Punching Tutorial (Fighting Basics)

Notice: I will not be putting up any pictures, instead I will upload a .piv file for you to download. Please do not steal my animations.

So, You may be asking, how can I make a fighting animation. I'm pretty sure you probably have already experimented with this, but the outcome probably was very stiff and choppy. Now the question is, How can I make a good fighting animation? Well. First we need to reduce choppiness. How? There is a technique called easing. Easing is when you start an animation off by moving the onionskin only a little bit. The onionskin will get bigger and the gray area will become less close to the stick man.
The first frame of any animation should start off with only a little gray area. If you've looked at my animations, you'll know what I mean. The second frame should have twice the amount of onionskin, THIS WILL LIMIT how much the stick can move in one frame, but that's how you reduce the unrealism. Keep doubling the amount of the gray area in your desired motion until the 6th or 7th frame, then just keep going until you come to a suitable place to reduce the onionskin back to as much gray area as on the first frame. Make sure to do this considerably, about every 10 to 15 frames or so.
The problem that most people have with the animations is that they don't understand easing. Personally, this took me about 2 months to master, it might take you anywhere from 1 week to 3 months, depending on you and how you animate. Easing is essential. You must make sure that you learn it if you want to make good looking realistic animations. Try to practice easing until you can do it like me without any guides, then proceed to learn other movements. IT WILL HELP A LOT, TRUST ME!!

I now assume that you can ease and do it very fluently without any guides. Let's move on to the punching tutorial.

Punching is the foundation for fighting animations. It is like the base of the animation. In order to make a punch seem realistic, you must first know the movement. In real life It's just your arm straightening in a forward movement. Because you are 3D and the stick is 2D, you have to make the arm go up as usual(DON'T forget to ease this.) and when the arm is at the top, it should be in a bent position.
THIS IS CRITICAL: With the arm in the bent position, make it disappear for a frame, put it on the other arm, this will create the illusion that the arm is actually on the other side and you can't see it from a 2D angle, after this frame just straighten the arm out like a normal punch and ease the stick man back into position, ready to punch again.
Remember the stick must move forward when it punches, so make sure the legs move like a walking animation. also here is a .piv file:

Download Me MAKE SURE YOU HAVE PIVOT 3 BETA OR IT WON'T DISPLAY THE ANIMATION.

Introduction to Fighting

We've all seen fights before, whether it be in movies or real life, well, now you're going to animate a fight. Fights consist of many types of complex chains, which are made up of basic movements like punching. Make sure you know how to walk run and jump before attempting to make any of these animations because they require a certain level of skills to execute, the next tutorials, will teach you basic punching kicking and other movements like that which you can use in a fight. I always make sure the animation is about 50 frames long before going back and editing parts I don't like. Remember, a good fight sequence will keep an audience entertained, so make sure your fights have good plots and are full of fighting, don't leave out too may frames for a dialogue, those should be very quick. Without further ado, let's get on with the tutorials...

Jumping Tutorial (Basic Movements 3)

Jumping is a very easy movement, it can be done in almost any position, you just have to ease to stick man downward and propel him into the air, then ease him downward to the ground.

That may have been a little too much to take in at once, so I made another frame by frame tutorial for you guys.

Examine these photos:

Frame 1: The stick man is ready to pivot and ease downwards make sure its in this position.


Frame 2: The stick man eases downward, the legs bend only a little, small onionskin


Frame 3: All movements are all more pronounced, slightly larger onionskin.


Frame 4: The left leg starts to bend, all movements from 3 are pronounced further again, and the onionskin gets larger.

Frame 5: Legs ease and the movement ends with a small onionskin, the upper body pivots downward as well.

Frame 6: Legs move upward, larger onionskin, the upper body moves as if were limp.

Frame 7: Legs move inward, as they move upward as well, onionskin is stll large, head bends a little.

Frame 8-13 The stick man stays in this position while moving upward, head may bend on the way up.

Frames 14-20 The stick man continues its downward journey toward the ground, eventually returning to almost the position it was in the start.

IMPORTANT!!! Remember that the two frames in the picture of 8 - 13 and 14 - 20 are only those frames, you will have to do the easing parts yourself, if you would like a pivot file E-mail me at ylperon@gmail.com

Running Tutorial (Basic Movements 2)

Now that you've seen the walking tutorial, make sure to look at this running tutorial for more basic movements. This is a run loop which means it never ends, try it follow this tutorial.

Examine these photos:


Frame 1: Your stick figure is already in a running position, in a longer animation, you will use easing to get it in this position. Make sure it looks like this.
Frame 2: In this case the stick man never "moves" from the spot it's already in in this frame, the legs pull in and there is some onionskin. The arms also move toward the body.
Frame 3: The legs are still in the process of crossing over the arms also touch the body now and will start to cross in the next frame, make sure there isn't too much between the figure and the onionskin.
Frame 4: Arms cross over each other, this can be tricky, but make sure you get this right or your animation will look unrealistic, the stick figure is also in the air now, don't make air frames too long or it will look like the stick is floating.
Frame 5: There is little onionskin in the upper body in the frame, but the legs still move a distance, the arms also have crossed over now. The stick is still airborne.
Frame 6: Arms and Legs move in this frame the stick person is now almost ready to start the cycle again. Make sure all your frames match, or else it will look unrealistic. Do not wobble.
Frame 7: The last in final frame, the stick man now starts to fall and the legs extend outward, after this frame is completed the animation will loop over and over is if it was running in one spot.
I hope this tutorial helps you, for further help, contact me at ylperon@gmail.com and I will send you a .piv file to look at. Thanks for reading!!

(Walking Tutorial) Pivot Basics 4: Basic Types of Movement

As you have seen in my videos, there is a variety of punching , kicking, blocks, transitions, and effects. Let's start off with something basic, like walking.

Examine these photos:

Frame 1: Stick figure is standing, ready to move.
Frame 2: In this frame the stick man leans slightly forward, small onionskin.
Frame 3: Front leg moves out, all joints ease forward.


Frame 4: Same as frame 3 except the leaning forward and legs are more pronounced. Slightly bigger onionskin for legs.
Frame 5: Less onionskin, stick man leans forward. Notice how arms move out too.
Frame 6: Stick's upper body tilted a little forward, movements in frame 4 less pronounced, notice how the leg is lifting up and bent a little.
Frame 7: Large onionskin. Leg bends forward, body bends forward. Make sure not to wobble anything. More pronounced movements.
:Frame 8: THIS IS A VITAL FRAME!! This frame is when the legs cross, the body still eases forward and the bent leg "fits" over the straight one.
Frame 9: Also, pretty important, in this frame the foot of the bent leg is on top of the straight leg. Make sure to ease forward!!
Frame 10: This is the final frame before the animation starts over again. the leg eases forward again like in the beginning and repeats.
I hope this helped you, if you would like to see a video, Here is one, this is the longer version with 20 frames instead of 10, but the process itself will repeat over and over. Thank you.

Video Examples Part 3

In order to understand the improvement by practicing, look at these really old animations, they are my 5th and 6th pivots. Take a look.






As you can see, now my animations are a lot smoother and more realistic, this site will help guide you through the process. Have Fun!

Video Examples Part 2

Here are my older animations, as you can see I used a different stick figure, but overall the movements are still smooth. Look...

Video Examples Part 1

This is one of my newer videos, THIS is not high level work. It is only smooth and what it should look like after sufficient practice and attempts. Take a look.

Pivot Tips (by Irock)

When animating a scene, don't make an animation that's 50 frames long.

Don't spend 24 hours on a five second scene.

Again, do not look at your animation at 10 scenes, wait until you have like 200 frames and you won't be disappointed at your work.

Have a good stick figure. Make it look cool. Give it a sword or gun for more action.

In the beginning, upload a bunch of sprites (if you need to) and hide them on the side of the screen so you can easily get them when you need it.

Make sure to save every once in a while so you don't lose a days work by accident. It may seem unnecessary, but save every five minutes.

Don't post your first animations on other sharing sites. You will be called bad, noob, etc...

Don't do simple things such as a simple punch or kick. Complicated ideas are much better and attract a lot more attention. They could just start up your popularity. :)

Have a good background and special effects. The little things can make a big difference.

Pivot Basics Part 3.5

You will notice probably that the default stick figure you get is very bad. Time to highlight some things you will need.

- A Good Stick Figure: Make one on your own, it's good experience. your animations will be much better with these stks.

- Some Basic Weapons: Heres an ideal list, a sword, a gun, a line (for the bullet) and some blood, if you can, use your imagination, a sword can be two lines, or maybe a pole for fighting? MAKE SURE YOU MAKE THEM!!

- A LOT of time: a long pivot animation usually takes one hour, a standard one takes 30 minutes, so make sure you are comfortable with you time needs and have ample time, rushed animations are usually very bad.

- A floor: just two line segments connected to a center point.

- Patience : The golden rule for me, remember this, "Pivot is easy to learn, but hard to master."

Pivot Basics: What NOT to do

Here's a basic list of things that you never should do.

1. NEVER make a sex animation, I know this sounds retarded, but some people actually do it, don't believe me? Go on you tube and search "pivot sex animation" you will be shocked. If you're temped then just don't post it.

2.NEVER view your animation at 5 frames. If you're one of those people who like to rush, don't do it I know it may be exciting to see the animation but if it is only 5 frames, it will look really bad and discourage you.

3. NEVER post an animation unless you have at least 2 months of experience because, chances are it may seem decent to you, but when you look at it 1 month later, it's gonna suck. Also, it's very possible people may leave bad comments, this will discourage you too.

4. NEVER copy another person's animation, most people will leave a comment saying you copied it if you did not give credit and rate the animation one star, just don't do it, it gives you a bad name and people will probably not watch your real animations in the future.

5. DO NOT ask people for stks, chances are you will annoy them and piss them off. And make your own stks, it looks cheesy when you use someone else's.

Remember, NEVER GIVE UP, keep trying and you will become better.

Pivot Basics: Inspiration

Now, that you know how to animate basic things, you might be asking, what do I do now, well, you animate! Now you're thinking, help me get started, well when I make an animation, I normally do a stick fight between two people, or maybe one stick figure owning many bad guys, or a combination of both, check out my channel and you might get some inspiration.
The link is www.youtube.com/user/ilperon

After you've seen some of those, then watch some of the Xiao Xiao series, particularly 3 and 5, those animations are among the best and are bound to give you ideas, if that still doesn't work then I suggest watching some Jackie Chan movies, those will give you ideas. As you animate more, you will speed up without knowing it and get more realistic and smoother. Don't worry, it took me about 2 months to start animating at a smooth level, Just keep practicing. And remember, Practice, practice, and more practice :) .

What I recommend before reading the next post is to make 10 animations, about 2 to 3 per day, it doesn't matter if they're 10 frames, short or long, good or bad. Just get a feel for the program.

Check Out These Animations
http://youtube.com/watch?v=XdHo1j2aLVA
http://youtube.com/watch?v=HPRjr-aP1lc
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Xi5oIZZKBe8

Pivot Basics Part 1a: Creating Figures

Take a look at this screen This is the screen that pops up when click on the "Edit Button"
Pretty confusing eh?
Yeah, I know, it took me about ten minutes to find out what does what.
Oh, you can also access this screen by going to "File", then "Create Figure Type"
So, when you get to this screen these are the controls

“Add line” This will create a new line segment to attach to the model.

“Add circle” This will create a new circle segment to attach to your model.

“Toggle segment kind” Change the segment from a line to a circle, or vice-versa.

“Change segment thickness” This edits the thickness of separate segments. By setting the thickness to 0, you can make “invisible lines” these are useful for making parallel lines.

“Duplicate segment” Makes a copy of the highlighted segment, which can then be attached to another segment.

“Static/Dynamic segment” Dynamic segments can be moved around in animations. Static segments are segments that cannot be moved.

“Delete segment” Removes the highlighted segment from the model.

“File” Here you can start a new model, open a saved one, save the current model or add the current model to the animation.

“Options” Here you can undo a mistake made with the model or switch to edit mode.

“Edit mode” This mode is used to change the length of a line or circle on your model.

Pivot Basics Part 3

3.) Saving and Loading

In order to save an animation/figure, follow these steps:

1) Click “file”.
2) Click “load figure type”.
3) Find the figure you want to load and double click it.

If you want to load a saved animation:

1) Click “file”.
2) Click “open animation”.
3) Find the animation you want to load and double click it.

Pivot Basics Part 2

2.) Basic Figure Operations

As you see in the picture below, there is a stick man with red and orange dots on it, the red dots, will move the joints around while the orange dot indicates the origin of the stick figure, this can used to move the stick figure forward and back. Also, you will find that when there are two figures the dots on one of the figures will turn blue when not used, Click and Drag to move the figure about.

In order to make an animation, you have to press "next frame" when you are ready to start with a first frame, you will discover when you move a figure there will be a gray lining to indicate where a figure originally was. This is called the "onionskin".

Pivot Basics Part 1

1.) In order to fully understand the program let's look at the screen.

Here we see a variety of buttons these are the controls.

"Play" will roll the animation that you currently have
"Stop" will stop the animation and go to the last frame you created
"Repeat" well, i wonder what this does...
"Add figure" will add whatever figure you have in the bar at the time, in this case, its "stickman"
"Delete" will delete a figure
"Edit" will take you to a window where you can create you own figure.
"Center" will bring the figure to the middle of the screen.
"Flip" will turn the figure around, make a mirror image.
"Color" will change the color of a figure.
"Front" will place the figure in front of all the other figures.
"Back" will place the figure in the back of all the other figures.
"100" marks how big the figure is, 100% would be normal size, 2x would be 200.

There is a bar to the right of Play and Stop. This bar is the frame rate or how fast the animation goes. I recommend you keep the bar in the middle, as it is normal speed, moving it up will increase speed, and moving it down will decrease speed.

There is an "options" tab on the top, it is used to change to frame dimensions, how big the box you animate in will be.

There is a "File" tab on the top also, this is where the save, load and other options and fetures are. Like the Load Sprite option.

Introduction to Pivot

Pivot is a stick figure animation program made by Peter Bone. The most recent version of pivot is Version 3 beta. Although some people use pivot 2.2.5, I highly recommend that you use pivot v3 beta because it has a ton of new features and better interface along with the "Load Sprite Button" which I will explain in future tutorials.

You can get Pivot 3 beta here: http://files.filefront.com/Pivot+3+Beta/;5290453;/fileinfo.html
You can also get Pivot by searching on Google.

Pivot is free and it is fun to make animations. I would recommend Pivot for anyone with a ton of free time and nothing to do. Let's Begin...