Advanced Animation - Project 1 Walk Cycle
24.09.2024 - .2024 (Week 1 - Week 14)
Low Li Vern/ 0362678
Advance Animation / Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media
PROJECT 1: WALK CYCLE ANIMATION
PROJECT 1: WALK CYCLE ANIMATION
For this task, we were instructed to animate two types of walk cycles: the vanilla walk and the attitude walk. A vanilla walk cycle is a standard, natural walk where the character walks normally without any added emotion or style. In contrast, an attitude walk involves animating the character to express a specific attitude or personality, adding more emotion and uniqueness to the movement. This exercise helped me understand the fundamentals of walk cycles and how to create variations that convey character and mood.
1. Explore and understand the rigs.
2. Find image/video reference for vanilla walk and attitude walk.
3. Observe the reference. Spot the extreme poses for contact, down, pass and up.
4. Set a project with these settings:
- Image size: 1280 x 720 (HD) or 720p
- Frame rate: 24fps
- Animate in Blender a vanilla walk animation, walking in the same spot with natural speed (2 steps a second) using pose to pose animation for the main action and straight ahead for getting the flexibility.
For the vanilla walk cycle, I started by finding references online to study the key poses and ensure the character's movement was accurate. Using these references, I focused on posing the character step by step in Blender, paying attention to the contact, down, passing, and up positions. Throughout the process, Mr. Kamal provided guidance in class, which helped me refine the animation and better understand the flow and mechanics of a natural walk cycle.
1A. Vanilla Walk
Fig 1.1 Contact pose
Fig 1.2 Reference
I started the vanilla walk cycle by setting the contact pose as the first keyframe. This is where one foot makes contact with the ground while the other foot is in the air. From there, I created the next keyframes for the down, passing, and up poses, ensuring the character's movement was smooth and natural. As I worked through the animation, I adjusted the poses to maintain proper timing and spacing, using the reference to guide the process and ensure the walk cycle flowed seamlessly.
Fig 1.3 Contact Pose
After I rigged the contact pose, I copied, pasted, and flipped the pose on keyframe 12 to create the mirrored contact position. Then, I copied the same pose again on keyframe 24 to complete the loop of the walk cycle. This ensured the character had a consistent and smooth repeating motion for the vanilla walk.
Fig 1.4 Shoulder
Fig 1.5 Waist
For the vanilla walk, I also added some extra details to make the movement more dynamic. I included a turn of the hand and the waist, which gave the character a smooth turning motion as it walked. This helped to make the walk cycle feel more natural, as if the character was not just walking in a straight line but also subtly changing direction while moving. By incorporating these small adjustments, the walk cycle became more fluid and realistic.
Fig 1.6 Down pose
Fig 1.7 Pass Pose
Fig 1.8 Up Pose
1B. Attitude Walk
For the attitude walk, I chose to animate a tired walk after watching videos of different walking styles. I focused on tweaking the details to emphasize the tiredness in the character's movement. Following the reference, I made sure the character's hands were relaxed and hanging down, reflecting exhaustion. The character's head was positioned facing forward, with a tired facial expression to further convey the feeling of fatigue. As I worked through the animation, I paid attention to small details like the dragging of the feet and the heavy motion to make the tired walk look more natural and believable.
Fig 2.1 Reference Video
Fig 2.2 Keyframes reference
Fig 2.3 Progress
I used the same approach for the attitude walk as I did for the vanilla walk. First, I posed the contact pose and then copied and flipped it to create the middle part of the walk. I made sure the key poses lined up properly to maintain a smooth transition.
Fig 2.4 Contact Pose
Fig 2.5 Down Pose
Fig 2.6 Pass Pose
Fig Keyframe
Fig 2.7 Hip Detail
Fig 2.8 Hand Detail
Fig 2.9 Hand Move Detail
Fig 2.10 Facial Detail
Final Compilation of vanilla walk and attitude walk
REFLECTIONS
In Project 1, I learned how to create both normal and attitude walk cycles. While I was familiar with the normal walk, the attitude walk was a new challenge for me. I spent more time on it, enjoying the unique details it required. I also learned to identify the extreme poses contact, down, pass, and up which are essential in animation. Applying these concepts in Blender was a great learning experience, and it helped me understand how to create smoother, more dynamic movements. This project has been a valuable step in improving my animation skills.
THE END
Comments
Post a Comment