During the first three weeks of our Animation Strategies module, we focused on learning and practicing the techniques used for walk cycles in animation, both in 2D and 3D. As seen in my previous post for this module, I had already done a good amount of practice work into practicing walk cycles over the summer, so I felt confident in experimenting more when working on the practices we were assigned.

I started working on animating walk cycles in the animation software Toon Boom Harmony, which is the main industry standard software we are using this year for our 2D work. Due to already having some experience under my belt, I was encouraged to incorporate more technical animation techniques into my work, which I feel has benefited me in both my current skill level and with making me aware of what to improve upon.

Practice Walk Cycles-

Below are the two practice walk cycles I had created in the first few weeks of our module.

The first included the character bobbing their head toward and away from the camera, which I added a secondary action to with their hair being tamped down by headphones giving it more of a jovial impression. In addition, I experimented with personality through having their hands in their pockets during the cycle. I feel proud of this cycle as a starting point, as I feel it shows the range of personality I’m able to put into these cycles, which will benefit me later down the line in this assignment and in my career.

Additonally, I made this second practice cycle as I also wished to experiment with perspective, so I I decided to challenge myself with a ¾ angle shot. I do agree with the critiques my lecturers had given me, notably that the pacing and smear framing feel too much like a run, along with a lacking execution of actually making the character feel like they inhabit a 3D space. However, I am still proud of the work I have done and will be sure to improve upon it in the future.

For 3D animation, we had a previous student come in to give the class a lecture on animating walk cycles using the free Rain and Snow rigs in Blender. I found the process to be enjoyable, and felt that I had gained a good understanding of the technical aspects of the lesson. From this point, I decided to refine my work more to a standard that I can submit for my basic walk cycle in our assignment.

Below are the initial walk cycles I had rendered, using three separate angles to show my work in more detail. In addition, I have included the final render of my basic walk, where I had taken the advice and critiques from my lecturer on what to improve. Namely: slowing the pace of the walk cycle down to feel less like a power walk, and correcting some issues with the right hand to have it move in a smoother arc. In addition, I also decided to edit all three angles together into one video for easier viewing and comparison. Overall, I feel proud of this walk cycle both for the technical aspects I was able to learn, but also with the production quality and detail I was able to put in.

Basic Walk Cycle

Early Renders-

Angled-

Front-

Side-

Final Render-

Animation Reference-

The animator Preston Blair’s walk cycle reference from his Cartoon Animation book was the main reference used for this walk cycle.

Lastly, we have the personality walk cycle I had developed during weeks 4 -6, in which I had created a full character design for and had put research into for its personality. Below is the final version of my personality walk, along with an earlier breakdown version showing my process whilst working on the cycle. One characteristic that I I am starting to use more often in my animations is having certain parts of the character move at different framerates which is partially inspired by the style of Spiderverse, and here that difference is apparent with the main body of the dog moving at 2 frames per second, and the lighter materials of the blanket and snot droplet are animated on ones, which I feel work well to demonstrate the different weight each part of the character has and adds an extra layer of fluidity to the animation.

My lecturers gave good praise for the amount of work I had put into this animation, and the only feedback I was given on what could be improved was that the blanket’s movements looking too erratic and jelly-like, which I had fixed to the best of my ability as seen below. Other than that, I am personally very proud of the work I was able to do with the character design and animation as I had put a lot of time and effort into making it look good quality.

Personality Walk Cycle-

Final Animation-

Animation Breakdown-

Animation Research & References-

When coming up with ideas for my personality walk and run cycles, I had written down a few ideas I had for different personalities I could portray, one of which being a sickly walk. My initial criteria for this is as follows: slow steps, small distance between contacts, drooped shoulders and head and secondary actions on the head. I was also initially going to have a thermometer in the character’s mouth instead, but after my research for a character design I made the choice to replace it with a large, cartoony droplet of spot hanging from their nose.

Created Character Design-

Below is the character design I ended up creating for the personality walk, in addition to the notes I had made on how I planned for each part of the character to move. Some parts of the initial planned character design did not end up in the final animation due to time restraints and difficulties with animating the finer details. However I personally feel it still portrays the personality accurately.

Design and Animation References-

Below are the references I had used to both design my character and on how to animate their walk cycle.

Character Design References-

Basset Hound-

Cubchoo (Pokemon)-

Animation references-

Basset Hound walk-

Sick Candace Walk (Phineas and Ferb)-

Reference List-

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