Walk/Run Cycle Notes [Archive]

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Abhishek

29-06-2005, 03:31 AM

Hi Guys.. found this cool notes about walk cycles at http://www.patrickmcnabb.com/tutorials/AN_walk_cycle.htm ... do post if you come through more about Walks.. 
 
Look Ma, I'm Walkin'!!
 
You'll use the file: stickey_tootsie_for_walk.mb
Generally I breakdown a walk cycle into 4 steps:
Step One: Sort out ONLY the feet positions and the up and down (transY) for COG. I have only shown the first 5 poses. The next 3 (frames 20, 24 and 28) are the opposites of 4, 8 and 12. Frame 32 is an EXACT copy of frame 0. 
<TABLE cellSpacing=5 cellPadding=5 width="100%" align=left><T>
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<TD><IMG height=217 src="http://www.patrickmcnabb.com/tutorials/images/walk_grabs/walk_01_frm_00.jpg" width=377 border="0"></TD>
<TD><IMG height=217 src="http://www.patrickmcnabb.com/tutorials/images/walk_grabs/walk_01_frm_04.jpg" width=377 border="0"></TD>
<TD><IMG height=216 src="http://www.patrickmcnabb.com/tutorials/images/walk_grabs/walk_01_frm_08.jpg" width=376 border="0"></TD>
<TD><IMG height=217 src="http://www.patrickmcnabb.com/tutorials/images/walk_grabs/walk_01_frm_12.jpg" width=377 border="0"></TD>
<TD><IMG height=217 src="http://www.patrickmcnabb.com/tutorials/images/walk_grabs/walk_01_frm_16.jpg" width=377 border="0"></TD></TR>
<TR vAlign=top align=left>
<TD>Start here. Do the first contact position. Note that you can't see the feet controls which means in this frame that I have used the "roll" attribute on both feet to get them in this position. I have adjusted the transY of the COG so the legs don't lock. I usually copy this position over and use it for frame 16 then reverse the position of the feet. That way the COG is in the same spot.</TD>
<TD>Down Position. This is the LOWEST point in Y for the COG. Note that the right foot control is now rotated and the "roll" value is set to 0.</TD>
<TD>Passing Position. The COG is higher than in the Contact positions, but it will go higher still. Again, note the right foot control.</TD>
<TD>Up Position. The COG is at its highest point here. The left foot is "rolled" up so that the knee is not locked.</TD>
<TD>The Other Contact Position. Same as the first one but the feet are reversed.</TD></TR></T></T></TABLE>
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Step Two: Now we are going to add rotations to the COG, spine, neck and head and some side to side translation on the COG.
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<TD><IMG height=476 src="http://www.patrickmcnabb.com/tutorials/images/walk_grabs/walk_02_frm_00.jpg" width=389 border="0"></TD>
<TD><IMG height=473 src="http://www.patrickmcnabb.com/tutorials/images/walk_grabs/walk_02_frm_04.jpg" width=387 border="0"></TD>
<TD><IMG height=474 src="http://www.patrickmcnabb.com/tutorials/images/walk_grabs/walk_02_frm_08.jpg" width=387 border="0"></TD>
<TD><IMG height=474 src="http://www.patrickmcnabb.com/tutorials/images/walk_grabs/walk_02_frm_12.jpg" width=387 border="0"></TD>
<TD><IMG height=475 src="http://www.patrickmcnabb.com/tutorials/images/walk_grabs/walk_02_frm_16.jpg" width=386 border="0"></TD></TR>
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<TD>Note the COG is twisting with the hips and reflects the fact that one leg is forward and one is back. The spine is rotated so that the shoulders are twisting opposite to the hips. Rotate the neck and head so he is looking straight ahead.</TD>
<TD>Skip this one... in terms of the spine and COG it is inbetween the contact and passing.</TD>
<TD>The COG moves in X over left foot. If we didn't do this, Stickey would look WAY off balance. The COG is also rotated down to the right as the hips tilt when the leg is passing by. The spine is rotated to compensate for the hip tilt so the shoulders tilt in the opposite way. Tilt the neck and head so they are more or less straight up and down.</TD>
<TD>Skip this one... in terms of the spine and COG it is inbetween the contact and passing.</TD>
<TD>The Other Contact Position. Same as the first one but opposite.</TD></TR></T></T></TABLE>
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Step Three: Now we work on the arms. Interestingly the arm swing is at it widest on the Down Position.
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<TD><IMG height=216 src="http://www.patrickmcnabb.com/tutorials/images/walk_grabs/walk_03_frm_00.jpg" width=376 border="0"></TD>
<TD><IMG height=217 src="http://www.patrickmcnabb.com/tutorials/images/walk_grabs/walk_03_frm_04.jpg" width=376 border="0"></TD>
<TD><IMG height=215 src="http://www.patrickmcnabb.com/tutorials/images/walk_grabs/walk_03_frm_08.jpg" width=376 border="0"></TD>
<TD><IMG height=217 src="http://www.patrickmcnabb.com/tutorials/images/walk_grabs/walk_03_frm_12.jpg" width=376 border="0"></TD>
<TD><IMG height=216 src="http://www.patrickmcnabb.com/tutorials/images/walk_grabs/walk_03_frm_16.jpg" width=377 border="0"></TD></TR>
<TR vAlign=top align=left>
<TD>Skip this one for now. We'll come back to it.</TD>
<TD>Start here for the arms. They are at their widest here and are swinging in opposition (sorta) to the legs. The elbow can really only bend forward so reflect that in your arm poses. Note the the right arm is bent up at the elbow and the wrist and the left one is bent back a bit at the wrist.</TD>
<TD>Right arm is starting to drop and come back. The wrist will stay bent. The left arm is starting to come forward. Note that the wrist lags a bit behind.</TD>
<TD>This is the arm's passing position. Arms are pretty much at Stickey's side. Note the wrists are still behind.</TD>
<TD>OK in order to get this one sorted out you'll need to make frame 20 (the opposite of frame 4). This one will then be an inbetween. For frame 0 you'll need to actually make a copy of frame 4 at frame 36. Then save the arm keys on frame 32 and re-use for frame 0.</TD></TR></T></T></TABLE>
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Step Four: Smoothing out your animation curves. This is where you will spend some time trying to fix any popping knees and making your cycle actually cycle properly. You'll need to set all your curves to a pre and post infinity cycle and set your view in the graph editor to inifinity. The you gotta make the tangents at the end of the curves match up. Wehn playing back your cycle remember to set it to NOT play the last frame since it is a duplicate of the first and it will "pop". Good luck!
<IMG height=261 src="http://www.patrickmcnabb.com/tutorials/images/walk_grabs/walk_04.jpg" width=631 border="0"><edited><editID>Abhishek</editID><editDate>38795.5820138889</editDate></edited>

Abhishek

02-07-2005, 07:14 AM

http://www.animfound.com/tips/weight_shift/weight.html 
 
 
THE WEIGHT SHIFT

<div align="left">
Here's
another item in the world of animation that many people talk about, but
fail to incorporate into their animation. The body is a complex
mechanism that must stay in balance to be able to function effectively.
If we fell down all the time this would be rather inefficient and
painful to say the least. A driving force in balance is how the weight
of the body centers over the feet. This is often referred to as the
"Center of Gravity". There needs to be equal distribution of weight on
each side of the center of gravity for the figure to remain in balance.
For
instance, if a character needs to lift one foot, the weight must shift
over the opposing foot to balance the body. You need an equal
distribution of weight on each side of the center of gravity. This line
of force is indicated in the two pictures below. Many people fail to
make this adjustment and don't push the hips over the leg. Take a look
at Image A.
</div>

<center>
<img src="http://www.animfound.com/tips/weight_shift/weight_pics/bad-line.jpeg" lowsrc="weight_pics/bad-linels.gif" autolowsrc="" border="0"> <img src="http://www.animfound.com/tips/weight_shift/weight_pics/good-line.jpeg" lowsrc="weight_pics/good-linels.gif" height="158" width="120" border="0">
</center>

<div align="left">
The
character fails to distribute his hips over the left leg. It's
impossible for him to stand with the weight distribution in this state.
Let's try to act this out. Get out of your chair and spread your legs
shoulder width apart. If you can lift your right leg off of the ground
without moving your hips, quit animating and join the circus. As you'll
see, it's impossible. Now look at Image B.
The
character is distributing his weight over the left foot while the right
foot lifts off of the ground. The line of force is now running through
the center of the hips to the left foot. This chracter is balanced.
Also take notice of the rotation of the hips. As the force from the
foot drives up through the leg, it actually pushes the hip upwards. The
right side of the leg drops as the leg is lifted off the ground. This
principle is also present during the walk or run of a character. 

Let's look at one more example of the weight shift. We'll look at the breakdown of a character taking a side step.

We start in the neutral position shown in Image 1.
Here the weight is evenly distributed over both legs. As the character
begins to step with his right foot, he must first shift the weight on
to the left leg. Image 2. The force of the body is driving down through the left ankle. Our character can now lift this right leg. Image 3. Notice the balance obtained. The center of gravity is running through the body and down to the left ankle.

<img src="http://www.animfound.com/tips/weight_shift/weight_pics/image1.jpeg" height="105" width="130" border="0"> <img src="http://www.animfound.com/tips/weight_shift/weight_pics/image2.jpeg" height="105" width="130" border="0"> <img src="http://www.animfound.com/tips/weight_shift/weight_pics/image3.jpeg" height="105" width="130" border="0">

As the right leg reaches for it's stepping position, the hips continue to remain over the left leg. Image 4.
The center of gravity has shifted a bit from Image 3, but the majority
of the force is still being maintained by the left leg. Once the right
foot contacts the ground, the hips can now shift over the right leg. Image 5.
Just as we did with the initial leg lift, the hips must be over the
right leg before the left leg can come off of the ground. Once the
majority of the balance is over the right leg, we can now lift the left
leg off of the ground. Image 6. The character would now plant the left leg and settle back into a neutral position.

<img src="http://www.animfound.com/tips/weight_shift/weight_pics/image4.jpeg" height="105" width="130" border="0"> <img src="http://www.animfound.com/tips/weight_shift/weight_pics/image5.jpeg" height="105" width="130" border="0"> <img src="http://www.animfound.com/tips/weight_shift/weight_pics/image6.jpeg" height="105" width="130" border="0">

Watch a rendered version to see the character sidestep in full motion. <a href="http://www.animfound.com/tips/weight_shift/weight_pics/weight.mov" target="_blank">Movie1.</a>

As
stated before, this is one of the most fundamental elements that many
animators fail to incorporate into their scenes. It's critical that
you're characters maintain proper balance. This can only be obtained
from paying close attention to the motion of the hips. 

</div>

daftsamy

18-09-2005, 05:31 PM

man i shuld thank u for this info.it has really helped me a lot.i have jst started learning sum tech. hope i cn get sum more useful stuff ... see u....<IMG src="smileys/smiley1.gif" border="0">

Abhishek

18-09-2005, 07:08 PM

Thnx for liking it.. let me know the info you are looking for. Ill definetly try out to post any liks about it if ill be having any, Goodluck for ur learning... <edited><editID>Abhishek</editID><editDate>38618.0305092593</editDate></edited>

pokeye

29-09-2005, 03:33 PM

thanx abhi. u r my fav fellow tantric <IMG src="smileys/smiley14.gif" border="0">!! Real useful stuff.
 Often walk cycles are the very first lesson taught to 3d character animators, but it is amazing as to how much theory goes behind it. <edited><editID>pokeye</editID><editDate>38624.240462963</editDate></edited>

Vikram

29-09-2005, 03:54 PM

Thanks a lot Abhishek. Extremely useful info and nice post. <img src="smileys/smiley32.gif" border="0"><img src="smileys/smiley32.gif" border="0"><img src="smileys/smiley32.gif" border="0"> 
The below link may prove a good read or reference: 
<a href="http://www.mcmxi.com/%7Ejpr/teaching/GPH213/walkcycle/walk.html" target="_blank"> 
http://www.mcmxi.com/~jpr/teaching/GPH213/walkcycle/walk.h tml 
</a> 
 

<edited><editID>Vikram</editID><editDate>38624.2462384259</editDate></edited>

light_sabre

29-09-2005, 04:57 PM

thanx abhi for the walk cycle tutorial its nice very useful, 
 
the below link has the walk cycle tutorial in 3ds max 
<a href="http://www.melog.ch/tutorial/walkcycle/" target="_blank">http://www.melog.ch/tutorial/walkcycle/</a>

Abhishek

17-12-2005, 10:56 PM

Follow the link the walk tutorial:
<A href="http://www.anticz.com/Walks.htm" target="_blank">http://www.anticz.com/Walks.htm</A>
<IMG src="http://www.anticz.com/images/SiteImages/WalkTut/WalkFront.gif" border="0"><IMG src="http://www.anticz.com/images/SiteImages/WalkTut/WalkQuarter.gif" border="0"><IMG src="http://www.anticz.com/images/SiteImages/WalkTut/walkside.gif" border="0">

Abhishek

20-03-2006, 01:30 AM

Hey Guys,
One of the best tutorials i found for a Run Cycle by Rodri Torres. Check it >
This document explains how to create a run cycle working with curves. This workflow can be used in any 3D software able to work with animation curves. The axes mentioned in this document can vary depending on the software used. Although I have used Maya to do this tutorial, I have also shown the axes for 3d Studio Max. The time (frames) used for this exercise is 20 (10 frames per stride). The time of the software should be adjusted to 24 fps (film). We will be using 20 frames just to simplify the exercise, since the main poses will correspond to frames 0 ? 5 ? 10 ? 15 ? 20. 
Introduction
Until I know there are 2 main ways of animating cycles of any kind, poses and animating independently the different parts of the body.
This tutorial is based on the second one, animating independently each part of the body creating cycling movements. At first, if you have never animated a cycle like this, and if, as I was, you are too used to the pose to pose thing, doing cycles this way can be a little strange.
Once you understand the thing and the way of creating cycle in this way the results are more than good. It goes without saying that the author of this document hasn't developed this "technique" or way of doing cycles, which is well known by professional animators. To complete this tutorial it is recommended having medium/high knowledge of the use of the animation curves.
 Timing/Spacing. <A href="http://rodri.aniguild.com/tuto_run/run_files/video/view.php?id=timing_spacing.mov" target="_blank"><IMG src="http://rodri.aniguild.com/tuto_run/run_files/image001.jpg" border="0"></A> <IMG height=142 src="http://rodri.aniguild.com/tuto_run/run_files/image001_curve.jpg" width=780 border="0"> Rough curve in TY. Probably to achieve a good timing you will need to key mor frames creating little holds ... 
<A href="http://rodri.aniguild.com/tuto_run/run_en.php" target="_blank">CLICK HERE FOR MORE..</A>