Animation Fundamentals / Project 2: Walk Cycle and Jump Animation
Derin / 0354969 / Design in Creative Media
MMD 60804 / ANIMATION FUNDAMENTALS
Project 2: Walk Cycle and Jump Animation
INSTRUCTIONS
PROJECT 2
Project 2A: Walk Cycle
Walk Study
Walking is a process of falling over and catching yourself just in time. We try to keep from falling over as we move forward. If we don't put our foot down, we'll fall flat on our face. We're going through a series of controlled falls.
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| Fig 1.1 Walk study |
For the initial phase of Project 2, our task is to create a basic walk cycle animation featuring the character in a side view, walking in place. This involves incorporating poses and timing based on the Animator’s Survival Kit as a reference. The key poses and timing from the book will guide our animation process.
- Contact pose (3 frames)
- Down pose (3 frames)
- Pass pose (3 frames)
- Up pose (3 frames)
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| Fig 1.2 Walk cycle breakdown by Richard Williams |
First Attempt
This was my first attempt at the walk cycle animation, but I didn't quite follow the Animator's Survival Kit guide. I aim for top-notch work, so I'm redoing the initial walk cycle animation submission to ensure it meets the A+ standard I'm aiming for.
Fig 2.1 First Attempt on Walk Cycle
Rough Animation
I began by diving into the rough animation, opting for Clip Studio Paint EX as my tool of choice for bringing the walk cycle to life. In contrast to Procreate, the software I previously utilized for animation exercises, I found Clip Studio Paint EX to be more user-friendly when it comes to organizing folders and handling frames.
This time, different from the initial attempt, I incorporated poses and timing based on the Animator’s Survival Kit as a reference. I also tried animating the tail separately. It was tricky to cut down the frames to match the walking animation but somehow I managed to make it work..!
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| Fig 2.2 Animation guide |
The rough walking animation has been refined, reducing the initial 12 frames to 8 frames. The leg movement is now more distinct compared to the previous version. Redoing the walk cycle proved to be satisfying, yielding improved results overall! :))
Fig 2.3 Rough Walk Cycle Animation - GIF
Tie Down
After receiving approval from Mr. Kamal, I moved on to refine the animation, transitioning from the rough version to the tie-down phase. I essentially traced the side profile of my character using the reference sheet made in Project 1 to ensure consistency across the animation.
The tail was created using a white brush along with a border layer effect. This method allowed me to draw the tail simply and efficiently. Afterwards, I converted brightness to opacity to transform it into line art.
It's also important to highlight how I divided each body part into separate layers, as seen in Fig 2.5. This segmentation significantly assists in the workflow by enabling easy modifications in case of errors. For instance, when I inadvertently deviated from the walking principle provided in the guide initially, having separated the torso from the other limbs saved time as I didn't need to redraw them.
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| Fig 2.4 Animating the tail |
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| Fig 2.5 Animation Layers |
Final Outcome
Here is the final result of my blood, sweat, and tears.
Project 2B: Jump Animation
Jump Study
For Project 2B, our task is to study and create a jump animation. The animation should include anticipation and follow through poses, timing with hold from the book of Animator’s Survival Kit as a reference as these:
- Normal pose
- Anticipation pose
- Jump action pose (Push off, On air, Landing)
- Follow through pose
- Normal pose
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| Fig 3.1 Jump Study |
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| Fig 3.2 Jump animation breakdown |
Rough Animation
To avoid the same mistake as before, I made sure to stick to the animation guide from the Animator’s Survival Kit for the jump sequence. I even tried mimicking the jump in real life to capture the essence, leading to Fig 4.1. Interestingly, there's a bit of anticipation within the anticipation, which means I'll need to do extra work in the tie down process. But despite all that, it was a fun process, and I'm happy with the outcome! Also, I didn't animate the tail since Mr. Kamal said it was fine to skip that part.
Tie Down
While refining the tie-down animation from the rough sketches, I noticed that the animation appeared a bit choppy. To address this, I introduced some smear frames, similar to those depicted in Fig 4.2, to create a follow-through effect between frames. This technique particularly enhances the motion in instances where the movement is perceived as fast-paced.
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| Fig 4.2 Smear frame |
The following is the result for the jump animation. I think it turned out great :D According to Mr. Kamal, I was able to implement the anticipation and follow-through poses well.
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| Fig 4.3 Final Jump Animation - GIF |
Final Outcome
Here is the final result for jump animation!
REFLECTION
This project has been incredibly enjoyable! I've eagerly anticipated animating characters since the start of semester 1, which feels like forever ago! Thanks to this project, I've learned numerous animation techniques and achieved results that I'm really happy with. :))