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Shinerai β Run, Shin 2010 WIP2
#digital #digitalart #dragon #fantasy #oc #originalcharacter #photoshop #yren #byondi #animation
Published: 2010-02-16 00:50:30 +0000 UTC; Views: 95308; Favourites: 5776; Downloads: 5170
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DescriptionSo some time during this/last week, I edited my Shinerai Run animation that I got so much feedback on. I really appreciate all the critique you guys gave me! Here are a couple edits I made.- added 4 frames, hopefully more fluid now. (16 total frames)
- increased frame rate, now he doesn't run so slow.
- hopefully fixed the tracking of his back feet, now they shouldn't look like they're shaking
- hopefully fixed his head swing a little so he looks more natural.
- tried to fix the changing in length of the tail pinions.
- earring no longer moves up and down the ear, lol.
I tried to make his back arch and curve a little more with his run and attempted to show more weight in his knees. I increased the distance of which his back feet are on the ground, that way he gets more thrust. I'm aware some of his muscles jump around, but I'm really not concerned about it since I'll be fixing it when I eventually go to shade it or something. I took all of your critiques into heart and I tried really hard to fix them. I hope it looks better now. Sorry to those of you who used your big animator-terms that I didn't know, since I haven't been in a class or anything. I really appreciate everyone who took the time to explain the big words to me and give me a couple tips. Thanks!
Also made the BG a little brighter and lines a little darker so you could see better. I drew all the frames in Photoshop CS and saved them as JPEGs. I then imported all the frames into Flash and set it on a loop.
DetailsMaterials.
Photoshop 7
Adobe Flash
Original Dimensions.
unknown
Time Spent.
unknown
CopyrightArt Β© Shinerai that's me!
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Comments: 1168
All of the animation is absolutely amazing! The anatomy is great, the animation is fluid, and the details are everywhere. I noticed the ripples on the underbelly, and I say it's natural, because the wind is moving the dragon's fur. It makes sense that the fur is rippling. The movement is astounding, and the physics of the fur, feathers and ears are amazing. Even the apparel is moving with the whole animation, which is amazing. Though I feel like the feathers on the jaw could move a little more. Well, that's all I have to say. Keep up the amazing work!
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You've got some very strong work here. The draftsmanship and working knowlege of the creature's anatomy are particularly nice. All the secondary actions seem to be working very well for you as well. What you've got here is a creature whose back legs are much larger and more powerful than its front legs (like a bunny.) That said, I feel like you could move the back foot even farther forward when the forelegs make contact. You wanna have it a little ahead of its point of contact before it hits the ground. An extra frame of contact couldn't hurt you either when dealing with an animal of this size. Also I don't think the feathery tufts on the rear foot would lie flat with the ground on the first frame of contact.
Your model sheet for this character also features wings. Animating this cycle with wings included would be really crazy (you could work a flap into the pass-over pose like a bird during a running takeoff or have them folded at his sides for some more secondary action.) Keep up the awesome work!
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The movement fluidity and the detail of this animation is stunning - it's clear that you've put a lot of effort in it and the result is really worthy. Especially the movement of the tail and neck feathers coming along with the overal movement is done well.
What I would like to point out though is the weight of the creature. Running like this, his size prompts to be of a pronghorn at maximum. I don't really know if that's true - but I checked the reference sheet for Shinerai and it gave me the feeling this cerature should be the size of an elephant at least. I know this is a problem of the creature design itself and not this animation - a creature this big could not stand on slim, antelope feet - but this animation highlights this even more. Every time I see the crature land on his front feet I am afraid he breaks them. Thus, I would suggest a different, slower movement for him, think of the elephant as an example.
I know that he is a fantastic creature and if we add a little magic in there and make his bones steel and body filled with helium, we can right the fact that he can move like this. Of course, you have the artistic license for this, it just feels unreal in the eyes of people who know how physics of this world function or it gives us the wrong feeling of the dragon being the size of a varanid lizard.
Now lets forget about the slim feet. Still, he looks like he has no weight. If you don't want his body to look like it's filled with air, I suggest you to make the landing more pronounced. I know I am stuck here at explaining so I just hope you understand. I also know that this is very hard to animate and I myself have problems with that when animating my size-of-a-horse flying wolf character... but somebody pointed this out to me and they were right, so I wanted to share the thought.
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Hey thanks for your compliments and critiques c: I have a hard time imagining him similar to an elephant because even though he may be of almost the same size, the anatomy is quite different :'< And not to just throw the "oh it's fantasy" thing out there, but I'm particularly looking at the proportion of the elephants limbs (how long the humerus and femur are, and especially that of the back legs compared to shinerai; the elephant has basically human back legs and shin's back legs are probably mostly foot). As well as the stiffness of the elephant's spine. I don't know enough of elephant anatomy to be able to correct Shin's anatomy (which is more based off a cat) but i WOULD like to know how to animate that weight that he should still have; like you mentioned someone else said too :c It's definitely something I want to work on the most.
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Absolutely stunning in the details. The tail is amazing. The foot movements (landing, contact positions and foot anticipation) are believable enough for a four legged animal. The only thing that I can't get over is the frame rates. I read in your description that you added frames. When adding frames, you increase the speed of the action. More frames- faster action. Fewer frames- slower action. With this, you can clearly see where the extra frames were added. It makes the run look off: too fast in parts and too slow in others. Instead of adding frames, perhaps make few solid key frames, or frames where the major motions happen. Then get rid of the inbetweens, or the frames with lesser action. I also think you are working on both ones AND twos, which is making the animation choppy. Try and stick with one type only, to keep consistant and smooth. As in: draw on every frame, or every other frame, not mix and match. The feet simply move too fast over the ground.
Over all though, this creature is gorgeous and the detail is amazing. Convincing and excellent!!
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Thanks for the crit! I really appreciate getting advice from those experienced in animation since I've never had any experience myself xD
as for animating ones and twos, i'm not. These 14 frames are all the exact same duration and I want to say it's set at like 15FPS or something like that (I can't remember exactly since this is kinda old now) what parts of the animation, specifically, are faster than others? I purposely made the airtime slow since he's bounding =O but if it's looking incorrect, then i definitely need to fix something (i'm actually feeling really motivated to redraw this xD)
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Very late reply, but for some reason I didn't get this critique in my inbox until today? o.O The critique isn't mine but perhaps I can help clarify what's been said :3.
I think the part that's too slow is the bound; the legs move very fast, almost too fast to see clearly what they're doing, but the bound seems to take ages in comparison. He's airborne for way too long compared to the speed of the legs. Perhaps this helps: [link] . It's a vid about the cheetah (because the way Shin moves seems much like a cheetah to me) and you can see a couple of shots of their run-cycle. I know the deviation is slightly old, but who knows it might still be useful some time :3.
Wonderfully executed otherwise though, I love the way the tail flows and how the pixelated background is also slightly animated, it completes the whole thing.
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Thanks, beb, for the reference and your help! C: that'll definitely be useful when i animate him again (since i seem to animate him like once a year XD)
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Welcome hun :3. Submit some sketches or sumin', I miss seeing art from you <3.
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I don't have any sketches ;A;
Well I have like. one. :c I've only been going to work, attending school, and studying lately ;A; I miss seeing art from me too. I kinda wanna post some doodle on LJ :c
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Run cycles are not uncommon to see on Deviant Art, however, the originality of the creature itself is most wonderful. The anatomy is a great deal different from any single creature I know of, and it doesn't really run like anything I am familiar with. But therein lies the beauty of the technique of piecing together a run cycle of this "frankensteined" animal.
It's great long back legs give a rather dramatic push, much like a rabbit, but the front legs are shorter and sturdy, allowing them to properly absorb the energy the back ones produce.
The motion of the tail is very well illustrated; it is obvious the artist kept in mind the motion that the spinal cord would be making while the creature was in movement, and was very aware of the timing it would take in the animation to make the run look correct, not to mention the flapping of the feathers on the side of the tail.
The stillness of the head is a wonderful feature; it reminds us that all the commotion of its movement is based in the spine, back legs and tail, and if the creature were real, it would not get dizzy as it ran, thanks to its apparently flexible anatomy.
Overall, I think this piece is exquisitely executed and a high rating is very much deserved. e.deviantart.net/emoticons/s/s⦠" width="15" height="15" alt="
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Although it's all true, this isn't really a critique, more a long-stretched compliment. Don't get me wrong, I agree with what you said but the very definition of critique concerning art is to find and name faults, and help the artist correct them. Art is never perfect, there's always room for improvement. Compliments are good and often times necessary to keep the artist motivated, but they're not helpful. Perhaps some food for thought for your future critiques :3.
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Writing a comment in the critique doesn't always have to be pointing out flaws. Sometimes you write them to give it a sparkling review - to let others see WHY you think it's as good as it is. Sometimes letting an artist know exactly why you like it so much is helpful to them, just in and of itself.
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That's not the purpose of the critique function, and it rather defeats the purpose of critique itself. If you wish to let the artist know how much and why you like their work, you can simply drop them a comment. Artists request critique to get a meaningful, constructive response to their artwork. One can only learn from seeing their mistakes and correcting them, the purpose of critique is to help an artist with just that. Compliments, like I said, are useful and important too, but they're not critique and never will be.
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Well, I don't agree with you.
First of all, the comment that I made WAS meaningful. Second, some artists actually do learn when people point out good things about their work. It helps them see what they're doing RIGHT, not just wrong. Not only do these critique functions serve for people to point out mistakes, they also serve to give a general review that people can rate, the artist included.
If what I wrote was not correctly placed to you, then I'm sorry, but that's your problem. Write to the artist and tell them how you think they shouldn't have allowed it to be posted with their picture. I'm certain that would be an issue they'd be happy to take up.
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Well, you're pretty much proving against your own point; "the comment that I made". That's what it was, a comment, not a critique. This is not a matter of agreeing or disagreeing, unless you wish to argue with the dictionary.
I already said that I did agree with your points, and I also agreed that compliments are not a bad thing and it's good for the artist to know what they're doing right, but that's the point. They're already doing it right. It's good for them to know what they're doing right, but they won't progress in knowing so. My problem, and a lot of people's problem, is that the critique function is not being used as what it was designed for. It's a way for every artist on this site to genuinely help eachother improve, not a way to just praise eachother more thoroughly.
A perfect rating does not exist, because a perfect drawing does not exist and if they did, they wouldn't need critique, which would still render the critique function useless. I have no reason to take this debate up to the artist, because they didn't write it. Of course they're not going to rate a comment like this unfair out of common courtesy, you were being nice to them so they're being nice to you. That still doesn't make it a good critique, which is why I gave you feedback.
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Comment = something written/said, no matter where it is.
If they already know they're doing it right, they sure didn't seem to have a problem with me telling them. And you know what the artist wrote to me when they read what I wrote? They said: "Wow, thank you so much for your compliments <3 I really appreciate them ;; and you inspire me to make this animation that much better."
Yes - it was a compliment. It was a complement that I sat down and wrote out as meaningfully as I could to express to them how good I thought it was. And guess what? It helped! Apparently they found the motivation to keep trying to improve what they thought was wrong, even if I didn't see anything wrong at all.
And typically, critique is not given if it's not asked for - meaning it is not wanted. I didn't ask for you to critique what I wrote, and frankly, I find it a little rude you would poo-poo what I wrote very sincerely to this artists.
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Wow, thank you so much for your compliments <3 I really appreciate them ;; and you inspire me to make this animation that much better.
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This is a follow-up to my critique for your previous animation: [link]
And I must say it has improved a great deal! You've ironed out most of the inconsistencies and the whole thing looks a lot more fluent now. I also really like the way the muscles are now expanding and contracting with every stride.
But, as is often the case, there is always room for a little critique. I think you've done a great job on the movements of the fur and the feathers, but to me it seems as if you haven't put the same movement in the elbow fluff. Even when the front feet hit the ground, the fur seems to remain horizontal. The fur on the chest and the heels also look a little static, but not as much as the elbow fur. Also, I think a little variety in the fur movement wouldn't hurt. I only see up-and-down movement, with the hair remaining straight. I think some curling and free falling (or rolling) wouldn't hurt, especially on the heels. The shoulder fluff should show some reaction to the rolling shoulder blades underneath.
And finally, I am still missing some of what I'd call secondary animations (because I don't know the technical term). The most prominent would be the reaction of the body to the impact of the landing. Each landing should make the legs and shoulders shake, and the movement would carry on through the rest of the body. Ears would violently shake from the landing. It's difficult to explain, so I can only advise you to go to YouTube and look up videos of running cheetahs. Here's a couple to get you started: [link] [link]
I think it's something that someone else also pointed out in their critique, but I don't recall their name.
And finally: I'm also a pretty big fan of dirt, dust and debris being kicked up by the feet. Of course, this is just me. If you prefer to keep this animation purely dedicated to Shin, that's up to you. e.deviantart.net/emoticons/s/s⦠" width="15" height="15" alt="
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Thanks so much for the second critique! :'D I see what you mean about the fur, but waves would be really hard to animate, i'm not sure if I'm good enough to make the run as real as everyone wants me to.
i do appreciate the links to the videos, they'll be useful c:
as for dirt, i planned on adding a background, but i'm more focused on the actual running first :E
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You're welcome. It's always nice to see your art and your animations. Might as well write a little critique every now and then.
I'm glad to have helped. The things I suggested were just that: suggestions. Do whatever you feel most comfortable with. You're certainly much better at animations than I am.
Can't wait to see what you come up with next. ^^
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First off I will have to say that I am really liking the structure of the beast. The animation it's self looks real strong as well. The back leg movement is especially well done and looks natural for that type of leg. I think the that the front legs as they hit the ground could be staggered in their timing, just a tad though. I love the feather movement as this too also adds to the whole of the animation. That one feather in n the end of his tail however, the one the keeps curling forward and back doesn't feel right and really bugs. It really looks out of place.
Hope that helps.
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thank you so much for the crit c: I'll try to stagger the legs. the end of his tail though isn't a feather, it's his tail. i'll try to make the curl less dramatic xD
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To bad a feathered wolf like creature sounds real cool to me.
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WOW! What can I say? This is a gorgeous bit of animation. It looks very fluid and you managed to keep so many complex bits in sync with each other. Particularly, the motion of his fur and feathers is impressive.
The overall movement of his running is a bit odd - not so much a typical run, but more like he is bounding or leaping across terrain. If that's the impression you were going for, it's great! If you want it to look like a more standard run, have his feet hit the ground with more pause between each leg... ex. more time between his left foreleg touching down and his right foreleg.
Overall, this is absolutely amazing and of a far better quality than many professional animations I've seen. Just lovely e.deviantart.net/emoticons/b/b⦠" width="15" height="15" alt="
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Yep, I was going for a bounding run (i explained on the first one, but not this one, sorry) xD i'll definitely try to stagger the legs a little c: thank you for the crit!
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Alright, as an animation major and since you asked for crit, I'll give you some crit on the animation. ;D
Lovin' the smoothness. I do like that you've padded it out to 16 frames now from the (I think) 8 that you had before. You've also managed to animate a rather complicated, animator-unfriendly, character and I give you major props for that. -mucho claps-
There's only a few things I would try changing, but they're tweaks that you can take as you will:
You lose a LITTLE volume in some of the feathers on the back, even taking the flattening of the feathers into account. It's really only noticeable to me cause I've been staring at it for a while, though if you chose to color it, it might be a bit more apparent (who knows though?).
The only other qualm I have is in the timing of the legs when they hit/push off. I would delay one of the legs on each set about 1-2 frames more just to give it more of a run effect, right now it's almost more like Shin is doing a leaping run (unless that's what you're going for. If so then you nailed it!). But yeah, the leg timing is a bit too even, so that extra padding will just add more realism to it. e.deviantart.net/emoticons/w/w⦠" width="15" height="15" alt="
So... yeah! Great secondary action in the tail, great attention and maintenance of detail, very vurry nice!
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I was definitely going for a bounding run, but since it looks unnatural, I'm thinking about increasing ground time too :'> thank you so much for the crit, I really appreciate it (it's awesome to get words from an animation student!) i've got a ton of things to fix thanks to everyone who is commenting c:
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Hmm..
I'm not used to writing critiques, but what the heck, I'll give it a shot huh?
Well for this run cycle, like you've said in your comments, this is a "redo" of your previous one. For some strange reason, I might've liked the other one slightly more. I don't know if it's just me, but the head/neck area in this is too stiff. After he's thrusting himself forward and right when he's landed from mid-air, it looks like his neck is tensed and it seems painful. Plus, it doesn't have the 'wave motion' horses have. And yes, dragons are not horses, but the 'usual' way, not proper way (since there is no "right" or "wrong" way of a created character running.) it looks relaxed.
Please don't take this critique too seriously, cause' I feel like I've said something rude at the moment..
For the hind legs, they look like it may be slipping on ice, instead of thrusting the body forward. Maybe its because they go back too quick, like he's running on a skating ring. Or maybe they look relaxed and look like they are in a smooth walking state, and not tensed up when they hit the ground.
I like the tail motion, and how it's sort of stiffened, but floppy.
Now this is different, but I see that this animation isn't smoother. I see this because the "landing" is rough, it looks rushed and that it's missing an important frame.
Overall, the animation is amusing, and somewhat hypnotizing. The flaws you can barely notice (until somebody reads this critique e.deviantart.net/emoticons/x/x⦠" width="15" height="15" alt="
For Vision, I'll rate you 5/5. Your ability to work and animate this complex creature is stunning, so.
For Originality, I'll rate you 3/5. There have been many run cycles for the past years, and they can be amusing. But I know how much fun they can be!
For Technique, I'll rate you 3.5. His hairs seem out of the 'puzzle'!
For Impact, I'll rate you 4/5.
Like I've said before, I don't do critiques often, and when I do, I feel rude <:/
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thanks so much for the crit and i'm sorry I took so long to get to it XD you pointed out some really interesting things, I'll definitely try to fix the leg timing so he isn't slipping haha. thank you c:
dont feel rude >XD
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One word; Beutiful. This Shinerai really just blew my sox off, a HUGE improvement from the last one. I looked at this and i thought it was very inspiring, it makes me want to make some kind of animation. Haha, yeah, no. As you can see it is a very good aspect the EVERY part of the Shinerai moves in each frame, and i think i speak for everyone when i say the anatomy and the figure looks absolutely Perfect. No leg out of place. My favorite part is the tail, its so long and delicate; it just makes the whole Shinerai Pop. Good job Shinerai! You really out did yourself. Amazing.
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aww thank you so much!! I really appreciate your kind words c:
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This is very well done, especially with all the detail in the fur and feathers. The movement is much more fluid than the previous version, and it shows the weight of the character very well.
There are a couple minor things that are bothering me, the first and most noticeable of them being the curled feather on the tail. It seems like it's forcing itself up like a living thing. If it's going to curl, perhaps the movement should be a bit less drastic and a little more gradual, perhaps not springing up as much. With air flowing past during a run, it would be pushed down quite a bit more anyways.
Other than that, this is very well done, and far beyond my ability. Good job and great work! Quadrupeds are really hard to do.
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Wtf, I have too many things on my clipboard. XD I meant to link to Shin's ref [link]
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Thank you very much for the critique!! :'>
I'm glad to hear he has more weight, because I really didn't know how to show it. As for his tail, that's not a feather on the end, it's the tip of his tail which is usually kept curly. (i drew it too short, really xD) seee? [link] c:
maybe i shouldn't have it straighten out all the way :'D
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This is a really awesome animation I am still in awe from this, my only suggestion to edit really is the cheek feather's a little more sense of motion they look as if they lack any physical properties to his movement. That's all I really gotta say other wise I really enjoy the fluid movement and the ear bounce x]. Great job!
Another suggestion would be when he brings his feet down the fluff behind his feet should flow upwards as his feet are coming down but other than that awesome! You did great on this piece. Hope it helps!
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oh hey you're totally right >XD i totally retraced those cheek feathers every time without really thnking about it! thanks for suggesting that! c:
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XDD You're very welcome!! ^_^
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You did a wonderful job with the anatomy staying continuous throughout the animation (a lot of people tend to draw anatomy that seems more incorrect as the slides progress). The feathers and everything hold a great sense of gravity when Shin lands and lifts. I think it's pretty realistic that his ears go down faster than his feathers on his head because not only is gravity tugging on them, but animals naturally lower their ears also.
What bothers me a lot is that the lines on his midsection seem to jump everywhere (and in the neck at the bottom). If he was colored, it might not be as noticeable. Maybe I'm the only one that it bothers-who knows. The tail curl seems cute, but unlikely too. I'm not too educated when it comes to Shin and his mannerisms though, so I could be off.
Overall, awesome job. It'd be great to see more animations from you.
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yeah I mentioned in the description that the muscle lines are jumpy xD i wasn't really paying attention to them so they got kinda out of whack. c:
while shin's tail is naturally curled at the end, the uncurling of it shouldn't be so drastic so i'll definitely work on that too. thank you for the crit!
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Oh, sorry for missing that, haha. I normally always read descriptions but sometimes I don't. Welcome! n__n
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>XD no worries, I. . . only read the description half the time, sadly.
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Thank you so much for the compliments! I should really try my hand at another run cycle. Haven't done one in 9 years, i wonder how it would turn out >u<
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What a fascinating animation! Keep making more and more okay?
Oh I know. If you look at a bunch of clips and gain inspiration Β from them it'll have you do more animations in that sorta style!
sakugabooru.com/post/show/3754β¦
sakugabooru.com/post/show/3753β¦
sakugabooru.com/post/show/3695β¦
sakugabooru.com/post/show/3754β¦
sakugabooru.com/post/show/3737β¦
sakugabooru.com/post/show/3707β¦
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