Blocked animation, or stepped animation, is often used in computer animation specifically to give the animator a sense of time without the distraction of the software’s automatic interpolation. Using blocking, we can make changes quickly and correct any mistakes before things get too complicated.
- Previs
As discussed in class, I started off with previsualization, blocking out the stages of animation- the walker moves across the Z axis by -13 over the course of the animation. If the walker finishes moving forward at frame 96 before turning around, I’ve given it time to complete four full cycles, or eight steps.
12 frames after it reaches its destination, it spins around and returns to its starting point. Upon finishing a simple previsualization, I was ready to begin blocking in my key poses. But, of course, I’m not experienced enough yet to just jump into a walk cycle without studying any sort of references.
II. References
As usual, I consulted my own copy of The Animator’s Survival Kit, the incredibly helpful work of Richard Williams, who won two Academy Awards for his work in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. The walk cycle he uses is both simple and accurate:
I did go back and find the resource that was shown in class, as well, by John McMurrough.
I also saved these useful notes that I found on the website of Andrew Banta, an animator and alumni of Purdue University, who studied this same exercise back in 2010.
In regards to our discussion of good vs bad references, the Banta one is good, most importantly because it utilizes a 12-frame cycle, labelled accurately (not to mention depicting the same rig that I’m using), but the McMurrough one is best because it’s got a better description of all the animation that needs to happen and the little notes section at the bottom is extraordinarily helpful.
III. Key Poses
Using primarily McMurrough’s chart as a reference, I whipped up these key poses for the first contact, with stepped curves.
I then watched the animation and made some changes on frame 12. After doing so, I continued onto the second half of the cycle:
Here’s the complete cycle.
Looks good to me! Now to repeat the process three more times, for a total of four cycles and 8 steps….
IV. Three Cycles Later
And there you have it, frames 1-96, with simple pose blocking. The walker does not move forward in this blocked animation, because all of the animation is stepped; therefore, the walker simply appears at its destination at 96 rather than slowly making its way there. However, I did afterwards adjust the Y-Translation to be linear just to see if the walk cycle still makes sense; i.e. if it is too fast or too slow, etc. Below is the version with a linear Y-Translation.
I did not incorporate the turn around or walk back as we only discussed an 8-step cycle in class and may delve into further instruction before starting the journey back. That being said, I’m excited to see my walk cycle finalized!