Day 34 / 38 – Moho
Oooooo, today was a fun one. We are making a walk cycle, repeatable!
Things to Know:
✔ Create an Action
✔ Animate a Walk Cycle in an Action
✔ How to use the action in the Maintimeline
Creating Walk Cycle Action
I grabbed Little Panda from Week 12 and adjusted my freehand points so the character had a profile pose. Really thankful I created this guy with loads of layers, and kept my lines separate from my coloring. It made it a (somewhat) easy adjustment.
Once your character is ready (colored and rigged), and before you begin creating your animation, make sure that:
- You are on the Bone layer.
- The timeline is set to layer_0.
- No bone is selected (nothing should be highlighted in red).
After verifying these settings, you can begin creating your action.
- hit the new action button
- name your Action
- your timeline should turn pink indicating you are creating a new action.
Now start animating your walk cycle.
- Frame_1: Contact Pose (left foot back, right foot forward- switch arms)
- Frame_7: Passing Pose (right foot bent, left foot straight)
- Frame_15: Contact Pose (opposite of frame_1)
- Frame_21: Passing Pose (opposite of frame_7)
- Frame_28: Contact Pose (copy frame_1)
I used a 28 frame walk cycle to slow my panda down a bit, after all he does have a big ole noggin to balance that on small body lol 😉 .
Animate in the Timeline
Now return to your Mainline. Click once on your action to select it. You now have two options, you can:
- Insert Copy, you can modify the keyframes without affecting the original action.
- Insert Reference, it works much like reference layers. Any changes made to the original action will automatically be reflected everywhere that action is referenced throughout the timeline.
“I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do.”
— Leonardo da Vinci
Day 34 — Afterthoughts
A friend of mine gave me the book Let Them, and I’ve been slowly working through it at night. Interestingly, the first chapter talks about the author’s earlier book, The 5 Second Rule—5, 4, 3, 2, 1… take action.
As I read it, I couldn’t help thinking about all the artists who have emphasized the importance of action: Leonardo da Vinci, Pablo Picasso, Vincent van Gogh, Andy Warhol, Chuck Close, Salvador Dalí, and Donovan. I’m sure I’m forgetting a few others.
It struck me that this is essentially what I’ve been doing for the past four years (with the exception illness): next action, next action, next action. My character isn’t just doing a walk cycle.
I’m doing a walk cycle. Every frame, is another step forward. Real movement is happening and over time small actions compound into something much larger.
Next Action ▶️ Nik
