Studying Alex's sprite from SF3. All his frames look great, but this one is unbelievably cool. So much motion and weight in one image. Every frame of this ridiculously well animated game had as much thought put into it as a skillful painting.
#SF3 #PixelArt
Alex has nearly 1000 frames of animation. I've been playing Street Fighter 3 for over 20 years now and I still marvel at them. Try pausing the game at irregular intervals. Catch some transient frames that your brain hasn't fully processed before. They're all GORGEOUS
#SF3
There's so much great stuff going on here. This is highly stylized but it's built on a rock solid foundation of hard won anatomy and figure drawing expertise. And this is just one of many drawings from an expertly animated sequence. And it's world class pixel art too!
#SF3
Look at how intricate these shoes are. Yet they're made with maybe 6 colors. This works because it DOESNT draw attention to itself! It's not distracting! And yet when you have time to drink it in, it's amazing! So much accounted for with pixels! Incredible!
#SF3 #PixelArt
Now look at it IN MOTION! All those beautiful frames zipping by with such cohesion! All with such CLARITY and precision! Such INTENTIONALITY. Truly "pixel perfect." What a timelessly beautiful work of art!
#SF3 #PixelArt
Here it is again in slow motion! Lemma tell ya, in traditional animation, spinning the character around like this is one of the most difficult things you can be tasked with! Capcom didn't have to do this 90s Hong Kong kungfu hit spin, but they went ALL OUT with this game! #SF3
Here's Alex's standing Fierce. This is one of my favorite attacks in any game. It's SO SATISFYING even if it doesn't connect! There's so much kinetic energy to it!
#SF3 #PixelArt
This attack is an great example of how frame rate modulation can greatly enhance a game animation. I've slowed down the attack by 10x, maintaining the relative difference in timing per frame. Look at which frames speed by and which ones are held longer!
#Sf3 #GameDev #Pixelart
The first frame blazes by in 0.02 seconds. This makes the action feel responsive. The player just pressed a button and immediately gets feedback. This is really important!
The next frame slows down to 0.05 secs. The one after that is held for 0.07 secs, the longest of any frame in this sequence. That's because this is the anticipation pose. The next frame continues settling into the anticipation pose at 0.05 secs, giving the viewer time to read it
The next frame slows down to 0.05 secs. The one after that is held for 0.07 secs, the longest of any frame in this sequence. That's because this is the anticipation pose. The next frame continues settling into the anticipation pose at 0.05 secs, giving the viewer time to read it
The next frame slows down to 0.05 secs. The one after that is held for 0.07 secs, the longest of any frame in this sequence. That's because this is the anticipation pose. The next frame continues settling into the anticipation pose at 0.05 secs, giving the viewer time to read it
The next frame slows down to 0.05 secs. The one after that is held for 0.07 secs, the longest of any frame in this sequence. That's because this is the anticipation pose. The next frame continues settling into the anticipation pose at 0.05 secs, giving the viewer time to read it
The attack picks up momentum as Alex torques his shoulder forward. The frame rate picks up to 0.04 seconds, and then a blazing fast 0.02 seconds right as the attack itself starts to emerge (hitbox should start to activate here I think)
The attack picks up momentum as Alex torques his shoulder forward. The frame rate picks up to 0.04 seconds, and then a blazing fast 0.02 seconds right as the attack itself starts to emerge (hitbox should start to activate here I think)
The attack picks up momentum as Alex torques his shoulder forward. The frame rate picks up to 0.04 seconds, and then a blazing fast 0.02 seconds right as the attack itself starts to emerge (hitbox should start to activate here I think)
The next frame is the most important keyframe. This is the attack at full extension. Remember the previous frame was 0.02 seconds. This one is held twice as long at 0.04 seconds (1/25th second) giving the viewer enough time to register it!
#SF3 #GameDev #PixelArt
As the attack leaves full extension and starts to settle, the animation continues at a steady 0.04 secs for the next 3 frames and then slows down to 0.07 seconds as Alex catches himself and reverses the momentum of his arms, another important keyframe.
As the attack leaves full extension and starts to settle, the animation continues at a steady 0.04 secs for the next 3 frames and then slows down to 0.07 seconds as Alex catches himself and reverses the momentum of his arms, another important keyframe.
As the attack leaves full extension and starts to settle, the animation continues at a steady 0.04 secs for the next 3 frames and then slows down to 0.07 seconds as Alex catches himself and reverses the momentum of his arms, another important keyframe.
As the attack leaves full extension and starts to settle, the animation continues at a steady 0.04 secs for the next 3 frames and then slows down to 0.07 seconds as Alex catches himself and reverses the momentum of his arms, another important keyframe.
As the attack leaves full extension and starts to settle, the animation continues at a steady 0.04 secs for the next 3 frames and then slows down to 0.07 seconds as Alex catches himself and reverses the momentum of his arms, another important keyframe.
As Alex recovers from the attack, the next frame is held for 0.05 seconds, which eases us into two more frames at 0.04 seconds to take Alex back to his neutral stance.
As Alex recovers from the attack, the next frame is held for 0.05 seconds, which eases us into two more frames at 0.04 seconds to take Alex back to his neutral stance.
As Alex recovers from the attack, the next frame is held for 0.05 seconds, which eases us into two more frames at 0.04 seconds to take Alex back to his neutral stance.
As Alex recovers from the attack, the next frame is held for 0.05 seconds, which eases us into two more frames at 0.04 seconds to take Alex back to his neutral stance.
So much thought went into this animation, both artistically and also for gameplay. The framerate modulation sends unconscious cues as to which frames are the most important. If this was evenly timed (as most 3D games are) it would lose a lot of vital information.
#SF3 #GameDev
I hope this made sense. Frame rate modulation isn't just about slowing down framerates to "be like 2D." It's about curating the timing and positioning of every frame so that the player gets the best information possible. It's a huge part of why so many older games "feel" better!
In fact, that's why we're doing frame rate modulation on the game that I'm working on, @ZechaTactics! Sure it does help our 3D cel shaded graphics look "more 2D." But the bigger benefit is that it makes gameplay read and "feel" better! https://twitter.com/ZechaTactics/status/1388524975833812994?s=20
I think if I didn't specifically call out the previous animation as having framerate modulation, most people wouldn't even notice. And that's the point! We don't want it to draw attention to itself! Its purpose is to make the game FEEL better (and not choppy or "retro"!)
I should add that framerate modulation isn't universally superior. It's just a technique, why and how you use it is the most important thing. Also there's lots of other things you CAN do in 3D animation to get similar effects. Not the same, but similar. https://twitter.com/Richmond_Lee/status/1389665067659001856?s=20
For instance, in 3D animation you can easily play with the animation curves to ease in and out of things for emphasis. There are soooo many beautiful 3D games that do just fine without framerate modulation.
What I love about framerate modulation though, is that it lets you abstract time itself in a very distinct way. It's absolutely crucial to the development of so many distinct schools of animation in Japan. https://wavemotioncannon.com/2016/12/31/an-introduction-to-framerate-modulation/
An Introduction to Framerate Modulation

Framerate modulation—you may have seen this phrase being tossed around in certain sakuga circles. What does it mean? Here’s a scene from One-Punch Man. Watch how the Sea King writhes in the f…

https://wavemotioncannon.com/2016/12/31/an-introduction-to-framerate-modulation/
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