Cartoon Character Walkcycle ( Video )
 

I am still working on my cartoon self, and its nearing completion (still a few tweaks though) so I decided to post a video of a walkcycle.

It only works if your video player is set to repeat of course, but apart from that it should play fine.

Don´t mind the ground jumping a little, it´s got to be part of the encoding because it looks fine in F-Check.

Here´s the link: Cartoon Character Walkcycle (631 KB file)

Feel free to comment :)

EDIT: Updated to latest version of the cycle, no reason to keep the link to the old one :)

its hard to tell really, but it looks like there is a point in the cycle where neither of his feet are touching the ground. maybe a bit more up and down movement of the body might help that.

His motions are awfully stiff. The feet don't roll (they just look like solid blocks). His head doesn't turn. His torso is incredibly rigid. He needs more flexibility in all of movements to give him more life. Right now, he moves like a very limited action figure.

As far as timing goes, it looks like everything is hitting their extremes at the exact same time. You need to offset the motions a bit more. For instance, the swinging of the arms matches the steps exactly. It would look better if the arms hit the extremes in their swings slightly after the feet hit the ground.

You´re right, should be corrected now, cheers!

The feet DO roll, but looking over it again, you are right they don´t roll enough. So in the new render I´ve changed that so they roll alot more. I hadn´t noticed that smoothing the model hid much of the roll that the unsmoothed model has - but that should be better now.

Thanks for the notes. I´m not sure what you mean his head doesn´t turn, since I don´t think most people turn their heads while walking (they roll their shoulders/torso to counterbalance, but not the head itself). I´ve made his shoulders and torso move more, I hope that is what you meant :) (I appreciate your comments alot, it´s the only way to learn :D).

Yeah I agree, it might look better with more offset. It´s limited how much a 24 frame walk cycle allows though, but Ì´ve tried in the new render.

Version 2 (probably many more to come heh) (130 KB).

Looking better. I still think the head doesn't move quite right. It's not so much that it needs to turn, but more of it doesn't look like it actually moves. It looks the head is stuck on the shoulders in a such way that it cannot turn at all, like there's a solid stick going up through his neck to prevent head movement. Given the amount that his shoulders are twisting, I would expect to see at least some offset head motion.

Timing is better with the arms, although there is now a weird jerking motion with his right arm. The timing on the left arm appears to be fine.

The torso movement is better too. However, it doesn't appear that the hips rotate at all. It looks as if the root is just moving up and down. It should have at least some rotation as the legs and torso move.

Keep going on this. It's coming along.

Damn, getting animaytions looking right is hard work, but its definitely getting there.

Did you use "cloth" for the T-shirt and jeans?

Thanks for the encouragment :) Yeah I think it´s getting better.. I have made a new version again, though I think it might be a little too much on this one.

Well, there´s roll in his hips now, and in the neck too.

Stylish_chemist: no its made with polygons, I tried with cloth but never got it working really so I went back to what I know :) Polygons 4 Life !

Latest version here: Walkcycle version 3 (631 KB - new encoding method :))

Gah, go back to the avi version. WMV doesn't load correctly on my Mac. :D

Doh! Done... Here´s the link: Cartoon Character Walkcycle (631 KB file)

It's coming along well. All you need now is better lighting so you can see his face instead of focusing on his shirt. :)

yeah, i think its nice cartoony walk, just move the ground so it looks like he is walking, heres a mb file of a walkcycle i once did (if it helps), my walk and run cycle

I´ve changed the lighting and camera angle some, though not much new in this one really - I think the walk cycle is just about done, now comes the other moves, my next target is a run cycle, shouldn´t be too different from the walk.

Latest version

And I would like to thank all who replied, especially dannyngan for the advice! Thanks man..

matt4068: thanks, I am not planning to put this character in a scene, at least not at this moment, but eventually I suppose I might have to find a use for him other than showcasing a walkcycle/other motions.

i mean, simply make the floor move, at the moment it looks like he is moon walking, unless u delete the floor or move it to make it look like he is moving