The task was to make a minimum 8 step stylised walk using a rig. I need to make sure I am referencing this from footage side and front on to get the full virtual perspective for the rig to walk in.
Principles included:
- Slow in & out – the feet movement as it comes into contact with the floor and off again.
- Follow through / Overlapping – fingers, hair
- Timing – of the walk cycle for A to B
- Pose to pose Animation – Block poses of the walk cycle
- Staging – the environment/floor. Made to look like a funky/disco vibe.
Feedback on the Stylised Walk Reference
- Would have worked better if Ed walked towards the camera and not on the spot.
- Would have been easier to his hips moving.
- Would have been better if his whole body was in the shot.
I wish I had got a better reference video from my friend. I think it would have been easier if I just filmed myself but I liked Ed’s walks was trying to make my work not just about me. This way the character I have is based off my friend. I think I now can see the importance of a good reference when making animations. If I were in a studio and I was asked to make better references then I would understand why if the animation was really difficult. A good reference is like a good plan for an essay. The more thought out it is the better and easier your easy will be to write.
To get started I thought it would be easier if I took screenshots of each time Ed moves in the video to track what pose and on which frame. I got quite confused as it was difficult to see where his feet contacted the floor and his stylised walk was very complicated with an uneven rhythm. Trying to figure out the poses as I went became too complicated and the timings were all off. So, I decided to lock in the key poses of the walk cycle which I had learnt from the walker reference.
This was the walk cycle reference I used for the walker. It was very helpful to have a simple version printed out next to me to guide me with the reference I had gotten my friend to do. This helped me fill in the gaps where I could not see in the recorded video.
I also sketched out the movement of the video reference so I could try and figure out the movement of the hands and it was not visible with the baggy clothes. This was also helpful to see where the face and shoulders were pointing.
In the walker animation I had not attempted to do the hip rotation so I wanted to make sure that I had the direction correct as I had noticed in the critique with my tutor it was a very easy thing to get mixed up.
Ed’s stylised walk has very exaggerated hip and chest rotation so I knew it was important to have a reference to know the correct direction.
I used these examples from online to understand in what direction the hips should be moving. I noticed that when people in the class were getting it right it takes a trained eye to know why.
Once I had animated the movement of the arms it seemed that it was easier to tell where the hips needed to be rotated because it gave the rig a sense of balance.
I chose this rig because I really like his lanky and conservative dress style. I wanted the walk to really contrast this. It was hard at first to get use to the rig as I feel it can be hard to get right when the model is so skinny.
Here the arms are very noticeably flailing all over the place. This rig has very elongated arms which means that to get flow is actually quite hard when its my first time as the proportions are lanky.
1st Final Outcome
I added in the hand on hip pose to that I could play with rotation movement of the fingers.
Critique Feedback
- Frame 8 – Elbow needs to bend the other direction
- Frame 22 – Knee is broken
- Frame 42 – Knee is broken
- Frame 55 – Elbow needs to be brought down
- Frame 59 – Rotation on hip needs to turn out
- Hips should be a straight line on translate Z
- Overlap in spine needs to happen with the rotation of the chest.
- Drop Luke a message to help me out with this.
For my first final outcome I am please with having done the hip rotation. However, I think it is far from finished. I have a lot of changes to make. Nevertheless, this is that fastest way for me to learn.