Animate a Military Walk with Monty

Every animator needs to learn how to animate a character walk.  

In this latest tutorial, we show how to take a basic walk cycle using the "Monty" rig (free for download from highend3d.com) and make Monty march like a goose-stepping soldier on a parade ground.  

The video tutorial is recorded in Autodesk Maya, and is aimed at animation beginners. 

About "Monty"

Animate a Basic Walk with Monty

The videos use the "Monty" rig, free for download, which you can read about here. 

Start by Animating a Basic Walk with "Monty"

The tutorial takes a basic walk cycle with Monty - read this blog post on how to achieve this. Once you have the basic walk working, you can make changes to it to give it character and personality. 

"Military Walk" with Monty

Animate a Basic Walk

To make Monty feel military, we need to look at how soldiers march. Google "goose step" to see how parade ground soldiers kick their legs up high in an exaggerated motion. 

To make Monty feel military, we need to adjust his walk so his legs kick up high, with more up and down motion.  We can also give Monty a soldier's helmet.  We might also add a set, such as the Cartoonland Set, and a prop such as a cartoony tank.  You can find all these at Turbosquid.com or other similar sites.  You can also look for props and sets in UG Shares. 

Monty Military Walk - Work Method

1. Start with the Monty basic walk. Read this blog post to achieve this
2. Give Monty a determined expression
3. Import a helmet (find one at Turbosquid) into your shot and attach it to Monty
4. Import a set, such as this free Cartoonland Set from Turbosquid.

Tutorial

You can find the "Military Walk" Tutorial below:

https://vimeo.com/920396307

Locomotion Resources

We have many locomotion resources available to our students:

• Animation Tutorials at our Vimeo Channel - Locomotion & Mechanics
• Animate a manly cowboy walk with Monty
• Animate a slow, sad walk with Monty
• Animate a sneaky walk with Monty
• Animate a Walk "on the spot" with Monty
• Why Animators Need Sine Waves for Walk Cycles
• Animate a Walk Cycle with "Heavy" from Team Fortress
• How to Fix Knee Pops in a Walk Cycle
• Animate a Run Cycle with Monty
• Animate a Run Cycle with "Heavy"
• Animate a Jump with Monty
• Gender Walks with the Bio Motion Lab 
• Character Walks with Hooman Soroushnia
• Character Walks with Kevin Parry
• Character Walks Tutorial with Monty
• Walk Cycle Tutorial by Amanda Costa

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