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DCLeadboot — Tlallicoatl Reference
#dragon #earth #reference #tlallicoatl
Published: 2015-02-28 15:29:13 +0000 UTC; Views: 1292; Favourites: 30; Downloads: 2
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Description
Finally, I decided to do a character sheet for Tlallicoatl, Danbuster's new dragon-guardian.I've hesitated for sometime to make this, considering how she's a mass of leafy scales - a detail that is kind of key for an Earth Dragon. And to make things even more difficult, AlexRaccoonGlider and I devised the rather unusual character-trait of her scales, skin and grassy mane changing appearance with the seasons... a daunting prospect indeed!
But finally I plucked up the courage to draw up this reference pic, including certain animation states most likely to be used, such as her neck, tail and wing motions. In addition to all that, her changeable features are imbued with a few common lines of Flash ActionScript that answers to a controlling "heart program" in order that her appearance can change as required.
Without a doubt, this has to be my most complex character model to date, exceeding even Krakatoa for complexity!
Her default appearance here is her green Springtime look, but a press of the button provided will allow you to cycle through the seasons through summer (which doesn't look so different from spring), autumn and winter, at which time her scales begin to wither before being shed for new scales in the spring.
(This is also now the design I'm sticking with, her having a pointier beaklike nose and much leafier wings)
Tlallicoatl is Copyright © me
A further description of her character can be found in her original pic here:
Edit 1: Changed the design a little to alter her eyebrows.
Edit 2: Have implemented the altered chest design.
Related content
Comments: 63
Thanks very much for the critique!
Indeed, there were a lot of leaves to deal with here... basically, they were all in the same corresponding layers of the character's graphic-symbol. Those attached to the upper and lower torso, the limb sections...
The neck and tail were a little more complex, since they were meant to be flexible; they were arranged in grouped lines so that they could be animated to move with the shape of the neck or tail.
The same applied to the grassy mane down her back.
Yeah, as this was just a reference picture, I wasn't aiming to do a full background for this piece. It's just basically the show off Tlallicoatl herself.
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Alrighty tighty Danbuster, you wanted critique on this animation, it's a critique you shall get!
For starters, I want to point out how detailed and surprised this came out and my initial reaction, when I first asked you to draw the season looks for Tilallicoatl, I was anticipating some rough doodles at most, not entirely a full blown animation! Let alone the fact I've seen you experiment with some action scripts which in my viewpoint really paid off!
Vision) Right off the bat, it's your dragon, Tilallicoatl but what I didn't notice until I hit the "change seasons" button is how she looks from the freshness of Spring, to the warm days of summer and then as the temperature cools down and transitions to winter, she naturally sheds off her leafy hide as if she was changing clothes! The frost on the winter leaves is a nice touch too! Oh yes, almost forgot; Im sure not too many people might notice this detail but I noticed that whenever she changes her outfit, her pupils/irises also change too! Pretty nifty if you ask me. High scores there!
Originality) When most people envision dragons of a nature kind of with an earth element, most probably would slather up some leaves or make the dragon scaly and green as moss. You on the other hand decided to take that concept and spice things up big time by giving her a new color scheme for the later seasons! When I first noticed her Autumn/Fall and Winter schemes, anybody who would see this first hand might get the false impression that she's getting sick. But I think you pulled this transition off nicely regardless of first impressions.
Technique) Your experiments with the new action scripting really paid off here without a doubt, I love how "buttery smooth" the transitions are as Tilallicoatl is put through the changing seasons! Not to mention I like how her old leafy "skin" sheds off and regrows anew! I could imagine though how the Dan Clan might put up with the leaves she sheds though if she wasn't so conscious about dropping her old leaves around.
Overall Impact) A fiver out of five! Without a doubt, although Tilallicoatl looks just as difficult to animate and go through the seasons, more so then Krakatoa's model. However, to keep with the earthly details, from nose to wings to tail, I think you did a great job regardless, no doubt Danbuster probably enjoys her company due to the fact she probably smells like the plants around the UAK, mixed with the smell of fresh flowers when she's in a good mood. As far as looks go all and all, I think she's quite the dragon that would fit nicely for Danbuster and pals, so Im giving you my highest score thus far! Congratulations!
Additional Notes) I think I made mention about this before, because of all those leafy scales might be a humongous pain in the ass to animate, depending on what kind of animation or artwork you might be doing in the future, I'd strongly reccomend that you simplify, simplify, and simplify. You could keep that grassy mowhawk-like crest running from her head and tail during the Spring and Summer seasons, though because of the shorter daylight hours in Autumn and Winter seasons, perhaps to make herself as regal as a mighty stag (and perhaps as an excuse to give her dragon style horns) what about perhaps she'd grow a pair of antlers to add to the "leaves off a tree" look? Maybe as a rule of funny, perhaps whenever the audience plays with the season change, maybe Danbuster or another member of the Dan Clan trio could react to the changing of the seasons, like Danbuster acting over the top during Spring, Frederick walks by with a water bottle during Summer, Spencer forced to rake up the leaves during autumn, and then Tilallicoatl and Danbuster build a snowman during the winter season and having it melt and the cycle begins again.
All and all, Im very entertained by your creativity and your animation skills Dan! Keep up the Danblastering Danbusting work ^^
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Thanks very much, mate!
Indeed there was quite a lot going on here for changing the skin and leaf colours... the eyes remain hazel-coloured all year round, however.
I don't know what sort of illusion the seasonal changes caused, but her eyes don't change.
As you say, though, she probably has a scent all her own - from the smell of fresh grass in the springtime to maybe a sense of damp old leaves in the winter...?
I reckon her current design, along with her seasonal states, are complete as they stand, really... also, those suggestions about having Danbuster going crazy in the spring or building a snowman in the winter would be a bit redundant in this case. This picture is just to show Tlallicoatl herself.
For anything more elaborate, it'd probably be better to have a series of posed pictures for each of the four seasons - and a topic for another day, when I've caught up with other art projects.
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Well, wishing you luck though on all your projects
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Thanks very much! 
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Okay so this is my first time doing this so let's do it!.
I have to say this is a really great idea I love the idea of dragon changing season from spring to winter heck I never even thought of the idea myself however I thought by the time it went to winter it would turn into a blue frozen colour in a way but I guess this dragon like a tree so it would make sense but even so it's a great idea and I'm really like the thought of that so keep it up! okay well done
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Thanks very much!
Yup, as you say, she takes after a tree in some respects, so the most she'd get in winter is a spot of frost. If she were an Ice Dragon, she might be blue.
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okay that true ^^ but still I really like it and keep up the good work your doing great!
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And thanks for the critique!
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your welcome it's my first time ever doing one at a age of 14!
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heck now I know how to do flash I going to be using it a lot ^^
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Heh, good luck with that!
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Wow this is really awesome : D
the animation looks so smooth and nice
you did a wonderful job on this!
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Thanks!
And she certainly was one of my more complex characters to create a character model for...
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She sure turned out really nice though.
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Oh *WOW*! Beautiful work, dude! Oh my gosh, wow! I didn't know she changed color with the seasons, that's awesome!
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Heh, thanks very much, Kel!
Indeed, it's one of those character traits that later developed with her. Being a nature dragon, her appearance reflects the seasons - even down to shedding her withered worn-out scales for new ones as the spring rolls around again...
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Your very welcome, and I love that aspect of her. Quite lovely, actually.
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Heh, thanks!
Danbuster: We all tend to sleep more during the winter too...
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Welcome!
Heh, I wouldn't mind that kind of lifestyle myself. 
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Danbuster: Must be so much easier for folks that hibernate... 
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Wow, this is pretty amazing and quite an interesting Design. I do like how her leaf-scales change over the seasons, can she use them for Camouflage as well?
Good job, mate.
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Thanks very much, Luke!
Yup, sort of an idea that developed with her character, mainly in RPs with AlexRaccoonGlider I think.
Also through that, I believe we developed the idea that she can blend in with natural scenery to the point of physically disappearing into foliage and suchlike.
In fact, I kind of took that further with cartoon-logic and "hammerspace" by saying that she kind hide in ANY available natural growing thing... even the pot-plants around Danbuster's house - only popping her head out to talk to somebody...
Being a dragon, she naturally has to keep a low profile, so these camouflage powers often come in useful!
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Which I find to be a very clever idea!
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Yup! Both the seasonal changes AND the camouflage powers!
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So does that mean she can hide in a fruit bowl or the Vegetable compartment in the fridge?XD
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Maybe?
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I thought that I'd comment on this seeming as you directed me towards it!
I really like the concept, it's really original. Earth Dragons generally aren't as popular as their Fire cousins and you've added a really unique element to her too with the changing seasons.
I also want to commend you for the animation because it's not an easy thing to do!
She looks benign yet powerful, which is a great combination for a dragon.
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Thanks very much!
Indeed, it's an unusual change... and heck, why shouldn't other element-dragons get some love besides the Fire types...?
Well, that's certainly nature for you - a beautiful and terrible unstoppable force that is scary and violent but also benign and life-giving.
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Tlallicoatl: Thank you very much!
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Amazing detail!
A compliment on the complex character model and the neat Action Script season-changing effect!
(Though I got her to have her head and wings stay green if clicking on the season-change button too quickly on the second run-through.) 
How did you get the individual leaves on her tail to move so incredibly smoothly?!
Unless you did everything completely frame-by-frame, this is something I'd have thought not possible without Flash CS4/5's new bone-tool (which I am still yearning for). 
[CS5 tutorial example] [bouncy tail example]
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Heck, you're right! On a second cycle, the head and wings DO stay green!
Darn it, I thought I'd killed all the bugs in that ActionScript!
Edit: That should fix it. I needed to add a condition that tells the LeafState variable (that controls the frame of the animation-states) to reset after exceeding 1000.
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Heh, thanks very much!
Hmmm, seems you somehow managed to confused the Action Script if you caused her head to stay green...
As for her tail... well, like her wings and neck, I set that up as a graphic-loop by itself, so I could animate those preset animation states so it can move around. Each line of scales was on a separate layer within the graphics, so that I could set them to animate with the swing of her neck or tail. Even each section of her wing-membranes were embedded MovieClip graphics, so that Action Script could be applied for controlling the colour-change.
I'm still working with an old version - Flash MX 2004 (Version 7)
Well, it was new when I got it for using with my coursework in University... (they only had Version 6 on campus)
It has no bone-tool, I'm afraid... whenever I animate a character animation, I still have to check the motion-tweens and add extra keyframes to stop the elbows/knees/etc dislocating themselves...
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Wow, she looks beautiful, and I really dig the whole "changing colour with the seasons" concept as well, that looked like it took a lot of doing, but you pulled it off wonderfully. Great work on this interactive reference, Dan.
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Thanks very much, Mark!
Indeed, it seems a natural progression.
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It's amazing, she looks like my Rugosodon from ODYSSEUS...
I like what you did with the transformation of the seasons of the year on her skin is amazing.
Just like my Rugosodon: Check it out!
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Great job on Tlallicoatl's movements and colour transitions here.
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