Lets learn Walk cycles

[johncbeggs]

Anyone want to attempt this with me
I have never animated one but I am going to learn everything about it. :)

not your average walk cycles, ones with emotion and character

here is one I thought was really great:

http://www.cdd4ever.com/Backlot03/ProdArt/MaxWalks.gif

I cant find anymore at the moment.

If Don Bluth could give us some advice on this about how to get your characters to move Like what they should be moving like and not just following some normal walk cycle off the internet.

...btw I have not yet attempted a walk cycle, so its a fresh start for me!

[lavallelee]

i believe the next dvd don is releasing is the walkcycle and im looking very much forward to it

many say the walk cycle is the hardest thing to learn, which is why its one of the first things to learn

:cool:

[johncbeggs]

i believe the next dvd don is releasing is the walkcycle and im looking very much forward to it

many say the walk cycle is the hardest thing to learn, which is why its one of the first things to learn

:cool:

It would be great if I can afford one of his dvds :)
I will try to get one since my birthday is coming up on the 19th of april.

I am also thinking about purchasing this desk:

http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/art/1068068135.html

does this desk look okay for animation?

[lavallelee]

$50 for that whole set up, I would buy it because of that price, I say go for it!

I should search for used too, that is a good idea.

[fanimation]

John C, I like that walk cycle sample you found. I've not done one yet either. I'll try to work on one also!:)

[johncbeggs]

$50 for that whole set up, I would buy it because of that price, I say go for it!

I should search for used too, that is a good idea.

Thanks man

I just told my dad about it so we are going to pick it up soon with his truck :)

[johncbeggs]

John C, I like that walk cycle sample you found. I've not done one yet either. I'll try to work on one also!:)

Yeah it was hard to find that one I know their are many other ones like it!

cool, We can both try to create one that fits our certain type of character.

[lavallelee]

also thanks for that link http://www.cdd4ever.com

its has tons of production animations, storyboards, modelsheets

i found another walk on there http://www.cdd4ever.com/Backlot03/ProdArt/DarlaWalks.gif

[johncbeggs]

also thanks for that link http://www.cdd4ever.com

its has tons of production animations, storyboards, modelsheets

i found another walk on there http://www.cdd4ever.com/Backlot03/ProdArt/DarlaWalks.gif

:) im glad you found another one I really enjoy looking a well done walk cycles

the storyboards are great too!

[Alexandra Poston]

walk cycles are so much fun!

From reading The Animator's Survival Kit by Richard Williams ( pretty much the animator's bible, if you haven't read it, look into it ASAP) , I've noticed that if there's one thing that guy loves, it's walk cycles. Slow walk cycles, to ridiculously fast walk cycles, to walk cycles with broken joints, to bouncy walk cycles, and floaty walk cycles, seductive walk cycles, ****y walk cycles - all that jazz. He explains in and out how to extreme it, tween it, time it, the whole shabang. Based on Richard William's principles, I'm trying to come up with my own walk cycles.

Before you get too gung ho and jump right into a fully developed character going through a complex walk cycle, I think it'd be wise to try out a simple one first and get the hang of it. When I'm practicing walk cycles, I usually sketch in the walk cycle on my cheets with a stick-man like character, then trace over it with my character design. This way, I concentrate on the movement and action first, then pay attention to the secondary and overlapping actions and character details later.

[johncbeggs]

walk cycles are so much fun!

From reading The Animator's Survival Kit by Richard Williams ( pretty much the animator's bible, if you haven't read it, look into it ASAP) , I've noticed that if there's one thing that guy loves, it's walk cycles. Slow walk cycles, to ridiculously fast walk cycles, to walk cycles with broken joints, to bouncy walk cycles, and floaty walk cycles, seductive walk cycles, ****y walk cycles - all that jazz. He explains in and out how to extreme it, tween it, time it, the whole shabang. Based on Richard William's principles, I'm trying to come up with my own walk cycles.

Before you get too gung ho and jump right into a fully developed character going through a complex walk cycle, I think it'd be wise to try out a simple one first and get the hang of it. When I'm practicing walk cycles, I usually sketch in the walk cycle on my cheets with a stick-man like character, then trace over it with my character design. This way, I concentrate on the movement and action first, then pay attention to the secondary and overlapping actions and character details later.

Yes Ive tried a couple and its even more complex then I tthought :)

[den_titov]

This is my little research about walk cycle, based on Disney's feature "Robin Hood".

Here is walk cycle's key frames:

http://img74.imageshack.us/img74/3879/keyframes.jpg

The other leg works exactly the same way, so let's put it together:

http://pics.livejournal.com/dentitov/pic/0000h804

It's not as smoothly as in the film, becouse we should add additional phases between the key frames

http://pics.livejournal.com/dentitov/pic/0000k70t

and here is my walk cycle:

http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/419/walk.swf

[DNethery]

I agree the Dick Williams' book "The Animator's Survival Kit" is a great resource for learning how to build walks.

It's good to learn the "formula" on something first , then having mastered that you can throw in variations , break the formula, to create unique walks.

One thing that Dick really emphasizes in the book and in his Master Class seminars is that simply changing the breakdown of the "passing position" can change the entire character of a walk, taking a very standard walk and turning it into an eccentric character walk .

There are some horrible walk cycles posted on YouTube , but also some very good ones if you can search them out. You just have to wade through the garbage while searching for the good ones.

Here are a few I've found ---

Jen Hager is a former Cal Arts student (now working at Disney I believe) who has posted her fantastic demo reel on YouTube. She has some great walk and/or run cycles in here:

Jen Hager Demo Reel (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlXGzUouqjE)

KlXGzUouqjE

Here's a good one based on a character designed by the French comic artist Franquin :

Franquin Walk Cycle (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiw5c6hpxcY)

qiw5c6hpxcY

Here's a Milt Kahl rough skip cycle of Pinocchio :

Milt Kahl Pinocchio Skip on 4's (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lv4BUFxU0Yc)

lv4BUFxU0Yc

The Walks that Dick Williams animated as a promotion for his "Animator's Survival Kit" DVD's (see video at this link) :

Dick Williams Walks (http://www.theanimatorssurvivalkit.com/logo.html)

There's a pencil test of those walks posted on YouTube:

Dick Williams walks -pencil test version (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeJiteHiNKk)

EeJiteHiNKk

Also found that someone has posted a brief excerpt from Dick's DVD series :

Dick Williams on Building Walks (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdfwmDnCsJg)

kdfwmDnCsJg

Those are just a few good clips I've found. I'll post more later .

As great as these are to look at the best thing to do is observe walks from real life , making notes and sketches in your sketchbook, then apply the basic animation principles from books like "The Animator's Survival Kit" to create unique walks.

[lavallelee]

i have learned so much from richard williams book, i wish i could afford those dvds

[CanAur]

Dick Williams or Richard williams? 0_0

[lavallelee]

the book says Richard Williams

[johncbeggs]

This is my little research about walk cycle, based on Disney's feature "Robin Hood".

Here is walk cycle's key frames:

http://img74.imageshack.us/img74/3879/keyframes.jpg

The other leg works exactly the same way, so let's put it together:

http://pics.livejournal.com/dentitov/pic/0000h804

It's not as smoothly as in the film, becouse we should add additional phases between the key frames

http://pics.livejournal.com/dentitov/pic/0000k70t

and here is my walk cycle:

http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/419/walk.swf

Great walk cycle titov, I always liked the beggining of
"robin hood" it is very interesting. :)

[DNethery]

Dick Williams or Richard williams? 0_0


A clarification: yes, his full name is Richard Williams, but he often goes by the colloquial abbreviation for the name Richard which is "Dick".



(which I've never quite understood , because you would think the abbreviation of Richard would always be an "R" name like Rich or Rick . But then there are all those people named John who's nickname is "Jack", or how some people named Robert go by the shortened version "Rob" , but others are known as "Bob" . How do you get "Bob" with a "B" from Robert ? It's weird.)

[lavallelee]

durring junior high people who couldn't say my name would abbreviate my name to Val

Lavalle, which i didn't like what so ever :(

[den_titov]

I think it's sutable topic to talk about Don's new free tip - "Fievel: The March."

For me it was interesting to know, that Don uses 6 key frames to build walk cycle
instead of 4 as Williams does. Honestly, I hought that Williams's method is common for all animators.


Well, here is that I'v did after Don's tip

http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/419/walk.swf

If it's not against the rules, I would like to post Fievel walk cycle from Don Bluth's book "The art of animation darwing"

[johncbeggs]

thats amazing :eek:
seriously really cool to see, I have been doing alot of turnarounds to get some practice I have to build up to the walkcycle phase :)

[lavallelee]

http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/419/walk.swf



very nice walk with tons of secondary actions

i wish i could do that!

[den_titov]

lavallelee
johncbeggs

Thanks! :)
Actually, It was trying number four :). I'v spent the whole day to draw this 12 pictures. (there is no inbetweens here)

[JayTea]

and here is my walk cycle:

http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/419/walk.swf

Overall, very nice. However, a number of the details "pop around" a bit much especially as the hands wave about in front of his body. This seems to a result of the smaller arcs not really being smooth enough.

Here is a "diagnostic" technique which may help:

Focusing on just the far hand for now, take a fresh sheet of paper and put it over your first drawing. Trace a tick mark at the center of the hand on this fresh sheet of paper. You may need to write the drawing number near it to keep track. Now do the same on this sheet with all the other poses.
Now try drawing a smooth line connecting the dots. I think you will find your line looks more like a zig-zag. Smooth actions will make smooth lines. So will even spacing.

[den_titov]

Thanks, JayTea :)

I will follow your tip!

[Lifed]

Has anyone read Preston Blair's "Cartoon Animation" book? It has a couple of good walk cycle examples. It doesn't go too far into detail, but it's enough to get a start. That's how I first learned them a while back. http://minyos.its.rmit.edu.au/aim/a_notes/walk_reference_01.html

[annelp18]

i agreed, walk cycle is the hardest until i got it right because i got help from my animation teacher. it took me alot of hours to go back and forth to fix it. even moving your characters head along with the walk is the hardest.:mad::

[Diego]

wow, that walks are amazing, i have saw that walk cicle before, well where... o yeah i saw that in a book of animation , "animator survival kit" isn't it?.
anyway thats its cool.
i remeber when i drawn may first walk cicle, i always put wrong the break down pose, ^^ ist funny when the break down diform your animation, but u can try doo that , try to show ufo walks^^, well i saw some in you tube there are a lot. and some funny cartoon walks.
o i recomend the walk cicle of robin hood movie, funny too^^ just try to do a copy check it carefully freme by frame.

[Diego]

very nice walk with tons of secondary actions

i wish i could do that!

o my, i love that guy i remeber when i saw that litle mouse adventures, nice walk man. "don u are really awesome":p

[dentitov]

My new walk cycle:

http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/604/bombwalk.swf

[Rodney]

I really like this walk cycle Dentitov. There is something about it that I find quite compeling. You have a nice level of change in direction and shape that sells the walk for me.

As this is just your general guides for the drawing this may be something you've already considered but there is one area that seems a bit off to me; with the degree of spine and chest rotation it seems that the shoulders should move right/left more as well. It seems you are wanting to emphasize the solid and mostly unmoveable mass of this guys upper body but that solid mass may require even more secondary movement in the shoulders/arms.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that if the chest moves that much the shoulders should go along with it.

Hope that makes sense.

[dentitov]

Walk cycle from "All dogs..."/ I'v copied it from a model sheet.

http://www.swfupload.com/files/26217Itchi.swf