During this week, I focused mainly on creating character animation, especially a simple walking cycle motion. Since I had already learned the basic knowledge and techniques in another class, I was able to work on this animation relatively a bit of smoothly.
I also borrowed The Animator’s Survival Kit from the UAL LCC library and checked practical tips and key points to keep in mind when creating a walk cycle.
However, I faced several problems during this process. First, I was unable to transfer the rigged character in Blender to Maya. This was because I used Blender-specific add-ons, which caused compatibility issues. As a result, I decided to complete all the animation work in Blender.
While working in Blender, I encountered another issue: the rig’s weight painting was incorrect, causing parts such as the arms to bend unnaturally. This problem occurred mainly because my knowledge and skills in rigging were still limited. I was not able to fix the issue completely, but I adjusted the rig as much as possible and managed to finish the walking animation.
Through this experience, I clearly realized the areas which I need to improve immediately, especially in rigging. I strongly feel that I need to study and develop these skills through self-learning in the future. This production process became a valuable experience that helped me identify my next challenges and goals.
When creating walking animations, I realized that weight shift is very important. In particular, the up-and-down movement plays a key role in making a character’s walk look natural and alive.
From my observations, I understood that when a foot moves forward, the other foot lifts off the ground and the body rises slightly. On the other hand, when both feet are on the ground, the knees bend and the whole body moves slightly downward. I found it helpful to imagine this up-and-down movement as a wave, which makes it easier to understand and apply.
I also noticed that the body naturally sways slightly from side to side while walking. Paying attention to this side-to-side motion makes the walk feel more natural and lively.
Through this process, I learned that it’s important to observe carefully, understand the movements, and reflect them in the keyframes. This approach helps give the character’s walk a sense of depth and realism.
Walk Cycle References
On the foot movement, it is important that the heel touches the ground first, while the toes remain on the ground until the end. In addition, the bending of the knees gradually becomes stronger and then slowly releases. This results in a more natural and realistic walking behavior.
Not only for foot movement, but also for all types of motion, I realized that space and tempo are extremely important. These elements strongly affect the speed, smoothness, and sense of weight in an animation. Therefore, I want to carefully judge and adjust space and tempo according to each movement.
Adding flexibility to the arms makes the movement feel more realistic. This tip is very similar to this process and the knowledge I gained from creating a pendulum animation in another class was very helpful.
However, in terms of my main character is a wooden doll, adding too much flexibility would make it look like a vivid, organic creature. For this reason, I found that it is better to keep the movement subtle and restrained.
The usage of techniques such as overlapping action and anticipation to create this flexibility is also an important point in other types of movement. Therefore, I would like to continue practicing and improving these skills in future animation work.