Walk CYcle

[crazi_ivan]

Hey, here's a walk cycle I've been working on using a free 3D character from Highend3D.com. The cycle is in 24FPS. Pelvis/COG was started first, then moved onto left leg, then copy pasted over to right leg. Before I move onto the arms and torso, see if anyone can give some critiques.

Blik isn't a very good character to do a walk cycle with, it has no heel control, just ankle pivot so i have to match frame by frame with it's foot control using the

-Trans Y
-RotateX } attributes
-Toe Flap

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[Vertrucio]

Do you know the 3 basic positions for a walk? Stride, pass, and contact. Different walks will emphasize different parts, or skip parts, but it's important to know these three main parts.

The contact position has both feet planted on the ground, it's also the lowest position for the hips.

The pass position is when one leg is straight, and the other leg is bent and passing on its way to kicking out into the stride position. As this point the hips are highest.

For stride, the legs are farthest outstretched and, in general, the hips are midway between contact and pass in height.

In your walk, I'm not seeing much of a stride position, nor much of a pass position. As such, it looks like your character walks with his knees always bent.

Since it's a short and stubby kind of character, you'll have to work on emphasizing those positions to show how he has to move to cover distance with his walk.

[crazi_ivan]

It's true he walks mostly with his knees bent, but if he was any higher his knees would pop in the push off. I've been taught the four positions of a walk with the legs are stride, squash, mid stride, and push (the stretch comes after the push but before the stride). Thanks for the hips/COG(center of gravity) note, it is hard to notice it moving, I havent started on the lower back yet, but I'll give it a shot to push the hips around. This rig is pretty bad and it's really easy to get the knee to pop.

I know of the theory behind walking, and it isn't my first walk cycle, it's for my demo reel. A few colleagues on my IMS(instant messaging service) listed that the leg in my character doesn't 'pendulum' enough, i need more kickback, more foot reach out front and that the default lighting is making it seem like he might be leaning.

[HunterKiller_]

I don't think there's anything hugely wrong with this walk cycle.

However, if this is for a demo reel, you might want to think about adding movement to the rest of the body.
Legs are only half of it.

[crazi_ivan]

yep, legs are half of it, as I work on the upper half, I get critiques on the lower half. ;) thx hunter

[crazi_ivan]

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Here's the latter half of my efforts on this character


i haven't touched the fingers, but i have done the wrists. There's something odd about the right (character's right arm) with the swing. It pendulum's forward, and then jitters twice and swings back. I can't find it on my graph editor, not yet anyway.

I think the head is a little too 'jello-y' but it's comical.

[J Wilson]

I'm no animator, so take this for what it's worth. The pose to me feels like it's leaning too far back just a bit. Maybe bringing the head forward some would give it a nice sweep to the pose. The walk looks good, but if it's for a demo reel it might be better to inject more character to the walk. A good walk can say a lot about a character, capturing attitude and emotion. But then again I don't know anything of the process of animating, so maybe those kinds of tweaks come later.

[BANNED_For_POOPY_PANTS]

The pose to me feels like it's leaning too far back just a bit. Maybe bringing the head forward some would give it a nice sweep to the pose. The walk looks good, but if it's for a demo reel it might be better to inject more character to the walk. A good walk can say a lot about a character, capturing attitude and emotion.

+1.

Other than that (and the issue with the right hand) it looks fantastic. The swaying from side to side is a bit too much for my taste (at least for a "casual" walk/stroll), but then again it might work well if it suits your character's personality.

(Bookmarked!)

[mindlessroman]

i agree with the too-much leaning back.

is his torso going to remain one object that moves together? or do you plan on giving him something like hips? it would add some swag to his stride because you could add more nuances to his walk.

otherwise, yay!

[iven]

Hi there I really love your Turtle walk cycle,.....

I am working too on my Walk cycles http://www.keyframer.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2115

[SaiVix]

blik is so cute

[ScaryPotato]

I think it's looking nice and fluid, and the leaning back thing isn't a problem really, but if his chest were puffed out and back arched a bit like he's really proud, the posture would seem a bit more natural. Anyhow, if you are going after a cartoony kind of feel, the good thing is that you don't have to follow any rules of physics/gravity/logic :)