Year 2: Animating walking and running

putting this here because i did a walking animation at the start

this was kind of a quick animation i made during induction week and i animated this character walking in, since it was only for induction week it was a bit rushed and theres some things i would improve if i were to do this again like  i should have had the blue character lean forward when walking into the scene and had the hand looking less stiff, also wanted to have more jittery movement like a stop motion animation but i could only get that to work on the eyes. also i should have used a reference for the character walking in.

 

Wish i made this longer so i could have her head looking around more longer instead of quick glances as she twitches her head about, though this was practice over the summer so have a better idea for what to do for something later on. forgot to get feedback for this but i would need to have the shoulders move and the hips twist back and forth more, also i think i used IK for the arms which it probably would have been better to use FK.

 

here’s my walk cycle  i made after our lesson showing us how to make a walk cycle in Blender, afterwards i started freestyling the rest which kind of shows in this render. Alec suggested to look at a reference which makes since to use a reference but i was lazy so didn’t bother. If i were to do this again i would make the arm swings more similar instead of having them so different because it isn’t clear what kind of walk it is, also the feet swing froward too quickly when they’re about to stomp on the ground.

Some walking references

This clip has the same walk style i have in mind only the arms aren’t moving.

included this clip to use the loss relaxed arms as reference for my walk cycle.

clip of a pimp skipping with a cane

got fed up working on this but i fixed most of the problems with the legs and stuff the right arm is still janky but i want to work on other things so i’m just leaving it like this.

so i went back and cleaned up this animation despite giving up on it last time and i think it turned out better and more of what i was going for, i added a cane to make it clear why the arms are swinging deferent. got feedback from Alec suggesting i switch the the right arm to IK so i can have the cane on the ground to support my character, which makes more since for the character carrying a cane to actually use it rather than randomly carrying it.

 

this was handy for knowing what leg the cane follows and which hand it should be in.

another reference of walking with a cane but this one is too reliant on the cane and i’m going for a more relaxed use of walking with a cane.

this should be my final render for this walk cycle as i feel i have achieved what i was going for which is kind of a cocky but chill styled pimp walk, if i had more time i would have fixed the head and make it move more slowly and add a relaxed facial expression.

Attempt at doing a double bounce walking animation, i only did the arms and most of the legs as the rest was already done but i think i have a better understanding of 2D animation after this exorcise. if i were to redo this i would make the arms look better and probably draw the whole thing myself instead of using a file that had most of the work done, and also keep the rotation of the body more consistent.

 

 

seen this and thought it would be intresting to do a forward facing run cycle.

i thought this turned out better than expecting, though i think the legs go a bit slow but kinda fits the exhaust running style, and some feedback i got was to clean up the lines and around the face as it’s hard to comprehend what it looks like. also noticed there’s not much bouncing up and down when my character takes a step.

really don’t like how this turned out because arm on the right starts jittering about  same with the hand on the left and the crotch area, the reason for this is i’m still getting used to using Toon Boom and 2D animation so im overcompulating some of the movements and drawing too many frames with parts too close to eachother.

 

reference for run cycle

i made a test before this but couldn’t add the GIF into here and only realized with this render that i could have rendered out in separate images and but into Blender video editing, but it that first test i got feedback to fix the neck as it was sticking out too far and would jump too far froward just before it loops and had messy line art, also the back the was too small and kind of made the perspective look weird and seemed like my character had his legs spread in a weird way. Then i made a second version were i fixed most of those problems and i got more feedback about how the balance was off center and the arm in the back was a bit too far forward. This version i cleaned up the line art and adjusted the center balance by tilting the torso back a bit and adjusting the arms and head, i also added a hat for some secondary animation and because i didn’t like how the bald head looked, some critic i have with this version is the shorts don’t look right when the front leg starts swing forward. also the proportions of the character doesn’t look good and i’m not fond off how it turned out, if i  were to do this again i would come up with a better designed character and block out body parts better instead of using circles.

 

 

reference for walk cycle.

Forgot to make a normal walk cycle so here it is, i think this turned out pretty alright just need to fix how the back leg is in the same spot as the front leg when they both step forward, i don’t like how the far the hands turn when swinging and the top half keeps moving back and forth which looks bad, i would also need to clean up the line art.

here it is “cleaned up” i’m not to found of how this turned out because it just looks like a weird alien figure and it’s also still jittery, same with the but now the head jitters more. i also don’t know how to make the lines smoother maybe i should take my time when drawing the final line art for these animations or maybe there’s a tool in Toon Boom i can use to smooth everything out. i think the walking itself is a bit fast and i wasn’t sure how to slow it down and i didn’t want to waste too much time since i left this until the last second like what i did for my assignments last year. i kind of wish i did these on Blender since it looks easier to use but i want to try and use Toon Boom since it is the industry standard.

Some videos further explaining walk cycles in different FPS and how to do time movements

Final evaluation

i focused more on 2D for this assignment because i wanted to improve my skills at 2D because i’m unfamiliar with it and i feel like if i improve my 2D animation skills it can also benefit my skills in 3d animation as i will have a better understanding of principles like timing, spacing and movement. it can also help how i approach my 3d projects and vice versa for my 2D projects.

i feel like in the personality animations i didn’t really show much expressions or personality in my walk and run cycle as i was more focused on trying to figure out Toon Boom and 2D animation itself rather than making an expressive character and my 3D walk cycle with personality feels kind of lacking in emotion. i’m also not to familiar digital drawings so i can’t get things to look the way i want it because lines don’t connect right or look off and i don’t get what makes brushes different.

If I were to do this project again, I would focus more on creating a simpler and character design thats also more consistent, i would make something that more simplicity so it’s easier to recreate and i won’t get fed up so much. One way i plan to keep consistency in character design in future projects is by blocking out the character using clear guidelines from the start which should help with things like proportions, shapes, and the perspective of some body parts, Another thing to keep in mind is the level of detail in my character designs, this wasn’t really a problem for me during these animations but it’s something to remember for the future. i should also try to  practice character designs more and look into what makes a character animation friendly and what doesn’t. i intend to practice more 2D animation for the future, even for things that isn’t required just so i get a better idea of timing, spacing and what movements are necessary and also try experimenting other techniques and learn from trial and error to discover what works best and doesn’t work for my animations. Also take what i learn from feedback from others and use it to improve and refine my animations.

In conclusion, if I were to redo this project again, I would try creating simpler and more consistent character designs, By focusing on simplicity character designs that i’m family with and can recreate from any angle by using guidelines and model sheets that i made. i would also watch some tutorial that show how to use Toon Boom for beginners.