Iron Beagle... Looking good
If you can add more stripes to his PJ's and make them thin stripes, that would look good. The Pants could be made lighter color such as very light tan, almost white and would show the Stripes better. I realize that having the pants look like PJ Bottoms is a Chore.
Warning, Long Post...
Also, think of all of the animations as one long flc. Each flc should come from and go to any flc that it starts from or goes to. The Fidgit Flc, comes from and ends with the Default Flc so the last frame of the Default Flc is where the Fidget would start from. This does not mean that you use the exact last frame of the Default (Unless you want a Hesitation) but rather one that would naturally come from it. In this case, he would have to Holster his Gun so he could take out his pills then after taking the pills, he would put the Bottle away and take out his Gun so he would move back toward the First Frame of the Default. Without having a "Transition", each animation would abruptly start and stop, having nothing to do with any other. While each Flc might look Great, if they do not all go together, it could ruin the unit.
You can open, copy & paste an animation such as the Fidget after the Default animation. Set Key Frames to keep the first and last frames from changing on both animations.
Skip a few frames and paste the Fidget after the Default animation in Poser. You can then work with the frames Poser will generate between the animations. You can select the best frame and set it as a Key Frame then Move the entire animation over again, leaving more blank Frames. This will allow Poser to help you make transitions as long as you begin with the last Frame of one and have the First Frame of the Other animation start from a Position that would naturally come from the previous animation.
By Pasting the First Frame of the Default after the Last Frame of the Fidget animation, you will be able to gain a better end frame for the Fidget so it smoothly goes into the Default animation. By setting Key Frames and selecting the best frames and doing all again with some adjustments as you do this, you can go from a totally different animation to another and back.
Most people make animations using the exact first and last frames to insure that each animation goes together but this is not necessary unless a Hesitation is desired. Since these animations play back none stop, if the last frame of one animation is the same as the first of another, that causes the hesitation. Think of the First and Last frames for animations the same as any frame in an animation. Each is different but comes from or goes into another frame...and in this case, another animation. All That said, there are times when you will want a hesitation so you would then use one or more duplicate frames.
Generally, when making animations, you will have many frames for one animation. You can selectively set Key Frames and remove frames that are not needed to shorten the animation.
Because of the way CIV Plays animations, the Fortify Flc should be kept Short in regard to the Attack or Attacks. IF a unit has More than one Attack and then has a long Fortify Flc, CIV will shorten all in order to "work them in". This causes sound difficulties. Basically, Keep Fortify Flcs short..10 Frames and no more than 15. You can get away with more IF only one or two short Attacks and they, with the Fortify animation are not collectively extremely long.
I assume you already know what animations come from and go into another? The Death is the Only animation that does not go into another animation so it can end any way you want. Personally, I prefer to actually see the Unit on the Ground with two or three duplicate frames for hesitation at the end. The Death and Victory Both start from the Last Frame of the Attack but the Victory ends toward the first frame of the Default.
As for the Rendering and "process" to make the Flc. There are many different particular little things that people do but basically, all accomplish the same thing. Just like reading this Lengthy post, it all only sounds difficult but that is the nature of trying to write to explain the technical steps of anything. Requires a lot or words to make all clear.
If you are using Poser, turn off the Work Lights before Rendering. set at 0.
IF you send me a PM with your E-Mail address, I will send you the details about how to handle the rendered images and also how to make a Good Unit Palette. I will help you in any way I can. Far too long to post here now after all this.
