We've added a new tutorial to our expanding Vimeo Channel showing how to animate a horse trotting. A trot is an intermediate gait between a walk and a run; all quadrupeds trot in the same way (allowing for anatomy). The Escape Studios Vimeo Tutorial Channel is our main hub for our animation and VFX video tutorials, making it easy for our students to find tutorials to support their classroom studies.
Unlike a walk or a run, when an animal trots, its shoulders and hind quarters will rise and fall at more or less the same time, rather than opposing one another as would happen in a walk or a gallop.
Check out the thumbnails on the right from The Animator's Survival Kit to show the positions of a horse trot.
We have many resources here at Escape Studios for students looking to learn how to animate animals and creatures.
The Escape Studios Animation Blog offers a personal view on the art of animation and visual effects. To apply for our BA/MArt in 3D Animation, follow this link.
Vimeo Tutorial Channel
The Escape Studios Vimeo Tutorial Channel is a large and growing resource for all our students. Our video tutorials cover Animation, 3D VFX, Compositing, Rigging, Motion Graphics, Storyboarding & Character Design, Unreal Engine and Cinematography. The videos are free for all our students, and recently graduated Escapees.
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| Escape Studios Vimeo Tutorial Channel |
The Trot
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| Trot cycle from "Animator's Survival Kit" |
Animal Locomotion
To see more about how animals move, including the science behind it, read this blog post by paleontologist Stuart Sumida.
Mothman TD Horse Rig
The tutorial uses the free Mothman TD Horse Rig, available online at the Mothman TD website. You can read more about the rig here.
Thumbnails
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Start with the "Up" position at Frame 1, then do Frame 17 - these two must be the same. Then do the "mirror image" position at Frame 9. Then do the "down" position at frame 5 and frame 13. Then fill in the gaps at frames 3,7,11 and 15. Finally, smooth your curves.
Horse Trot Tutorial
Horse Walk-Trot-Run Video with Richard Williams
Make sure to watch the horse locomotion video below by Richard Williams, author of "The Animator's Survival Kit"
Animal and Creature Animation at Escape Studios
Resources
To see more resources on how to animate animals and creatures, follow the links below:
- How to Plan Character & Creature Animation
- Leopard Walk Tutorial at Vimeo
- Spider Animation Workshop
- How to film animals and creatures for live action reference
- Ziva muscle systems tutorial with Michael Davies
- Scorpion Animation Tutorial at Vimeo with Alex Williams
- Horse Animation Tutorials at Vimeo with Alex Williams
- Horse Run Tutorial with Marc Stevenson
- Dragon in Flight Tutorial with Jamie Floodgate
- Quadruped Transitions with Maria Robertson
- Bird in Flight Tutorial with Marc Stevenson
- Putting Animals on a Path with Marc Stevenson
- How Animals Move with Stuart Sumida
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