#n8646694

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Overall Reflections on walk cycle and run cycle

At first, I thought animating walk cycle and run cycle could be difficult for me, though it was still challenging. However, once I split the animation into different parts and found out the key poses, it started building up. I just needed to draw one to two in-betweens between the key poses. In addition, I realized the movements of the arms are quite similar to the flexible joints I animated in the early semester. Also, I could apply different animation principles in these cycles. For example, I could apply follow through for the hands movements. Besides, I learnt that I could exaggerate the twist of the body for the front and back view because the shoulders are always opposing the hips. I also noticed the head level, the ups and downs, keeps changing during the walk and run. And I understood more of the flop of the feet during walking and running. What I found the most challenging must be keeping the same volume of different part, such as the feet, head, body. It’s just too difficult to draw the same volume every time. 

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Walk Cycle - Back view

So there will be eight key poses in the walk cycle, four for each side. And the project I created is in 12fps while the walk will take 24 frames. 

This is the rough draft of the front view of the walk cycle. I should work more on the legs and the feet.

The above is the final version. I like how the hip tilt through the walk. However, i think the tilt of the shoulder could be even exaggerated more. 

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Walk Cycle - Front view

Drawing the front view of the walk cycle is not as hard as I thought. The most difficult part I will say is the feet. (Actually this happened in the back view as well). However, I think the important part of the front view (and the back view) is to show the tilting of the body, which I need to work on because of over exaggerating.

It looks better after refining from the rough version. Should be better if I could fix the shaking of the body and the head. 

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Walk Cycle - Side view

This is the first rough draft of the walk cycle from the side view. Obviously, there is a flash frame that I need to fix it. Other than that, I think I need to work on the arms especially the shoulder and elbow. In addition, it is important to aware of the head level during the walk, because there are ups and downs through the walk.

Although I didn’t manage keeping the same size of the head, I like the drop of the man when he steps (contact pose), maybe a little bit too exaggerate. I also like how the hands flow through the motion, yet the left hand was drawn wrongly in a couple of frames. 

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Run Cycle - Front view

It was challenging to draw the front view of the running cycle. Here’s the first time I sketched it. There were a few areas I need to work on, such as the body swings too much and the legs are shaking. I also found that the left arm swings more than the right hand.

The above is the final version of the front view of run cycle. I like how the weight shifts through the run. I’ve fixed the arms so that it looks better now. 

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Run Cycle - Side view

The above is the first attempt of the run cycle from the side view. I found that run cycle is easier to draw comparing to the walk cycle, maybe because of the larger movement of the body, so that it is more clear to identify. Actually, I’m quite satisfied with this rough version, although the body is “jumping” through the animation, should be able to fix it in the later structured version.

So here’s is the second attempt. I’ve tried to use different shapes to represent different parts of the body, like what I did in the walk cycle. I also learnt how to draw the head realistically instead of drawing circles or ovals and I found it is very helpful. However, the mass of the head keeps changing in every frame. I should be aware of this issue.

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6 Best Drawings

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Reference

Walking Cycle:

I’ve did some research about the pelvis for the walk cycle. So in the contact pose, the pelvis is slightly lower than its default standing position. This is the pose where the feet are at furthest distance from each other. The knees should be slightly bend when the pelvis is at contact pose. Then, in the down pose, the pelvis will go even lower. This is the pose when the pelvis is at the lowest point of the entire walk cycle. At this moment, the legs are meant to catch the pelvis weight. Thus, knees will be bend more to dampen the dropping weight of the pelvis. While in the passing pose, the pelvis recovers to its default height, that is when the character is standing straight. Finally, in the up pose, the pelvis is being pushed up and forward. The pelvis is lifted to the point where the legs is seen as tiptoeing. 

Running Cycle:

I found that the most notable differences between walk cycle and run cycle is the position of the back foot in the contact position. In the walk, the back foot is still touching the ground, but in the run, the back foot has already left the ground when the front foot contacts. Also, the body leans forward more in the run cycle and the arms swing conversely with the legs as in the walk. However, the arms and legs are in their maximum stretched position when the character is in midair at the high point of the action. In the walk, this happens in the contact position.