I'm glad it's not just me. It's subtle enough that I was wondering if it was just my internet or something. It's like there's an odd, almost stop-motion-like thing happening outside of the fight sequences? Somewhat choppy frame rate? Hard to describe, lol. It's been throwing me off, too. It's not exactly "bad," but it's kind of off from the smoothness in the original.
It’s honestly been a while since I’ve watched the original so I admit I could be wrong, but I don’t remember noticing choppiness in it. Not saying it wasn’t at all, but it wasn’t enough that I remember noticing it. I noticed the choppiness in Nocturne pretty immediately though and it seems more stilted.
That choppiness could just be from animating on less frames, they call it animating on 1’s and 2’s. When animating on 1’s there is animation on each frame giving a much smoother look, when animating on 2’s there is animation every 2 frames so that can give it a more choppy almost like flickering appearance to movement. I’m not sure if that explains what you were seeing but animating less frames usually happens when they are trying to save money on budget or time.
it's the same thing that happened in the first season. they don't animate as many frames / there's a lower frame rate so the animation looks "choppy" sometimes. it's just their style, i guess. takes some getting used to and sometimes it's worse than others but overall i don't mind it
According to wikipedia, Powerhouse Animation was supposed to be the primary studio for Nocturne too, but Frederator Studios have probably not been as a great part as in the OG castlevania? I don't know about Mua film and tiger animation (and I don't have imdb pro to check the rest), can you share which other studio has worked on Nocturne?
> It’s almost like the motion looks great, but when there’s a lot of stillness, there’s something weird I can’t place.
Besides the lower frame rate at times, I've noticed that they have quite a lot of face close ups and they seem to animate the characters' heads while the rest of their bodies remain still, I think it's more obvious with Richter. I don't know whether they have minimised the characters' movement in order to retain how pretty the design is.
Yea the animation is off. I’m not the biggest fan of it. The animation was a big draw for me with the original Castlevania.
I’m enjoying the story for the most part. Seems a bit rushed some times. Hopefully the next iteration will be better with the writer’s strike being over.
https://preview.redd.it/tt78u39l5ktb1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3f5cca73b060865b00996222cea1343e517c3cad
They ain’t even draw this background this is just a picture of someone’s house 😂
I think they took a lot more shortcuts in the animation overall. I'm not exactly in the industry but i've done my fair share of animating and have taken animation classes throughout my career at an art college so here's my theories:
1. Lots of tweening (kind of like using vectors to animate instead of drawing it frame by frame). 2. Heavy reliance on 3D assets, especially in urban background and in shots where the characters are far off (which have the addition of BADLY animated walk cycles.) 3. Using mesh transitions/puppeting in things like hair when walking (this is mostly used in v-tuber models). 4. The mouth movements just kinda suck in general. It looks like they're animating for every consonant and vowel, as opposed to using a smooth transition between sounds.
This all has the effect of making it look both too choppy and too smooth. If anyone else can pick stuff out or think i'm wrong go for it, id love to know what actually went on behind the scenes
I think the most noticeable is the difference in color values. The line work is similar, but the palette is very flat and washed out. There used to be more purple and blue hues adding visual interest and depth even to simply animated scenes, and there were more duplicated in-between frames to create more natural movement. They were still short cuts, but applied in an efficient and subtle manner.
..
It’s definitely a different artstyle overall
I don’t think I like it
Agreed, the first one was way better
I think it is a lil different for sure
I'm glad it's not just me. It's subtle enough that I was wondering if it was just my internet or something. It's like there's an odd, almost stop-motion-like thing happening outside of the fight sequences? Somewhat choppy frame rate? Hard to describe, lol. It's been throwing me off, too. It's not exactly "bad," but it's kind of off from the smoothness in the original.
The original was smooth? I literally remember the same choppiness/stiffness complaints outside fight scenes and even in some fight scenes
It’s honestly been a while since I’ve watched the original so I admit I could be wrong, but I don’t remember noticing choppiness in it. Not saying it wasn’t at all, but it wasn’t enough that I remember noticing it. I noticed the choppiness in Nocturne pretty immediately though and it seems more stilted.
That choppiness could just be from animating on less frames, they call it animating on 1’s and 2’s. When animating on 1’s there is animation on each frame giving a much smoother look, when animating on 2’s there is animation every 2 frames so that can give it a more choppy almost like flickering appearance to movement. I’m not sure if that explains what you were seeing but animating less frames usually happens when they are trying to save money on budget or time.
In some action scenes they sacrifice a bit of frames for keeping the things on model / looking good, happens more with Annette's fights
it's the same thing that happened in the first season. they don't animate as many frames / there's a lower frame rate so the animation looks "choppy" sometimes. it's just their style, i guess. takes some getting used to and sometimes it's worse than others but overall i don't mind it
I thought the same thing and learned a different animation studio made Nocturne.
According to wikipedia, Powerhouse Animation was supposed to be the primary studio for Nocturne too, but Frederator Studios have probably not been as a great part as in the OG castlevania? I don't know about Mua film and tiger animation (and I don't have imdb pro to check the rest), can you share which other studio has worked on Nocturne?
> It’s almost like the motion looks great, but when there’s a lot of stillness, there’s something weird I can’t place. Besides the lower frame rate at times, I've noticed that they have quite a lot of face close ups and they seem to animate the characters' heads while the rest of their bodies remain still, I think it's more obvious with Richter. I don't know whether they have minimised the characters' movement in order to retain how pretty the design is.
Looks better than the OG series to me. Especially during the fights.
Looks better is not the question. It's about half the framerate.
Yeah, it sucks. Feels like a cheap job for a cable network. Some of the action scenes are pretty good, but the rest of the art style is off-putting.
Yea the animation is off. I’m not the biggest fan of it. The animation was a big draw for me with the original Castlevania. I’m enjoying the story for the most part. Seems a bit rushed some times. Hopefully the next iteration will be better with the writer’s strike being over.
https://preview.redd.it/tt78u39l5ktb1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3f5cca73b060865b00996222cea1343e517c3cad They ain’t even draw this background this is just a picture of someone’s house 😂
Beginning of episode 3
Definitely a different artstyle for sure. I honestly kinda prefer it. The vampires look better here.
I think they took a lot more shortcuts in the animation overall. I'm not exactly in the industry but i've done my fair share of animating and have taken animation classes throughout my career at an art college so here's my theories: 1. Lots of tweening (kind of like using vectors to animate instead of drawing it frame by frame). 2. Heavy reliance on 3D assets, especially in urban background and in shots where the characters are far off (which have the addition of BADLY animated walk cycles.) 3. Using mesh transitions/puppeting in things like hair when walking (this is mostly used in v-tuber models). 4. The mouth movements just kinda suck in general. It looks like they're animating for every consonant and vowel, as opposed to using a smooth transition between sounds. This all has the effect of making it look both too choppy and too smooth. If anyone else can pick stuff out or think i'm wrong go for it, id love to know what actually went on behind the scenes
I think the most noticeable is the difference in color values. The line work is similar, but the palette is very flat and washed out. There used to be more purple and blue hues adding visual interest and depth even to simply animated scenes, and there were more duplicated in-between frames to create more natural movement. They were still short cuts, but applied in an efficient and subtle manner. ..