Animating Character Walks - The Zig Zag Walk

Above is a series of shots I animated during my two years working as an animator on "The Thief and The Cobbler", the not-quite-finished feature film that is sometimes described as "the greatest animated film never made". The ZigZag walk was my one of first assignments as a junior animator, and it remains one of the sequences I am most proud of.  It was very complex to figure out; and contained many different elements all moving together in sequence - but on different timings.

Why Animators Need Walks on Their Demo Reel

"Monty" in the gym by Sam Baker

One common mistake junior animators make when cutting a demo reel is to leave off basic exercises like walks, character walks and runs. 

Walks and runs can be (and should be) on an animation demo reel - for just long enough to show that these exercises are firmly inside the animator's skill set.  Every animator needs to be able to animate a walk and a run. 

Animation Tutorials - Locomotion & Mechanics

"Clown Walk" by Ben Swallow

Our Vimeo Tutorial Channel is our central hub for our animation and VFX video tutorials, making it easier than ever for our students to find tutorials to support their classroom studies.  

Tutorials begin with the basics, such as the bouncing ball, and progress through walks and runs to complex physical actions such as a character throwing a ball.  You can also find tutorials on weight, flexibility and overlapping action as well as body mechanics and parkour.

Animal & Creature Tutorials at Our Vimeo Channel

Dragon animation cycle by Tim Golton

Our Vimeo Tutorial Channel is our main hub for our animation and VFX video tutorials, making it easier than ever for our students to find tutorials to support their classroom studies.   Tutorials include quadruped locomotion - walks, trot and runs, and also how to combine clips.  

Other tutorials show how to animate spiders, birds, dinosaurs and dragons - everything you need to master the art and craft of animal and creature animation. 

Animate a Sneaky Walk with Monty

Sneaky Monty

In the video tutorial below we show how to animate a sneaky walk with "Monty" the green pea.

To complete the tutorial, first start with a Basic Walk with "Monty" - which you can learn how to do here.

Then, as with our other character walks tutorials, adapt the basic walk to give it character and personality - in this case a "sneak". 

Animation Tutorials at Our Vimeo Channel

Animators - aim high

Our Vimeo Tutorial Channel is our central hub for our animation and VFX video tutorials, making it easier than ever for our students to find tutorials to support their classroom studies.  

Tutorials begin with the basics, such as the bouncing ball, and progress through to complex character and creature animation.  

We also have tutorials on walks, character walks and runs, as well as physical actions such as a character throwing a ball. 

 You can also find tutorials on weight, flexibility and overlapping action as well as body mechanics and parkour, and the use of live action reference and mocap.

Animate an "On the Spot" Walk with "Monty"

Monty Strolling in Cartoonland

Our newest Locomotion Tutorial Video explains how to animate a basic walk cycle "on the spot" (on a treadmill) with "Monty", the green pea, at our Vimeo Channel, available to all our students and Escapees.

The new tutorial videos add to our growing series of animation tutorials, hosted at Vimeo, with a tutorial on how to animate a basic walk, cycling the walk "on the spot". 

The tutorial uses the free Monty rig, one of the rigs that we recommend for student use in the early stages of learning animation.  

Learn to Animate a Walk at Our Vimeo Channel

Learn to animate a basic walk cycle with "Monty", the green pea, at our Vimeo Channel, available to all our students and Escapees.

The videos have added to our growing series of animation tutorials, hosted at Vimeo, with a tutorial on how to animate a basic walk.

The tutorial uses the free Monty rig, one of the rigs that we recommend for student use in the early stages of learning animation.  Monty was created back in 2007 by Raveen Rajadorai, and is free for download at Highend3D.com.

AN4001 Starts 4th January 2021

Robot Bug by Edoardo Sartori

For our first year undergraduates, our core animation module - Animation 1 - starts on Monday 4th January 2021.

AN4001 is a 15 Credit module that teaches the fundamentals of character and creature animation. 

The module, which is taught by veteran animation Marc Stevenson, lasts for four weeks, and covers all the basic principles of animation.

AN4001 Starts 10 January 2022

"Foxy Tail" animation by Maria Robertson

For our first year undergraduates, our core animation module - Animation 1 - starts on Monday 10th January 2022.

AN4001 is a 15 Credit module that introduces students to the fundamentals of character and creature animation. 

The module, which is taught by veteran animation Marc Stevenson, lasts for four weeks, and covers all the basic principles of animation.

Stopping a Walk Cycle with Marc Stevenson

We've uploaded a new tutorial to our online collection, designed to support our students working from home, and to supplement our traditional classroom teaching. The Tutorial shows How to Stop a Walk Cycle, and was recorded by Escape Studios tutor Marc Stevenson. In this tutorial Marc shows how to bring a walking character to a stop in a convincing and believable way.

Animate a Slow Sad Walk with Monty

Animate a sad walk with Monty

Every animator needs to learn how to animate a character walk; fortunately we have 100s of animation tutorials for our students at our Vimeo Channel

In the tutorial below, we show how to take a basic walk cycle using the marvellous "Monty" rig - and then make Monty sad and depressed - with just a few clicks.  The video tutorial is recorded in Autodesk Maya, and is aimed at animation beginners. 

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. 

Blend From a Walk to a Run with Marc Stevenson

In this tutorial students learn how to blend animation From a walk to a run with undergraduate Programme Leader  Marc Stevenson, veteran animator on multiple animated feature films.  Marc's tutorial explains how to take a walk cycle with "Monty" the Green Pea, and also a run cycle, and blend from one to the other effectively. 

Using Infinity Curves with Offset in Maya

In this very short tutorial (just two minutes long) we show how to use "Infinity Curves with Offset" in Maya.  Let's say you animate a character taking two steps across the screen, and you want to replicate the action. By using Infinity Curves with Offset, you can replicate the motion automatically, and have the character take as many steps as you like.  Once you're done, you can bake your curves, and then edit the shot.  We also have many animation tutorials at our Vimeo Channel, available for all our students and recent Escapees.

Character Walks with the Bio Motion Walker

Bio Motion Walker

This week our first year undergraduate students are studying how to animate a walk cycle, creating a successful biped walk and then giving it character and personality.

One very useful resource is the Bio Motion Walker from the Bio Motion Lab, located at York University in Toronto, Ontario.

The Bio Motion Walker allows animators to move a range of sliders showing how to make a walk cycle feel masculine or feminine, heavy or light, anxious or calm, happy or sad.  

Animators study live action, and then incorporate - and exaggerate - real life in their work . The Bio Motion Walker is a useful tool for analysing how people walk and move in different ways.  

You can find the Bio Motion Walker here.

Why Animation Demo Reels Need a Walk Cycle

Character walk by Ben Swallow

Every animation demo reel should include at least one good walk cycle.  It might seem too basic, but a well executed walk tells a recruiter a lot about your animation skills — timing, weight, character, and appeal — all in a few seconds of motion. 

You can have a number of walk cycles on your reel, as long as they show character and personality, and as long as you keep them short and snappy.  

Free Character Walks Webinar on 5th June

"Monty" character walks

I'll be hosting a webinar on character walks at Escape Studios at 6pm on Tuesday June 5th. Like all our webinars, this one is completely free, and there will be plenty of time to take questions during the demonstration.

Character walks are one of the most important parts of the animator's toolkit, and I will be showing how you can take a basic walk cycle and, with just a few tweaks, completely change the character's mood and personality.

Animate a Cowboy Walk with Monty

Cowboy walk with Monty

One thing every animator needs to learn is how to animate a character walk. In our latest tutorial, we show how to take a basic walk using the "Monty" rig (free for download from Creative Crash) and make Monty walk in a masculine way - with just a few clicks.

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

Character Walks by Houman Sorooshnia

Above is an excellent video of walk reference by animator Houman Sorooshnia, who has done a whole series of different live action character walks.  It's a great resource, and it looks like he had a lot of fun acting them all out.  Right now our student animators at Escape Studios are tackling character walks. Creating interesting walk cycles is a great way to learn the craft of animation and also a very good way to dig into character.  After all, how someone walks tells us a lot about who they are, and what kind of mood they are in.  If you can convey to an audience the personality and character of someone just by the way they are walking - then you are well on your way to becoming a professional animator.