A walk cycle is an animation that utilizes key frames to make a loop of the character walking. If done correctly the animation can be looped infinitely, to make this work though the frames and spacing of the animation must be done in a certain way. For example the first frame and the last frame of the animation must be the same.
Walk cycle is one of the most important concepts in animation as it can show the personality and mood of a character. After looking at The Animators Survival Kit, I decided what type of personality I wanted my character to have.
(Richard Williams (Animator’s Survival Kit)
Originally I thought of making a sad walk cycle, but after looking for reference I stumbled upon Scrubs Gangsta walk and decided to try to make something like this. This was because it seemed more challenging and overall funner.
After deciding what kind of personality walk i wanted to do I then went about filming refrence footage. I asked a friend who is quite well versed in gangsta walk to help me out.
One of the things I regret is not filming from both directions (front and side) because when it came to animating it made it more difficult to animate the frontal view.
I also cut the video into key frames to make it easier to see where the frames occur. I also drew the poses out to help understand the hip, leg, and torso positions.
After this I began blocking stage. I firstly animated the hips moving in y and z space and then the legs.
Blocking Pass One:
After this i animated the chest, arms and the rotations of the hips etc.
Blocking Pass Two:
I then changed the keys to spline and started refining my animation
Animation pass one:
After polishing and looping the animation
Overall I’m happy with how I did on this concidering it was a challenging walk. If I had more time I’d like to refine it a little more and exaggerate some of the movements (like the shoulder popping)
Elizabeth Poole 