared to the dozen or more tools other Links have), enemies that deal far too much damage that can be easily stumbled upon, along with two utter hindrances in equipment fragility and limited stamina?
Why not look at a GOOD Legend of Zelda game, like Twilight Princess or The Wind Waker?
...I've tried to play through Breath of the Wild, to see why so many people apparently love it, but...ugh. I just _can't_ understand why. It's _disgustingly_ horrible, having so many idiotic design decisions. I could only tolerate a couple of hours exploring this barren land, slowly climbing mountains before running out of that stupid stamina, going through boring and slow fights with constantly-breaking weapons, completing a few shrines with identical and boring wallpaper (why are they _all_ blue? Why not change the colour to add some variety? That shouldn't be all that hard to do), discovering that the orb each shrine awards can give _either_ an extra Heart Container or a stamina upgrade (why not both, since stamina's a bullshit hindrance anyway?). I finally gave up when I stumbled upon a ranch in the middle of nowhere, and got one-shotted by a Bokoblin or whatever on horseback.
I managed to persevere through the utter shitshow that was Skyward Sword, with its nonfunctional mandatory Wiimote usage, shield fragility, non-upgradeable stamina, stupidly-limited Pouch idea, the rage-inducing Imprisoned fights, the slow flying, and the repetitive visits to all THREE areas. Breath of the Wild is _worse_ than Skyward fucking Sword.
I love five Legend of Zelda games - Twilight Princess, The Wind Waker, A Link Between Worlds, Link's Awakening, and Majora's Mask 3D - because those games DON'T have frustrating mechanics or boring worlds, because these five games know exactly what "Legend of Zelda" should be. Breath of the Wild just utterly fails to live up to its franchise in so many ways.
It doesn't help that the video thumbnail has The Wind Waker's version of the Master Sword on it, making me think you'd be covering the animations from that wonderful game...
Well everyone's entitled to an opinion.
I appreciate that BotW tried something new, to invigorate the series from becoming stale, which is what happened with Skyward Sword. I totally get that the new open world isn't for everyone for fans of the series, but I personally feel it's captured the spirit of the series in more ways than other games. It is literally presenting us with legends all over Hyrule. Everything is drenched in mystery and history, which I think is what the series should be about. How it presents it is another matter.
Definitely more traditional dungeons in the BotW2.
@@VideoGameAnimationStudy In my opinion, the "staleness" the series has seen recently is due to the utter lack of worthwhile brand-new releases. 2013 had A Link Between Worlds; since then, the only two new games are the abysmal Tri-Force Heroes (a multiplayer game with practically no team communication and tacked-on singleplayer) and Breath of the Wild.
Otherwise, all we've gotten are remakes and remasters - Twilight Princess, Majora's Mask, The Wind Waker, Link's Awakening. They were all fantastic remakes and remasters, for sure, but...nothing "new". As a result, I can understand why people would like something different.
I would've gladly gotten a brand-new traditional game over this tedious and flawed experiment, though. Hopefully they'll make one after BotW2, or whatever it ends up being called - and speaking of that game, I hope they also remove the hindrances in my first comment to streamline the playing experience and reduce unneeded and unwanted frustration. Maybe also add in Twilight Princess's Hidden Skills...? Those were awesome, and a welcome change to combat; they would likely spice up and speed up fighting, compared to BotW.
Don't get me wrong, BotW had its many issues, such as the weapon system, but like nearly every Zelda game, they're all great. They're just different. Honestly, I prefer a series to try something new and fail and learn from it than keep going with the same old, however great the same old is.
Maybe even if all we take away from BotW for future Zelda games is the *climbing* system, then I'd say it was a worthwhile experiment.
I'm subscribed to both channels. Nice to see RUclipsrs helping to promote each other
Great video!
Can't wait for the next episode!
Thanks! Me neither!
Putting the Fun in Function
You sound like a Dan
Great video dan!
Also, I thought for a second the thumbnail said "welding the master sword"
No offence
Thank you!
Ha, yeah I suppose the font is a bit close!
There’s MORE Dans?!
There's always more Dan's
AKRILLIC!!!
My favorite is when you swing once and then start a spin attack, Link starts the spin attack with a back hand slash and continues the spin going clockwise instead of the usual counterclockwise
Just found your channel, your videos are absolutely fascinating and great!
Hey, thank you so much!
Your video made me animate the combo for practice xD Good job love your videos!
Thank you, I'm glad it helped!
Thanks Dan! I follow all the Dans who talk about game animation on youtube. :)
Thank _you_
Привет
Just got back from a long trip and this is a great way to come back home! Great video! =)
Thank you! Glad you got back safely!
@@VideoGameAnimationStudy Thanks! It was a really safe trip back. Although it was 3 hours long.
Did this channel have a different name before?
It was just my name, Dan Root.
But I figured it'd make sense to have a clearer channel name so people know what to expect.
@@VideoGameAnimationStudy How well did you handle the change? Are you still Dan?
I'm still Dan
HOLY MOTHER OF GOD METALSLUG VIDEO WILL BE SO GOOD
i would love some of this analises on witcher 3' geralts animations on sword wielding
I'll have to dust off that game to get a feel for it again.
@@VideoGameAnimationStudy please do, I'm replaying it these days, it's an amazing game
IVE BEEN LISTENING TO THAT BEACH THEME ALL WEEK! I LOVE IT SO MUCH
It's so, so, so good!
#NewFramesPlus
#NewVideoFrameGameAnimationPlusStudy
Dan boys cross promoting is cute. You've got a new sub!
Hey, thanks so much!
GTA 5 might have "fluid" animation, but that shouldn't mean that controlling humans is the same as trying to control a water bed on some bowling balls (which is what GTA 5 and RDR feel like). Nintendo always gets it right: animations are made around player input, not the other way around.
Oh no of course, you can push fluidity too far and you end up with games like Red Dead 2. This all contributes to _feel_ and you should never not feel in control when playing.
To me, these horizontal swings always feel a bit odd to me. Diagonal swings look way more natural and satisfying to me. I'm not even gonna talk about the 360 spin, which turns me off completely, but I guess I value realism more than most people.
Like in the video, it's all about the feel of gameplay. Some realistic animation, like in Dark Souls, works for that type of gameplay, as you have to plan a bit more.
But Breath of the Wild is a bit more organic in that you need to make these quicker decisions.
Fellow PlayFriend here! Nice channel!
Hey, thank you!