Master Animator Ken Harris: ‘A walk is the first thing to learn. Learn walks of all kinds, ‘cause walks are about the toughest thing to do right’ (Williams, 2001).
Walk cycles are notoriously difficult to animate correctly, but good animated examples which really bring a character to life all showcase the same fundamentals – an understanding of the principles of timing, spacing and weight – all of which are perfectly explained by animator Richard Williams of ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit’ fame in his animation masterclass videos (YouTube, 2023), and his book, ‘The Animator’s Survival Kit.’
Week One’s workshops had already allowed me to familiarise myself with the new 2D Toon Boon Harmony software as well as the IK/FK Blender ‘Rain’ rig which would be used for 3D submissions, and through posing this character in different ways, some of which can been seen below, I’d gained an understanding of the rig hierarchy, and its functionality and constraints.
Warm-Up Pose
Stylised Jumping Pose and Reference Source: Alamy Limited, 2018
While my final walk cycles could be submitted in a 2D or 3D format, or even a mix of both, fuelled by doubts in my artistic ability, and that because I find it easy to translate movements through space my 3D work is generally stronger, I chose to create all of my submissions in a 3D format.
However, in saying that, before creating each of my 3D walk cycles, to allow me to better visualise and plan keyframe positioning, and the timing and spacing of my animation, I also created my walk cycles in 2D, with below an amalgamation of my vanilla 2D walk cycle and my own interpretation of the Richard William’s walk cycle template from ‘The Animator’s Survival Kit’ (Williams, 2001), which I used as the main reference to block out my 3D animation, before then adding additional frames as in-betweens in a wave pattern.
A Normal, ‘Realistic’ Walk Source: William, 2001
While normally people walk in ‘March Time’ and a 12-frame cycle (Williams, 2001), for my vanilla walk cycle I instead decided to create a more leisurely stroll which is usually portrayed in a 16–frame cycle. Keyframe positions, which establish the timing of the walk, were placed in the following positions, including a duplication of the initial contact pose as my 17th and final frame to ensure the animation loops properly:
When gathering references, in addition to using the ‘Normal Walk’ motion asset from the ActorCore.com 3D motion capture library, as real-world, live action video references are a useful resource to visualise overall body mechanics and the movement of individual body parts, I also used the endlessreference ‘Female Walk Cycle Animation Reference’ from YouTube to help me perfect my walk cycle – a reference which proved particularly helpful as it included both a front and side view, and a grid overlay which made it much easier for me to analyse the action and to gauge the extent of the motion.
Source: actorcore.reallusion.com, 2024
Source: YouTube, 2010
Below is my initial attempt, which I’ve tried to make more realistic by incorporating several of the principles of animation I’d learned last year: slow in and slow out, just as in the pendulum exercise, for both of the arms, and ease in and ease out in the upper arm just before and after the contact pose. Overlapping action/drag and follow through in the arms, wrists and hands was created by manipulation of the graph editor, which I also used to increase the overall fluidity of the movement.
Graph Editor Details
Up and down movement and rotation of the chest was also added, I relaxed the hand rig into a more natural pose, and as in reality our movements are never perfectly mirrored on both sides when walking, to create asymmetry which would make the animation more convincing, I amended the height and timing of the left arm, wrist and hand.
Regular Walk – Side View
Regular Walk – Front View
Throughout the process, support and formative feedback was provided by my tutor, Rachel Dixon, who on reviewing this cycle on a frame by frame basic in SyncSketch, identified the following technical issues, and how these could be rectified.
Side View – Frame 1 (Before)
Side View – Frame 1 (After)
The leading foot is pulled further forward in the contact pose to rectify the timing issue, and the balance corrected by moving the character into a more upright position.
Side View – Frame 12 (Before)
Side View – Frame 12 (After)
Chest rotation is improved by moving the back into a more upright position.
Side View – Frame 17 (Before)
Side View – Frame 17 (After)
Creating an arc shape, movement of the the rear foot has been amended to travel backwards is lifts from the ground.
However, even once these fixes had been implemented, while I was happy with the posing, the sense of weight, and the secondary and overlapping action, I couldn’t shake the feeling that the movement I’d captured felt a little generic, and as a result, didn’t quite portray the femininity of either the ‘Rain’ character, or the girl in my reference video. So to solve this, I set about researching the main components of a female walk which could be used to further improve my animation.
Having learned the importance of anatomy in my Character Creation module, I first explored the key anatomical differences between men and women, to learn that because the female pelvis tends to be wider and shorter than the male’s, creating rotation and hip sway in their walk, the female hip is angled forward, and their femur angled more towards the centre of the body (YouTube, 2019).
Male vs Female Pelvis Source: YouTube, 2019
Male vs Female Femur Angle Source: YouTube, 2019
Then, while researching gender walks, I discovered this very useful resource, ‘The Bio Motion Lab BML Walker’ (https://www.biomotionlab.ca/html5-bml-walker/) created by the Bio Motion Lab in Toronto, Ontario, which was recommended by the animator Alexander Williams in his ‘Gender Walks’ tutorial (YouTube, 2012). This live action reference, which I’ve since used to improve my walk cycles, was developed at York University using motion capture technology and psychological data to analyse human gait patterns. However, making it extremely useful for animators, and especially for me, a visual learner, to better understand how people walk and move in different ways, a range of sliders can adjusted to show how a walk cycle can be adapted, in any combination, to make it feel more masculine or feminine, reflect the person’s weight i.e. if they are heavy or light, or to relay emotion such as the extent a person is feeling nervous, relaxed, happy or sad.
Gender: Male-Female
Weight: Heavy-Light
Nervousness: Nervous-Relaxed
Happiness: Happy-Sad
Furthermore, another particularly useful function of the BML Walker is that the action can be rotated through 360° which allows the body mechanics to be viewed from front, perspective and side views, and increasing my confidence in the reference, I was impressed how, when toggled to the feminine walk, the angle of the femur mirrors what I’d learned when researching female anatomy .
Rotation: Front View, Perspective View and Side View
Finally, once complete, my research indicated that typically, to achieve a more feminine outcome, in addition to increasing the hip motion, I should bring the feet closer together in the front view, and move the arms closer to the body with the elbow close to the spine. Additionally, had ‘Rain’ not been an energetic young adult, or I wanted to create more of a caricature walk, I could also have reduced the length of the stride, had the character walk more on a line (with one foot in front of the other as if on an imaginary tightrope), as well as lessening both the up and down movement and the shoulder sway to produce a gliding effect (Williams, 2001; YouTube, 2012).
Source: Williams, 2001
Armed with this information, and after again reviewing the eight video tutorial series at @rd3d_animation (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5ifM4-H3cY&list=PL3-QyjKQWWaJp-fAsdaoSqXSsR25l5ib0), I then created the final, more feminine version of my regular walk cycle below, and when doing so, in addition to applying the animation principles I’d already used in my initial version, this time I also took the opportunity to not only focus more on weight distribution and the centre of gravity that had been an issue before, but to think more about the kinematic chain, and where appropriate, to implement translation in the X, Y and Z axes; for example in the head movement, and in the movement of the chest to create squash and stretch (on the Z-axis), rotation (on the Y-axis), and to both expand and close the chest (on the X-axis).
Finally, to reflect a happy disposition I added a slight smile to her face and a little bounce in her step.
Final Animation – Front View
Final Animation – Perspective View
Final Animation – Side View
On completion, I felt much happier with the outcome and that my cycle reflected a more confident, feminine walk in keeping with the character.
References:
ActorCore.com (2024). Natural Walk. [online]. [Accessed: 6 October 2024].
Alamy Limited (2018). Sporty Fit Woman in Black Sportswear Working Out in Studio. Dancing, Jumping, Standing Yoga and Fitness Poses. Healthy Life and Sport Concept. [online]. [Accessed 26 September 2024].
Williams, R. E. (2001). The Animator’s Survival Kit. London: Faber and Faber. [online]. [Accessed 5 October 2024].
Available at: https://archive.org/details/TheAnimatorsSurvivalKitRichardWilliams
YouTube (2010). Female Walk Cycle Animation Reference | Front & Side Views in Slow Motion with Grid Overlay – endlessreference. [online]. [Accessed: 7 October 2024].
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8Veye-N0A4
YouTube (2012). Gender Walks – Alexander Williams. [online]. [Accessed: 7 October 2024].
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiSou7ZDBsw&t=1s
YouTube (2019). Why Do Women’s Hips Sway When They Walk? – DocUnlock. [online]. [Accessed: 7 October 2024].
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEZrNLagwls
YouTube (2023). The Animator’s Survival Kit – Animated: Animation Hub. [online]. [Accessed: 5 October 2024].
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lO-WYLUnXB4&list=PLTtGN6QVc1ZjfVRkau4TAEEgNetJdv7_f&index=1