WIP: Updated WalkCycle

[Monty]

Great work Josh. One small thing, he seems to be stamping his toes when it hits the ground. Maybe you intended it to be like that?

:)

[sanciok]

It's getting better!

Now the feet works better. I think the hips are rotating too much.. i think u'd low it a bit.
After that i'd add an UP-Down movements on the Hips as the steps go.
Let me try to explain.
U have the hips at a certain Y coord when u are at "the middle" of the step. Here u should add a keyframe and copy it 4-5 frame later, a couple of frames before the step to be completed. Than 2-3 frames later from the complete step i'd add a lowered Y coord key on the hips.
Than... The movement on the shoulder is a bit wromg just because that kind of movement (the shoulder rotation) always affect part of the torso. What i mean is that the shoulder movement is too localized in that area.

Hope this helps!
If it's not clear just ask!!!
Cheers Sanciok

[bobtronic]

Hi Josh,

I don't know if this is ok to post in your thread but
I am also trying to make a walkcycle. So I thought
why not posting here. As I see we both are at the
very beginning of animating. Maybe we could learn
of each other. So here is my walkcycle:

http://home.snafu.de/bobtronic/misc/doll_walk01.mov
(about 300KB)

As for your walkcycle I think Sanciok is right with the
hip movement. Too much rotation.

keep it on

Bob

[sanciok]

Bob

Your walkcycle is very nice!
I think h should add the same Y up and down movement on the hips!
The legs movement is pretty good, and so for the feet.
Arms need a bit more of work!

Anyway i think u both are in the right direction!

http://www.freetoon.com/prestonblair/intro/frame.html

Have a llok here! It is a book of traditional animation but it always helps!!
Ah...
http://www.cgtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=60325&perpage=15&highlight=learning%20to%20walk&pagenumber=1
this is a must- read!!

[bobtronic]

Thanks Sanciok,

I know this book by Preston Blair, great ressource.
But unfortunatly reading is simpler than doing :)
I will check out the hip movment and the arms.

Bob

[3dmacguy]

Bobtronic,

No probelm posting here:beer: Sanciok, good advice...from what I made of it the hips should stay at an elevated y-position for more than just one frame, and then lower just before the feet fully extends and reaches the ground? I'll try this and repost it soon. Bobtronic, took a look at your walkcycle. Nice. I think you should also add the y movement of the hips like I was told. And your legs seem to "snap" into place right before they fully extend....would f-curves help this out? Not sure. Good work. I'll re-render my walk and have it up before too long. Thanks all for the help.:thumbsup:

-Josh

[Wilson-3d]

Cool thread. I think you will learn from looking at each others.

3dmacguy: I would suggest doing a save as and spending some time in the f-curves manager with the animation. I had only been using it for ease in and out of camera paths and just really started using its potential on my last (not that I have done that many) character animation. You can go in there and grab the key frame on the f-curve for the hips and just move it up in the Y direction a little and it moves the key frame. It takes a sec to get use to but then you realize why so many character animators rely on it. It is so much quicker then changing the height by manually moving the hip bone and setting new keys ect. [Don't let me change the subject but I wanted to mention that I am also heading to Savannah-in a week. Getting my MFA in animation at Scad. Perhaps we should grab a coffee some time.]

bobtronic: Looking good. I agree with 3dnmacguy. The main thing I notices was the snap as the leg is extended the most. Keep it up guys.

[3dmacguy]

Wilson3D,

Good advice...the past two renders that I have done I have utilized the f-curve manager to fix the keys. You're right...it's quick, easy, powerful. I've tried to smooth the movement of the pelvis bone by smoothing the interpolation of the f-curve with the tangents. SCAD starts on the 17th right? I'm heading down there on the 12th for orientation. This'll be my first year down there. I think I'll take up your offer to meet you for some coffee.:thumbsup: Where are you staying in Savannah?

Right now the new animation is rendering. I have tried to fix the toe from "slapping" the ground on the extended foot when it steps onto the ground. Will be back this evening to post it for you guys to see. Gonna be out shopping for some dorm room stuff. Thanks for the help.

-Josh

[JIII]

dude that first revised walk is a pimp walk seriously.

Its like hey ladies someones white and plasticy but who cares!! I am gettin some tonight.

lol thats what it says to me.

[3dmacguy]

JIII,

lol! I thought that's what it looked like when I saw it after it rendered...thought I wouldn't mention it though:D And also, the kid looks a little young for that anyway. Yep, way too young:shame:

lol. Anyhow, I have the new revised walkcycle up now at: www.lockhartdesign.com/walkcycle3.html.

Take a look and let me know what you think. I toned down the hips' rotation and the shoulder rotation. There is a slight jerk in the right hand this time. I have no idea why because I did nothing to the hands from the previous file. :shrug:

How's it look?

-Josh

[3dmacguy]

Okay. The link above doesn't work due to the period at the end.

Try this link instead: www.lockhartdesign.com/walkcycle3.html

This one should do it.

-Josh

[JIII]

well umm,

Maybe he just wants to hold hands, or something like that.

like the master pimp hand holder or something.

[sanciok]

Originally posted by 3dmacguy
Bobtronic,

No probelm posting here:beer: Sanciok, good advice...from what I made of it the hips should stay at an elevated y-position for more than just one frame, and then lower just before the feet fully extends and reaches the ground? I'll try this and repost it soon. Bobtronic, took a look at your walkcycle. Nice. I think you should also add the y movement of the hips like I was told. And your legs seem to "snap" into place right before they fully extend....would f-curves help this out? Not sure. Good work. I'll re-render my walk and have it up before too long. Thanks all for the help.:thumbsup:

-Josh

Not just BEFORE, but 2-3 frames later!!
The last Walk is better, but hte strange moves of the shoulder persist! Than i still can't see the hips -Y movement!!
Btw Good job!! Keep on posting!!

[AdamT]

It's definitely an improvement. I agree with Sanciok's comments. Also, the hips should move forward in Z as the character straightens his leg and prepares to step off (passing position). As explained in Animator's Survival Kit (very highly recommended book), a walk is really like a controlled fall, where you would fall on your face except that you catch yourself with each step. So the weight really needs to transfer forward between the contact positions (when both feet are on the floor).

[Wilson-3d]

3dmacguy:
Hey its really coming along. I agree with the previous statements. The hip moving forward. He is really getting a nice fluid movement. [also on our side Savannah conversation.-My wife and I are going to be renting an apartment on Wilmington island Its about 10 minutes from the campus]

Bobtronic:
Looking forward to another update.

[bobtronic]

Originally posted by Wilson 3d
Bobtronic:
Looking forward to another update.

Patience :) I took a little break from 3D because
I had some really frustrating modeling sessions.

Bob

[3dmacguy]

Good morning everyone (at least it is here on my time),

Never thought about the hips' z-movement. Will work on that. Sanciok, when you mention the weird shoulder movement, do you mean the rotation is still too much? The feet are still concerning me. You can't really see this in the movies I have posted, but the rotation of the foot controller borders on erratic in the editor window. The foot and leg are one mesh, and the shin bone is connected to the foot bones, but the foot bones are not Soft IK, simply FK with a Posemixer. The influence and pull of the shin bone, when Soft IK is activated and when the leg bends, throws off and rotates the foot even though I have done nothing to the foot controller. So it makes it hard to acheive a predictable result when rendering. So...I'm going to re-rig the feet once again, this time creating separate geometry for the feet, to keep them independent from the main body, and I'll place the bones for the foot in an independent hierarchy as well. I think using Xpresso to keep the foot controller at the same global position as the Shin's Tip Goal should do the trick...I hope. Will have another movie posted hopefully tomorrow afternoon. Will start a new walkcycle from scratch and see how it goes.

Thanks all,
-Josh

[sanciok]

Well Josh, I suggest u to try using the good old Hard IK for the legs. For ny rigs i always use soft IK only for the arms, And Hard Ik for the legs using a modified version of the NAAM's Coffee expression.

I suggest u to do a search on Google for NAAM and find that expression!

Keep posting your updates!!

[3dmacguy]

Sanciok,

After a long hard battle with Soft IK, I have managed to make a rig with both Soft IK with the thigh and shin, and Hard IK with the foot bones, with all of the bones in a single hierarchy. I started to use Posemixer to animate the roll of the foot, however this conflicted with some of my own expressions used on the foot bones. So I simply used some User Data and a Range Mapper to use a slider to morph the bones instead. So right now it works GREAT! I'm pumped. Now I can animate and actually have good predictable results. Will have a new cycle posted tomorrow.

Thanks,
-Josh

[3dmacguy]

Hi All,

I've been tooling around today on a new walkcycle from scratch. You can see it at:

www.lockhartdesign.com/walkcycle4.html

I created a new foot rig allowing more predictable results when rendering and allowing an easier method to roll the foot in the walk. A new problem has come up though. The right arm, in midstride, seems to twist out of control. Why is this!? This has not happened before, so I would like to fix it so it doesn't happen again. Does this need an UpVector to keep the orientation of the conflicting bone constant? How would I keep the UpVector in the correct location during the animation, aside from manual key frames? Take a look and see what you think. I tried to implement a Z-movement with the hips (coupled with a hip pitch rotation so the body leans into each step), and a bounce with the arms in the walk. What do you think?

-Josh

[3dmacguy]

Or should I simply use FK for the arms? More work, but better results. What do you think?

-Josh

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