I have some animating skill (funny you asked). I think I can try to mock something up.
Of course, it's going to be in flash. I have a few DF-related ideas myself.
The concept reminds me of the AMV Hell series as well as Robot Chicken. Probably inspired by it.
-In Curses or Mayday graphics= The Itchy and Scratchy Show intro
-The Fluffy Wambler Incident with the theme of MacGuyver playing (Shadow of the colossus may be involved as well)
-The Bloodfist in transit ala Final Fantasy style. (I could even make/modify some sprites just for it)
-Snow White and the 7 Dwarves "Hi-ho"/"Dig dig dig dig" themes, but in a more dorfy manner; or the cleanup song (same movie) also DF-ed up.
-In Curses or Mayday graphics= Replicate the intro to Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Gandalf vs. Balrog fight.
-"Lifestyles of the Rich and the Famous" All about nobles, cut short when magma floods their room.
-Pee-Wee's Big Adventure intro (and theme) with a dwarfy Rube Goldberg design doing something.
-"Happy Little Boozer" -- Dwarven life-cycle involving any time they would take a drink.
-Goblin Lasher goes through a dwarven fortress in Castlevania style.
-D&D session going on, but with things done in DF Adventure mode style. (Or use the "D&DD" episode of Dexter's Laboratory as a sound byte).
-Dwarven Olympics (Need more ideas, but one is the Hammer Toss, with Olympian Morul Cattenmat).
-Insert Monty Python Reference Here-
-Mythbusters (We'll need a myth that we can possibly use a sound byte from the show or something on)
-The Joy of Engraving with Bob Ross
-Rock-em Sock-em Bronze Colossi
-Dwarf Vs. Wild or SurvivorDwarf
-Goblin Fortress as a scrambled (old time cable) channel
-Lion King intro, and then an ambusher takes down the lions, or a magma flood
-A Space Quest style remake of the intro of DF, with of course a picture edit I made as the end screen.
-Sample:
-Ghost Hunters enters the ruins of Boatmurdered.
-Speaking of Boatmurdered: Soundbyte from "Whose Line is it Anyway?", commentary on Sankis's rampage "How do you think this all happened?" "I think it all started with a really badly timed bald joke."
-Chrono Trigger, Island of Zeal; Crono walks into one of the buildings, find a peculiar lever, switches it; island falls.
-Cave in has occurred.
-A running gag clip that plays once in awhile of Meatgod beating someone to near-death.
---More to come---
Is there any particular style you want? Want it in ASCII or leave that optional? What quality of design do you want as well? That can affect how long it can take me for certain things. I can get distracted with fine details. Even with something as (in)significant as a fluffy wambler.
EDIT:
Added some more ideas. And one other one I might do is record my nephew describe a bizarre creature, use it as a forgotten beast, and even use his recording as a dwarven child describing what he saw.
I think we can use sprites (especially modified) in our own clips as well. Like I would use for Bloodfist in FFIV or FFVI format.
Right now I'm just being an Idea Guy, my schedule seems to be in the way a tad, but any time I have off I'll try to at least get the base sprites and such I would use/work on ready, and try an re-learn some tricks. BTW, what framerate are we going to work with? I'd like it to be as compatible as possible between projects. I was thinking maybe 32 FPS would work well. Smooth enough framerate, plenty of frames to work with, and it can easily be worked on if you want to cut timings shorter, but fit seamlessly. A simple binary-based framerate ought to be suitable.
1-2-4-8-16-32. That's already 6 animation rates that can easily line up, especially if blending frames with each other and getting timings to line up. Factor between them with other multiple factors can also work as well. But yeah, 32 I think is an ideal framerate to work with that I think everyone can use well. Plus, I think sequencing certain things (like ASCII animations, if anyone would be going that far, I have a trick or 2 up my sleeve pulling those off) and have them move convincingly would be much easier, just as long as they don't have any ease-in/ease-out, otherwise, it just won't look right.
Notes regarding ASCII animation in Flash: (Not tested yet, but in theory, could work well; only if you're willing to use it)
Pre-render your surroundings, and if the scene will be affected, use layers, and give your type/graphics a black (or verb/adj. color) background, I advise using a font similar to what you used in the pre-render. Why I prefer 32 FPS is so you can animate character movement of different speeds convincingly, as long as they have a set animation rate/tracking that lines up, and if you must, fine-tune the placement in the tweens. If you have plans for certain characters being used or effects, keep them as an individual actor, and swap them out when needed. Just as long as it doesn't compromise the believability of it being ASCII or roguely rendered.
32-keyframe table: (Starting from 1; if it ends in --, and has no bleed over, it can seamlessly loop within the designated 32 full)
1, 2, 4, and 8 should be be easy to loop. Where the numbers/factors line up should make for good timing points.
Keyframes / frame factors, Numbered = Keyframes, Dashed = Tween frames.
Each (1) frame = 1/32 second (1 / 32 = 0.03125 seconds).
x1 = 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32
x2 = 1 - 3 - 5 - 7 - 9 -- 11 -- 13 -- 15 -- 17 -- 19 -- 21 -- 23 -- 25 -- 27 -- 29 -- 31 --
x3 = 1 - - 4 - - 7 - - 10 -- -- 13 -- -- 16 -- -- 19 -- -- 22 -- -- 25 -- -- 28 -- -- 31 -- (--) (3 seconds until full Loop)
x4 = 1 - - - 5 - - - 9 -- -- -- 13 -- -- -- 17 -- -- -- 21 -- -- -- 25 -- -- -- 29 -- -- --
x5 = 1 - - - - 6 - - - -- 11 -- -- -- -- 16 -- -- -- -- 21 -- -- -- -- 26 -- -- -- -- 31 -- (-- -- --) (5 "")
x6 = 1 - - - - - 7 - - -- -- -- 13 -- -- -- -- -- 19 -- -- -- -- -- 25 -- -- -- -- -- 31 -- (-- -- -- --) (3 "")
x7 = 1 - - - - - - 8 - -- -- -- -- -- 15 -- -- -- -- -- -- 22 -- -- -- -- -- -- 29 -- -- -- (-- -- --) (7 "")
x8 = 1 - - - - - - - 9 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 17 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 25 -- -- -- -- -- -- --
The rest of the chart should be easy enough to figure out from here on; just follow the trend until 32.
(which should just be 1, and dashes from there on; x16 of course = 1,17, no bleed, and so on.)
Prime factors require equal amount of seconds as frames used (IE- 3 seconds to fix 3F's, 5 for 5, 7 for 7, etc.)
The larger the number, the more costly the frameage to complete a seamless loop: 32(pf)=Total frames. EX: 32(3) = 96 frames to loop; 32(7) = 224 frames.
Cutting to the chase (Prime Factors):
1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 27, 29, 31
Total frames (Primes):
32, 64, 96, 160, 224, 352, 416, 544, 608, 736, 864, 928, 992
Furthermore (Non-Primes; Value=Seconds Needed for a Seamless Loop):
6=3, 10=5, 12=3, 14=7, 18=9, 20=5, 22=11, 24=3, 26=13, 28=7, 30=15
Total frames (Non-primes):
96, 160, 96, 224, 288, 160, 352, 96, 416, 224, 480
I did the math, so you don't have to. Credits to Excel for being so useful.
I hope this chart can be put to good use for timing purposes.
Oh, and when making loops, make a full loop animation for the amount of frames the loop lasts, delete the final frame. Test to make sure it's consistent.
Example Loop (F= Frame, KF= Keyframe): A 4-frame looping gear, KF1 = 0-degrees, KF4 = 90-degrees flat (should end up looking exactly like KF1, Copy-Paste KF1 if necessary), Convert F3 into KF3, delete KF4, congrats! you have a convincing looping mechanism. Use this actor where you need it.
Example of it in action Right-click to navigate; especially rewind, you'll see the example best. Most if it are 4-frame/keyframe loops (it is 3 frames long, but a seamless 4-framer. SWF was also made in 24 FPS). [brag]And yes, it is mine.[/brag] In the first chapter (where it keeps looping the treads/wheels, you can subtly notice that they are moving in opposite directions. To see it easier, zoom in and drag around the screen near the gear (it slows down the framerate) You will notice it even easier. You'll even notice the topsides of the treads as the tank falls apart follows a similar principle.
EDIT EDIT:
Spoilered some of it to reduce page use. Oh, and more ideas.
EDIT EDIT EDIT:
I modified my FPS notes. I did all the math so you don't have to. It should be a great help for the animating.
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Topic: A request for someone who can animate (Read 3082 times)