Walk Cycles

Walk cycles are important because they are generally a fundemental part of any animation. If a walk cycle is done well it can make an animation look very good. However if it is done particularly badly, we also notice. A bad walk cycle is so easy to spot because we see them everyday around us. When animating there are many tutorials to show you the correct movement of a standard walk cycle.

However a standard walk cycle is not useful in al kinds of animation. Depending on the character the walk will have to be modiied to suit their individual personality. For example the character Jessica Rabbit in Who Framed Roger Rabbit had a very individual walk. Her movement amplified the sexuality of the character. The movements are very slow and sweeping with small steps. A walk is just another way that an animator makes their character look more realistic. A walk can also be used to determine how a character is feeling ie. dragging feet, excited running. The weight of each step can really help show this and the posturing of the character's body. The frames should be closer together and speed up before a foot impacts the ground. If a character is tired the legs will lift slowly off the ground. This technique is particularly useful when depicting older characters with reduced mobility. This is done particularly well in the animated feature film, Howl's Moving Castle. There are a great range of character ages and when the elderly walk there is great attention paid to the small steps and shuffling.