Assignment #7: 3D Character Animation (Walk Cycle)

The seventh assignment was to create a basic walk cycle using the SimpleMan pre-rigged character. I have a lot of experience controlling and manipulating this rig, so this assignment was not particularly difficult. I based my 3D animation off of the two-dimensional animation that I worked on last week. Having such a reference made it much easier to position the joints on the SimpleMan rig. Below are the eight basic poses that I created for the walk cycle. The final animation (when looped) produces a complete walk cycle.

3D Character Walk Cycle (Pose 1)

3D Character Walk Cycle (Pose 2)

3D Character Walk Cycle (Pose 3)

3D Character Walk Cycle (Pose 4)

3D Character Walk Cycle (Pose 5)

3D Character Walk Cycle (Pose 6)

3D Character Walk Cycle (Pose 7)

3D Character Walk Cycle (Pose 8)

Assignment #6: 2D Character Animation (Walk Cycle)

The sixth assignment was to develop a simple two-dimensional character animation. Specifically, we were asked to create a walk cycle. I based my walk cycle off of series of generic walk cycle poses found on Google. After drawing the first (contact) pose, I then used a light table to trace the character's shape. From there, I changed positions of the head, arms, and legs to convey motion. I then repeated this process until I had 8 basic poses. I then scanned the drawings of my initial 8 poses and imported them into Photoshop. From there, I created an animated GIF of my animation as seen below. Click on the image to see the full walk cycle.