Topics covered in class:
-Creating a RenderCam
In one of your viewports you can create a new persp cam and rename it to RenderCam. Use this as the camera that you playblast from, while you use the default persp as your work camera.
-Animating a walk cycle in place.
-Posing key poses for walk cycle using the animators survival guide as reference.
Adding break down poses in between the key poses.
Spacing the key frames of the poses so that the timing works right.
-Mechanics
Feet alternate opposite the arms. Example is when right foot is forward, left foot is back
Hips and shoulders have opposing rotations.
Torso moves up and down.
When animating feet, use heel and ball roll channels to move foot on appropriate pivots.
Animate torso, chest and head to feel the weight of the body moving up and down.
-Setting timeline so that your last frame isn't rendered when playblasting. The last and first frame will be the same and you dont want that frame playing twice when you are looping.
-Cycling Animation in Graph Editor.
Have infinity turned on to preview the curve.
-Tweening and mirroring in aTools
Atools for maya at home (click to save)
Tutorial Video on aTools:
Walk cycle images:
This man here is an inspiration. This person was not an animator before, but he decided he wanted to try it. Everyday for 100 days, he tried to animate a walk cycle. You can see him getting better and better with each try.
Other Walk Cycles:
Other Tutorials:
Felix Sputnick's animation videos, which are very insightful
Eadweard Muybridge, the photographer who studied motion.
Homework!
Please put together a first pass of your walk cycles. Don't forget to use aTools to save time. Use the images provided if you need references for which poses you would like to have in your walk cycle. Please work on your poses and timing until you feel like they look like good walk cycles. For assistance please use the material I have provided. It is useful to see how other people work on walk cycles. Perhaps their method is better for you than what I showed!
For next class I would like to see a quicktime of your walk cycles and your references if you have them. Please playblast them and email them to me before class begins. We will then take those and I will show you how to take them a step further and refine them.
If you need help or advice, please send me an email!
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