Noob-friendly walk cycle
Moderators: Víctor Paredes, Belgarath, slowtiger
-
- Posts: 25
- Joined: Wed Jun 28, 2023 7:16 am
Noob-friendly walk cycle
Is there any decent walk cycle that you would recommend for people new to the world of animation and Moho. I tried the Preston-Blair model but cant seem to get the proportions right
in terms of body part location!
in terms of body part location!
- MrMiracle77
- Posts: 181
- Joined: Mon Jun 24, 2019 2:30 am
Re: Noob-friendly walk cycle
I like a simple contact/pass/contact/pass cycle. Contact keyframes are heel/toe. Pass keyframes are one foot flat, the other foot pointed slightly aft while off the ground.
When I do this cycle, I'll do the contact keyframes first, which kind of looks like a shuffle. After than, I'll do the 'pass' keyframes in-between and make small corrections. I like to add a little upward movement of the while body on the 'pass' frames, since one of the legs will be at full-extension beneath the body at that point. It's a small detail that really sells the cycle.
Arm movements for a basic walk cycle should mostly be at the shoulder, with the elbows consistently at a slight, natural bend.
If you practice your walk cycles on a moving background, you don't have to constantly match the foot's contact point with the ground.
Consider enabling 'auto-freeze keys' to help synchronize the arms and legs. This will key the entire bone structure when you manipulate it.
When I do this cycle, I'll do the contact keyframes first, which kind of looks like a shuffle. After than, I'll do the 'pass' keyframes in-between and make small corrections. I like to add a little upward movement of the while body on the 'pass' frames, since one of the legs will be at full-extension beneath the body at that point. It's a small detail that really sells the cycle.
Arm movements for a basic walk cycle should mostly be at the shoulder, with the elbows consistently at a slight, natural bend.
If you practice your walk cycles on a moving background, you don't have to constantly match the foot's contact point with the ground.
Consider enabling 'auto-freeze keys' to help synchronize the arms and legs. This will key the entire bone structure when you manipulate it.
- Dave
(As Your GM)
(As Your GM)
-
- Posts: 25
- Joined: Wed Jun 28, 2023 7:16 am
Re: Noob-friendly walk cycle
can you share an illustration of the walk cycle you are talking about? being a newbie, much technical details you shared sounds French to me(no offense meant for French).
Thanks in advance!
Thanks in advance!
-
- Posts: 25
- Joined: Wed Jun 28, 2023 7:16 am
Re: Noob-friendly walk cycle
Sorry, if i asked for too much, if you can even point me towards google images that resemble the walk cycle you were talking about, that too will help a lot!
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
Re: Noob-friendly walk cycle
Maybe a video could help you more if you are a begginer. There are plenty of youtube videos teaching walk cycles specifically in Moho. Just searching walk cycle moho:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_ ... cycle+moho
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_ ... cycle+moho
-
- Posts: 25
- Joined: Wed Jun 28, 2023 7:16 am
Re: Noob-friendly walk cycle
I do understand the process behind a walk cycle but just need help in figuring out the touch and pass positions for characters larger than the popular Preston Blair illustration. is there any particular illustration you know that can potentially help me!
Re: Noob-friendly walk cycle
I'm sure the Preston Blair walk cycles work for larger characters too. Here you have the first example I saw on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVSTH7OB6s4vivekchakraverty wrote: ↑Thu Jul 20, 2023 1:30 pm I do understand the process behind a walk cycle but just need help in figuring out the touch and pass positions for characters larger than the popular Preston Blair illustration. is there any particular illustration you know that can potentially help me!
And looking at your video I see you are doing a few things wrong in the process, like your character body not advancing for a moment (probably some mistake with the keyframes) or the feet dragging through the floor, so I totally recomend you to specifically watch Moho walk cycles tutorials that will teach you how to use target bones to not drag the feet through the floor and many more useful things.
Re: Noob-friendly walk cycle
I'd recommend the Richard Williams walk cycle:
![Image](https://idearocketanimation.com/app/uploads/2010/07/bcc574b7d45926758b92e89bd4c0160d.jpg)
If you google "Richard Williams walk cycle" you'll end up with lots of variations all lifted from his book.
To translate this into Moho: first you key the contact and pass positions for 3 steps (last one is a copy of first). You can create the up and down body movement with translating the body bone - that's what I do first, before creating any leg position. The first frame after contact is the one I place the foot on ground. Some one or two frames before contact is where I adjust the leg in the air: it should overshoot the contact position a bit, and maybe the knee rises a bit. This basically is all I do: 6 keys for each leg, then cycle the whole thing.
![Image](https://idearocketanimation.com/app/uploads/2010/07/bcc574b7d45926758b92e89bd4c0160d.jpg)
If you google "Richard Williams walk cycle" you'll end up with lots of variations all lifted from his book.
To translate this into Moho: first you key the contact and pass positions for 3 steps (last one is a copy of first). You can create the up and down body movement with translating the body bone - that's what I do first, before creating any leg position. The first frame after contact is the one I place the foot on ground. Some one or two frames before contact is where I adjust the leg in the air: it should overshoot the contact position a bit, and maybe the knee rises a bit. This basically is all I do: 6 keys for each leg, then cycle the whole thing.
AS 9.5 MacPro Quadcore 3GHz 16GB OS 10.6.8 Quicktime 7.6.6
AS 11 MacPro 12core 3GHz 32GB OS 10.11 Quicktime 10.7.3
Moho 13.5 iMac Quadcore 2,9GHz 16GB OS 10.15
Moho 14.1 Mac Mini Plus OS 13.5
AS 11 MacPro 12core 3GHz 32GB OS 10.11 Quicktime 10.7.3
Moho 13.5 iMac Quadcore 2,9GHz 16GB OS 10.15
Moho 14.1 Mac Mini Plus OS 13.5
-
- Posts: 25
- Joined: Wed Jun 28, 2023 7:16 am
Re: Noob-friendly walk cycle
Thanks a lot! ![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
-
- Posts: 25
- Joined: Wed Jun 28, 2023 7:16 am
Re: Noob-friendly walk cycle
I personally found this reference image to be particularly simple to implement in the capacity of a beginner!
https://imgur.com/VI7e4zO
https://imgur.com/VI7e4zO
-
- Posts: 25
- Joined: Wed Jun 28, 2023 7:16 am
Re: Noob-friendly walk cycle
Thanks to everyone for the help!