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Walking Sequences

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v6v:
Hello. I have no clue what I'm doing. I'm unskilled with walking sequences.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6Qe5Awgn8c&feature=plcp&context=C3c7a499UDOEgsToPDskJH6QFknB5IjSE5BSE17Aea

Can someone suggest some methods for recreating a smooth walking animation?

So far I've been told that the sprite appears to be limping- as if it is going to fall over each step.

I ask because this won't be the only walking sequence my game will have.

bluemonkmn:
I think the right leg should remain a little more bent at the knee as it swings forward.  And the torso and head should not move so much if at all.  True that they may tilt forward to get your forward balance/momentum started when you begin walking, but as you're walking you don't actually lean forward (or rather change your leaning) much at all.  Finally the right arm seems to be all over.  The elbow is bending too much and too frequently.  If you monitor yourself when you walk, you should notice that your arms move very little, especially at the elbow, and they move at about the same frequency as your feet.  Both arms in your animation, actually, seem to be moving twice as fast as they should.  Try some of those changes and let's take another look if there's still room for improvement then.

Oh one more thing -- don't you think the knees are a bit high up the leg?  Shouldn't the thighs be longer and the calves be shorter?

Vincent:
I made some walking animations (in 3D) and it's unfortunate that walking is the most frequently used animation because it is also one of the most complicated to do.  You can find a lot of tutorials on how to make walking animations.  Basically there are 4 key moments in a walking animation.  If you define those 4 key moments and let your application do the in between frames, you should have a decent walking animation.
The 4 key moments are:
1- Contact (the front foot touches the ground and the back foot is halfway lifted, this is the most extended position for the legs)
2- Recoil (the weight of the body passes on to the front foot and the back foot is lifted)
3- Passing (the front foot and the back foot meet in the middle of the sequence and "exchange" their status: front becomes back and vice versa)
4- Hovering (the front foot is almost over the landing point and the back foot starts to lift)

This is enough for a 2D side walking animation.  Of course, if you do a 3D sequence, you also have to manage torso and hip twist.

Here is a link toward a basic explanation (and snapshots) of those key moments.  Try to mimic them for the 4 and see if it helps:
http://www.rubberbug.com/walking.htm

If you want a more organic like walk, try to find a video reference and draw your frames over it.  This is a process called rotoscopy and it usually gives a high quality result. :)

v6v:
Okay Gentlemen, with the exception of the halved FPS, how does this look? I tried to change the cycle to prevent a bit of "dipping" on stepping on the left foot.

http://youtu.be/tLHWFT9r29k

What should I change? Things are looking sloppy.

I can just interchange the sequences with the system I've made.

Edit: I modified the knees and calves a bit, but is the legs/calves proportion still off?

bluemonkmn:
1) I think when the right leg is coming forward, it straightens out too early. I think the thigh should get to its forward angle quickly and then "swing" the calf forward until the leg is straight. Look at how the left leg's thigh is almost in position even before lifting the foot off the ground. The legs should act symmetrically. The left leg and right leg should be practically indistinguishable in how they animate.

2) The thighs seem too short, and the calves too long. The knee should be in the middle of the leg, not the top. Unless you're animating a mutant.

3) The arms (and legs) should animate along smooth curves. The right arm bobs its hand twice just in bringing it forward. For one full walking cycle, the hand should swing back once and forward once, and that's it. No bobbing hands. And the elbows should bend very little in walking.

Basically just look at every joint. The angle formed at every joint should be changing in a smooth curve wherever the joint allows, and should form a smooth cycle for one full walking cycle. Every abrupt change requires energy to change the limb's inertia, but walking has evolved over millions of years to require a minimal amount of energy. The hip should be basically a sine wave: back and then forward, with the change in angle being slower around the time it changes direction. Knee should be kind of a cut sine wave because it doesn't bend forward, only back. So straight, then back, slow, then forward until straight again. Maybe the angle slows slightly before becoming straight, but the knee joint's 1-way nature makes it require less energy to stop its swing forward and become straight, so it doesn't need to slow too much before becoming straight. And because the knee is coming off the hip, the foot moves faster going forward than it does going back because the hip's change in angle adds to the knee's change in angle when moving forward. Right now the changing of right leg's knee angle doesn't have much "curve" to it. It seems almost like a switch: bent at 20 degrees or bent at 5 degrees. It should move gradually from straight to ~30 degrees and back to straight.

That is my guess. I'm not terribly experienced in walking anatomy, but generally things should look smooth at every joint, I figure. The whole goal is to make things look smooth right? Once you do that, hopefully it automatically looks natural if you get the timing right.

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