I've lined myself to animate on an exciting 3D project called Heart Of The Tree. The two characters in the film are a hare and a hyena and as I've never actually animated a quadruped I've been working on these two tests to help get my head around how they move.
I didn't really know where to start with this. I found some good slow mo videos of dogs walking on on YouTube and referred back to Preston Blair's four legged animation break down for reference:
The biggest help was this brilliant tutorial that I found from Samy Fecih a professional character animator. The tutorial is perfect for somebody using Maya to create a quadruped walk cycle and the way he explains everything is easy to understand and follow.
Here's the link to his tutorial: https://vimeo.com/79022941
So here is my walk cycle:
Even though I followed the basic mathematics and timings layed out by Samy's tutorial I added a few of my own movements like the head bob etc. This is only a start it's far from perfect but it's been a really good jumping off point and I feel like I have a bit of an idea what I'm doing when it comes to four legs now.
Here is a run cycle:
I found this a lot harder than the basic walk. I used the basic principles that I used in the walk but I found it hard getting my head around the dog's (air time). Keyframing the points when he was airborne proved quite touch so I relied on hip and holder movements to add the bounce. Like the walk cycle this could do with some clean up as there is still a bit of a way to go but again, it's a good start and I've learnt a lot doing this exercise so it's been worth it.
I didn't really know where to start with this. I found some good slow mo videos of dogs walking on on YouTube and referred back to Preston Blair's four legged animation break down for reference:
The biggest help was this brilliant tutorial that I found from Samy Fecih a professional character animator. The tutorial is perfect for somebody using Maya to create a quadruped walk cycle and the way he explains everything is easy to understand and follow.
Here's the link to his tutorial: https://vimeo.com/79022941
So here is my walk cycle:
Even though I followed the basic mathematics and timings layed out by Samy's tutorial I added a few of my own movements like the head bob etc. This is only a start it's far from perfect but it's been a really good jumping off point and I feel like I have a bit of an idea what I'm doing when it comes to four legs now.
Here is a run cycle:
I found this a lot harder than the basic walk. I used the basic principles that I used in the walk but I found it hard getting my head around the dog's (air time). Keyframing the points when he was airborne proved quite touch so I relied on hip and holder movements to add the bounce. Like the walk cycle this could do with some clean up as there is still a bit of a way to go but again, it's a good start and I've learnt a lot doing this exercise so it's been worth it.
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