Walk cycle [I'm new to animation]

Rasch

Hi.
This is my first post to the Polycount community. I've been lurking for a while, but I think I'm ready to post a creation.
I've taken up an interest in game animation, and I've made a walk cycle for an isometric view game. I would appreciate some feedback and criticism.

Take 4 (14.08.16):

Did some more polish, and made a "proper" render:


Ready to be called final?

Take 3 (09.08.16):

I've redone my walk cycle again, and uploaded to syncsketch:
Front: http://syncsketch.com/playground/7ec1157b620543f0818bc52749de925a#97482
Back: http://syncsketch.com/playground/31f9a0290ddf443cbbb802c33cdfd49d#97483
Left: http://syncsketch.com/playground/67bc4b05f0a944489c10cd20128a477e#97484
Right: http://syncsketch.com/playground/d824b63cba4745df849b577b45de865d#97485

Take 2 (28.06.16):

Thanks for all the advice I've gotten. I've redone my walk cycle, and uploaded to syncsketch:
Front: http://www.syncsketch.com/playground/c36b37b69ab940658655a827b40111a5
Back: http://54.164.74.32/playground/a7135d59615c4e729cf14fc18e51c36e
Left: http://www.syncsketch.com/playground/dca0a84eed6d4f5399c810c1b63dc656
Right: http://www.syncsketch.com/playground/62157e4bea3147878d7dcef029d114f5

AGoodFella

For a first effort, its not bad. From the side view, the foot plants feel kinda nice. Has a lumbering lethargic kind of feel to it, good stuff, walks are really tough, one of the hardest things you'll do in animation.
One thing that is very apparent is its looking pretty stiff. Get some more spine motion in there, push the chest rotations more as well as the hips. Make it more looser overall. He's very upright and stiff. His feet are too far apart as well.

Check this out:

http://www.fjasmin.net/walk_cycle_tutorial/index.html

Rasch

Many thanks for your feedback and the link. I will read through that page carefully.
I've updated the gif images, and dropped every 10th frame. You are completely right in him feeling drowsy/lethargic. I think that was mostly caused by the slow down of the animation. It should be a little better now. Perhaps I've overdone the bend of the knee, right after at the contact positions as well? I really felt that it was difficult to emulate a proper feeling of weight.

What kind of spine motion would you advise? Just more of everything? Faster? More rotation?
Personally, I think I'm most happy with the arms and head, and least happy with the abdomen.

I hadn't considered the legs being to far apart. Thank you for pointing that out.

Also, I forgot to mention that I was going for a walk with little character to it. Like the main character of an RPG or something, where the animation would have to fit all kinds of characters.

AGoodFella

With animation, you kind of have to exaggerate certain aspects to make it readable. Just following reference usually lacks punch.

There is a knee pop after the contact, see it? The knee pops forward before moving back.

He needs more side to side and up and down.

Everything is moving at once but this isn't important right now, its important for later stages once the fundamentals are nailed down.

Read through that link and implement it into your work. Then upload the work in gif form like you are doing but upload to syncsketch.com as well so I can frame through it. I'll try to help you get a nice walk out of this.

Rasch

Again, thanks for the feedback. I've been using the The Animator's Survival Kit by Richard Williams, and some reference videos on Youtube, like Endless Reference, so far. Will go through that link as well, and post an update when I've redone it. Will probably take me a while though

Snollygoster

I will have to agree with some people. The general animation is good I would say (aside from that weird spacing between the legs when the step is taken, the legs should be closer at that point), but in animation there's definitely some exaggeration that you have to perform for it to be more readable, like giving a bigger twist to the chest or the hips to make the step more obvious and fluent apart from the leg movement, I know that there's movement in those areas but I'm just saying that it needs a little extra push. I'm also new to 3D and I can feel your pain in a sense because we're not experienced enough yet to translate our ideas fully to animation yet but little by little we can get closer and closer! At least that's what I hope to achieve since I know there's a lot I still need to learn!

Rasch

Hi. I'm back after a week on vacation, and well under way with redoing this animation.

AGoodFella said:

Everything is moving at once but this isn't important right now, its important for later stages once the fundamentals are nailed down.

Could you a bit more specific about this comment? Are you refering to successive breaking of joints here? 

AGoodFella

More about making the spine looser and not having the arms in time with the head and chest.

Hito

Biggest thing at the moment is how wide apart the feet are. I'd bring the feet closer together under the mass of the torso instead of shoulder width as you have it now. A few finger widths to a palm width apart feels most natural to me. Some people's heels rub against the other foot, you can see it on their shoes. Some people's feet space out wider, but almost never shoulder width unless they are consciously doing it to convey confidence or superiority. 

2nd thing is the heels almost never make contact dead center, it makes the walk feel very robotic. People generally make contact on the outside or inside, you can see this by the uneven wear on the heel of their shoes. visually this manifests in the direction the toes point in when the heel contacts the ground. outside heel contact makes the toes point outward, inside heel makes the toes point inward. Very subtle, but people pick it up subconsciously when looking at the motion

The rest feels pretty good as a basic walk, especially from the waist up. 

Rasch

Thanks for all the advice I've gotten. I've redone my walk cycle, and uploaded to syncsketch:
Front: http://www.syncsketch.com/playground/c36b37b69ab940658655a827b40111a5
Back: http://54.164.74.32/playground/a7135d59615c4e729cf14fc18e51c36e
Left: http://www.syncsketch.com/playground/dca0a84eed6d4f5399c810c1b63dc656
Right: http://www.syncsketch.com/playground/62157e4bea3147878d7dcef029d114f5

There are still some slight jitter on the feet, and the feet still need some tweaking to have constant speed, but it's not that noticeable.

Rasch

Take 3 (09.08.16):

I've redone my walk cycle again, and uploaded to syncsketch:
Front: http://syncsketch.com/playground/7ec1157b620543f0818bc52749de925a#97482
Back: http://syncsketch.com/playground/31f9a0290ddf443cbbb802c33cdfd49d#97483
Left: http://syncsketch.com/playground/67bc4b05f0a944489c10cd20128a477e#97484
Right: http://syncsketch.com/playground/d824b63cba4745df849b577b45de865d#97485

I hope you guys have some more feedback for me

AGoodFella

Much better! Reduce the drag on the wrist, its too much in my opinion. Keep it up!

Rasch

Thank you for the comment. Anything else that needs more work before I can call this one "done"?
Should I animate the fingers? eyes? blinking?

AGoodFella

I would try to get a little more hip tilt. Just a little more, not too much since its a very realistic looking character. Also, offset the head a little as well. Other than that, its looking good. Walks are incredibly tough!

Rasch

Which direction do you think the tilt should go? Like the legs pressing the hip up on each step? or back-forth to make the upper body squash and stretch more?
Same for head, which direction?

AGoodFella

The hip tilt should be highest on the leg that is taking the weight. So on the passing, it would be the foot that is planted. That hip would be highest.

The head doesn't need too much, just offset it so that its not following the body 100%. So when the chest rotates, delay the head by a few frames or have the chest delay the head. Just something to pull it apart from the rest of the body.

Rasch

Did some more polish, and made a "proper" render:


Ready to be called final?

Rasch

Bonus:
Added the animation to a female, as a test.

AGoodFella

The walk is cool but it feels very similar to the male walk. Unless you're going for a specific walk, I would try to "girly" it up. More hip swings, closer feet, etc.

Edit - Read your note about it being a test.