Tutorial:Walk cycle

From Anipedia

Convincing, believable walk cycles are one of the most difficult aspects to master in animation, however, once you have learned how to do it right, making walk cycles becomes relatively easy, so the sooner it's learned, the better. Now, keep in mind, that no two walks are the same, and this tutorial is only to show the basics and mechanics of a walk so you, too, can make one that is wholly your own.

1 Contacts
2 Breakdowns
3 Inbetweening
4 Animation

[edit] Contacts

The Contacts should go in first.

To start, we make the contacts first. That is, the extreme frames of our character just before he/she fully interacts with another entity, in this case the floor. The contact is right when the character's foot touches the ground, before any weight is put onto it.

Note: Normally, a walk is done on 12's meaning that it takes 12 frames for every step, so for a full cycle, you'd need 24 frames. Brisker walks go for 10s and runs go for 8s, and it's advised that runs should be done on ones (every frame drawn, instead of a new drawing every other frame) for smoother movement. The walk animation shown here will be done on twos and on 12s.

[edit] Breakdowns

How you choose to draw in the breakdown can make or break your walk cycle. Here are two basic options, going down and going up in the middle.

The breakdown is the frame right between the contacts. This is where the walk is truly defined. Depending on what you draw here totally changes the walk. You could have the character sink down in the middle of the walk, or rise up, or slouch backward or forward. In the image shown, there are two different breakdowns. The middle position being a low position or a higher position respectively. Again, no two walks are the same, and it's important to remember that you can make a walk cycle in any way you like, most likely in a way that relates to your character's personality or mood. The walk shown here is a very basic walk used to show change and believable weight.

Note: By having the character move up or down gives change and makes for a more visually interesting walk. Keep this in mind when animating in general, not just for walks.

[edit] Inbetweening

Inbetweens are shown in green and blue. The character goes down before he goes up, it's subtle anticipation! More life!

Now that you have the most important parts added in, next comes the inbetweening stage. I've chosen the up position for my walk cycle. As mentioned before, more change means compulsive viewing, so instead of going straight up to the up position, I've made my character sink down a little first. It gives it a bit more life than just straight-inbetweening the thing. Also, I've tried to keep the back foot from leaving the ground as late as possible, giving the character a bit more weight, as if gravity is affecting his walk. Since I've animated a walk on 12 one twos, I put the contacts on frames 1, 13, and 25, and the breakdowns on 7 and 19, the inbetweens went in all the other odd numbers in there (3,5,9,11,15,17,21,23). But that's just technical stuff. Just focus on making the walk look as believable and as smooth as possible, and remember to inbetween intelligently, not mechanically.