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So I decided to make a sort of tutorial for us on how to improve replays. I will tell you about speed, momentum, flow, balance and some other stuff. Remember that this is under construction, so your input will be apprecated, and please no comments like "It's not done yet".
Replays: Tips 'n Tricks
Introduction
Replays are often judged based on style and destruction. The style part of the replay includes how fast it looks, flow, balance and pose. The destruction part includes the count of hits and how powerful a hit looks and stuff like that. In this tutorial I will give general pointers on how to improve those aspects.
Flow
The amount of flow often determines the visual aspects of a replay. A replay without flow is often described as "stiff". When you increase flow, momentum is easily conserved and you can make combos quicker and better. But how to improve the flow? ( Example attached)
- The first element of flow is momentum/speed. You can't move fluently if you're nearly standing still. Therefor, speed is essential ( see speed section for help with that)
- Also important is that when you hit, your hitting bodypart doesn't suddenly stop, as this interupts the flow. Strike with either such force that the bodypart you hit flies off, or make it slide through. Another solution is altering the hit so it does stop, but the rest of the body still flows and prepares for the next hit.
- Don't suddenly try to move direction. For example, when you're twisting left, don't suddenly twist right unless you got your legs or hands or whatever planted on the ground, in that case you may use it for momentum. When you do this, the twisting momentum going left is cancelled by the momentum going right. For a few frames it may look like you're struggling to move.
- When you're pushing yourself off the ground, don't punch or kick the ground, instead go with an angle and flail you legs for momentum ( be careful not to look sloppy though).
- Some people may say "Relax all, makes for better flow." No, it makes you look sloppy unless you use it well. Hold is just as important. Experiment with it. But it IS generally easier to just relax joints you won't be needing, because they move along with the rest more smooth then held joints.
Speed
Speed is one of the most important elements of a replay. Not only does it make the replay look better, hits also become more powerful. Speed is also part of momentum, as momentum is mass times speed. So with more speed, more momentum, more destruction and probably more visual coolness. How do you gain speed:
- You can push yourself of the ground for speed, the most common and most powerful way of gaining speed. Pushing yourself off the ground allows for some serious rotational and directional momentum.
- The law of inertia applies also to toribash. This means that your whole body moves slightly backwards if you move one part forwards, as Action = Reaction. This also means that if you swing your foot forwards, you can gain momentum by swinging other parts the other way. This doesn't work with extended glutes however, because that is more of a rotating movement. If you want momentum for your contracted hip with both glutes extended, a wise choice would be to also contract the other hip.
- When kicking, you can increase speed by relaxing the anlke, so it works as a whip. At first it goes extended, then swings forward with lots of power.
- Also, most joints are at their top speed about 2/3 of the way they want to go. So hit Uke there to go for a maxed momentum hit.
- You can also grab pieces of Uke and swing them backwards to go forwards, as a variation on the law of inertia.
Aim
Aim is very important in getting the hit you want. You can have all the momentum you need, hit uke in the chest, but then nothing happens. Aim is very important for booming too.
- When you're aiming, and see that it's going to miss, but decide to change direction later, do it as soon as possible, for the sake of conserving momentum. Last frame direction changes kill momentum like nothing else.
- Aiming is all about finding the right combination between hold and relax. Relax makes the path go near the biggest swing ( example: with the shoulder it goes to the middle when you move the pecs, there it has the biggest swing) and hold fixes the joint in the current location. Remember: Hold is not as strong as extend/contract/twist/bend/raise/lower. This also applies in Multiplayer, especially with high gravity, Hold may move. So if you don't want it to move, put some of the movements mentioned above on it at the last moment.
- Most of the times, some joints may be of great influence while not seeming that important at all, especially when skeeting. Experiment with all joints when you have trouble aiming, sometimes the right change is not in the limb that hits at all.
Cleanliness (?)
A replay generally better when it's "clean". That can mean two things: Either Uke is left with 0 points or ( the more important one in replay making) there hardly is collision between Uke and you, except for what is needed for a hit.
- For example: If you're going to spinkick Uke to the face, make sure you spin nicely, and then try to make contact only with your foot to his face.
- "Hug"punches and kicks are usually considered pretty messy, because a lot of bodyparts collide. So don't do it, unless you know what you're are doing and accept the messyness.
- Manipulations are an example of where you touch Uke without dismembering, but instead you try to keep him airborne for some momentum generated by gravity. Same rules apply here, don't touch stuff you don't need, so keep the amount of contact reduced.
- Sometimes, selfdamage is on (/set damage 1). That means you need to be careful with where your own body goes too. So keep that in mind.
- Sound often also influences it. When there's a chaos of sounds, it doesn't sound very amusing. One single *CRACK* is more elegant. This is a crap tip, because sound is generated by collision, so the above tips should help.
Posing
Posing is what finishes the replay. It's the icing on the cake. Balance is important. There are different kinds of poses, as always: beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so do what you think looks good. You can stand, sit, handstand, headstand, or squat. Whatever you think suits your replay.
Here are some general tips on how to pose:
- Your centre of gravity is when standing with every joint still attached about at your abs. So keep you abs above your feet when you're standing. Of course, if you move parts of your body, your centre of gravity will shift with it a little.
- Try to get as much surface area on the ground with your hands and feet for maximal balance. Also, try to spread it, so it covers more area.
- To do this, you can relax your ankles to flatten your feet. Or you can contract your knee and put your shin on the ground.
- Try to have as little speed as you can when you reach the point where you want to balance, else you'll just fall over and there is annoyingly little you can do about that. Just edit your speed away beforehand.
- Try to get into your pose as soon as you can and make the transition smooth. When you can't, do something cool, like flipping or walking until you can get into your pose.
- Relax as much as you can just before you are done, that makes the transition smooth. Be careful to not fall over or look sloppy though. Holding is better if it maintains your pose better.
- The lower your centre of gravity is, the easier it gets to find your balance. So keep your body low.
Now for Standing poses. These can be really timeconsuming, but look very nice if you can pull them off:
- Don't have everything extended, it looks tense. Relax a little, hold for example your elbows about 2/3 before extended. Or contract them. Have your feet a little apart from each other, for balance and because it looks better.
- If you can't get into your pose, make sure you stand straight, with flattened feet. Also make sure you are nearly standing still. Then play around with your pecs and chest, or hips and glutes to find your balance.
more to come....
Last edited by Wik; Jun 15, 2011 at 03:20 AM.
