Walk Cycle Animation Blueprint: A how to tutorial

2/20/19, 8)06 AMWalk Cycle Animation Blueprint: A how to tutorial | Rusty Animator

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Walk Cycle Animation Blueprint:A how to tutorial

walk cycle animation blueprint: a how to guide

Walk cycle animation blueprint covers the overall approach to animating anormal walk so you know where you’re going before you even start animating.

If you want to be a professional animator working in movies or games for aliving – one of the first things that you’ll want to animate WELL – is a walk.

After all there is a reason Richard William’s book focused so much onlearning walks.

And no matter if you animate in 2D or 3D you’ll be able to apply all that

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlYTXs0Cyc8

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCwmIczENtyUqjsWeR-odIg

http://www.theanimatorssurvivalkit.com/



you’ve learned in this video to get great results.

So lets dig in.

First off, What is a walk cycle animation?

In a normal walk cycle animation a character takes two steps in 1 second (24frames). But the first and the last step hook up into the same pose so that itcan be looped again and again.

This allows a character to appear to cover ground without actually movinganywhere.

Cycles ares most commonly used in video games to develop interactive movesfor the characters you’re playing.

And it’s also used in the 2D animation world to prevent extra drawing whenall you need to do is slide a background.

But for your learning sake, a walk cycle has long served as a benchmark foranimators that are on their way.

So how do we animate a walk cycle?

A walk cycle animation needs 4 key poses



These poses will be our visual formula for what happens in real life.

The first pose is the contact position. Both feet are in contact with theground and the weight of the body is split between each leg.

We’ll need 3 contact poses. On frame 1 will have the left leg forward on frame13 will have the right leg forward and on frame 25 it will be a repetition offrame 1

The second most important pose for a walk is the passing pose. One foot isplanted on the ground while the other is lifted. And both feet are passing tothe next contact pose.

This is where a walk first starts to show life because there are breakdownkeys.

It’s adding change to our animation right in the middle of each step on frame7 and frame 19.



The hips are generally a touch higher than they are in a contact so weestablish a bit of up and down – between the 2 poses – a tiny sense of gravityand weight.

The final two poses in the walk take all of that to the next level.

They are the up and the down poses. They define…well…ya.. the extremeUP and down moments of the walk where the head is highest and lowest.

With these poses included our eyes can read the weight of the character veryclearly.

In the down pose we get compression in the whole body. Not only is thecharacter at his lowest point in vertical space – but there’s a big bend in theknee on the planted foot as the hips and the spine curl forward on frame 4and 16.

In the up pose we get the opposite – of COURSE – an extension. A stretch tothe planted foot – with a tilt up and back in the hips and spine on frame 9 and22.

Now lets break down each pose of a walk cycleanimation



In the contact position the hips are rotated towards the leg that’s forwardbecause that’s what pulls the leg into position.

The arms are opposite what the legs are doing for natural momentum. Andthe upper body gets the arms into position, by opposing the hips while at thesame time helping to keep us balanced.

As walking is a process of falling forward and catching ourselves – we tend tobe rotated slightly forward throughout a normal walk.

The faster a character moves, like in a run, the more we tend to rotateforward as we go.

If we were adding personality to a walk we could ignore this and addwhatever we want but we’re trying to keep it basic for this tutorial.

In the passing position the weight of our bodies counter balances overtop of afoot that’s still flat on the ground.



This allows us in real life to keep from falling to the ground as our other footis in the air.

The arms are almost halfway as they pass to next pose but they slightly favorwhere they came before. It is also the lowest point for the shoulder to swingthrough with the arms in a generic walk

In the UP pose the planted foot is pushing us up to our highest point in thewalk while the hips and spine are tilting back.

In the DOWN position the hips and the spine are bending forward to theirextreme. Whereas the arms are at their widest point in the walk.

This is the complete visual formula for a basic walk.

You may already be wondering about personality though.

How can I make a character that’s confident, depressed, or relaxed?

Altering any part of a basic walk cycleanimation creates personality



If we start altering this basic walk formula – personality will start to appear.

Shifting the timing, spacing, exaggerating elements, or altering the poses –any of this will dramatically change the attitude of a walk.

Which in turn opens the door to acting and story.

But to really understand it you’ll first need the animation experience of abasic walk.

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And now your ready to start animating



Our Step By Step Walk Cycle Tutorial will walk (badum dum tisch) youthrough it all to completion.

For a full list of even more walk cycle tutorials (creatures, personality,etc) go here:

Walk Cycle 3D Animation Tutorials

Or scroll down to get a free run cycle tutorial

Hopefully you’ve picked up some great animation techniques that will takeyou to the next level. And your having plenty of fun!

Stay tuned for more in the future. Until then…

Happy Animating!

Free Step By Step Run Cycle Tutorial

http://rustyanimator.com/animation-walk-cycle/

http://rustyanimator.com/run-cycle/



Click here for a free Run Cycle Tutorial

https://rustyanimator.com/walk-cycle-animation/

Walk Cycle Animation Blueprint: A how to tutorial

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