Spider-Man's Animation: The Zip To Point

What makes Spider-Man's swinging animation look and feel so great? Let's dig into just one move and break down what makes it so effective.
Written and produced by Daniel Floyd
Special thanks to:
-Carrie Floyd
-Eric Luhta
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Follow me on Twitter (@DanFloydPlus): / danfloydplus
For more games (and animation geekery), check out our other channel, PlayFrame! bit.ly/2lmGte8
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♪ Featuring selections from the Spider-Man official soundtrack.
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Want to contribute translated subtitles to this video? You can do so here!
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#NewFramePlus #animation #SpiderMan

[@NewFramePlus]

Got a particular animation you'd like to see an episode about? Make your requests here!

[@VideoGameAnimationStudy]

I'd love if you talked about literally any of Mario's moves in Odessey. Everything he does is just super fluid, hearing you talk about any of them would be great!

[@DigiFox0]

Ok this is a weirdly specific and unexciting request, too but hey, who knows, it might merit talking about. There's this moment near the start of Persona 5. Shiho is about to jump off the roof and Ann, hearing this, gets out of her seat and runs out of the room. Joker then stands up and follows her. For some reason, the animation of that particular moment of the scene is really well done. It conveys the sense of urgency for these characters really well, and it's just a really fluid and cool few seconds of animation. It for sure isn't procedurally generated or anything. idk, it just sticks out in my head as a cool moment of animation that I for some reason absolutely ador

[@oopsy444]

Taking damage/dying dark souls series

[@michaelbrainy898]

I would like to see an episode about the battle animations in pokken tournament. I think that pikachu as the example would make the most sense.

[@minorex123]

I'll take a falcon punch from SSB 4 please! You have more than 40 frames of windup in that, yet they still manage to keep the tenseness , and I would like to know how.

[@NewFramePlus]

A couple bonus details I didn't include in the video itself: -The camera is doing a TON of work to amplify the sense of speed on this move -If you Zip To Point while targeting the struts of a watertower or something, Spider-Man will do a completely different animation where he launches himself between the struts and flies out the other side!

[@johnnybadboy3475]

I know, the camera zooms in as he dives, and zooms subtlety out for different web moves.

[@johnnybadboy3475]

It even adds little comic book motion lines to sell the action sometimes. Watching him punch and kick also adds motion lines, but not around the UI, just around the character.

[@johnsanderson2796]

The buildings themselves do a little squash and stretch on launch, though I assume that is some sort of fish eye or camera effect and not actual deformation.

[@ChimeratAlpha]

Odd... This comment ends at "between the struts and". I thought Google stopped with the cutting off of comments.

[@Spannondorf]

Spider-Man also has a unique animation if you zip to the fire escape staircase of a building. He'll just run up the side zipping all the way up!

[@kromozome4181]

The Evolution of Parkour/climbing Animations in the Assassin's creed series are a good theme to explore Dan. As always great job analysing game animation I love your work

[@Cavouku]

I second this, and recommend at least looking at the transition from Prince of Persia to Assassin's Creed, if not covering both series in their entirety.

[@davidpoa7775]

I agree with this!

[@michaelgoldsmith9359]

They kind of devolved mechanically but evolved visualy

[@RYANST3R]

@@michaelgoldsmith9359 Then you see your character walking like a robot in Odyssey.....

[@EfecanYSL]

@@RYANST3R you mean that copy and paste game ?

[@scarredchild]

How about the 'Lego' games? How do the animators transition an iconic toy into a game and make it still feel like a toy?

[@Kekk-nj7pg]

ahh i would love to see that ^^

[@coastersplus]

I see collab potential with GameHut. (The CEO/founder of Traveller's Tales, who made all the Lego games among other things, has a KZbin channel where he explains some of the details behind developing their games.)

[@teenageapple3788]

Especially the more recent games. Where they literally look and feel like authentic Lego figures

[@solitary2]

That’s actually a very good suggestion. I’ve never thought about how these studios manipulate these toys so that they still look and feel like toys. Of course, I have played a LEGO game since LEGO Batman 2

[@vizthex]

honestly though

[@MrTombombodil]

This game is the perfect example of the flip side of big AAA games like Read Dead 2. It has astonishing polish and attention to detail, but absolutely NONE of that detail interferes with the controls or the game play. In Read Dead I've failed to pick something up off a table like 3 times in a row because I kept over shooting because of the languid "coming to a stop" animation lmao.

[@knoqturne6811]

I imagine speed and quick reactions were on the team's mind for a character like Spider Man, where the Red Dead devs might have been going for slower, more thoughtful movements in downtime. But I agree that there are better ways to make movement seem legato while still giving the player a better sense of control.

[@coolguyvibes]

Willie Gross I don't think that's a fair comparison. A Red Dead game isn't meant to be as electric and fast paced as a Spiderman game. Red Dead is supposed to be a much slower, grounded game that focuses more on subtle visual storytelling and character interactions.

[@revolvingworld2676]

coolguy Yeah but the criticisms on the controls are still valid.

[@pandogstudios1512]

The criticisms on the controls are impossible to deny after all that's been said and what's been revealed about the input lag. But I've never come across any problems.

[@torezgermy2]

Well a lot of ppl have hence the criticism.

[@cinnamintie]

Here’s a suggestion I’d love to hear analysis on. Ragdolling. Might be more on the programming than animating side, but I’m sure at least one game has done ragdoll very well, and plenty that do it very bad.

[@ChristopherRoss.]

As I understand it, ragdolling is entirely a property of the engine. There is nothing to animate, just to program.

[@SystemBD]

While simple physics-driven ragdoll animation (like in Dark Souls) might be fun, an exploration of how it's used _on top_ of other animations (e.g., when an enemy is shot in an arm) or how can be procedurally generated (with an engine such as Euphoria) could be very interesting.

[@MrMagicRman]

red dead has nice ragdolls

[@Ddyoutube100]

GTA IV has the best rag doll and physics engine of any game.

[@keshakio2079]

@@Ddyoutube100 ...not at all...

[@Micah__]

You should breakdown The Last of Us 2’s combat/dodging animations. Say what you will about the story, those animations were beautiful.

[@rocitelon2600]

that game is a 7/10 for me just because of the story

[@CalamariZander]

@@rocitelon2600 because it was good? Or because it was bad Idk i never played it

[@manakmishra]

@@rocitelon2600 i mean that dude didnt ask but thanks for your opinion i guess

[@thegreatgoobert5847]

@@rocitelon2600 is that good or bad this is so confusing? Cause a 7/10 would mean its above average?

[@jasonmeyer7764]

I remember the punching in The Last of Us having some interesting properties. In the Dev diaries I think they mentioned something about how if they did complete transitions between idle and hit poses then it would actually kind of cut quickly between extreme poses. That could be interesting to take a look at.

[@GalacticBrix]

I'd love to hear your thoughts about how in Assassin's Creed Origins and Odessy the main character will flail his/her arms up in the air when making a small jump. I hate it.

[@FENRIR212]

Batman Arkham knight- multi fear takedowns

[@theenzoferrari458]

Yes. Second that.

[@kirasame4568]

Yeess please do this one

[@ethanwest3393]

Cuphead. I'm sure you get this a lot, but Cuphead's main draw is, in fact, its animation, so giving that a shot would be really fun to watch :) I'd also love to see a video on bad animation, like a loving critique for the purpose of improving, not bashing.

[@wingboy0]

this is why i love this game and insomniac, they really do put all the effort into making their games feel amazing to the player, they WORK for every single bit of enjoyment i get... love them all! not only the animators!

[@daviddelpozofiliu5556]

I'd love a video about Darkest Dungeon animation. All the animations are just 1 frame, iirc, but they all still feel impactful and interesting.

[@chaoticduk7515]

I'm not him but it's pretty simple in concept, the character's pose conveys all the emotion of the motion they just went through, accompanied by an incredibly meaty/punchy sound effect. Very good way to do a game with limited animation if you have that idea in the future.

[@user-wj7xn9tt8n]

Ментовскиевлоигны

[@jp3813]

7:16 If you slow it down, Spidey's feet don't even land in that instance. Hence, another variant.

[@Jourihara]

I'd like to see a episode about a bad animation, and why its bad. Some times we end up learning more with what dont work than with something that works! I'm out of touch with recent games but, I don't know, maybe Megaman 11 walking cycle? it feels really clunky to my amateur eyes, specially compared to Megaman 8

[@fabolousninenine30]

Hana Jourihara not sometimes, but everytime

[@Jirujan]

if you wanted to know about bad animation, you can check A.B.I.torial you won't regret it

[@JoelGibsonBagelator]

Any of Skyrims animations.

[@bjlbernal]

Dan Prime, I loved hearing you explain the nuances of the different conditional animation effects of this one skill. I found myself feeling a whole-other level appreciation for the work of the Insomniac team. You are awesome for bringing these details to my attention and high-lighting the attention to detail the Insomniac team put into the game.

[@circlenostar]

Love these!! Not even a minute in and already want part 2 for Spidey ps4 :P

[@Neuroticmancer]

Top of my head for animations is geralts sword dance in Witcher 3, cutscene to gameplay transitions from god of war 4 or all of Mark of the ninja

[@Neuroticmancer]

Vazazell cus it had good animation, especially for an open world RPG. I mean their facial animations were incredible. What are you talking about?

[@Ten_Thousand_Locusts]

@@Neuroticmancer lol ok champ

[@Neuroticmancer]

The Jrr why’d you like your own comment?

[@Ten_Thousand_Locusts]

@@Neuroticmancer cause it's awesome, buddy.

[@Neuroticmancer]

The Jrr gangsta

[@remyblas]

Another thing I love about this move is how the camera hangs back after Spider-Man launches forward and then it catches up to him, giving the whole move an awesome feel of speed and momentum.

[@quinnbeasley94]

The gaming industry needs more people like you to just take a a moment. A moment to appreciate the hard work put into the small details of some of the greatest games ever made.

[@willmarsden462]

Do an episode on the sly cooper moves. May be somthing interesting there.

[@guesswilsey]

Oh, I would love this so much! "Jump and press the O button to land on a sharp object"

[@6kaliba9]

it was the most important franchise in my childhood

[@olivepile]

I love it when I run into others who like Sly. I feel like most people have never even heard of the series.

[@fabulog7010]

I have a request : Can you do celeste's animations? That's one of my favorite games, and one of the reasons why is because performing jumps and dashes feel really nice and rewarding, and the animations play a big part in that.

[@teigantheisen2549]

That would be awesome! I'd love to see Dan break down how, after after building up speed, Madeline's body stretches out, and then squashes on impact with the ground. Anne the animation of the enemies in the game, how they manage to both look incredible, and clearly convey exactly what they are doing to the player, so the any death can't be blamed on cheap shots. There is so much to unpack in such a simple, not that simplicity is bad, game with only a few large pixels to tell the player what's going on.

[@Nugcon]

That profile pic is legendary

[@byteyourownteeth]

Assassins Creed, The additive animation for hands/arms while moving through crowds, Outlast hand placement on nearby surfaces, anything using hands on nearby objects to help cement the grounded feeling of the player in the gameworld.

[@Montesama314]

I always liked the little bounce as he lands and settles. Really adds the element of weight (or is it mass?) to his body, reminding you that momentum has acted on him.

[@Loogoo1st]

Horse animations in red dead 2, the way that the horse conveys emotion seems to be well done. With the amount of care in every animation of that game, you could probably make a video on any of them.

[@FlesHBoX]

as if I didn't already want to play this game, this video makes me want it even more! Alas I had to sell my PS4 a year and a half ago :(

[@teigantheisen2549]

F

[@knoqturne6811]

I never noticed how much bobbing happens in the recovery with Spidey's spine and head, but now I'm noticing it every time I see it, and it makes me appreciate the work put into this that much more. Thanks!

[@nasseemnaffaa3266]

I just can’t get over how awesome his webs look. The coolest part is when he shoots them, and they either make a really cool spiral or it looks like a wave

[@erstar5791]

Maybe check out an SNK game like one of the metal slugs or Mark of the Wolfs? They had some really good animation for sprites and I've never gotten the chance to just break then down all the way

[@PlatyNews]

Kim Kaphwan's pants in his idle in KOF 13 xD

[@rundinj]

Id love to see an animation break down on Voldo from Soul Calibur, namely his stance transitions

[@NegativeEdge64]

I love this series so much. I could never get enough of Extra Frames back in the day

[@Appalitch]

I cannot give you enough positive feedback for the direction you are taking this series. This is fantastic and the more granular you get into individual animations the better IMO.

[@onionskin30]

Awesome! Love this really focused episode. Then, what about a single but really complex animation involving TWO characters...? Let's say...one cowboy mounting his horse? (different angles, horse animation, both characters probably moving at the same time, stirrups, etc...) I'll let you pick the corresponding game ;)

[@marcheharvey2301]

Request: Monster Hunter World attack animations.

[@johnnybadboy3475]

I’m on my second play through, and I can’t believe the amount of detail about traversal. Heights, angles, whatever, all the animations seem to flow extremely smoothly no matter what.

[@Salem-Arrak]

I don't know why, but breaking down how the animations work along with their conditions makes the prospect of game animation more manageable. Loved the video!

[@JD_and_Gaming]

Devil may cry series basically the entire movelist, GTA and RDR euphoria ragdolls, Dark Messiah of might and magic the spartan kick, far cry 2 gun jams and breaks

[@matthiasl.6551]

I second that Dark Messiah kick.

[@Theunrealfight]

The combat animations in Persona 5 are interestingly stylized I think. I‘d love to hear your take on that game! Also NieR:Automata‘s throwing-yourself-at-the-enemy-move. It feels just nice to swing at someone and kick them in the clunky ball of a head.

[@HyenaFox]

I also do appreciate with this game how much effort they put into making his swinging look and feel so varied and flashy, even aside from the few tricks you're able to intentionally do by holding circle and triangle when you unlock the air tricks. Just swinging around, there's so many variations on different flips and twists and stuff and even variations on the way he shoots the webs to each building, sometimes going one handed and sometimes two.

[@troyareyes]

I love how loopy the webbing comes out like it's coming off of a spool

[@piteoswaldo]

I'd like to see a video about Hellblade's animation. Senua's parts were done with motion capture (that's a different but interesting topic), and the monster's and god's animations are extremely good.

[@tranceotaku]

Spidey's agility and fluidity is one of the largest reasons I like him. Great video! Tyty

[@DigiFox0]

Hell yes, as soon as I saw the animation for this game for myself, I knew i'd need a video from you on it. Great work as always!

[@nikhilravikumar3323]

Was thinking about how great this video is and suddenly realised it's Daniel Floyd's voice without the pitch shift. Subscribed and bell'd. You're the man.

[@bIindguy123]

Dan, This is fantastic. I cannot wait to see more of these!

[@Navajonkee]

I always found it fascinating how particularly fluid and satisfying all the mount animations in Guild Wars 2 are, especially the Raptor mount's stop and go animation. I'd be happy to see an episode about that (or any mount animation from the game)

[@Revanxbone]

Had a reaaaaaaaally big Wow/Aha-moment at the squash & stretch section. Love your animation videos 👍

[@EthanParisMills93]

I clicked out of curiosity and stayed for The whole vid, was a lot more entertaining than I anticipated. Solid video, my guy.

[@luke0812]

I cant get enough of your videos. I could watch these all day long and never get bored. I would love to see a video about the parkour animation in Assassins Creed.

[@shawnheatherly]

So much love and attention to detail in just one move. Can't imagine how many variants would be through the entire game.

[@rickmoranis5242]

Just caught your channel randomly today, love how you break things down with why the dev's may have done/chose certain actions. I'm not doing enough justice with my typing there, but in the end I pretty much just want to say great stuff

[@cheeseboy8241]

thank you so so so so so much for getting to the point. god tier respect for the brevity of a human life

[@danielcatlett3845]

I'd love to see more episodes on Spiderman animations. Everything about his movement feels so effortless, so there must have been so much effort into making it all work

[@justinpurdy3117]

Love seeing these. It's great to get insight into the work that goes towards making our games feel alive.

[@TheOnlyTherazan]

I guess it's more an effect than an animation, but those air trails when Spider-Man goes fast enough is some beautiful game design too!

[@chefboyardee8801]

The snowboard animations in STEEP have some of the smoothest looking body transitions I've seen in an action game. I would LOOVEE if you could do an episode on that!

[@michaelbrainy898]

Nice video. This series is really great and I cant wait for more episodes.

[@pkbreeze08]

This is a brilliant idea for a channel, and your breakdowns are really interesting. Subscribed, and shared to the biggest Spidey fan I know.

[@robertrussell2717]

:) Thanks for doing this. I think it really helps people understand the scale and complexity of game animation.

[@marce7043]

I never realized how complicated animations are, this is awesome..

[@soeren.h]

Really good episode, I really enjoyed it. Keep that awesome content going

[@tranquilcoast]

I love this series, nice work!

[@JustinWPruett]

Well this is the coolest video I’ll see all day. Great work!

[@Thomaskh7]

My favorite thing about this is that it makes Spider-Man feel realistic, like in this game nothing, besides the super teched out suit and stuff like web bombs and drones, but just the normal moveset and movements feel like this is what I'd see if Spider-Man where real.

[@chairsrawesome6376]

More Spider-Man animations please. This episode was awesome

[@burningflag3679]

Can't say i have any episode suggestions. But i will say your attention to detail of this one move got me to sub.

[@naved6095]

I literally impressed by your observation

[@Azure_Gust931]

You are right! Animators are amazing

[@Tony-eg3gi]

You got a new sub. Alot of people talk about video games. But i like the details in games.

[@evil_applejuice674]

I'd love to see an episode cover the wanderer's movement in shadow of the colossus. It's a little too exaggerated, but was done to express the climbing system and scale of everything. You're awesome Dan, keep it up!

[@caloboyle9388]

So good. Thanks for this man

[@Fzwaz]

Great video! Had a lot of fun studying the animations in spiderman. I personally love to use locomotion as an example of an animation that seems simple enough but ends up being complex (depending on the type of game you are animating for ofcourse).

[@rolandbalajadia1673]

You should do a video on various horse riding animations from various video games. Maybe analyze some key animations are needed to make the riding look more realistic

[@jesseordonez3361]

Just another reason why this game is legendary!

[@XxHikidashixX]

honestly, i could just listen to ya break down any animation sequence. The excitement can be heard in yer voice. o:

[@joeldeslo854]

I think i remember Psychonauts having some animations that really pushed exaggeration to it's limit, and brought all of the it weight with it. Personally i don't have time to re-play it to pick it apart, but I sure would enjoy it if you did! Thanks for the focused deep dives!

[@d0rkza]

Regarding the twisting of the upper body if Spiderman is sideways to his destination can be done through animation masks where you designate weight to different body parts and based on the weight the animation only applies to those body parts. If anyone played Sniper Elite v2 you can clearly se this being used on the legs. While the upper body is always pointed towards the cursor, the legs turn around based on the player movement input.

[@BigLou7711]

this video is excellent, im hooked

[@jimmykeffer7401]

I’d love an entire episode on the camera work on this baby

[@Mr2awesomecraft]

This makes me excited to play this

[@piteoswaldo]

The recommended videos for this are completely crazy. I see spiderman videos (obviously), toys ads, russian kids acting, animated shows for kids, speculative video game lore, kid's cartoons, and russian Minecraft gameplay. WFT is happening here?

[@Roxor128]

I'm going to take a stab in the dark and say it's because the channel is so new whatever automated system KZbin uses to provide recommendations doesn't have enough information about what its content is similar to, so it's just picking stuff at random and seeing what gets clicks.

[@Rootbeeroverseer]

This is excellent and a wonderful channel. I'm almost twenty-nine and considering going back to school to pursue my dream in programming and video game design. This video put to rest my fears of having my passion for gaming ruined by being too technical to enjoy the fruits of the labor. You remind us through the entire thing WHY these things are so cool.

[@senza4591]

I think this channel is infinitely rewatchable

[@CoachKussenVuist]

Really in-dept video on something i did not care about and now i do :)

[@SagarKalbandeiitkgp]

Very well explained!

[@Arddy]

Mate, you've nailed it. Well done! Awesome video. Short sharp and precise!

[@Arddy]

I'd have a ton of requests (background in animation myself, so I share your passion in this field), but it's nice to see what you've done with the videos. Just from the top of my head though - would be nice to see how/why it is sooo satisfying for Kratos, in GoW4, to collect health orbs and open treasures!

[@thegeekclub8810]

I've always liked Mae's jumping animation for Night in the Woods. It has so much personality and bounce to it.

[@Kalernor]

Great episode Dan

[@endornaut]

I'm sure you know this but if the jump distance is shorter there are another bunch of animations that don't contain web shooting, and also there are certain obstacles (like the water towers' feet) that triggers different animations when "point jump"ed at...it's amazing

[@AlexGalaxy14]

First thing I noticed from playing Smash Bros Ultimate were the enhanced animations for each character that in my opinion seem to give even more personality to the character than the last game. My favorite animations so far are Luigi, Isabelle, Sonic, Ganondorf, Inceneroar and even Mario. And lets not even forget how they transfered Simon Belmont's animation straight from the NES (specifically his walking and jumping animatiom) Awesome coinsidence finding your channel! Im in for more!

[@peppapig807]

just discovered your videos and i am in looove, please keep them coming :D

[@peppapig807]

i'm not even an animator or a gamer hahaha

[@artzerial]

Insomniac is so cool! Now I'm a total fan!

[@candasagr9512]

What a great channel. Subscribed!

[@TommyAck102]

Lovin'g the new bitesized format! Maybe you could do a future episode on the small little characterised movements of Zeku after he does virtually any action in Street Fighter 5 .

[@angryinstinct6401]

Wow you just blew my mind

[@domolutz]

I agree with most of your point exept the "different" transitional animation... most of them are probably done by just blending specific bones (for example pelvis upward) with the same animation so it seems he just orients his upper body to the target... this makes it way more flexible than creating several custom animations for these angles... cool and informatif video as always :)

[@filmchild78]

Easily my new favorite gaming channel

[@Zazzarismo]

Great episode

[@deedelta9263]

Dan spent 7mins on a 1 second animation just DISCUSSING the finished product. Imagine how much time Insomniac put into it.

[@nostalgia_junkie]

i love that jank is still in peoples vernacular