Start making the third animation!
This animation is a character’s personalized walk.
Video reference:
I’m going to make a cycle animation for the walking animation so that I can make only one cycle of walking and then let the animation cycle by itself.
Notes of the walk animation:
(1) Contact: This is the start of an artificially set up step process. At this moment, both of the character’s feet touch the ground. The body leans forward and the arms swing naturally, with each arm swinging in good coordination with the movement of the corresponding leg to maintain balance and thrust.
(2) Drop Point:In this phase, the character’s legs are slightly bent and the body and center of gravity drop. The heel of the hindfoot is lifted. The speed is accelerated due to gravity. The descent is a process of releasing energy. The character’s arms are at their furthest point and then swing in the opposite direction.
(3) Pass poss: In this process, the character’s front legs are straightened and the weight shifts to the front legs. The body and center of gravity rise. The body leans forward and tends to fall forward soon. The hindfoot leaves the ground and steps forward. It is natural to conserve energy when walking, so the character’s feet are raised as low as possible. The double continues to swing
(4) Highest point:At this moment, the character’s body and centre of gravity are highest and the leg supporting the centre of gravity is straightened (i.e. the front leg in the previous phase). The original back leg will continue to step forward, and as the body leans forward and is about to lose its balance, the heel of that foot lands and the body maintains its balance. As the body rises, the speed slows down and the character builds up potential energy.
(5) Ending point: This is the end of the step process. At this point our feet slide downwards and our heels will land gently on the ground first, keeping the body balanced without falling over. At the end of this process, the feet land on the ground and the body and weight return to the contact state again, but in the opposite position. The moment it ends is also the beginning of the next step, which differs from the previous one in that the next step takes the other leg.
(6) This stage is the descent of the other leg. As we walk, our lower leg provides us with momentum.
Step length of the character:
We usually consider the stride length of a normal person walking normally in his natural state to be equal to his shoulder width. However, this is not a definitive figure and will vary to a greater or lesser extent for each individual. Some characters or cartoonish characters may vary more than others, so it is important to consider each case on its own merits. In some cases, the length of a character’s stride or other characteristics of the walk are specifically set by the designer to express a certain personality or mood.
The timing and tempo of the walk:
When we set 24 frames per second for animation, it is customary to think of a normal walk as 12 frames per step, or half a second.
This is two steps per second. For a slightly faster walk, it could also be 16 frames. The pace of the walking time depends on the specific characteristics of the character and the actual situation. For example, a rushed walk will have a faster pace than a leisurely stroll, a shorter person will have a faster pace than a taller person, etc.
Animation Layout:
Feedback:
Alan suggested that the curve of the upper body’s spine could be a little more curved when the character personalizes his walk. This would make the character’s upper body look more flexible. Although I have adjusted the curve of the spine for the animation, it still doesn’t look that obvious. But the curve is very easy to adjust, I just need to rotate the controller of the upper body. And I’m animating a loop! This way I only need to modify the first keyframes and then the rest of the animation will be the modified animation.
The reworked animation:
Animation layout after importing the scene:
Summary:
This time, I always remind myself to remember to make the arc curve of the controller animation of the waist and crotch. In this way, my female anti-hero model can become more charming when walking. Although I also made the radian curve of the upper body, it didn’t look very obvious at first. Therefore, when making animation, we need to rationalize and exaggerate the state of real performance so that the animation can be more ‘active.’