Lets start out with some easy stuff, Trails.
Trails give your animation a more "fluid" movement. Lets take a simple animation and add some trail to it. Lets do a simple animation of a smoke trail. Select the RTP animation file 'misc2' from the animation tab(see fig.1-1).
FIG.1-1
Now, to create the trail, we have to create the animation first. Begin by placing a smoke in the first frame in front of the monster. On the next frame, click the clone previous tab on the side (see fig.1-2), add another smoke in front of the previously placed smoke to create a trail. To create the actual illusion of the trail, you must select the smoke that you started with on the second frame and change its transparency(see fig.1-3)
FIG.1-2
FIG.1-3
Now, depending on how long of a trial you want, your going to be using a variable of transparency settings. Keep in mind that the max number of images displayed in an animation is 8. Heres a recommendation list to get you on your way.
#of Anims Levels of transparency
2 0%, 50%
3 0%, 33%, 66%
4 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%
5 0%, 20%, 40%, 60%, 80%
6 0%, 20%, 35%, 50%, 65%, 85%
7 0%, 15%, 30%, 45%, 60%, 75%, 90%
8 0%, 12%, 20%, 35%, 50%, 62%, 75%, 90%
As you can see, the longer the trail, the more complicated the trans-settings. I personally use a 3-4 trail. Now, I know your wondering "what does a trail look like?" Have a look. Fig.1-4 shows a smoke trail with no trans, making it a bit dull. Fig.1-5, however, is more pleasing to the eye thanks to the transparency settings.
FIG.1-4
FIG.1-5
Try it out with some other animations such as, but not limited to, sword strikes, fireballs, or even character movement. Well, I hope this was somewhat helpful. Hope you got sumthing from this.
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