How Do Inkling Transformations Work?

[@justcallmeSheriff]

"Cephalopod" means "head-foot", so it is rather fitting that the feet are hidden in the head!

[@extragarb]

This is a really fun fact. I'm very pleased.

[@joshualeespiny7172]

Wooooow lol

[@granola-approach]

dam... you're right... it is fitting in the head

[@Ovtoling]

then what are the shoes for if there feet are in there head??

[@ilovepengins]

in our language its named like this

[@lloydhallam]

My thoughts regarding the arms when transforming back into a kid. It looks as though the intent is that the arms are still in a "squid" state, with suckers still stuck to the floor, it would have been a nice detail if the arms snapped up over maybe 2 frames, as though they were being forcibly pulled off the ground with some force, due to the suckers being stuck. I imagine this would have been hard to do though, because they would still need to get the arms back into a position with the character holding their weapon, and overshooting the arms after forcibly pulling them back up, might not have lent itself well to getting back into the idle efficiently.

[@OpticIlluzhion]

To me they kinda look like they're trying to pull out the weapon from under the ink

[@FixTheWi-Fi]

Simple: 1. You're a kid. 2. You're a squid.

[@Plo1154]

1. You're a kid. 1.5. You're a squick. 2. You're a squid.

[@Salted_Rice223]

Repeat 69 times to make the splatoon 1 advert

[@flapjack0708]

@cactus & more cactus Hold ZL

[@Vittoryker]

@@flapjack0708 and press ZL for a quick kid-to-squid-to-kid

[@w0NdER1X]

@@Plo1154 repeat it 100⁰00 times

[@Cruxin]

I remember in S1 the "squick" model was much more obvious, and had massive terrifying eyes that you saw in every match intro

[@JediLMS520]

100th like and OMG THAT ANIMATION FREAKS ME OUT SO MUCH

[@SECONDQUEST]

The squid to kid arms seem like they tried to make them sticky, not squishy. It's like a snap I guess Edit: snap from the floor

[@PangolinMontanari]

The hands are stuck to the floor, yeah. It's also evocative of... like... a pillar of slime, I think. It could use a little more 'snap' on release, though

[@Bedwyr7]

Yep. I think it's intended to read more like suction, like the character is "shlooping" up into a stance.

[@mosheg.8764]

I was thinking of those weird sticky hand toys, which seems appropriate for Splatoon's aesthetic

[@Thraim.]

That's what it looks to me, too.

[@leaffinite2001]

Imo hes still right when he says the model looks a bit too solid to seem like its stretching the arms properly.

[@cyberrb25]

It's also cool how the first steps of post-"squick" kid have ink footsteps trailing behind. It gives more of a presence and reality to the ink cover of the Inkling.

[@glassphoenix9095]

now im just picturing splatoon 3 allowing your inky footprints to stay on the ground afterward and counting towards inked turf. itd be very stupid but Very funny

[@TechBlade9000]

One detail I hoped you'd mention is that the "squick" model is different between 1 and 2. In 1 you saw Captain Cuddle fish esque eyes that bleed out ink when going from squid to kid.

[@chrishamilton7107]

Yeah. What's interesting here is that in Splatoon 2 the bleed out ink is still there in those two spots on the face where the eyes were, but the eyeballs themselves are gone. Looks like they just removed the eyeballs but not the ink effect (can understand why, those eyeballs were nightmare-inducing lol).

[@TheInsaneum]

Im pretty sure the hands stay glued to the ground when transforming back because the weppon only spawns with the final model swap. They didnt want to show the empty hands so the streching of the arms is there to cover the fact the gun hasnt yet been spawned.

[@epicredhot5675]

I don't think I would have thought of that, super clever on the devs' part!

[@corwin32]

The biggest “ick” factor is that your eyes pass through your head from one side to the other. Eew.

[@ruolbu]

meee, if you're liquid what does it matter :p

[@ScentedPineForest]

I didn't notice that, but wow it's super cool! Really sells the "gelatinous blob" feel.

[@MrAsyo1]

Thought the same lmao

[@DisgruntledDoomer]

I've never played the game, but seen lots of gameplay footage - and for some reason this is the first time I even noticed the eyes on the squids? Fucking weird.

[@ElToland]

Glad to know I was not the only one that noticed it xD

[@casualwoomy]

No matter how much we analyze this, it will never be as weird and as terrifying as post-release S1 squiks

[@zenthemanchild]

Hello again

[@squidbacon7397]

THAT’S REAL

[@aleadom8256]

I'm sooo glad to see you talk about Splatoon, this game is such a treat to the eyes in so many ways (especially for artists themselves)!!

[@Stephen-Fox]

Treat to the ears, too.

[@aleadom8256]

@@Stephen-Fox without a doubt!! I would listen to Calamari Inkantion on loop while drawing lmao (still do that sometimes) It's weird that weird squid alien noises can create good catchy music but they nailed it!

[@spoon7053]

the art and design direction is so strong (in addition to awesome gameplay and everything). just looking at the boatload of official art shows how passionate the team is.

[@Constantine_Cvl8]

I don't know any smart words to use to agree with you like the other users here, so I'm just gonna have to agree with your statement via the noises an Inkling makes * ahem * *_W O O M Y_*

[@violert7539]

LIKE SOMEONE I KNOW......

[@TheApoke]

7:30 the awkwardness is what gives squidparties life!

[@CCRIOSxx]

In Splatoon 1’s animation, Satan shows up for a moment.

[@arnaldoalange3869]

I L L U M I N A T I C O N F I R M E D

[@orio_edible]

:0

[@Chivi-chivik]

It was so icky they had to update that

[@tuser8]

Not to mention the E3 transformations

[@michaellaporte4951]

"Clever _and_ gross" should be Splatoon's tagline.

[@sammiety]

i NEVER wouldve guessed that this was a model swap, its so seemless :0 the animators really pulled through in selling it, its even cooler now that you've broken it down for us

[@shawnheatherly]

Wow, I love that even the kid form has that bit of squish before returning to normal. Definitely helps it feel like they're still not quite human.

[@chrishamilton7107]

You should cover the Splatoon 1 version of this as well, it's quite nightmare-inducing. Basically the "squick" model also has it's own eyeballs on it's face that stick out and look extremely creepy and look like they're in pain. They're located on those two spots on the face when turning back into a kid where in the Splatoon 2 version there's just ink dripping from, but Splatoon 2 removed the eyeballs there so it looks like nothing special; however, in Splatoon 1, not only are the eyeballs there but the dripping ink in those two spots are there too, which makes the eyeballs look like they're bleeding out, which makes them look even creepier.

[@nessisasquid]

My guess about the stretched-out squick arms is that it has something to do with the reappearance of the weapon: If the inkling's arms followed through in a more natural way, reaching the end pose more quickly, the sudden reappearance of the weapon in their hands would feel very abrupt. But with the arms and hands still pretty close to the ground, the weapon can clip through the ground and gradually be raised up to the neutral pose, almost as if it was coming from the same splat of ink as the rest of the inkling.

[@Blizzic]

I love how you can say “gross” like it’s a compliment xD

[@adamharris306]

One thing I noticed while watching this video is how they managed to further sell the transformation feel by making sure the kid ears (which are pointy) at around the same position where the squid's head points are. I had never noticed that before, but it adds to the illusion of these two being the same creature.

[@pote2frouifruite81]

it's also cool how you can already start moving and shooting even though the animation isn't entirely done yet (you can already start walking when the model is still a "squick") it helps the smooth and fast gameplay of the game and it would be annoying if you had to wait everytime

[@octo8715]

"Octoling squid models"

[@officersoulknight6321]

Well what else do you call them, Octoling Octopus Model just doesn’t sound right for some reason.

[@nakkipatukka123]

4:37 Well, inkling's don't have bones so it could just be them stretching because they're sticking to the floor/ink

[@erik_gutierrez]

The better question is where do they keep their weapons when they turn into squids

[@Artista_Frustrado]

I think it's explained in a Sunken Scroll, basically, all the Gear is capable of Liquifying with the Inkling

[@Flowtail]

Because it’d be a pain to run back to where you dropped it

[@ryanrising2237]

Hammerspace? I thought that came standard with most video game characters

[@elcheshireilustracion9396]

On their gross squick head, too.

[@MrAsyo1]

I mean, it wouldn't be crazy if they hide it inside their bodies while squid.

[@callumwilliams2172]

Something else that really sells this animation is the move of the camera.

[@qwertyuiop.lkjhgfdsa]

Their hair turns into the squid, I've seen enough cursed screenshots mid transform to know that much.

[@jaycup1487]

I really love how when you transform back and are still covered in ink, you'll leave inky footprints behind. Wonderful detail. Shown around the 7:00 mark

[@ilovepengins]

in splatoon 1 theres inklings mid-squid form its like squid to kid but with eyes and its TERRIFYING

[@samuelturner6076]

So, this video just proves that Squick is the name of Cthulhu’s form for “conversing on a singular entity basis” and now I know who avoid in the apocalypse.

[@cyanberry9439]

This video was really helpful. Now I know the animation of how the inklings and octolings transformation, I will finally make 2d sprites out of it. Thank you New Frame Plus!!!

[@rincasifutsume]

Imagine the amount of animations and model swapping the system does within a squid party

[@alfredoespere2582]

I think the speed of transformation is also part of game play balance. The devs wanted a quick kid to squid transform to make it easier to get away and made the squid to kid longer so that enemies have a bit of time to react to them popping up making it a riskier move.

[@squidbacon7397]

7:30 "especially if you’re rapid-swapping between forms like a goof-" *squidbags aggressively*

[@clairekopenhafer8272]

I think the rigid arms in the squid-to-kid transition make for a nice "snap" into the final kid form

[@PregnantOrc]

I think another reason the arms are stuck iin the ground on the return to kid animation is to keep the weapon hidden for as long as possible so the "squick" doesn't need a model for it and the weapon can pop in pretty convincingly as the normal model replaces it with its hands close to the ground. Had the arms raised earlier the pop-in of the weapon would me more noticeable.

[@DennerBob]

"Clever /and/ Gross" 😆 agreed. Love it, another great video Dan!

[@SECONDQUEST]

Whoa, did not know his name was Dan and my other video game animation channel is also Dan. Cool

[@Stephen-Fox]

"Let's call it squick" - ...Well that tells me how long you've been on the internet for. Seriously, though, squick is a good word and needs to come back into general usage. Grosses me out, but I'm not opposed to it as long as it's away from me. Useful. Allows nuance in very few characters and syllables.

[@mlovecraftr]

+

[@rickvanleeuwen9589]

Now I have to Google a word that I previously thought did not exist and is also fairly questionable... Yay!

[@JaneXemylixa]

I know that word from TvTropes. Thank you TvTropes for preserving that sort of knowledge.

[@FunZies.]

@@rickvanleeuwen9589 Dare I google the word as well?

[@rickvanleeuwen9589]

@@FunZies. I honestly can't find anything questionable... All the results seem pretty tame to me. Either I'm missing something or there's some overexaggeration going on

[@SleepySkullhead]

The Splatoon 1 Squick has ink gushing out the eyes, complimenting the already lovecraftian looking Squick model.

[@ruolbu]

I feel that the arm stretch while standing up is not to highlight the gooyness of the inky body, but rather it's full effect is to support the bounce you get when the transition is nearly done. The arms kinda snap up and lead into the squishy scaling effect you talk about at 6:00

[@kem9860]

I discovered that in the “squick” form if your inkling or octoling is damaged the eyes will be black, and the tips of the hands and feet will be shaded black as well.

[@janikroni891]

Thanks for covering my favorite game! I love how complicated these animations are, despite being that quick.

[@WillowEpp]

Can we also take a moment to admire the dynamic reflections in the ink? Notice at 0:40 how moving through the ink creates visible trails that persist. I only caught it because I was examining that super satisfying ink splash emitter at 2:43 and noticed there was a small "crater" in the reflection map when it finished.

[@funa8843]

what a perfect topic for a video! ive always been curious about quick transformations, and seeing that they used an inbetween model is fascinating

[@AaronDanarajF]

"How do inkling transformations work?" Until I saw the channel I was very confused as to how this video was gonna go 😅

[@OrdonWolf]

The squick model is super clever! Notice how the squid eyes bulge out over time: that's not skeletal animation, that's a blendshape. Blendshapes let you do pretty much any deformation, but it would have been SUPER messy if the whole transformation was just one big blendshape deformation applied to the kid model (especially since the model is p complex and customisable). Having a "clean" model to deform saves a lot of headache!

[@oneilmw]

My guess why the hands are glued to the floor during much of the squick to kid transformation is because the animators didn't want to reveal the hands too soon. They might not have been able to hide them easily unless they simply shoved them under the floor until the kid was already taking form.

[@officersoulknight6321]

Squidbagging is wrong: It hurts both your enemies’ feelings and your inkling itself when you think about it

[@Seekerparadise]

The best part of this video is how much fun you can tell Dan is having saying "kid to squid" and "squid to kid".

[@Gilbot9000]

Kid to Chaos 0 to Squid. Never played Splatoon but this is selling me on finally giving it a shot. You've done an impeccable breakdown, Dan. Demonstrating all the contexts for the transformations was a good idea.

[@mcdrums87]

Super appropriate using the green and pink inks, Dan!

[@butterflyexists]

i would be traumatised if my arms got stretched like that, i won't lie

[@bwminich]

Yes! I suggested this prior to being a Patron a while ago, excited to see it done! Splatoon is probably my favorite series, so seeing Dan break this down is great. I’ve definitely looked at the transformation and noticed there was some depth there to sell this illusion, so I’m not surprised at this.

[@AdrianHereToHelp]

I love the squick arms, it feels like they're pulling their form out of the ink

[@JochemKuijpers]

7:30 - "Like a goof" -- Clearly Dan meant to say "goose" here.

[@superbun277]

:HONK:

[@jayr00d11]

:HONK:

[@yoshtotoct]

:HONK:

[@vizthex]

oh my god, the idle animations. it's just so funny, but weirdly fits?

[@LinklingOTH]

Jesus I love this game so much

[@-FAMI_]

I love this channel! Keep up the great work. You make me appreciate the games I love so much more. I especially like the focus on character models in this one, which is my favorite part of game design

[@computersocsci]

It's cool how the "squick" runs before it fully transforms back into the kid!

[@BlueGatorade0]

I interpreted the arm thing as suction cups being stuck

[@PangolinMontanari]

I love the editing on the intro to this video. Nice use of Off the Hook's show.

[@midasmagnezone4282]

Huh, I didn't think the animation looked all that worthwhile (I haven't played Splatoon) but watching the video changed my mind. I think the forms between morphing from one creature to another e.g. "squink" are very interesting to look at.

[@drawboxing]

1:35 wow this feels... very similar of watching frog anatomy class. But with squid and a kid.

[@Josh10976]

It’s crazy how this guy can turn a transformation that’s only a few seconds long into a 8& a half minute video

[@hoodiesticks]

I've played Splatoon for years, and I could've sworn the Inkling did a brief motion of shaking off the ink when transforming from squid to kid (like a wet dog shaking off water), but no. The model doesn't shake at all. It's just the splash effect and the size change that create the feeling of shaking off ink.

[@ubermenschen01]

I'm wondering if they didn't hide the characters weapon under the floor, so the arms stretching is them keeping the weapon under the floor until it's needed later in the animation.

[@Nejvyn]

I'm sure that's not the case, they totally could just shrink the weapon to 0, or hide it somewhere without having to connect it to the hands. As you see right before the inksplash, the squick model doesn't have a gun in its hands. The weapon just puffs into existence after the inksplash.

[@SnoFitzroy]

The clothes and weapon are shrunk to 0 and this wouldn't explain the jumping. Looks more like the hands are sticky

[@ejm1225]

I was thinking of how their transformations work in-universe, but this is still good.

[@mashmachine4087]

It doesn’t matter so much if the animations look a bit weird because the player will probably not be looking at their guy, more like the guys theyre shooting at, who are moving very fast a lot farther away

[@chimeramanticore]

I've always wondered how their transformations work, but never been able to slow down the animation for myself. this is super neat! thanks!

[@innonimate5662]

Way to go Dan, you've done it again, made an incredible video, great job. All I ask is for you to do a video on Just Cause 4, Titanfall 2 or Sea of thieves. You can do any of them, I don't mind. Thanks for all the information and entertainment you've provided us for years. Keep up the great work, and I hope the best for you in the future. Have a good one!

[@TheMoonman4]

7:31 This little bit will reflexively raise the stress levels of the average splatoon player

[@Greennoob2]

In terms of the competitive aspects. It's quick to turn squid if you want to dodge or need to swim quickly. the de-trasform animation being 30ish frames makes it a slow option when reacting to enemies. turning squid form into a less agressive option when aproaching the enemy, also it makes a fun option the most viable one. eg: you're swimming, enemy stops you from repositioning taking possession of the surrounding area with their ink(is always the secondary match objective). I give up on attempting to write this rn. hopefully you get the point somehow

[@TheLaXandro]

The one thing they kinda missed is that unsquid animation instantly gains the full size ink tank, while squid animation has a frame of small tank.

[@MagnyusG]

You should've seen the transformation sequence in the first Splatoon, it was a lot less polished to say the least. Some earlier footage also had a transformation that didn't ink the eyes for some reason, so they'd look like creepy slime blobs with huge eyes.

[@erichköl5501]

The squick looks like small Cthulhu. Did the ancient ones destroyed humanity and left inklings beheind.

[@vwtifuljoe954]

Great video! I think with the stand up sectio for the transformation from squid to kid, the arms are supposed to read as sticking to the ground rather than being used to push the kid up

[@Kalviberry]

This was really cool to see. I don't do animation, but I always love seeing the tricks that were used.

[@evgenyti3250]

A full video about Inklings transforming back and forth into squids without mentioning squidbagging

[@wafflefalafel9442]

This reminds me of blinking animations. The blink is supposed to be quick, but the opening of the eyes after the blink is supposed to be double the frames because it's a slower process. (At least, that's how I do it, lol)

[@cole_time]

Since the animation is mostly seen from the back, it really helps hide the weird arm stretching as well

[@TimIsTryng]

Always excited to see new videos from you this is easily my favorite channel

[@HyMyNameIsMatt]

Thank you for continuing to cover very technical animation problems.

[@mirinewman]

You should do one on Reload Animations! How they work, what makes them feel good/bad, which ones you like versus which ones you don't, anything! If you make it I'm sure it'll be fascinating.

[@butterflyexists]

it's so weird that ink comes out of their eyes

[@Drawoon]

I never realised they grew eyes in the back of their head

[@simonewilcock3316]

A cute thing is that players often transform super quickly by mashing the button as a way to cheer or hype each other up between rounds!

[@jacobbau8328]

Hey new frame, You should analyze the animations of the my singing monster series. All monsters have unique playing, sleeping, and idle animations, and they switch between them rather smoothly and have plenty of personality, and in some way convey the monsters singing/playing. If you do see this (You probably won’t) I recommend the second game, “My Singing Monsters: Dawn of Fire” as I personally like the animations more.

[@Amber610_]

I could listen to you talking about animation all day :)

[@hoodiesticks]

7:39 Did you just start shooting your weapon while still in squick form? Because that's really interesting. The squick model didn't seem to have a weapon, and as you mentioned, its arms are mostly stuck in the ground.

[@Ajira28]

Oh man I love Splatoon so much. Thanks for the video!

[@Tesseract_King]

YESSS. One of my favorite games, and a topic I've actually wondered about a lot.

[@WiltarrowMain]

I think the arm stretching for the Squid-to-Kid animation might have been trying to imply they were pulling their Weapon out of the ink. those weapons can get massive, so it'd make sense that they'd need to put a bit more effort in to take them back out

[@darthsuitcase6166]

I hope we get a video on the whole thing where game characters just place their weapons on their backs and them just floating there. Thankfully we've been seeing slightly less of that recently, but still.

[@Zelenal]

So, we can all continue to agree that Nintendo's animators are wizards, yes?

[@BubblingBrooke]

I was actually really wanting an episode about this! :D I'm excited!

[@KoreanSpy1997]

Personally I hope human survivors appears in Splatoon 3's story mode not as playable characters, but as supporters like Marnia and Pearl did in octo expension. And once you finish story mode new human npc reveals in Main plaza as shop owners. That would be cool.

[@scribblecloud]

aw i cant believe you didnt talk about the old animations that got changed which looked even more horrifying

[@ultimaweapon6]

Glad to see you again. I find your videos informative and fun. Keep it up

[@ElToland]

Ah, yes! The mechanics behind the "squidbagging" animation

[@soaringsquid0.129]

I never knew they used such simple geometric shapes to make the particles look 3d!

[@peanut3438]

7:30 squid party intensifies Great video! I liked the multiple angles on the frame-by-frame