Assignment: Walk-in-place Cycle

Learning Outcomes:

• Work in passes to simplify complex movement into individual drawings
• Understand and apply the successive bending of joints
• Apply basic overlapping action based on the main action

Preparation:

Reading, watching and tutorials on walk cycles can be very helpful, as can real-world observation. In my class, we go outside, playing Red-Light, Green-Light, to isolate the key poses of a walk cycle. We observe how our weight shifts each step and how our feet contact and lift from the ground. We also practice character walks, feeling how changes in body position, posture, and weight shifts can transform a walk.

Assignment Instructions:

Animate a two-legged character of your own creation walking in place. Your character should take 2 full steps in 24 drawings remaining in the center of the page as though on a moving walkway.

Use this timing chart to plan where your keys and breakdowns will fall. Note that this indicates only the number of the drawing for each key pose, not the position on the page where the foot will fall! 

Details:

• Animate at 12fps on 1s using the timing chart below to determine when you will hit your key poses.
• Use a field guide and motion guides for the ground. (The ground is not the bottom of the page)
• The character must walk in place in the center of the page.
• Animate pose to pose. i.e. start with the key poses (contact, passing), do the breakdown drawings (low, high), plot your arcs for the knees and feet, and then in-between. 
• Work in passes: start with the body, head, and legs only on one layer. You want to get this right before spending time on arms, details, and overlapping action!!
• If you’ve never done this before, use a simple character made of basic shapes and concentrate on avoiding common problems below. 
• If you are feeling confident, challenge yourself with extra overlapping action, an unusual gait or attitude, or a front view or ¾ view walk.
• Add some overlapping action (hair, tail, clothing, floppy ears, etc. – but add this at the very end after you have got the walk perfect!)
• Video tutorials with step-by-step instructions
• Extra Credit: Add a panning background to your walk using this tutorial: https://youtu.be/INn8_1hVH8A

Recommended schedule

Depending on the time available for the assignment, I recommend doing a first pass pencil test (body, head, and legs) and getting feedback from the instructor and class. Look for the common problems below in the first pass so they can be fixed before adding arms, details, and overlapping action.

Common Problems in walk cycles: 

• The foot does not seem to slide on the ground
• The inconsistent slide (wrong spacing)
• Volume variability in the limbs (limbs getting longer/shorter)
• Foot bending unnaturally
• Erratic body movement from inconsistent drawing
• Not enough drawings (12 drawings per step – 24 drawings total for two steps)

Contributed by Corrie Francis Parks