Horse Run Tutorial at Our Vimeo Channel

In this latest animation tutorial at our Vimeo Tutorial Channel we demonstrate how to animate a quadruped running. The tutorial is based on a horse, but all quadrupeds run the same way (allowing for anatomy).  Every animator should know how to animate quadrupeds in motion; these are the basic "scales" of animal and creature animation.  This tutorial can be applied to any four-legged creature, but the easiest way to follow the tutorial is to use the free horse rig - available for download from the Mothman TD website. 

Horse Running - Animator's Survival Kit

Start by watching this video of a horse running from the Animator's Survival Kit. Then follow the thumbnails below. 

horse running by Edward Muybridge

Quadruped locomotion

Learning to animation quadrupeds is one of the key skills animators must master here at Escape Studios. See our Animals and Creatures Tutorials at Vimeo for more resources. 

Much of the work being done in the London animation industry is animal and creature work; such as the photo-realistic animation of Disney's re-make of The Lion King, most completed at MPC in Soho.

Thumbnails

The key thing is to start with good thumbnails which you can use for reference. Our tutorial uses the thumbnails on the right, which set out the key poses for a slow horse gallop. 

12 frame horse run cycle

See Saw Motion

A quadruped gallops in a rocking motion, like a see saw.  In addition, the body of the animal extends ends and compresses as it runs.  Note on the thumbnails to the right where the high and low points are on the shoulders and the rear, as well as the extension and compression extremes on the body.

Rear Right Foot Contact
Start with the rear right foot contact at frame 1 and also frame 13 - which is identical to frame 1. Then do the half way point at frame 7, and then fill in the breakdown positions at 3, 5, 7 and 9.  Then do the in-betweens at 2,4,6,8, 10 and 11. Then refine your curves. 

Horse Run Tutorial

You can watch the horse run tutorial below. The password is the same as for all our videos. 

https://vimeo.com/showcase/10518751

Horse Rig by Mothman TD

horse rig by Mothman TD

The tutorial uses this horse rig available for free download from the Mothman TD website.

It's an excellent choice for animating quadruped locomotion. It is a light rig and you should be able to get real-time playback in your Viewport with the Mothman TD rig without difficulty.

Rhett the Clydesdale rig
You can also use the free Rhett the Clydesdale rig, which you can download here. This is an older rig, but very useful. It has a very short tail - so you don't need to worry about animating the overlapping action on the tail. 

Samson Horse Rig by Joel

Horse Rig by Joel 3D

We also like the Samson Horse Rig by Joel 3D, available for free download here.
The horse rig is based on the character "Samson" from Disney's 1950s classic Sleeping Beauty.

The rig is an elegant design, with few major weaknesses. We've tested it in the classroom and it works well.  The model was created by Hung Vodinh and the rigging was done by Joel Anderson.

Setup
To get the best use of Samson, make sure you click on the little blue cross labelled FKIKSpine_M and, in the Channel Box, change FKIKBlend to 10. This will give you more flexible control over the shoulders and backside of the horse.

Horse Animation by Giuseppe Candido

Above is some excellent wild horse animation by Escapee Giuseppe Candido, based on live-action reference.